Project Details
Multi-Method Geoscience on One Control Framework
Mining & Exploration | Zambian Copperbelt
LI DAR · MAGNETICS · GEOCHEMISTRY · ONE CONTROL FRAMEWORK
About the Project
LI DAR, MAGNETICS AND GEOCHEMISTRY OVER ONE CONTROL FRAMEWORK
The project was undertaken for an exploration and mining group in the Zambian Copperbelt, where the immediate decision was where to place drill pads and, critically, which terrain surface should be used for planning.
The challenge was compounded by historical sampling being held on a different datum from the new acquisition.
Radiant Engineering’s role covered the technical chain from control and acquisition through processing and interpretation, bringing multiple datasets onto a common spatial framework.
The resulting information provided a consistent basis for understanding the terrain, identifying geophysical and geochemical responses, and carrying ranked exploration targets into drill-pad planning.
Our Client’s Challenge
MAKING MULTIPLE DATASETS AGREE ON THE SAME GROUND
The exploration area presented two important technical constraints.
First, the project required a reliable terrain surface for drill-pad planning in an environment where vegetation made conventional photogrammetry difficult. Second, historic sampling existed on a different datum from the new acquisition. This created a need for more than simply collecting additional data.
The datasets needed to be:
The central question was therefore:
Where should the drill pads be placed, and on what terrain surface?
Radiant’s solution was to establish one control framework across the different acquisition methods.
Our Approach & Solution
MULTI-METHOD GEOSCIENCE ON ONE CONTROL FRAMEWORK
Radiant Engineering combined three complementary acquisition methods over the same controlled footprint.
01 — UAV LiDAR
High-density UAV LiDAR was flown over RTK-fixed control.
The LiDAR approach was particularly appropriate for the mopane woodland, where vegetation presented a constraint for photogrammetry.
The resulting point cloud could be classified to separate the ground surface from vegetation.
02 — GROUND MAGNETICS
Ground magnetic data was acquired across the same footprint and tied to the same control framework.
This provided an anomaly dataset that could be interpreted in relation to the terrain and other exploration information.
03 — XRF GEOCHEMISTRY
XRF geochemistry was also acquired over the same footprint and control framework.
This allowed the geochemical response to be considered alongside the magnetic and terrain information rather than as an isolated dataset.
04 — COMMON CONTROL
The critical feature of the approach was the use of one RTK-fixed control framework.
The datasets were reconciled to:
One datum.
One spatial framework.
One accuracy statement.
This enabled the different technical datasets to work together as a single decision-support system.
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