Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Department

Art

Sub-Department

Geological Sciences

First Advisor

James N. Kellogg

Abstract

The goal of this research was to calibrate and test geophysical methods for the detection of disseminated sulfides in the area of the Haile Gold Mine, South Carolina. The work focused on the calibration of high resolution gravity, and helicopter electromagnetic (EM) and magnetic data provided by OceanaGold. While high resolution potential field data (gravity and magnetics) has not been proven to be effective at small scales in exploration for disseminated sulfides, there is a strong regional correlation between high amplitude gravity and magnetic anomalies and the most productive gold mines in the Carolina terrane. Helicopter EM methods have been shown to be effective in distinguishing sedimentary from volcanic-dominated sediments in the metamorphic rocks of the Carolina terrane. The interpretation of the gravity and magnetic data utilized tilt derivatives, reduced to pole anomalies (RTP), shaded relief, Power spectrum, Analytical signal, Source parameter imaging (SPI), 3-D Euler deconvolution, upward continuation, and 2-D forward density modeling. The most surprising result was that over the Haile Mine, the residual gravity anomalies, tilt derivatives, and analytic signal show positive anomalies correlated with the location of a disseminated ore body. The gravity field over the ore body can be interpreted as produced by 4% pyrite and molybdenite.

Electromagnetic (EM) anomalies are also spatially associated with the Haile ore bodies. Cultural signals in the EM data can be minimized with high pass filtering. The edges of a granite pluton are clearly illuminated by the shaded relief, tilt derivative, Euler deconvolution, and analytic signal of the high resolution magnetic field. The RTP magnetic field shows NW-trending Jurassic dikes as well as ENE-trending Alleghanian dikes. An oval pattern in the magnetic SPI outlines the Brewer gold mine area.

Rights

© 2017, Saad Saud Alarifi

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