An Interactive 5-Day Training Course
Critical Minerals & Energy Transition Resources
Critical Minerals and Their Geology
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Duration
5 Days
Price
$ 3,500
Starting From
10 May 2027
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Critical Minerals & Energy Transition Resources
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Critical Minerals & Energy Transition Resources - GG-MIN2-PEA27
| Code | Date | Time | Duration | Location | Currency | Early Bird Fee Per Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GG-MIN2-PEA27 | 10 - 14 May 2027 | 10 AM CST | 4 Hours Per Day |
Online |
USD |
3500 |
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Critical Minerals & Energy Transition Resources
This training covers critical minerals and energy transition resources for petroleum geoscientists. It works through criticality and demand drivers, deposit types for the main critical commodities, lithium sources including brines, copper and nickel deposits, rare earth element deposits, exploration methods and their transferability, brine and produced water resources, resource classification for minerals and the assessment of critical mineral opportunities.
Description
The energy transition requires large volumes of specific metals: lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, graphite and the rare earth elements among others. Supply has to expand substantially, and petroleum companies have begun assessing whether their geoscience capability, their subsurface data and in some cases their produced water streams give them a position in these resources. Making that assessment requires understanding how these deposits form and how mineral exploration differs from petroleum exploration.
This training provides that understanding for geoscientists from a petroleum background. Criticality and demand drivers are established first, covering which commodities are constrained and why. Deposit types for the main critical commodities follow, covering the geological settings and processes that concentrate each. Lithium sources are developed in detail, covering brines, pegmatites and clay-hosted deposits, since lithium brine extraction has the closest technical overlap with petroleum practice. Copper and nickel deposits are then addressed. Rare earth element deposits follow. Exploration methods and their transferability are then developed, covering what petroleum geoscience transfers and what does not. Brine and produced water resources follow, covering direct extraction opportunities. Resource classification for minerals is then addressed. The training closes with opportunity assessment.
Lithium brine is the resource closest to petroleum practice and the overlap is real. A lithium brine deposit is a saline aquifer with elevated lithium concentration, assessed by drilling, by porosity and permeability measurement, by pumping tests and by reservoir simulation of the extraction and reinjection scheme. The skills are reservoir characterisation, well testing, aquifer modelling and production forecasting, which are petroleum skills applied to a different fluid. The differences are the chemistry, the recovery process and a resource classification system with different rules.
Produced water lithium extraction is attractive and usually marginal. Oilfield brines in several basins contain lithium at concentrations of tens to a few hundred milligrams per litre, and the water is already being lifted and handled. The economics depend on the concentration, the volume, the extraction technology and the cost of processing, and most candidate streams are below the concentration where direct extraction pays at current technology and prices. Assessing a specific stream requires the concentration, the flow rate and the realistic recovery, and the answer is frequently negative, which is worth establishing quickly.
Mineral exploration economics work differently from petroleum. A mineral deposit's value depends on grade, tonnage and metallurgical recovery, and the grade distribution within the deposit determines the mining plan. There is no equivalent of a dry hole in the petroleum sense: exploration drilling delineates a body whose boundaries are defined by a cut-off grade that depends on the price. The resource and reserve definitions, the reporting codes and the role of the competent person are all different from petroleum practice, and applying petroleum conventions to mineral resources produces statements that are not compliant.
Finally, the geological settings are mostly unfamiliar to petroleum geoscientists. Porphyry copper deposits, magmatic nickel sulphides, carbonatite-hosted rare earths and lithium pegmatites form by igneous and hydrothermal processes in settings that petroleum exploration avoids. The transferable skills are the general ones: data integration, three dimensional interpretation, geostatistics, uncertainty handling and project assessment. The specific geology has to be learned, and an organisation entering these resources needs people who know it rather than only people who are good at subsurface work generally.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Explain criticality and the demand drivers for transition minerals
- Describe the main deposit types for critical commodities
- Assess lithium resources in brines, pegmatites and clays
- Describe copper and nickel deposit types and their settings
- Describe rare earth element deposit types
- Identify which petroleum geoscience skills transfer and which do not
- Assess produced water and brine extraction opportunities
- Apply mineral resource and reserve classification systems
- Understand reporting codes and the competent person role
- Assess critical mineral opportunities and their risks
The training works through deposit examples and opportunity assessments. Participants assess lithium brine resources using aquifer and chemistry data, evaluate produced water streams for extraction viability, and screen mineral opportunities against resource classification requirements. Petroleum and mineral assessment conventions are compared directly.
Organisations sending participants to this training will:
- Assess critical mineral opportunities on the correct basis
- Evaluate produced water extraction realistically
- Apply mineral resource classification correctly
- Identify where existing capability transfers
- Avoid applying petroleum conventions to mineral resources
- Make informed decisions on transition mineral exposure
Participants will:
- Understand critical mineral deposit types
- Assess lithium brine resources
- Evaluate produced water opportunities
- Apply mineral classification systems
- Recognise the limits of transferable skills
- Contribute to transition mineral assessment
- Geoscientists moving into critical minerals
- New ventures and business development staff
- Reservoir engineers assessing brine extraction
- Technical staff evaluating produced water streams
- Portfolio and strategy staff
- Geoscientists entering energy transition work
- Advisors assessing critical mineral opportunities
Module 1 - Criticality and Demand
- Criticality definitions and criteria
- Supply concentration and risk
- Demand drivers from the energy transition
- Battery metals demand
- Grid and electrification demand
- Wind and solar material requirements
- Hydrogen and electrolyser materials
- Substitution and recycling effects
- Supply chain and processing constraints
- Price history and volatility
- Which commodities are genuinely constrained
Module 2 - Deposit Types Overview
- Magmatic deposits
- Hydrothermal deposits
- Sedimentary and surficial deposits
- Weathering and laterite deposits
- Brine and evaporite deposits
- Deposit formation processes
- Grade and tonnage distributions
- Deposit size distributions
- Geological settings by commodity
- Global distribution of deposits
- Exploration maturity by commodity
- Deposit types with petroleum overlap
Module 3 - Lithium Resources
- Lithium geochemistry and occurrence
- Continental brine deposits
- Salar systems and their hydrology
- Brine concentration mechanisms
- Geothermal brine lithium
- Oilfield brine lithium
- Pegmatite hosted lithium
- Spodumene and lepidolite
- Clay hosted lithium deposits
- Resource assessment for brines
- Aquifer testing and simulation
- Direct lithium extraction technology
Module 4 - Copper and Nickel
- Copper demand and its drivers
- Porphyry copper deposits
- Porphyry settings and alteration zoning
- Sediment hosted copper deposits
- Copper in oxide and supergene zones
- Nickel demand and its drivers
- Magmatic nickel sulphide deposits
- Komatiite and intrusion hosted nickel
- Nickel laterite deposits
- Cobalt as a by-product
- Grade and metallurgy considerations
- Exploration approaches for each
Module 5 - Rare Earth Elements
- Rare earth element chemistry
- Light and heavy rare earths
- Which elements are constrained
- Carbonatite hosted deposits
- Alkaline igneous complexes
- Ion adsorption clay deposits
- Placer and monazite deposits
- Phosphate and by-product sources
- Deep sea nodules and crusts
- Separation and processing difficulty
- Grade reporting conventions
- Exploration methods for rare earths
Module 6 - Exploration Methods and Transferability
- Mineral exploration workflow
- Geological mapping and targeting
- Geochemical sampling methods
- Geophysical methods in mineral exploration
- Electrical and electromagnetic surveys
- Magnetic and gravity surveys
- Drilling methods and sampling
- Assay and quality control requirements
- Resource estimation and geostatistics
- Transferable petroleum skills
- Skills that do not transfer
- Building mineral capability
Module 7 - Brine and Produced Water
- Produced water volumes and composition
- Lithium concentrations in oilfield brines
- Other valuable constituents
- Iodine, bromine and strontium
- Helium as a co-produced resource
- Concentration thresholds for viability
- Extraction technologies
- Processing and infrastructure requirements
- Reinjection and disposal interaction
- Economic screening of streams
- Regulatory and ownership questions
- Realistic assessment of opportunities
Module 8 - Classification and Assessment
- Mineral resource and reserve definitions
- Reporting codes: JORC, NI 43-101, PERC
- Measured, indicated and inferred resources
- Proved and probable reserves
- Competent and qualified person requirements
- Cut-off grade and its role
- Differences from petroleum classification
- Technical and economic studies
- Scoping, prefeasibility and feasibility
- Opportunity screening criteria
- Risks in critical mineral projects
- Assessing a mineral opportunity critically
Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.
Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
All course bookings made through PEA are strictly non-refundable. By registering for a course, you acknowledge and accept that all fees are payable in full and are not subject to refund under any circumstances, including changes in personal or professional commitments or partial attendance.
PEA reserves the right to make reasonable adjustments to course content, trainers, or schedules where necessary, without entitling delegates to a refund. Comprehensive details of each course — including objectives, target audience, and content — are clearly outlined before enrolment, and it is the responsibility of the delegate to ensure the course's suitability prior to booking.
For any inquiries related to cancellations or bookings, please contact our support team, who will be happy to assist you.
