Fleet Space has released a case study from Barrick’s deployment of its exploration platform, ExoSphere, to generate 3D subsurface imaging across 1150 km2 of one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold porphyry deposits: the Reko Diq Project in Balochistan, Pakistan.
Focusing on multiple zones of interest, ExoSphere’s satellite-enabled, real-time ambient noise tomography (ANT) surveys delivered valuable subsurface insights and several key findings that enhance Barrick and RDMC’s orebody knowledge, ongoing exploration, and development of the world-class Reko Diq Project.
Key findings:
- Identification of key geological structures: The velocity models clearly delineated the regional D1 and D2 structures, providing valuable information for understanding the structural framework controlling mineralisation.
- Potential alteration zones: Anomalous velocity zones identified in the models correlate with potential alteration haloes surrounding the targeted porphyry systems.
- Delineation of high-velocity zones: High-velocity zones within the models correspond to known porphyry targets, and may indicate the presence of hypogene feeders, providing a geophysical signature for potentially mineralised zones.
- Estimation of underlying batholith depth: The regional velocity model provided an estimation of the depth to the underlying batholith, a critical factor in understanding the magmatic evolution of the porphyry complex.
- Identification of structural lineaments: Lineaments observed in the velocity models may represent fault zones or other structural discontinuities that could have influenced fluid flow and mineralisation.
Designed for speed, scale, and more sustainable outcomes in mineral exploration, Fleet Space has continued to expand the multiphysics survey capabilities of its ExoSphere platform. Indeed, the company recently launched its satellite-enabled, real-time magnetotellurics (MT) solution, ExoSphere MT – as the latest next-gen technique ExoSphere provides in addition to active seismic, gravity, and ANT.
The launch of real-time MT and acquisition of HiSeis follows Fleet Space’s US$100 million Series D to continue building the next-generation of geophysical tools that fuse exploration data streams into real-time, AI-compatible datasets with ExoSphere – a platform used by leading mining companies like Rio Tinto, Barrick, Gold Fields, and Maaden, among many others.