Geoscience BC's Targeting Resources for Exploration and Knowledge (TREK) program activities included an airborne magnetic survey over 24,000 km2 of British Columbia's Interior Plateau. In addition, high-resolution airborne magnetic data was purchased from Amarc Resources Ltd., RJK Explorations Ltd. and Deveron (Greencastle) Resources Ltd. and incorporated into the final deliverables.
This project was part of the TREK series of research projects.
BC’s northern Interior Plateau south of Vanderhoof and west of Quesnel is covered by a thick layer of glacial sediments and young volcanic rocks. This cover hides the complex geology of the area and potentially untapped mineral wealth and geothermal resources hidden within.
Interest in the area was reinvigorated when mineral reserves of 8.2 million ounces of gold and 61 million ounces of silver were announced at the Blackwater deposit in 2012. Following this announcement, Geoscience BC launched the TREK program in 2013 to generate reliable, large-scale, high-quality earth science information across the area.
The TREK Geophysical Survey project:
Indigenous groups, communities, the mineral exploration sector and land managers need access to reliable earth science information to make informed decisions in the TREK area where mineral potential is high.
Geoscience BC’s TREK geophysical survey project was initiated in 2013 to collect new, high-quality detailed data in central BC. The final dataset, which includes purchased geophysical data, provides explorers with high-resolution airborne magnetic data for BC’s Central Interior.
The TREK program covered a 24,000 km2 area in BC’s central Interior Plateau from Anahim Lake in the west, Vanderhoof in the north and Williams Lake in the east. The Blackwater Gold Project is located in the centre of the program area, about 160 km southwest of Prince George.
The majority of the project data was collected by Aeroquest Airborne Ltd., who flew a fixed wing airborne magnetic survey at a line spacing of 250 m from August through November 2013. The crew was based out of Vanderhoof, Anahim Lake and Quesnel.
Geoscience BC also purchased data from Amarc Resources Ltd., RJK Explorations and Deveron (Greencastle) Resources.
Geoscience BC Report 2014-04 presents the results of the TREK airborne magnetic survey flown by Aeroquest Airborne Ltd. (Aeroquest) in 2013. Helicopter-borne magnetic data from two large blocks within the greater TREK survey were purchased from Amarc Resources Ltd. prior to Aeroquest commencing the survey. As a result, Amarc’s Galileo and Hubble properties, were omitted from the TREK flight plan. Information for both the merged and original (unmerged) datasets are included within report 2014-04. The merged database includes only the mag channel from the fixed-wing tail sensor because the Amarc data only had single-sensor magnetic data to merge. The channels for the wingtip mag data and measured gradient can be found in the original dataset.
Geoscience BC Report 2014-05 combines high resolution, helicopter-borne magnetic data in the TREK project area from RJK Explorations Ltd. (RJK) and Deveron (Greencastle) Resources Ltd. (Deveron) properties in the Blackwater District, Nechako Region. The magnetic surveys total 1,584 line km and 1,450 line km, respectively, and each were flown using 100 m line spacing. Despite their relatively small sizes, the surveys were purchased because of their high quality and their location within an area of high interest. It should be noted that the acquisition of electromagnetic (EM) data was the primary purpose of these surveys. As a result, the acquisition drape was as close to the ground surface as possible consistent with safe operation of the EM system, and the resulting drape may not be as smooth as it would be if the magnetometer was the primary sensor.