Dr Richard Lilly

Overview: Dr. Richard Lilly is the NExUS Program Leader and Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide. His research interests aim to understand how ore deposits are formed and to assist in the geochemical exploration for new resources. Richard has 8 years of experience working as a Senior Exploration Geologist (Mount Isa Mines) and brings an industry perspective to his applied research projects and teaching of undergraduate economic geology courses. Richard also serves as an industry-academic boundary spanner; assisting the engagement between the university sector and the minerals industry and the discussion about the future of geoscience education in Australia.

In 2021 Richard was a finalist in the STEMM Educator of the Year category of the 2021 South Australian Science Excellence and Innovation awards! The awards recognise South Australia’s top scientists, researchers, educators and innovators for their outstanding contributions to the advancement of science and research.

Richard joined the University of Adelaide in 2015 as the Mount Isa Mines Embedded Research Fellow, an industry (Mount Isa Mines - Glencore) funded academic position within the Department of Earth Science (School of Physical Sciences). The role (2015-2019) involved coordinating and supervising a range of applied economic geology research projects at Universities across Australia and Europe and to establish strong industry-academic links. Additionally, Dr. Richard Lilly teaches economic geology courses to undergraduates. Research was completed through numerous projects including Honours, Masters and PhD level studies which were coordinated to directly address specific geological questions at Mount Isa Mines operations in NW Queensland. The five core research themes were:

1. Exploration Through Cover; aims to establish innovative geochemical exploration techniques including the use of a soil gas technique and biogeochemistry to generate new drill targets under cover.
2. Deposit Scale Characterisation; detailed geological, geochemical and geophysical modelling and structural studies of current ore bodies (Mount Isa Cu and Ernest Henry IOCG) and advanced exploration targets to maximise near-mine and brown-fields exploration targeting.
3. District Scale Ore Systems; studies of temporal and spatial variations of ore systems and the implications for district and regional prospectivity for improved exploration targeting and ground evaluation.
4. Production Challenges; identification of key geological and metallurgical questions to overcome technical challenges across different MIM business units.
5. Emerging Projects; identification and assessment of applicability of advanced and emerging technologies and to maintain flexibility of research studies to meet changing business needs and maximise knowledge transfer for MIM staff.

The Mount Isa Mines Embedded Research Fellow role ran successfully from 2015-2019 and has since transitioned into continued collaboration through ongoing research projects.

Since 2018 Richard has also been collaborating with other minerals industry partners including Hillgrove Resources (Kanmantoo Cu-Au deposit), SIMEC (exploration-related topics) and OZ Minerals (Carrapateena Cu-Au deposit) to progress our understanding on a range of ore systems.

National Exploration Undercover School (NExUS): In 2016 Dr. Richard Lilly co-founded the National Exploration Undercover School and since 2018 he has been the Program Leader. The 3 week summer school aims to provide exploration and geoscience training for some of Australia’s top graduates and undergraduates and to assist them with their careers. The NExUS summer school has received media interest and considerable positive feedback from the minerals industry as an innovative and forward thinking initiative. Since 2016 the program has a total of 206 alumni who work in every State and Territory of Australia.

• Report on 2016 NExUS 

• Report on 2017 NExUS 
• Report on 2018 NExUS
• Report on 2019 NExUS
• Report on 2020 NExUS

Community engagement: Dr. Richard Lilly regularly gives geoscience and exploration focused talks in local schools and at outreach events. He is the University of Adelaide geology representative for the South Australian Society of Economic Geologists (SA SEG), Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), Adelaide University Geology Society (AUGS) and am a member of the national AIG mentoring program.

Richard is a passionate geologist and through his proactive teaching and mentoring roles at the University of Adelaide, is helping to teach and inspire the next generation of geoscientists and exploration geologists.