GRAVITY METHOD AND ITS APPLICATION TO MINERAL EXPLORATION

Christophe Simbo Wakamya

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Correspondence to: cswakamy@uark.edu

Key Point:
• The gravity method is applied to the exploration of various types of deposits
• The interpretation of the gravity data is subject to ambiguity partly for the non-
uniqueness geophysical phenomena
• A better predictive exploration model needs an association of the gravity method with
available geophysical, geochemical and geological information

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Abstract

This study gives a comprehensive and insightful picture of the contributions of the gravity

method in the prospecting of mineral deposits. With the increasing demand for commodities and

the depletion of near-surface deposits, the geological exploration has seen its success become

increasingly contingent to geophysical techniques, among others, the gravity method. It is a

geophysical tool effectively used in deciphering the density contrast between the anomalous

mineral concentration and the host rock or the deep-seated crustal structures and adjacent rocks.

The contrasts of density of mineral bodies and geological structures (folds, faults, lineaments,

etc.) from their surroundings provoke, after correction, respectively residual and regional gravity

fields, the key underpinnings of the gravity method principle in mineral exploration.

Keywords: gravity, mineral deposits, exploration, geological structures, density

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Introduction

Nowadays, classical prospecting methods pose problems for their effectiveness in

mineral exploration in regions of poor outcrops or subjected to intense and long mining

activities. Though, the drive to mineral exploration has soared with the continually increasing

demand for commodities, some of which were worthless in the past, the technological

development, the discovery of other types of ore deposits and the need to advance geological

knowledge and exploration tool (Gandhi and Sarkar,2016).In this perspective, the geophysical

and geochemical methods are efficiently and increasingly used to prospect undercover deposits

or inaccessible regions (forest, mountains, etc.) (Moon et al.,2006). Whereas geophysical

methods are generally coupled with the geochemical and remote sensing approaches during

mineral exploration program, they have the bright side to image the subsurface, making them

critical tools for the prospection of concealed deposits. For their higher sensibility to slight

physical contrast, geophysical methods are capable to provide important geological information

that might have been overlooked by the exploration geologist (Dentith and Mudge,2012).

The geophysical surveys in the exploration project are performed in the early stage of the

exploration phases from identifying the target of the geophysical survey(s) to the interpretation

of the subsurface geology. To better constrain an accurate 3D ore deposit model resulting from

the apprehension of both the geology and the ore-forming processes, the exploration program

needs the integration of geological, geochemical and geophysical techniques. Generally, the

direct and indirect surveys are the two different methods applied in mineral exploration

depending on whether the surveys are conducted in smaller or larger scales. They are conducted

in smaller scales if the targeted source is restricted to rocks that have direct correlation to

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mineralization called “anomaly”. The defined anomalous regions are further and thoroughly

examined in terms of their nature, size, shape and position to restrict the target to the more likely

potential mineralized area for the incoming drilling stage. However, geophysical surveys carried

out in larger scales correlate crustal deformation or deep-seated structures (faults, lineaments,

folds, etc.) with mineralization (Marjoribanks,2010). In this context, there is a regional

structurally control of economic concentration of ores whose studies lead to defining favorable

zones of potential significance.

Relative to the effectiveness of the application of geophysical methods to a large

spectrum of the deposit types, the magnetic and the gravity methods are more used(Fig.1). The

gravity method in particular, serves as a prime exploration tool to the search of numerous deposit

types, especially precious and base metal deposits and it has played a key role on the discovery

of the well-known deposits, namely Neves Corvo massive sulfide deposit in Portugal, the High-

grade Hishikari epithermal gold deposit in Japan, the Olympic Dam and the Prominent Hill

IOCG deposits in Australia (Marjoribanks,2010). The goal of this paper is to review the

application of the gravity method to the exploration of mineral deposits, the advantages and

limitations of the method and some examples of the application of the method in various ore

deposit types.

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Fig.1 Applicability of different geophysical methods in the exploration of various mineral
systems. Adapted from Overview of Geophysical Signatures Associated with Canadian
Ore Deposits. (p.8), by K. Ford, P. Keating and M.D. Thomas,2007. Geological survey of
Canada

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Background

The history and recent development of the gravity method in exploration of mineral
deposits

From 1940 to 1950s, the gravity survey was widely used in oil and gas exploration and

eventually expanded to mineral exploration before making great strides to recent airborne gravity

gradiometry which is more effective in kimberlite exploration. This stems from the evolution in

gravity instrumentation (torsion balance, considerable number of land gravimeters, underwater

gravimeters, shipborne and airborne gravimeters, borehole gravimeters, modern versions of

absolute gravimeters, and gravity gradiometers) capable of acquiring data from various settings

from boreholes and mine shafts in the earth’s shallow crust to the surface, and from the air to

even on the moon. Due to this progression coupled with the use of GPS, software and powerful

computers, the ensuing acquisition of data has seen its accuracy and efficiency improved

(Nabighian et al.,2005). Currently, the Scintrex CG series is the most used gravity meters for its

precision with embedded GPS and performing instantaneously free-air, Bouguer and online near

zone terrain corrections. The airborne gravity survey, is likely to be the critical advance

permitting to take gravity measurements from an aircraft (Heath,2007).

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Data Acquisition

In mineral exploration, the ultimate objective of the gravity survey is to decipher the

relative changes in gravity linked to the sub-surface or deep-seated density contrast (Dentith and

Mudge,2012.). In this perspective, a base station is chosen and re-occupied every half to one

hour or more, depending on the instrument drift characteristics, to evaluate the inherent

instrument drift.

After clearly defining the survey objective, the exploration program determines the

appropriate means of targeting the “anomaly”. Two essential considerations generally govern the

selection of the size of the area and the length of the profiles of the survey: (1) the maximum

depth of the anticipated sources, and (2) the areal size and amplitude of the regional anomalies in

the area. For a restricted anomalous body of interest, its anomalies have to be isolated from the

effect of regional anomalies which produce gravity gradients capable of distorting the anomalies

of interest. Thus, the gravity survey mapping of the regional anomalies must be extended beyond

the area of immediate interest or established from pre-existing gravity data; therefore, the

extension of the gravity survey is commonly settle to a minimum of three times the maximum

depth of the sources of interest beyond the limits of the area (Hinze, Frese and Saad,2012).

while conducting surveys, gravity measurements are taken at regular intervals along

survey lines that are kept straight and parallel with line spacing constant. Though, time and

access considerations (dense vegetation, severe terrain) can alter the ideal and planned

measurements. Generally, line spacing is much larger (five times in maximum) than the station

spacing, but sometimes a regular gridding network is defined for equal line and station spacings.

The orientation of the survey lines is designed at an angle of about 30 to 60 °to the anticipated

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strike-direction of the gravity anomalies to provide substantial information than the one oriented

at right angle (Murray and Tracey,2017).

In the airborne survey, as measurements are made in a moving platform, keeping the

gravimeter vertical and resolving inertial accelerations of the moving platform from the gravity

effect of the underlying geology constitute the main challenges to fix.

Different corrections need to be applied to the data obtained for a meaningful

interpretation of the gravity measurement of the subsurface geology of the survey area. These

encompass drift correction, latitude correction, elevation correction (free-air and bouguer

corrections), tidal correction and Eötvös correction (for a moving platform). The difference

between the observed gravity and its theoretical value at a place is known as gravity anomaly

which in turn is split into free air and Bouguer anomalies depending on the type of correction

applied to the observed gravity field.

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Case studies of the application of gravity method to mineral exploration

a. Regional gravity fields and the mapping of crustal structures associated to the
distribution of ore deposits

Some types of deposits can be indirectly appraised through the analyses of geological

structures considered of deep-seated origins (Chen et al.,2015). Epigenetic structurally controlled

deposit types include orogenic and carlin-type gold deposits, porphyry deposits, W-Sn

polymetallic vein deposits and many other related deposits. Many of them are located at

favorable geodynamic contexts mainly the subduction zones. Bierlein et al. (2005), through the

gravity gradient study approach, stated that major faults, generally steep with listric geometry at

greater depth favor their penetrative capability through the lithosphere and provide plumbing

systems for mineralizing fluids, magmatic intrusions and heat from the mantle. Intersection of

these deep-seated fracture systems with regional anticlines or dilatant fractures trap enormous

concentration of ores (Bierlein et al.,2005; Chen et al.,2015) (fig.2).

Studying the spatial distribution of the ore deposits in western of the United States in relation

to crustal structures through magnetic and gravity data, Hildenbrand et al. (2000) demonstrated

that lithotectonic crustal structures have geophysical signatures thanks to which mineral

explorationists can predict the location of mineral endowment. According to Kutina and

Heildenbrand (1987), based on their studies on the mass distribution in the crust and the mantle

in relation to ore deposits of the western United States, some ore deposits preferentially cluster

along the flanks of gravity highs (for example Salt Lake City area, Utah, Park City among

others) whereas others concentrate within strong gravity lows, generally located in the Colorado

mineral belt. They also noticed that, gravity low zones indicated low density igneous rocks

intruded along weakness tectonic zones; the gravity interpretation data defining the regional
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mass distribution in the crust and upper mantle can be used in potentially locate deposits linked

with regional tectonic features (Fig.2).

At a regional scale, the gravity data processing is primarily based on the bouguer anomaly

after the reduction process. Nevertheless, the bouguer gravity consists of superimposed

responses from various sources. Therefore, to fully determine the geophysical signal of interest

from the deep-seated structures associated with mineralization, the broad anomalies from the

bouguer gravity data need to be extracted from the noise (Dentith and Muthe,2012; Chen et

al.,2015). An integrated data analysis, comprising the field decomposition (or multiscale

decomposition), the edge detection and the inverse modelling, constitute powerful tools to

directly define the interested regional gravity which is assumed to be strongly correlated with the

spatial distribution of mineral deposits. The field decomposition uses several frequency filtering

methods in the Fourier domain to separate the interested anomalies from the observed bouguer

gravity anomaly. Upward continuation, matched filtering and wiener filtering were previously

applied as frequency filtering methods before the advent of multiresolution analysis based on

wavelet transform(MAWT), vital in defining residual and regional anomalies in different depth-

scales or wavelet details. The edge detection uses the horizontal gradient of the potential field to

delineate concealed lineaments (faults or lithological contacts) along which mineralizing fluids

are seemingly to be emplaced. The use of gravity gradient in airborne gravity gradiometry in

mineral exploration of large spectrum of mineral deposits is the most significant advancement of

gravity exploration (Thomson, Fountain and Watts,2007). Finally, the 3D inversion, based on the

two previous approaches giving a 2D image, helps construct a 3D model of the targeted sources

(Chen et al.,2015).

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 Fig.2 2D and 3D model showcasing the strong relationship between faults and ore deposits distribution
using gravity gradient. Reprinted from “Gravity method for investigating the geological structures
associated with W-Sn polymetallic deposits in the Nanling Range” by Chen et al.,2015.

In fig. 2 (A and B), the integration of different gravity data analysis helps to construct

geophysical model perfectly associated with major crustal deformation linked to W-Sn

polymetallic mineralization. The spatial emplacement of the latter hosted in the granitic plutons

or dykes of the Xianghualing, Qianlishan, Yaogangxian and Huangshaping is conspicuously

distributed essentially in intersections and bends of lineaments. These felsic plutons have low

gravity response corresponding to the low density of granitic intrusions (fig.2.B). The study area

was subjected to two main orogenic episodes corresponding to NE-directed collision of the

Tibet-Yunnan plate and the South China Block(SCB) and the NW-directed subduction of the

paleopacific ocean beneath the SCB. The Chaling-Chenzhu-Linwu(CCL) is a suture zone of

deep faults developed in the Nanling Range and provided pathways for Sn-W mineralizing fluids

(Chen et al.,2015).

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 b. Residual gravity field and the localization of mineralized environment and the
assessment of their geometry and tonnage

In contrast with the regional anomaly correlated with deep-crustal structures, local

anomalies are directly associated with mineralization. As the latter is a localized zone with

limited extension, the bouguer gravity anomaly has to be substracted from deep responses

(associated with deep and/or regional geological features) to remain only with the anomaly of

interest (fig.3.C); this process is known as regional removal or regional-residual separation and it

is done through several methods, among others the graphical approach. However, the definition

of the regional response is based on the comprehensive knowledge of the local geology to gather

substantial information about it so that it can be easily separated (Hinze,1960; Dentith,1999;

Dentith and Mudge, 2012). This process is important for qualitative and quantitative (geometry

of the source) analysis of the resultant residual gravity data. The construction of a geological

map, depicting the gravity field variations of the survey area, followed by the target

identification constitute the objective of a qualitative analysis of the residual bouguer gravity

map. The geological significance of the map is mainly based on the contexts of different patterns

of geophysical responses resulting in the ranking of anomalies from highly to less prospective

exploration targets. However, the quantitative analysis seeks to determine the geometry and the

depth of the anomaly body, information displayed in cross-sections and thus adding the third

dimension(depth) to the 2D representation of the qualitative analysis (fig.4); this will further help

to conduct a drill test of the targeted anomaly and even have an idea on the tonnage of the ore

body due to the addition or deficit in mass of the anomaly.

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Fig.3 Gravity data representation of the Lox manganese prospect, Western Australia.
A. Observed gravity B. Regional gravity C. Residual gravity. Reprinted from “Geophysical Signatures of Western
Australian Mineral Deposits: An Overview” by Dentith, Frankcombe, and Trech.,1994, p. 103-160.

Fig.4. Gravity profile and geological Cross section of the line at 1000 N. Reprinted from “Geophysical
Signatures of Western Australian Mineral Deposits: An Overview” by Dentith, Frankcombe, and
Trech.,1994, p. 103-160.
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Fig.3 and 4 depict the assessment of the gravity anomalies in the Pilbara region in Western

Australia. It shows a strong correlation between manganese mineralization and positive gravity

anomalies with amplitudes of 0.5 and 1.4 mGal. Manganese ores are of cavity filling-type

mineralization in the Proterozoic dolomite and chert. Knowing the manganese ore density (~3.8)

and the density of the host rocks (~ 2 – 2.7 g/cm3 ), it is possible to estimate to some extent the

total tonnage of the ore deposits.

Discussion and Conclusion

In this review, the gravity method has proven to be a useful tool in exploration of a

broad-spectrum deposit types; The current promising airborne gravity gradiometry embedded

with the system of global positioning(GPS) has revolutionized the gravity method in terms of the

rapidity of data gathering and accessibility of remote or rugged zones. From regional to residual

Bouguer gravity anomaly, the exploration geologist is able to constrain the deposit model with

limited accuracy due to the subjectivity of the separation process regional-residual anomalies, the

geophysical non-uniqueness phenomenon and the interpretation consisting of finding a model

that fits the most likely geological explanation of the data. Thus, an integrated approach of

gravity analysis coupled with other geophysical, geochemical and geological approaches are

generally used to optimize the accuracy of the modeling of mineral exploration targets.

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Acknowledgment

I wish to thank Dr. Andrew Lamb of the University of Arkansas for his insightful advice

and constructive recommendations in the course of this review. Kyle Rowden and Jaron Condley

are also thanked for the suggestions provided when reviewing the manuscript. The University of

Arkansas library, the GeoScienceWorld data base and the Mineralium Deposita journal provided

useful and up-to-date papers relevant to my review topic.

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