Description

The aeromagnetic data can illustrate the presence of certain rock types, anomalous zones and structures in the Earth’s upper crust. To achieve this objective, a high-resolution aeromagnetic data survey was performed with specifications such as nominal traverse line spacing 100 m with east-west direction and control lines spacing 600 m with north-south direction. The nominal aircraft terrain clearance was 60 m with drape flying. A total of 87,696 line-km data was acquired, covering approximately 7,500 km².

Location

The survey area is located in the Slave craton of the Northwest Territories, covering a block of ground on NTS map sheets 75M and 75N.

Justification

Previous to this study, only low-resolution regional aeromagnetic data was publically available, and this new high-resolution aeromagnetic data can be used by multiple stakeholders to enhance geoscience knowledge, promote mineral exploration, and inform land use planning decisions. This survey is located over an under-explored area between active diamond mines, where a number of magnetic anomalies may suggest diamond potential.

Approach

EON Geoscience Inc. (EON) carried out this fixed-wing aircraft aeromagnetic survey using three aircraft equipped with cesium vapour magnetometers located in the tail booms of each aircraft. High-resolution data products were provided by EON in Geosoft’s database and grids along with Geotiffs and PDF formats.

Schedule

The central Slave craton aeromagnetic survey was flown from Yellowknife, as a base of operations from February 15th to April 20th, 2017. The data was published by Northwest Territories Geological Survey (NTGS) as NWT open report 2017-014 (Mirza and Elliott, 2017) in July 2017.

Partners and Support

The work was funded by a joint-agreement between the NTGS and the Canadian Northern Development Agency (CanNor).

EON Geoscience Inc. (EON) carried out this survey.