Comparison of Airborne and Ground TEM systems for a conductor beneath conductive cover - an example from North-West Queensland, Australia

John Hart; Richard Lane

doi:10.1071/ASEG2001ab055

ISSN: 2202-0586
E-ISSN:

oa Comparison of Airborne and Ground TEM systems for a conductor beneath conductive cover - an example from North-West Queensland, Australia
Authors John Hart^a and Richard Lane^b
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^a BHP Minerals, , Australia, [email protected] ^b Fugro Airborne Surveys, , Australia, [email protected]
Publisher: Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists
Source: ASEG Extended Abstracts, Volume 2001, Issue ASEG2001 - 15th Geophysical Conference, Dec 2001, p. 1 - 4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/ASEG2001ab055
- Published online: 01 Dec 2001

Abstract

Magnetite-pyrrhotite mineralisation at the Bull Creek Prospect in North-West Queensland is both magnetic and conductive. The mineralisation of Proterozoic age is buried beneath 30-50m of conductive younger cover. Overburden conductance values of 10 to 30 S make this a challenging area for airborne electromagnetic systems. The presence of this conductive cover and availability of ground EM and drilling information make this a valuable case study for evaluating the performance of airborne electromagnetic systems.

This paper presents data from both ground and airborne time domain electromagnetic systems and compares conductivity sections derived from the data with drilling information.

The moving loop ground EM system produced a very clear response from the basement conductor. This conductor was also detected by the 25 Hz GEOTEM and TEMPEST systems flown over the prospect in 1997 and 1998 respectively. Conductivity sections derived from measured response data were useful for visualising the response variations. Due to the width of the discrete conductor and the continuity of the conductive cover, conductivity sections based on a 1-dimensional approximation provided reasonable quantitative estimates for the thickness of conductive cover and the depth to the conductor.

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References

Baker, T., 1995, Drillcore analysis and interpretation of the Bull Creek Prospect, NW Queensland: (unpubl.).
Brescianini, R.F., Asten, M.W., and McLean, N., 1992, Geophysical characteristics of the Eloise Cu-Au Deposit North-West Queensland: Exploration Geophysics, 23, 33-42.
Lane, R., Green, A., Golding, C, Owers, M., Pik, P., Plunkett, C, Sattel, D., and Thorn, B., 2000, An example of 3D conductivity mapping using the TEMPEST airborne electromagnetic system: Exploration Geophysics, 31, 162-172.
Liu, G., and Asten, M., 1993, Conductance-Depth Imaging of Airborne TEM Data: Exploration Geophysics, 24, 655-662.
Macnae, J.C., King, A., Stolz, N., Osmakoff, A., Blaha, A., 1998, Fast AEM data processing and inversion: Exploration Geophysics, 29, 163-169.
Munro, S., 1997, Alteration and Mineralisation at the Bull Creek Cu-Au Prospect, NW Queensland: Honours Thesis, James Cook University (unpubl.).
Peters, B., and Buck, P., 2000, The Maggie Hays and Emily Ann nickel deposits, Western Australia: A geophysical case history: Exploration Geophysics, 31, 210-221.
Smith, R.S., and Annan, A.P., 1997, Advances in airborne time-domain EM technology: In "Proceedings of Exploration 97: Fourth Decennial International Conference on Mineral Exploration" edited by A.G. Gubins, 1997, 497-504.
Wolfgram, P., and Thomson, S., 1998, The use of B-field measurements in an airborne time-domain system - Part II: examples in conductive regimes: Exploration Geophysics, 29, 225-229.

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Article Type: Research Article

Keyword(s): electromagnetics; EMFlow; GEOTEM; TEMPEST

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