Seismic volumetric interpretation of a disseminated copper system in Kevitsa, northern Finland

Abstract

Improved mining technology and scarcity of near-surface deposits is forcing the mining industry to explore deeper in the search for economic mineralisation. Reflection seismic is one of the few geophysical methods that have sufficient resolution at depth to constrain geological information of an ore deposit at the drilling scale. Reflection seismic methods can be used to reduce drilling costs by focusing the drilling in strategically important areas. Recently introduced seismic volumetric interpretation techniques have advantages over conventional interpretation techniques where the interpretation is done by slicing the volume in 2D planes. Volumetric interpretation is performed in 3D, in real time, by applying various opacity and transparency filters to the seismic volume from different angles, which enables in–depth understanding of the volume. This initial stage of volumetric interpretation is followed by mapping the interfaces and associated structures of exploration interest. A 3D high–resolution seismic dataset was collected to investigate steeply dipping to sub–vertical structures in Kevitsa, northern Finland. Automatic fault extraction using a modified ant–tracking workflow was done on the seismic volume.