Tag Archives: Indonesia

A Critical Mineral Conundrum

As the world’s population passes the 8 billion mark there is little doubt the strain that puts on the Earth’s resources†. Just think on that for a moment. Clean, potable water is at a premium. Unprocessed food stuffs are not available to a large part of the population. And energy to power washing machines, schools, […]

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Out of Time

How the newly published paper “Constraints from lamprophyre petrogenesis on the timing of Eocene lithospheric thinning and associated rifting of Borneo and Sulawesi” (Murphy et al., 2024) came to be has an interesting history. Well, to me anyway.  If we take the Way Back Machine* to the mid-1980s, when I was doing my PhD field […]

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New Paper: Evaluation of peat character in Kutai lakes area, Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia

Ever get that sinking feeling? Well, if you were standing in the Kutai lakes area in central Borneo you’d be right to think so. And its not just because it is full of peat and wetlands. Located about 100 km from the nearest coast and surrounded by low, heavily vegetated hills, that border on becoming […]

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The Elixir of Data

“Without data, you are just another asshole with an opinion”, said John Ferm standing at the blackboard, chalk in one hand and a cigar in the other with smoke swirling around his head (this was, after all, 1985). It’s a phrase John (my MSc and PhD advisor) would often use when we, his students, started […]

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Cipher is Ten

It was like jumping off the end of a pier into unknown depths with unknown dangers – but a quick calculation (in actuality lots of deep reflection) indicated that it was safe…-ish; nevertheless it was exhilarating. Thus, Cipher was born. In early September 2010 Cipher started trading and by late September we had our first […]

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Field Work in the Senakin Peninsula: Part III – NEW PAPER

The fruits – as they say – had finally ripened and what fell off the tree? A paper of course*. A nice fat, juicy paper about those lovely Eocene-age volcanics that lie within the Senakin Peninsula. After a couple of decades wondering when someone would publish on the basalts and volcaniclastic sediments in Kalimantan Selatan […]

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Turn around and you’re… TEN? – Whoa!

No, not my son, Micah, but a paper. Well, not quite ten, but it was ten years this month that I was asked, and then accepted, to write a review paper on coalbed methane*.   It took about another two years until it was actually published** but the work began in May 2010. It took […]

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Field Work in the Senakin Peninsula: Part II- Finding Volcanics

The speedboat skipped from wave to wave effortlessly; Tanjung Dewa was on our left and then it was gone. A head of us I could see the Senakin Peninsula, its dark forests tangled with cloud. The chill morning air made me smile. My three colleagues, Mr Mike Friederich, Prof Hendra Amijaya and Dr Ferian Anggara, […]

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Welcome New Cipher Associates

Cipher would like to welcome three new Associates to the team: Mr Ryan Morris, Mr Peter Roles and Mr Tan Ee. All three have extensive experience in the petroleum business, and the addition of their skills significantly widens the scope of Cipher’s expertise to include hydrogeology (Ryan Morris), conventional and unconventional petroleum engineering (Peter Roles) […]

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Blue Skies Beijing

Yes, I know. Normally the words ‘blue skies’ and ‘Beijing’ aren’t in such close proximity. Yet, when I was there just a couple of weeks ago, it was indeed blue skies. Warm, yes; smoggy, not really. Though I was inside much of the time … I was in the captivating capital of China for the […]

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