BCGS Annual Symposium Announcement

The BCGS plans to once again host its annual symposium and is seeking presenters/discussion leaders for this event. This year’s symposium will be aimed towards stimulating discussion. To this end there is no official theme but rather a series of topics. Each topic will have “talks” that can range in length from 5 – 30min in length with discussion time in between. We have come up with some potential topics that we feel may be of interest however all submissions are welcome. If you are interested in presenting or leading a discussion please send an email to info@bcgsonline.org including a brief description/abstract of your talk and amount of time you request. We will announce the program and registration details at a later date.

Potential Topics:

  • Physical Properties
  • Selecting the most suitable geophysical system/method
  • Optimizing survey design
  • Tools/Tips of the Trade

DATE: Tuesday November 26th

LOCATION: St John’s College, UBC

REGISTRATION DETAILS: To be announced

October Discussion Meeting

At last month’s talk, the lack of industry wide safety standards & guidelines for ground electrical survey operations was brought up and the progress made to date by the Australian Ground Geophysical Surveys Safety Association (GGSSA) discussed. Interest was expressed amongst the attendees to discuss this further including the possibility of generating some sort of Canadian involvement in these efforts. Dennis Woods of Discovery Int’l Geophysics has volunteered to lead a discussion session to explore this topic this month.

DISCUSSION LEADER: Dennis Woods, Discovery Int’l Geophysics Inc.

TOPIC: Safety and Ground Geophysical Surveying in Exploration

DATE: Thursday October 17th at 4:30pm LOCATION: Room 451, 409 Granville (UK Building at Granville and Hastings)

POST-MEETING: Attendees are encouraged to grab a pint together at Moose’s Downunder afterwards

June Technical Talk

Speaker: Mike McMillan, MSc Candidate & Staff Geophysicist at Newmont Mining Corporation.

Title: Enhancing resolution of 3D-EM inversion models through a co-operative geophysical approach with drilling constraints.

Date: Tuesday June 25th, 2013

Time: 4:30pm

Location: 4th Floor Conference Room, Room 451, 409 Granville (UK Building at Granville and Hastings)

GoToMeeting Details:

For those who cannot attend, the presentation will be broadcast. To join the meeting go to the following link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/join/203384089

This link will be active 15 minutes before the presentation scheduled time. If it is your first time using GoToMeeting it will install a small app on your computer so pplease allow ~10minutes for this. Once connected use your microphone and speakers (headset recommended) or call in using your telephone:

Dial +1 (647) 497-9371 Access Code: 203-384-089 Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting Meeting ID: 203-384-089

Abstract:

When multiple electromagnetic (EM) geophysical datasets are collected over a common area, and drilling information is available, the goal of a geophysicist is to produce a consistent three dimensional resistivity inversion model which fits the given datasets and adheres to the drilling. This feat is usually easier said than done. At the Antonio high sulfidation gold deposit in Peru, time-domain airborne EM, controlled-source audio-magnetotelluric (CSAMT) and induced-polarization (IP) data were gathered and inverted in 3D to recover a large resistor related to gold hosted silica alteration. However variations between the 3D models were observed which further motivated a subsequent co-operative method in which all the geophysics data collectively worked together to produce one consistent resistivity model. This approach was tackled in a few different ways, and some examples are shown with synthetic datasets that quantitatively demonstrate the improved resolution achieved in 3D inversion models by implementing co-operative inversion methods. These routines were then used on field data, and with the addition of physical properties from drill-holes, one resistivity model consistent with all geophysics and drilling information ensued which helped further image the gold rich resistive zone.

POST-TALK: Those interested are encouraged to head to Moose’s Downunder after the talk.

May Technical Talk

Speaker: Greg Hodges – Fugro Airborne Surveys

Title: HELITEMTM Data Over Lalor and Chisel Lake Deposits

Date: Tuesday May 7, 2013

Location: 4th Floor Conference Room, Room 451, 409 Granville (UK Building at Granville and Hastings)

Video-Link: Those who are interested but unable to attend in person will be able to catch the presentation live via online GoToMeeting. Details will be provided the day before.

Abstract:

The test survey that detected the Lalor Lake and Chisel North deposits showed that HELITEM could detect these targets at greater than 550m depth, but it also showed some limitations of modeling and some widely accepted ideas about time domain EM. The initial modeling suggested that the deposit might not be detectable, but the survey went ahead and proved successful, exceeding the predictions. The targets were flown and re-flown with several pulse widths and base frequencies, and the results generally matched prediction from theory, but not always intuitive assumptions. The deposits are well known from extensive drilling and the results of the survey have since been modeled with both discrete plate conductors (LeroiAir) and 3D UBC inversions with good results, but once again some mysteries become apparent.

Post-Talk: Those interested are encouraged to head to Moose’s Downunder after the talk

Practical Inversion for Geoscientists

A short course on the why, how, and what of geophysical inversion

Presented by the B.C. Geophysical Society

Date: April 24th – 26th 2013

Address: SFU Downtown Campus; Vancouver BC

Registration:  Registration is now open!  Please fill out attached pdf form (link below) and click submit.  Registration will be complete once payment is made via Paypal link.  Delegates are asked to choose one workshop day among April 25th or 26th.

Day 1 – Presentations

Introduction to inversion in exploration

  • Reasons for doing inversion
  • Range of inversion options: magnetics, gravity, EM, IP-resistivity, seismic
  • Fitting geology and data

 Background on inversion

  • Unconstrained/constrained
  • Joint and collaborative
  • The future of inversion

Before inversion – forward modeling

  • forward modeling
  • petrophysics drives the story
  • complexity vs. adequacy 

Case studies

  • Potential fields
  • EM
  • IP-resistivity

Day 2 – Workshop with Case Studies
Multi-disciplinary teams will use geological, geophysical and geochemical data from two deposits (Babine Lake porphyry Cu-Mo, BC and Minto Cu, YK) to develop exploration targets. Teams will present their evaluations of the data to stimulate group discussion.

Inversion results for the available geophysical surveys will be presented to demonstrate state-of-the-art technology (http://geosoft.com/, http://www.mirageoscience.com/) and best practices.

Sponsors for the short course are currently being solicited. Please contact Victoria Sterritt at Victoria.Sterritt@teck.com for details. Proceeds go to the KEGS Foundation.
For those interested in more information about the short course, please email info@bcgsonline.org 

 The BCGS would like to thank RedTail Metals and Capstone Mining Corp. for providing access to the Babine Lake and Minto data sets.