Developing cost-effective seismic mineral exploration methods using a landstreamer and a drophammer

Area of Science:

• Geophysics
• Mineral Exploration
• Seismic Imaging

Background:

• Seismic data acquisition for mineral exploration needs to be fast, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly.
• Urban and brown-field environments present challenges due to high noise levels.
• Digital seismic landstreamers offer a potential solution for these challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel digital seismic landstreamer for deep mineral exploration.
• To assess the streamer's effectiveness in targeting iron-oxide mineralization at approximately 850m depth.
• To demonstrate a cost-effective seismic exploration method.

Main Methods:

• A 240m digital seismic landstreamer with 100 3-component micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) receivers (2-4m spacing) was deployed.
• 75 wireless recorders (10Hz and MEMS) with 10m spacing were used.
• A 500kg Bobcat-mounted drophammer generated seismic signals.

Main Results:

• Approximately 3.5km of seismic data were acquired within 4 days.
• Reflection processing clearly imaged iron-oxide mineralization as strong, high-amplitude reflections.
• The mineralization was delineated to depths slightly beyond the known 850m limit.

Conclusions:

• The digital seismic landstreamer is a viable and cost-effective tool for mineral exploration.
• This method can successfully delineate iron-oxide deposits at significant depths.
• The technology shows promise for application in similar exploration scenarios globally.