Chapter 1

• Geophysics is the application of method of physics to the

study of the Earth.
• Geophysical methods respond to differences in the physical
properties of rocks.
• Geophysics is an integral part of most mineral exploration
programmes, both greenfields and brownfields, and is
increasingly used during the mining of ore bodies.
• It is widely used because it can map large areas quickly and
cost effectively, delineate subtle physical variations in the
geology that might otherwise not be observed by field
geological investigations and detect occurrences of a wide
variety of mineral deposits.
Physical versus chemical
characterisation of the geological
environment
• The geophysical view of the geological
environment focuses on variations in the physical
properties within some volume of rock.
• This is in direct contrast with the geological view.
• The bulk chemistry is inferred from visual and
chemical assessment of the proportions of
different silicate and carbonate minerals at
locations where the geology happens to be
exposed, or has been drilled.
• These two fundamentally different approaches to
assessing the geological environment mean that a
particular area of geology may appear homogeneous
to a geologist but may be geophysically
heterogeneous, and vice versa.
• The two perspectives are complementary, but
they may also appear to be contradictory.
• Some geophysical methods can measure the actual physical
property of the subsurface, but all methods are sensitive to
physical property contrasts or relative changes in
properties, i.e. the juxtaposition of rocks with different
physical properties.
• It is the changes in physical properties that are detected
and mapped.
• This relativist geophysics approach is another fundamental
aspect that differs from the absolutist geological approach.
• For example, one way of geologically classifying igneous
rocks is according to their silica content, with absolute
values used to define categories such as felsic,
intermediate, mafic etc.
• The geophysical approach is equivalent to being
able to tell that one rock contains, say, 20% more
silica than another, without knowing whether one
or both are mafic, felsic etc.
• The link between the geological and geophysical
perspectives of the Earth is petrophysics – the
study of the physical properties of rocks and
minerals, which is the foundation of the
interpretation of geophysical data.
Geophysical methods in exploration
and mining
• Geophysical methods are used in mineral
exploration for geological mapping and to
identify geological environments favorable for
mineralisation.
• i.e. to directly detect, or target, the
mineralised environment.
• During exploitation of mineral resources,
geophysics is used both in delineating and
evaluating the ore itself.
• There are five main classes of geophysical
methods.
• distinguished according to the physical properties
of the geology to which they respond.
• The gravity and magnetic methods detect
differences in density and magnetism,
respectively, by measuring variations in the
Earth’s gravity and magnetic fields.
• The radiometric method detects variations in
natural radioactivity, from this the radio element
content of the rocks can be estimated.
• The seismic method detects variations in the
elastic properties of the rocks, manifest as
variations in the behavior of seismic waves
passing through them.
• Seismic surveys are highly effective for
investigating layered stratigraphy, so they are
the mainstay of the petroleum industry but
are comparatively rarely used by the minerals
industry.
• The electrical methods, based on the electrical
properties of rocks and minerals, are the most diverse
of the five classes.
• Electrical conductivity, or its reciprocal resistivity, can
be obtained by measuring differences in electrical
potentials in the rocks.
• When the potentials arise from natural processes the
technique is known as the spontaneous potential or
self-potential (SP) method.
• When they are associated with artificially generated
electric currents passing through the rocks, the
technique is known as the resistivity method.
• An extension to this is the induced polarisation (IP)
method which measures the ability of rocks to store
electric charge.
• Electrical properties can also be investigated by using
electric currents created and measured through the
phenomenon of electromagnetic induction.
• In electromagnetic (EM) methods, whilst electrical
conductivity remains an important factor.
• different implementations of the technique can cause
other electrical properties of the rocks to influence the
measurements.
• The physical-property-based categorization
described above is complemented by a two-fold
classification
• into either passive or active methods.
• Passive methods use natural sources of energy,
– of which the Earth’s gravity and magnetic fields are
two examples, to investigate the ground.
• The geophysical measurement is made with some
form of instrument, known as a detector, sensor
or receiver.
• The receiver measures the response of the
local geology to the natural energy.
• The passive geophysical methods are the
gravity, magnetic, radiometric and SP
methods, plus a form of electromagnetic
surveying known as magnetotellurics.
• Active geophysical methods involve the
deliberate introduction of some form of energy
into the ground,
– for example seismic waves, electric currents,
electromagnetic waves etc.
• Again, the ground’s response to the introduced
energy is measured with some form of detector.
• The need to supplement the detector with a
source of this energy, often called the transmitter
• means that the active methods are more
complicated and expensive to work with.
• They do have the advantage that
– the transmission of the energy into the ground
can be controlled to produce responses that
provide particular information about the
subsurface,
– and to focus on the response from some region
(usually depth) of particular interest.
• Note that, confusingly, the cause of a
geophysical response in the subsurface is also
commonly called a source.
 Airborne, ground and in-ground
surveys
• Geophysical surveying involves making a series of
measurements over an area of interest.
• Usually, a single survey instrument is used to traverse the
area, either on the ground, in the air or within a drill hole.
• Surveys from space or on water are also possible but are
uncommon in the mining industry.
• In general, airborne measurements made from a low-flying
aircraft are more cost-effective than ground measurements
for surveys covering a large area or comprising a large
number of readings.
• The chief advantages of airborne surveying relative to
ground surveying are
– the greater speed of data acquisition, and
– the completeness of the survey coverage.
• As exploration progresses and focuses on smaller areas,
there is a general reduction in both the extent of
geophysical surveys and the distances between the
individual readings in a survey.
• Airborne surveys are usually part of the reconnaissance
phase, it is often the initial phase of exploration.
• Some modern airborne systems offer higher resolution by
surveying very close to the ground.
• and may find application in the later stages of exploration.
• Ground and drillhole surveys, on the other hand, offer
the highest resolution of the subsurface.
• They are mostly used for further investigation of areas
targeted from the reconnaissance work for their higher
prospectivity,
• i.e. they are used at the smaller prospect scale
– Methods that can be implemented from the air include
magnetics, known as aeromagnetics;
– gravity, sometimes referred to as aerogravity or as
currently implemented for mineral exploration as airborne
gravity gradiometry;
– and electromagnetics, usually referred to as airborne
electromagnetics (AEM).
• All the geophysical methods can be
implemented downhole, i.e. in a drillhole.
• There are two quite distinct modes of making
downhole measurements: downhole logging
and downhole surveying.
• Downhole logging is where the in situ physical
properties of the rocks penetrated by a drillhole are
measured to produce a continuous record of the
measured parameter.
• Downhole logs are commonly used for making
stratigraphic correlations between drillholes.
• Measurements of several physical parameters,
producing a suite of logs, allow the physical
characterisation of the local geology
• Despite the valuable information obtainable,
multiparameter logging is not ubiquitous in mineral
exploration.
• Downhole surveying is designed to investigate the larger
region surrounding the drillhole,
• with physical property variations obtained indirectly, and to
indicate the direction and even the shape of targets.
• That is, downhole electrical conductivity logging measures
the conductivity of the rocks that form the drillhole walls,
whereas a downhole electro magnetic survey detects
conductivity variations.
• Downhole geophysical surveys increase the radius of
investigation of the drillhole, increase the depth of
investigation and provide greater resolution of buried
targets.
• Geophysical surveys are sometimes conducted in
open-pit and underground mines.
• measurements are made in vertical shafts and/or
along (inclined) drives, usually to detect and
delineate ore horizons.
• Application and implementation of geophysics
underground tend to be unique to a particular
situation, and survey design requires a fair degree
of ingenuity to adapt the arrangement of
transmitter and receiver to the confines of the
underground environment.
• They are usually highly focused towards
determining a specific characteristic of a small
volume of ground in the immediate
surrounds.
• Electrical and mechanical interference from
mine infrastructure limits the sensitivity of
surveys, which require a high level of planning
and coordination with mining activities.
 Geophysical methods and mineral
deposits
• The physical properties of the geological environment
most commonly measured in mining geophysics are
density, magnetism, radioactivity and electrical
properties.
• Elastic (seismic) properties are not commonly
exploited.
• In general, density, magnetism and radioactivity are
used to map the geology.
• The limited use of electrical properties is due to their
non-availability from an airborne platform, although
AEM-derived conductivity measurements are
becoming more common.
• Direct detection of a mineralised environment
may depend upon any one or more of density,
magnetism, radioactivity, electrical properties
and possibly elasticity.
• Table 1.1 summarises how contrasts in
physical properties are exploited in
exploration and mining of various types of
mineral deposits, and in groundwater and
petroleum studies.