RESEARCH & FACULTY
Richard Smith
Richard Smith
Full Professor705.675.1151 ext. 2364
B8018
Sudbury Campus
Richard Smith received a BSc and MSc from the University of Adelaide, Australia and an MSc and PhD from the University of Toronto. In 1989, he worked at Lamontagne Geophysics in Toronto (1989) where he helped develop methods for generating conductivity depth sections from airborne electromagnetic data. In 1990, Richard held an ARC post-doctoral fellowship at Macquarie University in Sydney (1990). From 1990 to 1992, Richard worked as an explorationist at Pasminco Exploration in Melbourne. In 1993, Richard joined Geoterrex Ltd, an airborne geophysical survey company, later purchased by Fugro. Here he developed methods for processing and interpreting airborne magnetic and electromagnetic data. In May 2009, Richard took up an Industrial Research Chair in Exploration Geophysics at Laurentian University in Sudbury. Dr Smith is a member of the SEG (Chair, Mining and Geothermal committee, 2008-2010), the EAGE, KEGS, the ASEG (Federal Executive, 1992-1993), and the PDAC (conference organizing committee, 2008-2011). He is the recipient of a number of awards for the "best presentation" at conferences and is a co-recipient of the award for the best paper in the journal Geophysics for 1997 and the best paper in Exploration and Mining Geology (2012). In 2009/2010 he was the CSEG Distinguished Lecturer.
- B.Sc. (Hons), University of Adelaide, Australia
- M.Sc., University of Toronto, Canada
- M.Sc., University of Adelaide, Australia
- Ph.D., University of Toronto, Canada
My main research interests are in the application of geophysical methods to the discovery of all types of mineral deposits. In particular, I am interested in using geophysical methods to create an image of the earth that reflects the physical properties of the material below the surface of the earth. These images can in some cases be used to infer the geology.
My current research is focused towards helping the sponsors of the Industrial Research Chair in Exploration Geophysics develop new tools for solving geological problems.
The geophysical methods used are electromagnetic methods, potential field methods, radio imaging methods, geophysical logging and measuring physical properties of core and outcrop using hand-held instruments.
- Best paper in the journal Geophysics 1997
- Best Paper in the journal Exploration and Mining Geology 2012
- Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists Distinguished Lecturer, 2009/2010
- Thurston, J.B. and Smith, R.S., 1997,Automatic conversion of magnetic data to depth, dip, and susceptibility contrast using the SPI (TM) method: Geophysics 62, 807-813
- Smith, R.S., and Thurston, J.B., 1998, ISPITM-the improved source parameter imaging method: Geophysical Prospecting 46, 141-151.
- Smith, R.S., Edwards, R.N., Buselli, G., 1996, An automatic technique for presentation of coincident-loop, impulse-response, transient, electromagnetic data: Geophysics 59, 1542-1550
- Smith, R.S., and Annan, A.P., 2000, Using an induction coil sensor to indirectly measure the B-field response in the bandwidth of the transient electromagnetic method: Geophysics 65, 1489-1494.
- Smith, R., Fountain, D., and Allard, M., 2003, The MEGATEM fixed-wing transient EM system applied to mineral exploration: A discovery case history: First Break 21, 73-77
