Non-Profit Groups puts British Columbia Geological Data into the Public Domain

Geological, Geophysics, Environmental & Geotechical Engineering

Date posted: 01/30/16

Greg Klein reports that some 6,700 square kilometers of northwestern British Columbia has come available not only to professional geologists but also to the general public. Land use planners and local communities, as well as geologists and geophysicists, can benefit from a newly released Geoscience B.C. airborne magnetic survey, the non-profit announced January 26 at Mineral Exploration Roundup. The data are on display via the organization proprietary online viewer. The website combines new data with previously compiled info concerning geology, geochemistry, tenure and known mineral occurrences. Once completed this survey will contribute to a mosaic of geophysics, geochemistry and geology with few equals in the world in terms of scale and free public accessibility, said Bruce Madu, VP of minerals and mining for Geoscience B.C. The first survey of its type since the 1960s, the mag was flown last autumn at 250-metre line spacing for a total of 30,000 line kilometers, the equivalent of about three-quarters of the earth circumference. By comparison, the 1960s effort used two-kilometer spacing. The mag comprises part of a $2.41-million project that will complement a 2014 survey and include a planned 2016 survey that will be potentially the largest in the organization 10-year history. Once completed this survey will contribute to a mosaic of geophysics, geochemistry and geology with few equals in the world in terms of scale and free public accessibility, said Bruce Madu, Geoscience B.C. VP of minerals and mining. But the info provides more of a path than a destination. Many interpretations of this data are possible and will be made for many, many years to come, he added. This is a contribution that is multi-generational. In an accompanying statement, Nanwakolas Council president Dallas Smith said that it is very important for First Nations communities to include reliable geoscience data when considering investment and land-use decisions.