ABOUT THE PACIFIC PROJECT
PACIFIC will develop new tools for exploration of mineral deposits beneath the surface.
These tools rely on two techniques that have relatively low cost and have a minor impact on the environment.
Data collection at Marathon test site, Canada.
Nodes deployment plan at Marathon test site, Canada.
These techniques are based on surface-wave passive or ambient-noise seismic imagery.
This technology is finding increasing application in the mineral industry, but it lacks the resolution needed to locate and directly image ore bodies. What is needed are techniques with the accuracy and resolution required by the minerals industry and at the same time that have a relatively low environmental impact.
PACIFIC will develop these techniques and validate them at test sites in Canada and Sweden. A specific objective is to reduce the amount of drilling, which is by far the most expensive and time-consuming step of the mineral exploration process.
Research on social acceptance and public perception of mining activities will accompany the deployment and testing of the techniques. PACIFIC aims to promote the technology to become a standard in the mineral exploration process.
Passive seismic imagery techniques for mineral exploration are being tested at mineral sites in Canada and Sweden.
Canada test site, Marathon deposit
Sweden test site, Kallak Iron Ore Deposit
