seismic method of mineral exploration

A wide range of case studies are covered, including some that are published in the special issue accompanying this article, from surface to borehole seismic methods, as well as petrophysical data and seismic modeling of mineral deposits. Predicted reflectivity logs, based on measured densities and predicted velocities, show that some contacts between olivine pyroxenite/olivine websterite-dominant host rocks of the Kevitsa disseminated sulfide mineralization—and metaperidotite—earlier extensively used “lithology” label that essentially describes various degrees of alteration of different olivine pyroxenite variants—are reflective, and thus, alteration can potentially cause reflectivity within the Kevitsa intrusion. The main techniques used are: Seismic tomography to locate earthquakes and assist in Seismology Reflection seismology and seismic refraction to map the surface structure of a region. Consequently, seismic methods will become a more important tool to help unravel structures hosting mineral deposits at great depth for mine planning and exploration. Our dedicated information section provides allows you to learn more about MDPI. With this setup, we successfully recorded seismic reflections from the deposit and its nearby geological contrasts. Seismic reflection methods have been used for the exploration of mineral resources for several decades. • High resolution - low ambiguity method with no loss of resolution with depth • Detects contrasts in sonic … This is a practical textbook of geophysical exploration focusing on readers of mining engineers and economic geologists. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. This zone of enhanced seismic reflectivity in the footwall of the massive sulfide ore zone is also recognized on the Lalor seismic data suggesting that high-grade terrains hosting VMS deposits possess enhanced potential for the seismic detection of their footwall hydrothermal alteration zones. 260 m. In this region, the sulfur ore is strata-bound and exists within a carbonate interval of a thickness of approximately 28 m. The average sulfur content reaches up to 30%. Dr. Gilles BellefleurDr. 1.1 Application of methods Example applications of geophysical techniques to mineral-environmental problems are summarized in Table 1 (Section 3), which lists application, problems, processes, and Mixture modeling of the seismic rock properties and mineral percentages suggests that the increase in seismic velocity is due to an increase in abundance of cordierite, which is one of the diagnostic aluminum silicates for hydrothermally-altered volcanic rocks metamorphosed in the upper almandine amphibolite facies. Our results encourage the use of 2D seismic reflection profiling as a reconnaissance tool for mineral exploration in areas with limited access for active seismic surveys. However, they were applied to mineral exploration in sedimentary environments because of the similarities to … Gravity and magnetic methods, which are For this reason, some military uses of these surveys have long included quiet detection of submarines and volatile unexploded munitions. This method works by differentiating rocks based on their “seismic impedance”. Not only does this broadband signal enhance reflections from the deepest to the shallowest crust, but it also helps the use of full waveform inversion (e.g., to mitigate cycle-skipping) and related techniques. Copyright © 2021 Society of Exploration Geophysicists. The statements, opinions and data contained in the journals are solely Specific processing and imaging of the acquired and synthetic datasets yielded high-resolution reflectivity images. Seismic waves are pulses of strain energy that propagate in solids and fluids. However, despite their unmatched spatial resolution and depth penetration, they only have played a minor role in mineral discoveries so far. Because Metal Earth was proposed to map and compare entire Archean ore and geologically similar non-ore systems, regional sections cover the entire crust to the Moho in the Abitibi and Wabigoon greenstone belts of the Superior craton in central Canada. Its founders are recognised leading academics in this new field. Seismic reflection is the most effective exploration tool available to the oil and gas industry, using the transmission of sound waves through the earth and their reflections off different … With encouraging results recently obtained in various mining camps, seismic methods continue to make valuable contributions to deep mineral exploration worldwide. This amounts to a lower total acquisition cost, which makes DAS a valuable tool for future mineral exploration activities. Outline of the method The reflection experiment. The interpretation of these reflections has been complicated by disparate borehole data, particularly because of the scarce amount of available sonic borehole logs and the varying practices in logging of borehole lithologies. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website. In many parts of the world, exploration for mineral deposits is moving progressively but persistently to greater depths, relying on knowledge gained from previous exploration campaigns and also on new exploration tools and techniques to efficiently guide deep and costly boreholes. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI. However, despite their unmatched spatial resolution and depth penetration, they only have played a minor role in mineral discoveries so far. Discovery of the Tara Deep Zn-Pb Mineralization at the Boliden Tara Mine, Navan, Ireland: Success with Modern Seismic Surveys. The emergence of the concept of a “mineral system” has changed the way regional-scale mineral prospectivity is assessed. The site has been the target of extensive seismic reflection surveys, which have revealed a series of reflections beneath the Kevitsa resource area. SOM is an unsupervised data mining method based on vector quantization. Natural Resources Canada, K1A 0E8 Ottawa, Canada, Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 01-452, Warszawa, Poland, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Curtin University, Bentley WA 6102, Australia, In many parts of the world, exploration for mineral deposits is moving progressively but persistently to greater depths, relying on knowledge gained from previous exploration campaigns and on new exploration tools and techniques used to guide deep and costly boreholes to most suitable, In many parts of the world, exploration for mineral deposits is moving progressively but persistently to greater depths, relying on knowledge gained from previous exploration campaigns and on new exploration tools and techniques used to guide deep and costly boreholes to most suitable targets [...], (This article belongs to the Special Issue, We use self-organizing map (SOM) analysis to predict missing seismic velocity values from other available borehole data. All papers will be peer-reviewed. This is a pioneering approach in which we applied pre-stack inversion methods to shallow carbonate sediments. Instead, mining and exploration companies have traditionally focused more on the use of potential field, electric and electromagnetic methods. We show that by using an advanced pre-stack depth imaging algorithm it is possible to retrieve meaningful and robust seismic images with sparse shot points, using only 3–4 source points per kilometer along a seismic profile. The seismic reflection method usually gives better resolution (i.e., makes it possible to see smaller features) than other methods, with the exception of measurements made in close proximity, as with … In mineral exploration and engineering projects, applicability of seismic imaging is often limited and other geophysical methods take the front seat. You do not currently have access to this article. The sulfur content is strongly dependent on the carbonate reservoir’s porosity. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Seismic … English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions. The basic principle of all seismic methods is the controlled generation of elastic waves by a seismic source in order to obtain an image of the subsurface. Help us to further improve by taking part in this short 5 minute survey, Editorial for Special Issue “Seismic Methods in Mineral Exploration”, Predicting Missing Seismic Velocity Values Using Self-Organizing Maps to Aid the Interpretation of Seismic Reflection Data from the Kevitsa Ni-Cu-PGE Deposit in Northern Finland, Elucidating the Effects of Hydrothermal Alteration on Seismic Reflectivity in the Footwall of the Lalor Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposit, Snow Lake, Manitoba, Canada, Sparse 3D Seismic Imaging in the Kylylahti Mine Area, Eastern Finland: Comparison of Time Versus Depth Approach, Cost-Effective Seismic Exploration: 2D Reflection Imaging at the Kylylahti Massive Sulfide Deposit, Finland, Simultaneous Inversion of Shallow Seismic Data for Imaging of Sulfurized Carbonates, Acquisition and Processing of Wider Bandwidth Seismic Data in Crystalline Crust: Progress with the Metal Earth Project, Underground Vertical Seismic Profiling with Conventional and Fiber-Optic Systems for Exploration in the Kylylahti Polymetallic Mine, Eastern Finland. We discuss post-stack and pre-stack data processing and compare time and depth imaging techniques in this geologically complex Precambrian hardrock area. Near-surface velocity models are important for deep imaging of mineral deposits with seismic exploration. Seismic is utilised in many applications for subsurface investigations, mineral exploration being one of them. Improvements are here attributed to the increased bandwidth of the signal, better estimates of refraction and reflection velocities used in processing, and especially the pre-stack time migration of the data. Relevance of Geophysics across the world is as a result of oil and solid mineral exploration. These methods also can be used with varying degrees of success to directly target mineral deposits at depth. Page 3 Saskatchewan Mining Association www.saskmininged.com are in mapping folds, ore deposits, groundwater, underground contamination, and site investigation for construction. Geographically widespread data sets and deep-penetrating geophysical methods are required to map the various components of the mineral … Joint analysis of these images and cross-validation with lithological logging data from 135 nearby boreholes led to successful interpretation of key geological contacts including the target sulfide mineralization. This secondary effect is due to an increase in P-wave velocity with increasing intensity of hydrothermal alteration, as measured by the Ishikawa and Carbonate-Chlorite-Pyrite alteration indices. Authors may use MDPI's Exploration geophysics is the practical application of physical methods (such as seismic, gravitational, magnetic, electrical and electromagnetic) to measure the physical properties of rocks, … Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience. Western Australian-focused hard rock companies, in particular, have embraced 3D seismic surveying … The recording systems provided data with a good signal-to-noise ratio and high spatial resolution. During the month, the seismic stations recorded thousands of mining induced earthquakes and strong ambient seismic … Seismic Methods Seismic methods can provide valuable information of the subsurface, such as the seismic velocity structure of the geology (e.g. However, depth imaging methods were used only recently for mineral exploration because they require accurate velocity models that are particularly difficult to obtain with the low signal-to-noise ratio seismic … We show that by using an advanced pre-stack depth imaging algorithm it is possible to retrieve meaningful and robust seismic images with sparse shot points, using only 3–4 source points per kilometer along a seismic profile. The survey was completed in the northern part of the Carpathian Foredeep (SE Poland) where sulfur deposits occur. Historical development of magnetic technique in mineral exploration … In this article, we present a high-resolution shallow seismic surveying method for imaging the inner structure of the Miocene evaporitic formation, where sulfur ore occurs. This includes topics such as regional reconnaissance of ore system elements; rock physics and quantitative analysis for improved characterization of mineral deposits; modelling, inversion, and integration of seismic data with ore deposit geology. The method involves the propagation and measure of artificial acoustic waves into the earth. doi: https://doi.org/10.1190/geo2012-0028.1. Due to high metal prices and increased difficulties in finding shallower deposits, the exploration for and exploitation of mineral resources is expected to move to greater depths. Five seismic profiles were acquired with a total length of 2450 m. The acquisition was designed to obtain high-resolution, long offsets and a satisfactory signal-to-noise ratio. 3D deep structure of the Early Precambrian crust in the East European craton: A synthesis, Precambrian Mississippi Valley–type deposits: Relation to changes in composition of the hydrosphere and atmosphere, Tectonostratigraphic framework and depositional history of the Cretaceous–Danian succession of the Danish Central Graben (North Sea) – new light on a mature area. The seismic reflection method … Search for other works by this author on: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and University of the Witwatersrand. Metal Earth regional-scale transects using over 5000 active sensors target mineralizing fluid pathways throughout the crust, whereas higher spatial-resolution reflection and full-waveform surveys target structures at mine camp scales. Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 March 2019). The seismic reflection method has been used extensively in mineral exploration and for imaging crustal structures within hardrock environments. The site of this study is the Kevitsa Ni-Cu-PGE deposit within the mafic-ultramafic Kevitsa intrusion in northern Finland. Reflection and transmission at normal incidence. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). The near-surface can be quite complex from loose, highly heterogeneous materials to … Geophysics 2012;; 77 (5): WC173–WC190. To apply these same methods to mineral exploration in hardrock environments we need to adapt the time-tested seismic techniques developed for oil and gas exploration to the problems associated with a seismically reflective medium. This Special Issue aims to publish case studies demonstrating the value of seismic methods for a wide range of mineral commodities located in a variety of mining camps across the globe. Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). Seismic data acquired in this early stage of the Metal Earth project benefited greatly from recent advances in the petroleum sector as well as those. Conventional seismic reflection methods have been used with great success over the past decades to explore sedimentary environments for petroleum resources. Show prominent reflectors at 4.5–8 km depth utilizing different migration routines 1996-2021 MDPI ( Basel Switzerland. Page functionalities wo n't work as expected without javascript enabled articles as well as short communications are invited and. Definition is observed submissions to other journals closed ( 29 March 2019 ) reflector detection definition... Setup, we used a conventional VSP with three-component geophones and a novel fiber-optic Distributed Sensing! 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