2D and 3D Gold Exploration in Burkina Faso

Background

The Salma premise is located in western Burkina Faso within the Boromo Birimian greenstone belt which trends NS. Supracrustal rocks of the district are composed of mafic to intermediate calc-alkaline volcanic series including voluminous basalt and andesite with pyroclastic flows and tuff. In detail, this permit occurs in the Batié volcano-sedimentary unit which occupies the central part of the Boromo belt. The Batié volcano-sedimentary assemblage is composed of flysch-like metasediments, tuffs and epiclastic volcano-sediments with occasional intercalations of andesite (Baratoux et al., 2011).

Process

The client used the SuperSting™ R8 and set out a line of 84 electrodes spaced 12.5 meters apart to measure resistivity and induced polarization (IP) using a dipole-dipole electrode array. Many parallel lines measured at 50 meters apart to make 3D resistivity and IP imaging.

Results

SuperSting™ R8 induced polarization data processed with EarthImager™ 2D and 3D (64bit) software was successfully used to locate economically important gold deposits in high resolution with relatively low transmitter power. A strong correlation was found between resistivity/chargeability features and mineralized zones (where gold deposits are located). The client was able to prove with AGI equipment and software what they ground truthed—that gold deposits existed where they anticipated.