Mine Site Exploration

Mine Site Exploration

Minesites and areas within the direct proximity of mine sites provide excellent geologic environments for additional reserves and new discoveries of satellite ore bodies.

Challenges

Exploring near mines can be expensive if by drilling alone. The time required to thoroughly investigate highly prospective areas proximal to the mine through traditional means can be prohibitive and the return on exploration expenditure relatively low.

Problems faced by traditional geophysical tools due to extreme cultural noise have prohibited them from providing useful information and therefore there has been little use of these methods in the mine environment except for borehole instrumentation.

Cultural noise

Cultural noise

 Power lines

Power lines

Haul roads

Haul roads

 Active pits

Active pits

Technology Advances

Over the last 4 years significant advances have been made with the Titan 24 distributed geophysical system. The system measures vast amount of data (1000x) more than traditional systems. Features like sophisticated digital signal processing and full waveform data enable excellent filtering capability. This translates to the ability to pick up small signals in the realm of large ambient noise and an ability to produce meaningful results.


Kidd Creek Case Study

Through OMET (Ontario Mineral Exploration Technology Program) the Titan system was successfully demonstrated as a significant exploration tool for near mine application.

Titan Survey lines near mine and power lines

Titan Survey lines near mine and power lines



Geological Input for interpretation

Geological Input for interpretation



Interpretation in 3D

Interpretation in 3D



Results

The survey was able to penetrate thick (50m) conductive overburden. The blind test survey was successful at identifying 100% (percent should be right up against 100) of the known targets previously drilled within the top 800 metres. In addition, new target areas based on these results were identified for further exploration. A significant region, where the survey indicated little further investigation would be warranted, was confirmed by hundreds of barren drill holes that had been drilled over 15 years at an estimated cost of over $15 million dollars.

Chance occurance at 400m depth
DC Resistivity section, line 10800 section shown to 1200m depth, warm colours represent increased conductivity Data used by Permission: Noranda /Falconbridge

Titan 24 systems have has been deployed at a number of minesites to provide more information for;



Titan surveys have proven effective at other mine sites:

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