KEGS January Talk

Our next KEGS talk is happening on January 10th at 4:00 PM. The talk will be hosted in-person and online. 

Title: Triple Treat -  A Trio of Geophysical Exploration Case Histories for Gold, Copper, & Polymetallic VMS based on “Wireless” IP Results from 2D Alpha IP™ and GRID 3D Alpha IP™ Technologies.

Speaker: Greg M. Hollyer, M.Eng, P.Eng, C.Comm (Simcoe Geoscience)

Authors: Greg M. Hollyer, M.Eng, P.Eng, C.Comm (Simcoe Geoscience), Dr. Jacob Longridge (Granite Creek Copper), Barry Greene (TRU Precious Metals), and Paul Teniere (TRU Precious Metals)

Date: Tuesday January 10th at 4:00 PM

Location: University of Toronto, Department of Earth Sciences, Room ES2093 (22 Ursula Franklin Street) and online. Register for the virtual session below:

Register

Abstract:  With a large volume of potential case histories on its shelves, Simcoe decided to present examples from three modes of geophysical exploration projects, defined as primary, secondary and tertiary exploration projects.

The primary exploration example is from an orogenic gold property in Newfoundland – a province which has experienced a gold rush. 2D Alpha IP™ data are examined to show the level of detail and effectiveness possible in identifying 2 metre wide quartz-vein-hosted copper-gold-silver targets. The Alpha IP™ results led to economic discovery on the third drill hole -- a fast path to discovery on the project and a measure of the high targeting effectiveness for the technology.

The secondary exploration example is from an intrusive copper – gold property in the Yukon in a known copper belt. The purpose of Alpha IP™ surveys here was to follow up on previous year’s results from Simcoe by first correlating IP signatures over a defined resource at one of three pit areas, and then using these signatures to find extensions nearby. At least two new zones / extensions were found which contributed to the client’s goal of adding extra tons for a new upcoming resource estimate. There were also other new targets found.

The tertiary example is a blind example over desert sands in the vicinity of historic polymetallic VMS near-surface mining works at one of the reputed King Solomon’s Mines dating from the 10th century BC. In this example, we look at GRID 3D data from Alpha IP™, showing survey layout, a huge number of data points, and ultimately resolution of an extensive target that is now being mined to depths of over 1000 m. Targeting effectiveness was over 70% based on the high definition results with the GRID 3D Alpha IP™ survey.

In summary, the presentation shows three case histories in some detail with the goal for the audiences to evaluate geophysical exploration methods and technology effectiveness at three sites that are distinct for exploration paradigm, mineralization and target dimensions. As part of the discussion, there will be a modest introduction to Simcoe Geosciences’ IP systems with a more detailed examination of survey layouts and other parameters during presentation of the three case studies.

Bio: Greg graduated with a Bachelors in 1986 and a Masters in 1991, both in Engineering Geophysics, from Queens University and later from York University in Communications in 1995. He has been active since in geophysics and with new technologies, starting with the first GPR system from A-Cubed in 1985 and BHP’s novel physical property logging system (1986 to 1991). As well, he has worked at the leading edge of other advanced technologies, including cellular networking, earth science software, geophysical instrumentation, and ground, airborne and borehole geophysical surveys. He continues today with the next generation Alpha IP™ survey technology at Simcoe Geoscience. Greg has held senior positions as Chief Geophysicist at Nuvia Dynamics; Vice President of Sales at Quantec; Vice President of Marketing at the former Geosoft, where he branded and launched Oasis Montaj; and as Director of Sales and Marketing at GEM Systems, where he launched GEM’s advanced potassium magnetometer technology in 2002 as well as its first-to-market drone magnetic technology in 2007 (Halifax, NS). Currently, he is Senior Vice President and Executive Geophysicist at Simcoe Geoscience with responsibility for helping to lead the company’s drive in leveraging next-generation geophysical surveys to make economic ore discoveries for a rapidly growing list of clients and agencies. 

Upcoming KEGS talks and events

KEGS is pleased to announce a list of confirmed talks and events going forward:                       

February 14th, 2023: TBA

March 4th, 2023: KEGS PDAC Symposium

KEGS is currently looking for speakers for the Spring and Fall 2023 meetings. If you are interested to speak at a KEGS monthly talk, please contact any of the Executive.

Find out about more geo scientific events in GTA Geoscience calendar here.

KEGS PDAC Symposium registration will open soon - Mark your calendars - Saturday March 4th 2023

The Executive thanks all authors who submitted short abstracts for the upcoming 2023 Symposium. Turnout was high and submission quality was excellent. The Executive is currently reviewing submissions and will be in contact with authors early in the New Year. The program and registration will be announced later in January and posted to the KEGS website.  

Membership Renewal

Don't forget to renew your KEGS membership for 2023! The membership costs remains unchanged at $50 + HST for regular members and $25 + HST for students. While at it, why not consider a donation the KEGS Foundation to help foster and support geophysical education at Canadian Universities. Renew your membership here. We thank you for your continued support. 

KEGS Foundation Update

The full KEGS Foundation Update can be found here. Key Items:

• The Directors express their deep sadness at the recent passing of Dr. Norman Paterson, a renowned exploration geophysicist whose career extended over 70 years, a mentor and inspiration to hundreds of younger colleagues, a founding member of KEGS in 1953, a founder of PGW and an important donor to the KEGS Foundation. Various tributes and memorials are in preparation or being actively considered by former colleagues.
• Scholarship award presentations continued in December, with awards presented at the KEGS meeting on December 13 and at the SGL-hosted holiday gathering on Dec 19, including presentation of the premier Collett Graduate Scholarship to Fateme Ghalati, PhD candidate at Carleton University. Directors have enjoyed various opportunities to meeting awardees and supporters at revived in-person meetings.
• Presentations of remaining current scholarships are being arranged at Western (Robert Hearst, January 17) and Queen’s (Bruce McMonnies, late January).
• Renewal of the scholarship program for 2023-24 is expected to be announced in January, with at least 25 scholarship awards anticipated.
• Thanks to a major a major gift, the Foundation is in the process of establishing several new geophysical scholarships directed at fostering advances in geophysical methods and their utilization for environmental, hydrogeological, geo-engineering and humanitarian applications. Details to be provided in subsequent announcement.
• Thanks are also extended to other recent donors, notably KEGS and BCGS. Additional donations are encouraged to support core scholarship program. Individual donors are reminded that their donations are eligible for matching funds under programs generously supported by Phoenix Geophysics, Discovery International and Dias Geophysics.
• Governance: Prof. Richard Smith from Laurentian University was welcomed as a new Foundation Director at the SGL-hosted holiday gathering, where he presented scholarship awards to several awardees, and Kanita Khaled, now with BHP - Metals Exploration, was welcomed as the new KEGS representative on the Board.

Additional details can be on the Foundation’s website.

Passing of Norm Paterson

KEGS Executives extends their condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Dr. Norm Paterson. Norman Reed Paterson passed away peacefully with his children and companion by his side on December 22nd, 2022, at the age of 96. Norm was a founding member of KEGS in 1953 and is known worldwide for his innovations in geophysical technology and skilled practice of geophysical techniques and interpretation. 

A memorial service of Norman’s life will take place at the St. George’s Anglican Church in Clarksburg, Ontario, on February 11th, 2023 at 1 o’clock., with a reception following. More information can be found in Norm's obituary. 

Bill Scott & Stephen Reford, with contributions from the Paterson family, Jerry Roth and others have prepared the following:

The geophysical community lost a giant on December 22, 2022 when Norm Paterson passed away, a month short of his 97th birthday. Norm’s remarkable career spanned a range of techniques and a number of companies that built strong legacies, with contributions to the full exploration cycle from instrument development to interpretation. He touched and influenced a number of prominent geophysicists along the way, in Canada and worldwide.

Norman Reed Paterson was an outstanding member of the small group of geophysicists who, after World War Two, generated the surge in geophysical developments and activity which propelled Canadian geophysics into world leadership. Norm was born in London, England to Canadian parents. He and his brothers moved to Canada with their mother in 1939 before Norm enlisted in the British military in 1943, at the age of 17. After WWII, he returned to Canada in 1947 and attended the University of Toronto, graduating with a B.Sc. in Engineering Geophysics in 1950, and continuing his education by earning an M.Sc. at the University of British Columbia in 1952, followed by a Ph.D. from Toronto in 1955, where he was one of Tuzo Wilson’s first post-war graduate students.

Norm’s first working experience in geophysics was as a seismologist in hydrocarbon exploration, However, he spent most of his distinguished career in geophysics applied to mining exploration. He participated in or was responsible for the discovery of more than twenty commercial or potentially commercial ore deposits in Canada and in many other parts of the world.

After receiving his Ph.D. in 1955, he began his career with Dominion Gulf in Toronto. He then joined Hunting Survey Corp. in Toronto as Chief Geophysicist. There he managed ground and airborne geophysical surveys in Canada and in many other countries. In 1964. he formed Huntec Limited, which rapidly gained a reputation as a leading manufacturer of geophysical instruments, as well as a skilled consulting and contracting company in geophysical surveys. In 1970, he left Huntec to form a consultancy, which in 1973 became Paterson, Grant & Watson Limited, joining with other well-known geophysicists Dr. Fraser Grant (1926-1984) and Roger Watson (1936-2021). PGW rapidly became a world leader in geophysical consulting and project management for mineral exploration. Within PGW, as it was universally known, recognizing the growing importance of computer applications, he established Geosoft Inc. headed by Ian Macleod, which is now a division of Bentley Systems and the dominant world supplier of software for processing and interpreting geophysical and geochemical data.

Norm’s career at PGW and earlier took him across the world. He had a particular affinity for contributing his knowledge and expertise in the developing world, across Africa, India and elsewhere, with involvement in many projects funded by CIDA. Although his reputation usually preceded him, admiration by other geoscientists only grew once they experienced direct interaction. He was a mentor to and collaborator with multiple generations of geophysicists from the start of his career and his influence and inspiration endure. Norm’s published technical contributions approached eighty, including seminal journal articles.

Norm retired from full-time practice in 1995, handing the reins of PGW to long-time associate Jim Misener, but continued in consulting. Like many in the profession, he once said that geophysics was so interesting that he could not contemplate leaving it, even in retirement, and he was always interested in discussing new developments with visiting former colleagues.

His contributions to the geophysical industry have been recognized in several significant ways. In 1997, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, citing his work in the geological interpretation of magnetic surveys. In 1999, he was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame, where his citation in part reads, “Paterson has been praised the world over for the sound balance he achieved between the practical, applied science of geophysics and his professionalism and integrity. No matter where in the world his assignments took him, he always served as an excellent ambassador for the Canadian mining industry.” He was recognized as a notable pioneer by the KEGS Foundation As Dr. Gordon West wrote in a dedication, “Norman Paterson exemplifies the combination of technical understanding and prowess with professional competence and management skill that makes geophysics succeed. His career is one that can be held up to students to show them how individuals can make science and technology have a positive benefit for society.”

In retirement, Norm moved to a farm near Clarksburg, Ontario and later had a home in Thornbury on the shores of Lake Huron. He and his wife wintered with family in Costa Rica. At the age of 93, Norm’s breadth and depth of experience made him uniquely qualified to write the book “Mining Geophysics: A Canadian Story”, aided by a number of noted collaborators and contributors, and published by the CIM. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to appreciate the developments, events and key innovators and contributors that gave rise to Canada’s becoming a global leader in geophysics and mining exploration during the 1945-1975 period. Remarkably, turning his diverse talents to fiction, he subsequently wrote three mystery novels, some set in his beloved Georgian Bay, as well as devoting considerable effort to pursuing possible alternative causes of global warming.

Bill Scott, a noted early collaborator, offered the following reminiscence:  I first had the privilege of working for Norm Paterson at Hunting Survey Corp. after my first undergraduate year, in the summer of 1959. It was an exciting summer which confirmed my interest in becoming a geophysicist. In addition to infecting me and my fellow summer students with his enthusiasm, Norm taught us a great deal about the importance of high-quality data, and about the need to understand the meaning of what we were finding. I can still remember a discussion with him on the implication of the number of significant figures in a number (measurement), a lesson I never forgot. Over the years, I have worked on other programs for and with Norm and remember them as greatly enjoyable and instructive times.

Stephen Reford reminisced: I had the honour of working for and with Norm at PGW from 1981 until his retirement. He conducted himself with professionalism, dedication and grace, and instilled these qualities in his employees and colleagues. I recall a field trip with Norm to Burkina Faso in the mid-80’s, part of a CIDA geophysical interpretation project to assess mineral potential. It was focused on ground truthing aeromagnetic anomalies, first proving their location in the days prior to GPS and secondly, hoping to find an outcrop amongst the dark red soil characteristic of the Sahel. This remains the toughest field work of my career due to the extreme heat and gastrointestinal disagreements with the local cuisine. Norm soldiered on as leader of the team. Partway through a traverse, we settled under a large tree for a break from the heat. It was located in a field outside a local village. Soon after, a small delegation from the village brought water for our group. An elder presented Norm with a live pintade, which I think is French for scrawny chicken. Norm accepted this gift as a deep sign of respect from one elder to another, and later gifted it to the local geophysicist who was guiding us. After we completed the project, of his own volition Norm dug back into the data, extracting numerous examples and published an article to show how these data could be applied to groundwater exploration, a sorely needed resource in the Sahel.

In dealing with the inevitable major demands on his time and energy in undertaking global geophysical projects and managing Huntec and then PGW, Norm was greatly aided by his wife of nearly 70 years, Sally, who predeceased him in 2018. They met at the University of Toronto and shared an affinity for travel, sailing and other outdoor pursuits. He was a devoted and attentive father to his four children, Catherine, John, Michael and Norman Jr., who have all had interesting careers, together with their spouses. He was a much-loved grandfather and great-grandfather to 7 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. In his final years, Norm became companions with author Dorris Heffron, moving into her lovely home in the Beaver Valley. There will be a memorial service for Norm at St. George's Anglican Church in Clarksburg, Ontario on February 11 at 1 p.m. Norm was to be the Guest of Honour at PGW’s 50th anniversary celebration on March 6 during the PDAC Conference. Now it will be an opportunity to celebrate the legacy of a remarkable geophysicist and person who was a key contributor to the world-renowned expertise of Canadian mineral explorationists.