FALCON test results from the Bathurst mining camp

Abstract

BHP Billiton commenced exploration surveying with the world's first fully operational, airborne gravity gradiometer in October 1999. This gradiometer (called Einstein), together with a later one called Newton, was developed in conjunction with Lockheed Martin by BHP Billiton's FALCON project. FALCON data are acquired by Sander Geophysics Ltd., flying a Cessna Grand Caravan to survey specifications typical of aeromagnetic surveys. The first FALCON survey was flown over a portion of the Bathurst mining camp in New Brunswick, Canada in order to compare system performance with existing extensive and detailed ground-gravity data. The ground-gravity data, supplied courtesy of Noranda Minerals Exploration Ltd., were upward continued to the flying height and vertically differentiated to provide vertical gravity gradient data suitable for comparison with the airborne data. The two data sets compare very well and the results demonstrate that the FALCON airborne gravity gradiometer is capable of detecting sources with a vertical gravity gradient signal of greater than 10 Eö and a full-width at half-maximum amplitude of 500 m.