Mineral and oil & gas exploration share the same goal: finding resources beneath the Earth’s surface. However, the way they approach discovery is very different. Oil & gas exploration follows a structured, data-driven process focused on identifying the most prospective zones within a petroleum system that have the highest potential for discovery.
In contrast, majority of mineral exploration begins with mineral occurrences and tries to make them bigger, which can lead to staking acreage in locations that may not be optimal for making new economic discoveries.
Understanding how oil & gas companies approach exploration unlocks important lessons that could improve efficiency and discovery rates in the mining industry.
Understanding the differences in exploration approaches
Before companies even secure acreage, they spend months or in some cases years analyzing prospectivity. Instead of staking land, explorers focus on gathering data and refining their geological models. A typical oil & gas exploration process begins with regional prospectivity studies—large-scale assessments equivalent to mineral prospectivity mapping. This allows companies to identify promising petroleum systems and high-potential areas before making any commitments. These studies apply to both major companies and juniors, especially in competitive licensing rounds where strong technical capabilities are key to securing acreage.
Once a high-potential area is identified, the next step is prospect maturation. This involves integrating geological and geophysical data, ranking potential prospects, and estimating their size (yes, pre-drill !) and even potential development plans, including commercial viability. Only the best, most de-risked prospects move forward.
Securing oil & gas exploration acreage is not about being the first to claim it. Instead, companies must submit detailed applications where:
Their geological understanding of the area is assessed by technical experts with industry experience.
Their proposed exploration program is reviewed to determine if it can effectively unlock the area's potential.
Exploration once acreage is awarded
Even after securing an area, the work is far from over. While a company may have a main prospect, it must also:
Continue to mature or park secondary targets.
Invest in seismic surveys and additional data to further de-risk opportunities.
Make decisions based on new, and often expensive data—even if that means walking away from a project.
One of the hardest aspects of this process is knowing when to park a prospect. Geologists spend significant time and effort developing exploration targets, and it is difficult to abandon projects they have worked on. However, successful explorers understand that each prospect eliminated is a step closer to a real discovery.
Why does oil & gas take this approach?
First reason, is regulatory frameworks that require explorers to carry extensive geological assessment prior to securing acreage. Another major reason for the rigorous approach in oil & gas exploration is the cost of failure. Drilling an offshore oil & gas exploration well can cost anywhere between $30M and $80M USD, deep water, high pressure wells even higher. In contrast, mining exploration drill programs typically range between $2M and $5M USD. Because of these high stakes, oil & gas companies must de-risk their exploration targets extensively before drilling a single well. The process is even more critical for small explorers that may only have 1-2 shots at exploration.
What can mineral exploration learn from oil & gas?
While mining exploration is a different industry, it can benefit from adopting some of the structured methodologies used in oil & gas. Key lessons include:
Stronger geological assessments before staking ground to ensure high-value targets are the focus of ground activities. At Equivest we can help you achieve this by carrying large regional prospectivity studies, which can help you secure multiple exploration projects with the best discovery potential. This studies cost fraction of the prospecting and drilling costs.
Utilisation of all datasets in regional prospectivity mapping. More rigorous prospect maturation to avoid unnecessary drilling expenses and wasted capital. Integration of data and use of new AI algorithms to refine exploration targets before committing to drilling can help in this space.
A cultural shift towards disciplined prospect evaluation—understanding that "killing" projects is necessary for success.
By applying these principles, the mineral exploration industry can improve its capital efficiency, reduce exploration risk, and ultimately increase its discovery success rates. Author: Joanna Ponicka, VP Exploration
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