Newmont Waihi Gold Conducts Ground Survey

Posted by on 03/05/2011

Over the next few weeks geophysicists working for Newmont Waihi Gold will be carrying out a CSAMT- resistivity ground survey alongside some Waihi streets and across paddocks.The CSAMT survey is the same technique that has been used for several years to carry out surveys over various parts of town.The survey team will place a series of porcelain pots about the size of coffee mugs along the ground. Each pot will be connected with a wire to the next one to form a chain about 100 - 150 metres in length, before being connected to an instrument box. Meanwhile, several kilometres away, two electrodes will be placed on the ground about 1500 metres apart and joined by a wire. The electrodes are usually made of a square metre of tinfoil and are placed just under topsoil. A small portable generator will be connected to the electrodes and a current introduced to the system.The connected electrodes will set up an electrical field that can be measured for a considerable distance and depth. As the electrical field radiates from the source its intensity can be measured. Different ground types produce different readings. Clay is a very good conductor of electricity while quartz is very poor. In our local region gold is typically present in quartz. After information has been gathered the surveyors will move on, taking with them the hand-held equipment they used.

About CSAMT

• There is no electrical current in the wires or pots

• The procedure is totally safe around people and pets

• There will be no interference with electronic equipment in the home or in vehicles

• The procedure will not impede access across driveways or streets

• The procedure takes about 15 minutes to complete 25 metres of each survey line

• There is nothing left behind when the technicians leave

• The survey will build up a picture of rock types under the ground over a wide area. It cannot identify gold or any mineralisation.