A mineral research project starts this week on the North Island.
Geoscience BC’s Vancouver Island North project’s goal is to bring new mineral exploration interest to the region.
It’s a survey using a helicopter to identify areas with potential for mineral deposits.
It follows up research conducted by Geoscience BC in 2012.
Langley-based company Precision GeoSurveys has been selected to collect new, high-resolution data in a 6,127 square kilometre area.
The area stretches from Port McNeill in the north to Tahsis in the south.
A helicopter based at Port McNeill and Woss will fly almost 27,000 kilometres along lines 250 metres apart.
It will fly at a constant height of 80 metres but will rise to 300 metres over larger communities.
The company’s external relations director Richard Truman said the helicopter has three ‘booms’ – one on each side and one at the front.
“And each of those booms has got a magnetic sensor in it,” he said. “What’s that’s doing is it’s measuring the magnetics of the rocks below, which can help give an indication of where mineral potential might be.”
It will not fly over Woss Lake, Nimpkish Lake or Schoen Lake Provincial Parks.
Its registration is ‘C-GSVY’.
Weather permitting, the survey is expected to be completed by Sept.30.
Geoscience BC Vice President, Minerals Christa Pellett said, “New large datasets are a powerful tool in identifying new natural resource opportunities, and are essential to informed decisions relating to the development of B.C.’s mineral resources.”
Once the survey is complete, magnetic and radiometric data will be processed and then published at Vancouver’s AME Roundup conference in January 2020.
The data from the project will be available publicly.
Truman said the project helps support the local economy.
“By doing this survey, it can encourage future mineral exploration; it can encourage future new economic development activity.”
He added that it is also generating work locally.
“It starts opening up job opportunities right from the beginning of the process,” Truman said.
“So the vast majority of the people that are hired on this and some of the sub-contractors like the people that are fueling… in fact I think the main pilot working on this is from Port McNeill. So right from the beginning, there’s money coming into the community. And each stage of the process, it brings in more opportunity locally, as well.”
Since announcing the project in March, Geoscience BC says it has shared project plans with industry, community and Indigenous leaders.
Feedback was included before issuing a Request for Proposals from potential contractors in June.
