DESMEX-II (Deep Electromagnetic Sounding for Mineral Exploration) – Innovative technologies, integration, application and exploitation
Country / Region: Germany
Begin of project: July 1, 2019
End of project: June 30, 2022
Status of project: November 1, 2019
Follow-up project based on the joint research project DESMEX, funded from 2015–2019 by the German Federal Ministry for Research and Education (BMBF) within the framework of the program: r4 – Innovative technologies for resource efficiency – Provision of raw materials of strategic economic importance regarding the topic: "Extraction of primary raw materials - Development of concepts for the exploration of primary raw materials"..
Motivation
The increasing demand for mineral resources in recent decades requires the development of new, competitive methods for geophysical exploration. Airborne electromagnetic methods are well established in mineral exploration because they are fast and inexpensive. Nevertheless, pure airborne methods are not suitable for large penetration depths because of the comparatively low transmission power and the low coupling with the ground. The semi-airborne EM concept combines the advantages of ground-based electric dipole transmitters with novel developments of airborne receivers.
The precursor project DESMEX developed a semi-airborne EM exploration method using two different airborne probes (Becken et al., 2019) and successfully tested (Smirnova et al., 2019).
Overall target
DESMEX-II has the goal of establishing semi-airborne EM procedures for the exploration of deep deposits in Germany, Europe and commodity partner countries. The leading knowledge of the partners will be consolidated. In addition, the German economy will be provided with new technologies to stimulate the exploration of mineral resources.
DESMEX-II systematically relies on results of DESMEX. Through new technical innovations, the semi-airborne process is to be significantly expanded in terms of performance and efficiency. In addition, the range of applications of the passive, airborne EM depth sounding should be put on a broad basis and allow exploration on different scales.
Schematic representation of the desired further developments in DESMEX-II
Source: Uni Münster
Specific goals
- Increasing the signal-to-noise ratio and thus the maximum range of the dipole transmitters to improve the efficiency of helicopter-borne surveys
- Developing new highly sensitive optically pumped magnetometers as an extended sensor concept
- Evaluating the suitability of technical infrastructure (such as electricity highways) for exploration in urban areas
- Using natural signals (electrical discharges in the high atmosphere) as part of an audio-frequency magnetics concept for reconnaissance surveys
- Testing of drones as low-cost aircraft for small-scale semi-airborne EM measurements
- Adding a sensor to determine the gravity field and its anomalies to the in-flight measurement instrumentation to a sensor to determine the gravity field and its anomalies
Project partner
Publications of DESMEX
Becken, M., Nittinger, C., Smirnova, M., Steuer, A., Martin, T., Petersen, H., Meyer, U., Mörbe, W., Yogeshwar, P., Tezkan, B., Matzander, U., Friedrich, F., Rochlitz, R., Günther, T., Schiffler, M., Stolz, R. and the DESMEX Working Group. DESMEX: A novel system development for semi-airborne. Submitted to Geophysics.
Meyer, U., Petersen, H., Costabel, S., Steuer, A., Cherevatova, M., Becken, M., Nittinger, C., Günther, T., Yogeshwar, P., Mörbe, W. and Tezkan, B., 2018. Results from the Main DESMEX Experiment South of Greiz, Germany, 2nd Conference on Geophysics for Mineral Exploration and Mining, DOI: 10.3997/2214-4609.201802722
Nittinger, C., Cherevatova, M., Becken, M., Martin, T., Petersen, H., Steuer, A., Meyer, U., Siemon, B., Matzander, U., Friedrichs, B., Mörbe, W., Yogeshwar, P., Tezkan, B., Rochlitz R. and Günther, T., 2017. A Novel Semi-airborne EM System for Mineral Exploration - First Results from Combined Fluxgate and Induction Coil Data, Second European Airborne Electromagnetics Conference, DOI: 10.3997/2214-4609.201702154
Smirnova, M., Becken, M., Nittinger, C., Yogeshwar, P., Mörbe, W., Rochlitz, R., Steuer, A., Costabel, S., Smirnov, M. Y., and the DESMEX Working Group, 2019. A novel semi-airborne frequency-domain CSEM system. Three-dimensional inversion of semi-airborne data from the flight experiment over an ancient mining area near Schleiz, Germany. Geophysics, 84 (5), 1-12, DOI: 10.1190/geo2018-0659.1
Smirnova, M., Juhojuntti, N., Becken, M., Smirnov, M., Yogeshwar, P., Steuer, A., Rochlitz R., Schiffler, M., 2019. Combined 3D Inversion of Ground and Airborne Electromagnetic Data over Iron Ore in Kiruna. Near Surface Geoscience Conference & Exhibition 2019, 8-12 September 2019, The Hague, Netherlands, DOI: 10.3997/2214-4609.201902430
Steuer, A., Preugschat, B., Cherevatova, M., Mörbe, W., Yogeshwar, P., Günther, T., Rochlitz, R., Schiffler, M., Siemon, B., Costabel, S., Müller F. and the DESMEX Working Group, 2019b. Validation of semi-airborne 3D inversion results using airborne and ground-based EM methods, as well as geological models and borehole measurements. EGU General Assembly, 07.-12.04.2019, Vienna, Austria, Abstract, Poster.
Links
DESMEX (Deep Electromagnetic Sounding for Mineral Exploration): BGR 2015-2019