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The problem, of course, is that this “low-hanging fruit” is harder than ever to come by. (And make no mistake—the fact that you can see outcroppings does not even guarantee anything!)
Now the industry needs to find a solution to locate gold deposits that are under a layer of “overburden.” Because this gold is much deeper in the earth, it often does not give away any visual clues about its location. Another approach is needed…
Enter Nevada Exploration – a company that has found a revolutionary solution to this problem.
The idea is simple: deposits covered with layers of overburden come in contact with underground water. Groundwater travels through and around them, picking particles of gold and other elements as it goes.
By taking underground water samples to a laboratory and analysing its “scent”, geologists can trace back its path and point to an area where it might have picked up particles of elements associated with gold, and even gold itself.
Nevada Exploration has propriety equipment that can trace even the most insignificant amounts of gold in the groundwater back to its source. Gold is almost insoluble in water, and testing relies on very little particle content. It has been a major challenge, but the company can now trace down to one part per trillion of gold content. To put this into perspective, one trillion seconds is about 32,000 years. Imagine equipment that can work with this degree of precision!
Although this process is very advanced, in essence testing groundwater is already a proven concept, very much like alluvial prospecting. Though, instead of a pan, we are dealing with a state-of-the-art technology.
In addition to higher sensitivity, this also means that prospecting can be done at scale. Taking water samples is cheaper than traditional reconnaissance and drilling, leading to greater areas covered in a shorter time frame.
Another major benefit of groundwater sampling is that it can generate quite reliable targets for further exploration. Due to a variety of reasons, gold in groundwater does not travel very far. It means that if gold is detected, a potential target will be within several kilometers’ range.
We’ll repeat the company’s cautionary statement that at the current level of technology, it’s impossible to tell anything about the size and grade of a prospective deposit based on water samples. It simply indicates that a target may be present within close proximity from the place where water has been tested.
Nevertheless, defining targets is a crucial element of early-stage exploration. In Nevada, the amount of land that can potentially host “blind” deposits is too large for any traditional exploration campaigns. Utilising Nevada Exploration’s testing technology, explorers can define areas that it would like to focus on a grander level, and then hone in using other tools such as geomagnetic surveys, soil samples, etc.
cont. http://www.mining.com/web/nevada-exploration-tsxvnge-gold-exploration-with-a-cheat-code/