Geoscience BC has released data of the Quesnellia Exploration Strategy (QUEST)West airborne gravity survey.
Area mapped for minerals, hydrocarbons
Published: December 02, 2008 11:00 PM
The QUEST West airborne gravity survey – conducted between May 8 and July 16, 2008 – covered an area of over 40,000 square kilometers, including the communities of Burns Lake, Topley, Granisle, Houston, Vanderhoof, Fraser Lake, Telkwa, Smithers, Terrace and Kitimat.
The area has been significantly affected by the infestation of the Mountain Pine Beetle.
The QUEST West exploration project was designed to stimulate exploration industry interest and investment in an area heavily hit by the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation, and develop economic diversification opportunities for the communities in the region.
“Geoscience BC’s technical team believes that the QUEST-West region has great potential for copper, gold, molybdenum and silver mineralization,” said Lyn Anglin, President and CEO of Geoscience BC .
“This survey will help exploration geologists better understand the geology and mineral potential of central British Columbia, hopefully leading to increased mineral exploration investment in an area.
“It gives exploration geologists a measure of the density of rock, especially underneath the glacial covering that covers much of the QUEST-West area. In particular, they will be looking for felsic-instrusive rock content, which is often an indicator of a porphyry deposits, be they copper, molybdenum, or gold.”
Anglin said results from the QUEST data, released earlier in 2008 and covering an area from Williams Lake through Quesnel and north to Mackenzie, already shows promise.
“We released the QUEST data last spring, and as a result, a company has discovered a gold target 15 miles away from Terrane Metals Mount Milligan copper gold project. [the Mtount Milligan project is 86 kms north of Fort St. James, and 95 kms west of Mackenzie]
.That’s an eight-month turnaround between release of the data, and identification of a potential deposit. That’s really quickly in this business. Usually, it takes one to two three years between data and a mineral target being identified.”
Anglin said that the QUEST West project was made possible with the financial support of the province and Northern Development Initiative Trust (NDIT).
“The communities represented by the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako (RDBN), and the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine (RDKS) have been very proactive in pursuing economic development opportunities for their regions through stimulating more mineral exploration activity with projects like QUEST-West,” she said.
“This airborne survey is contributing a significant amount of new data on the geology and mineral potential of a large area of BC’s north-central interior,” said BC’s Minister of State for Mining Gordon Hogg.
“The results of the QUEST-West surveys will help to direct industry exploration investment and help to stimulate new mineral discoveries in Mountain Pine Beetle- affected areas of the province.”
A total of 25,499 line-km of airborne gravity was collected by Sander Geophysics Limited on behalf of Geoscience BC and partners: the NDIT, the RDBN, and the RDKS.
The company specializes in high resolution airborne surveys for petroleum and mineral exploration, and environmental mapping.
The total size of the survey was 25,499 line kilometres. A total of 41 production flights were performed using a specially-equipped helicopter. The survey operations were conducted from Smithers airport.
The survey was flown at a height of 200 metres above a drape surface [A drape surface is a perspective or panoramic rendering of a two-dimensional image superimposed on a three- dimensional surface. Drapes are usually remotely sensed images used to provide context to a Digital Terrain Model]
The survey was designed taking into account the expected terrain and the performance of the aircraft at the altitudes to be encountered. The average ground speed was about 90 knots.
The survey block had a maximum length of 202 km and a maximum width of 207 km.
The relief in the survey area ranged from rolling hills to steep mountains. The elevation ranged from 838 m to 2775 m above sea level.
During the past 50 years a very large number of both ground and airborne geophysical techniques have been developed to assist in mineral and hydrocarbon exploration.
Airborne methods are usually the most cost effective tools available for locating target areas for more detailed follow-up using helicopter borne instruments.
Aeromagnetic surveying is probably the most common airborne survey type conducted for both mineral and hydrocarbon exploration.
Full results will be available in early 2009 at
www.geosciencebc.com/s/DataReleases.asp
