Applicability of standard Euler deconvolution, modeling and amplitude magnetic data inversion in Greenfield programs: The Leite target case study - Carajas Mineral Province - Brazil

Abstract

The Leite target is located in Carajas Mineral Province and has a magnetic anomaly with 140 nT of amplitude, elongated in the northwest-southeast direction. Four exploratory drillholes were performed to test the magnetic anomaly. The test showed that the source of the anomaly is a narrow magnetite hydrothermal alteration zone bearing copper mineralization up to 2%. In addition, geologic and geochemical data, magnetic susceptibility (MS) measurements were collected to identify the lithotypes with ferromagnetic minerals. We use three different techniques to estimate the depth and geometry of the magnetic source: standard Euler deconvolution, total field magnetic anomaly modeling, and magnetic amplitude inversion. When visualized in 3D, the depth of solutions from Euler deconvolution crossed the real magnetic layer with less inclination. The modeling, using the solutions from Euler deconvolution, was performed, and the magnetic anomaly produced by the body modelled achieved a low misfit. The body used in the forward modeling is geometrically similar to the geologic magnetic layer. The magnetic amplitude inversion successfully recovered the MS distribution. Finally, we carried out a borehole magnetic survey in two drillholes to validate the obtained models and investigate the magnetic source. This survey confirmed that the models were intercepted and the magnetic anomaly was associated, a hydrothermal alteration zone, with magnetite intercepted by drillholes. In this study, we demonstrated that the use of those techniques was effective in Greenfield exploration programs.