GeoZone - Applied Geology & Geotechnics

A Down to Earth Welcome
Welcome to the South African home of Applied Geology and Geotechnics. We at Geozone have taken a two-fold approach where we run a geological and geotechnical consulting side of the business, which aims to provide a fast, efficient, reliable and more importantly a useful service to the broad exploration, geotechnical, mining and engineering community. For more about what we are able to do, follow the links on your right or read more below. The other approach of this site is to provide advice and technical data to the community in terms of newsletters, on-line resources and down-to-earth advice on all things geological.

GeoZone has created associations and partnerships with various firms including DWT&A Consulting Geologists, SISGEO Geotechnical Instrumentation Italy, Geobrugg Switzerland, Rock Africa and Alpinist Safety Consultants. For more information please click on the icons above. With these products and skills were are in a formidable position to assist with any project which may require geological, geotechnical, monitoring or installation of remedial measures.

As part of our service to the broader industry we also own and operate GeoResources Africa which we would encourage you to sign up with - it is an online directory of service providers to the geological, mining, civil engineering and geotechnical community.

Consulting Services

• Geotechnical Consulting
  Need geotechnical input? If you are a property developer, miner, civil engineer, architect, farmer, home owner, project manager, building contractor or a civil engineering contractor then you will no doubt need the services of someone well versed in the dark arts of geotechnical engineering. And sometimes it can be a very dark art, as ground conditions on a site or in a mine may not be entirely uniform by virtue of their geological history. A sound grasp of geological principles, along with an understanding of the engineering requirements are what is required when it comes to developing a site.

Experience
We here at GeoZone have had in excess of twenty years of experience in the geotechnical field and are able to provide the best foundation solutions for any civil engineering project. In addition we are able to advise on groundwater and environmental issues. We are also well aware that no one can be a master of all trades, but Geozone, being firmly embedded in the industry, can bring to the table the best practitioners in those areas where we lack the necessary skills. We are therefore able to put teams of people together to solve any geotechnical problem. And problems there shall be, as amply illustrated by the following story.

A sobering tale
A couple of years ago we carried out a site investigation on what was at first glance a straightforward job. The work entailed digging and logging test pits with a mechanical backhoe, and as the morning went along it became evident that things were not as they first appeared. Firstly we noted that the geological horizons were in places disturbed and intermixed. Then we began to notice disturbance of the bedding planes and just after lunch we found the failure plane itself. Clearly this site had been subject to a landslide in its geological past. The difficulty of course lay in the fact that the developer had neglected to involve anyone geotechnically and had already sold several of the upmarket units off plan, and there we were writing his site off as unstable. Without a geotechnical investigation these unstable conditions would not have been discovered, with potentially disastrous consequences if the development had continued. Sobering lessons for us all, and from our point of view frightening, because we may have sent one of our young geologists to site who might not have picked up on the significance of the disturbed geology. Read More

So if you want to sleep well at night
So to sleep well at night a thorough geotechnical investigation is imperative and we here at GeoZone are positioned to assist you in this regard. Apart from providing a consulting service we also strive to provide technical information to those who need it, so part of this website is aimed at posting simple but useful geotechnical information for those looking for technical data.

• Geological and Exploration Consulting
  Thanks to strategic partnerships and our own in-house skills are are able to advise on mineral exploration, mine development, mine surveying, geophysics, reserve evaluation and mining leases. We also have access to vast amounts of historical data on the coal fields of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Swaziland which has proven to be invaluable during feasibility studies and the registering of mining leases. Independent audits of mineral reserves are also part of our services, particularly important due to an alarming trend of overstating the value of a reserve by the unscrupulous holders of mineral licences or financiers. For more information please click here

GeoZone - Applied Geology & Geotechnics