Bell Geospace Mineral Prospectivity Mapping

De-risking Exploration

The background of the Bell Geospace MPM

Reliable information concerning the locations and amounts of undiscovered resources is attractive for two main purposes-

1. Decision Making

Exploration and mining companies require such information to support investment decisions, and political and administrative organisation need it support decisions concerned with land-use planning.

2. Progress

Research institutions use the information to widen and deepen the knowledge on raw material deposits and to be able to deliver advice to the society, industry and administrative and political entities.

New Technology Deployment and Innovation is a requirement for both profitability and sustainable EESG (Environmental, Economic, Social & Governance)

Companies are shifting toward innovation and technology to cut costs while trying to increase the productivity of existing exploration and production operations. Advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) machine-learning and cloud computing help drive efficiencies in geological workflows

Geological surveys and Geoscience institutions have a key role in assessing not only the nation's inventory of known mineral resources, but also in advising industry and government on the potential of undiscovered resources . Various quantitative assessment methods in Mineral Prospectivity Mapping (MPM) have been published by government institutions such as USGS, GTK, BRGM, Geoscience Australia and Botswana Geoscience Institute.

Advancements in the acquisition and processing of airborne Full Tensor Gravity Gradiometry (FTG) data has led to increased exploration success. The challenges of BIG data are being overcome by the application of cloud-based inversion services to create 3D models and multivariate automatic mapping of large volumes of geoscience data.

The Project Outline

Integrating FTG data with multiple other datasets

Bell Geospace will deliver a Mineral Prospectivity Mapping project in Botswana, introducing the FTG data acquired for DeBeers in 2006 and combining it with other geoscience data.
The dataset covers an area where exploration and mining has been ongoing for various minerals. To date, the dataset remains the most accurate airborne gravity gradiometry data ever acquired.

The Area of Interest

The focused project area (AOI) covers a portion of the Molopo Farm Complex in the south- west and extends for approximately 50km north-eastwards towards the Jwaneng Mine.

A Bell Geospace appointed interpretation team will complete the project in 2 phases;

1. Inversion of the reprocessed FTG and magnetic data over the entire survey area to create 3D models as well as Self Organising Maps (SOMs) using Magnetization Vector Inversion (MVI)

2. Multivariate statistical analysis and AI over the focused AOI using FTG, magnetic electromagnetic, geochemistry, geology and drill hole data.

Mineral Prospectivity Mapping with Botswana Geoscience Institute

Follow this project

This project involves the automation of the process for delineating areas based on their mineral potential and estimation of the proportion of the undiscovered resource that could be economically recoverable.