1D and 3D inversion and modelling of airborne transient electromagnetic and magnetic data from over a potential volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit, Cripple Creek, Newfoundland

• Main Author: Demirbaş, Alican
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 2021
• Subjects: Canada; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48336/6asy-vj06; https://research.library.mun.ca/14946/

Electromagnetic (EM) methods, including Transient Electromagnetic (TEM), and magnetic methods, are commonly used in mineral exploration. In this study, EM and magnetic measurements are used to investigate possible mineralization zones in the Cripple Creek property in the Gander area, Newfoundland, Canada. This study's main goal is to invert airborne TEM data for recovering the conductive structures of the mineralization zones in the area of interest. Airborne magnetic and ground-based frequency-domain EM data are are also considered as supportive techniques, along with the TEM data-set. The magnetic results help define the regional geological structure of the area of interest. The ground-based frequency-domain EM, which exists over a limited area, and the TEM responses are compared and are shown to be mostly consistent. The geometry of a mineralized zone suggested by the TEM inversion is then refined by further computer modelling (using the software “Maxwell”). The resulting models are compared and discussed in terms of correctness of the inversion and the methods' effectiveness. The results show that the 3D models of the conductivity interpolated from 1D inversion results of the TEM data recover the near-surface structures quite well but become inaccurate at depth. It is shown that the models resulting from the 3D magnetic inversion are partially consistent with the TEM results. This is possible because of the physical property of the structure of interest, which means that the area of interest does not show the same magnetic properties everywhere. Both magnetic and TEM results are only overlapping on one of the flight lines, L2220. However, when the magnetic inversion is considered separately, it helps to reveal the magnetic properties reasonably well around the structure of interest.