Prospection is a word with Latin origin prospectwhat does it mean to prospecting or researching. It is a term within the scope of geology, which is used to describe the methods used to discover the veins or deposits of a mine.
In geology, prospecting consists of a set of geological and mining works that aim to recognize the economic value of a deposit or a mining region.
Prospecting serves to locate reserves of substances that are valuable to humans. For this reason, it is common to hear about prospecting for oil or natural gas. In this case, geophysical prospecting takes place, which obtains information about the subsoil from the surface, with no need to drill into the soil. Several processes can be used, including:
- seismic: through the analysis of the variation in the speed with which artificially created seismic waves propagate;
- electric: consists in the identification of electrical properties of rocks, such as dielectric constant, electrochemical activity and resistivity;
- gravimetric: gravimetric-based methods study differences in gravity acceleration in different soils, which may indicate irregularities in rock density;
- radioactive: these methods make it possible to identify and measure particles and radioactivity of some minerals;
- magnetic: changes in magnetic fields caused by geological phenomena.
Aerial photographs taken from artificial satellites are more recent methods.
Prospecting can also be related to archeology, in which case it describes the techniques applied in the location of an archaeological site of historical value, in case there are no traces of the existence of an ancient civilization in the surface. Techniques such as aerial or satellite photography are used, which identify archaeological areas through the irregularities detected in the photographed terrain. There are also photographic probes, inserted into tombs to check their contents and whether they were looted. Electrical probes, chemical and seismic surveys also serve to obtain information about the terrain in question, through the analysis of electrical resistance, effect of sound waves and chemical composition of the soils.
Figuratively speaking, the word prospecting can be an analysis of another person's feelings or thoughts.
Prospecting for customers
Prospecting for clients is an important area of the business world, because it consists of the set of methods used to seek and win over financiers or clients. Closely related to the Market prospection, prospecting consists of thoroughly analyzing and studying the opportunities offered by the market. In English, the word prospect describes in the business context a person or company that might be a customer of a company.
Prospecting for customers identifies potential customers, and it should be an uninterrupted and continuous activity within each company, in order to survive in the face of current market challenges such as strong competition. It is important to identify and value the stakeholders, that is, people involved and with an interest in the company in question. This is often done through marketing strategies, which help the company to gain greater space in the market.
There are several methods for prospecting customers, such as personal visits, for example. However, new technologies have created new ways to prospect, through some online tools.