This technology from New Zealand is enabling management of global earth, environmental and energy challenges. ARANZ Geo is extending its global influence into new areas to contribute geological understanding to the management of some of the earth’s significant environmental and climate change driven challenges.
Shaun Maloney, CEO of ARANZ Geo says, “We’re contributing to a wider variety of projects that target some of the major global environment and energy challenges we face. This is a shift from our origins as a mining-centric business, and will increase our reach and depth to open up a new world of opportunity.
“Our strategy is already gaining traction. We’re contributing to geothermal energy work with NGOs around the world, hydro dams in Turkey, transport tunnels in the EU, and a wide range of water quality and resource management projects.”
Adam Pidlisecky, ARANZ Geo’s Chief Research Officer and Professor at the University of Calgary, has been instrumental in improving understanding of large-scale aquifers in Monterey, California. Pidlisecky collaborated with Stanford University and the University of Calgary to use geophysical methods to study saltwater intrusion along the California coastline. He is a co-author of the landmark study resulting from this work, which brings new insight into the extent of coastal seawater infiltration in the region’s groundwater aquifers.
“Groundwater management for long term use is a really challenging problem from multiple perspectives: technical, cultural and economic,” says Pidlisecky. “The exciting part of this work is that we have been able to touch on all of these. By sharing results online via interactive models we’re also helping to improve stakeholder engagement, critical for ground water management.”
Maloney is particularly supportive of this work. “This work is something we as a New Zealand founded company are proud to be a part of. World leaders and Governments can no longer ignore the fact that clean water is a critical resource globally and becoming more so day by day. The quantity and quality of accessible groundwater is directly linked to the health, wealth and stability of their economy and people.”
ARANZ Geo is also working with NGOs to add value in developing countries. The work is extremely rewarding according to Maloney. “We’ve upskilled geothermal professionals across East Africa so they can use Leapfrog software on the increasing number of renewable energy operations. We’re also working with a relief group in Saharan Africa to enable groundwater evaluations for siting new wells in refugee and aide camps in the area.”