about

Integrated Geological Modelling & Exploration Targeting

Dr. Matias Sanchez is Director and Principal Structural and Economic Geologist of Fault Rocks Inc. He has more than 20 years of experience in mineral exploration and has led over 80 consulting projects across the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. His experience spans nearly 20 giant Andean porphyry copper deposits, as well as IOCG, VMS, epithermal, and orogenic gold systems, and includes contributions to drill-confirmed copper and gold discoveries and resource expansions. Matias also delivers field and classroom training courses for both industry and academia.
Matias completed an MSc and PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) at the University of British Columbia. At Fault Rocks, he provides technical leadership, integrating tectonic, structural, geophysical, remote sensing, and drilling datasets into 2D and 3D geological frameworks for project generation and exploration targeting from district- to mine-scale.

Structural Modelling and Analysis

Oscar Fernandez, PhD, combines his role as associate consultant at Fault Rocks Inc with lecturing and research at the University of Vienna and consulting for NiMBUC Geoscience (Austria). He specializes in classical structural geology, data integration, sedimentary basin analysis, reservoir-scale deformation, and modelling. At the U. of Vienna he currently lectures on Geophysics and Geomechanics, and focuses his research on the geodynamics of passive margins, salt tectonics in fold and thrust belts, and fracture modelling. His over 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry have exposed him to projects around the globe, in all tectonic settings, and at all scales. He has also overseen projects in all stages of the business cycle, including R&D, technical software development, frontier exploration, prospect definition, borehole planning and delivery, resource appraisal, and production. Besides his rich professional career, including advisory positions in bp and Repsol, his protracted publishing record is witness to his technical flexibility and excellence.

Dr. Gemma Mitjanas is a structural geologist with a master’s degree in geophysical exploration and a PhD in geothermal exploration from the University of Barcelona. With a strong foundation in structural geology and geophysical interpretation, she specializes in 3D geological modeling to enhance exploration targeting. Her work integrates geological and geophysical data to reveal subsurface structures and fluid pathways, providing valuable insights into potential mineralized zones. Throughout her career, including significant experience in Australia, Dr. Mitjanas has developed Leapfrog models that incorporate structural geology and fluid flow analysis, aiding in the identification of resource zones and clarifying fluid dynamics within complex geological settings. Now based in Spain, Dr. Mitjanas collaborates with Fault Rocks Inc. and the Sustainable Minerals Institute, where she combines structural geology with geophysics to build complex 3D and 4D models at regional and local scales, applying a mineral systems approach to exploration targeting.

Sara supports our group with geoscience data management expertise in GIS systems, focusing on data digitization and upgrading, merging complex geological datasets, and applying global and program-specific standards to geoscience data to ensure that data-driven interpretations are built on solid foundations. Sara brings over 15 years of GIS and data management support for both traditional geological and interdisciplinary research programs, working previously as GIS specialist for the Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) at UBC, manager of Geoscience Data for the Geological Survey of NL, and as an independent consultant for the mineral exploration industry.  She also provides editing and design support for our training course materials.

Structural Mapping and 3D Geological Modelling

Russell Johnston is a structural geologist with a Master’s degree from The University of British Columbia. He has a strong background in structural and stratigraphic mapping studies in both mineral exploration and academic settings. He brings 6 years of experience in mineral exploration in diverse environments that have included Ontario, Newfoundland, British Columbia, the United States, and Greenland. Russell has experience exploring for a broad range of deposit types including orogenic gold systems, alkalic and calc-alkaline porphyry systems, and five element vein Ag-Co systems. At Fault Rocks, Russell focuses on geologic mapping—both in the field and utilizing remote interpretation—and integrating different datasets (structural, geochemical, geophysical, etc.) to produce rigorous geologic models for exploration targeting.

Remote Sensing Visualization and GIS Analysis

Anna Giralt is a geologist with a MSc in Applied GIS and Remote Sensing from the University of Southampton. She supports our group with remote sensing and GIS expertise for mineral exploration, specializing in multispectral and hyperspectral satellite data processing (Sentinel-2, Landsat, ASTER, EMIT) for lithological discrimination, alteration mapping, and prospectivity modelling. Anna develops Google Earth Engine and Python-based Earth Observation workflows, integrating remote sensing, geological, geophysical, and topographical datasets to support exploration decision-making and target ranking. She also has experience in InSAR-based ground deformation monitoring and geological hazard assessment.

Structural Analysis and 3D Geological Modelling

Pamela Pérez-Flores, PhD, MSc, is an Associate Consultant at Fault Rocks Inc., and offers her expertise to CIGEA Ltda. (Chile). Specializing in classical structural geology, she applies her skills in regional to reservoir-scale deformation studies and 3D modeling with Leapfrog Geo®. Her approach integrates surface structural data, geochemistry, and oriented drill cores to elucidate geofluid pathways, alongside regional and local stress field variations. Her professional portfolio spans critical mineral deposit types such as Andean iron oxide copper gold, epithermal, porphyry copper, and polymetallic deposits across Chile, Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia. Focused on the tectonic and structural controls affecting metal concentration, she explores permeability enhancements within damage zones and their impact on ore body morphology. Pamela earned her graduate and doctoral degrees from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, after completing her undergraduate studies at the Universidad Católica del Norte. Her academic background is further enriched by an internship at University College London, broadening her expertise in structural geology.

Seismic Reflection and Stratigraphic Analysis

Nicola Scarselli, PhD, MSc, joins Fault Rocks Inc. as an associate consultant extending the competence of the group on the structural and stratigraphic analysis of complex geological settings through the use of 2D & 3D seismic and well data. Nicola has over seven years of experience in building solid tectono-stratigraphic models from seismic data in order to better understand the hydrocarbon potential in a variety of settings, including rift-systems, deepwater passive margins and inverted terrains. His core expertise include advanced 2D & 3D seismic interpretation from regional studies to reservoir level, mapping of complex 3D structural & stratigraphic traps, calculation & interpretation of seismic attributes as well as post-stack filtering so that to enhance and get the most from seismic data.Nicola is currently seismic interpretation researcher at the Department of Earth Sciences in Royal Holloway University of London where he routinely delivers training courses and lectures in seismic interpretation and petroleum geology to postgrad and undergrad students. His research interests comprise structural geology, gravity-driven deformation and mass-transport complexes at continental margins, seismic stratigraphy and seismic geomorphology as well as understand igneous intrusions and seal bypass systems from seismic.