Edwin Gauchier is interested in finding mines. That’s why he studied to become a geophysict. And he doesn’t care how they’re found as long as they’re found. His is not the approach taken by most prospectors adn exploration geologists, though. Gauchier, a Quebec-based consultant, has found, over the past 13 years, that prospectors are set in their ways — perhaps too set. That’s how long he has been trying to convince prospectors to use a geophysical device he created called the Beep Mat.
The simple, portable device detects the presence of sulphides in bedrock up to six feet deep, but Gauchier has been able to convince only a few people to use it. He has invested about $500,000 of his own money to develop the unit and has built 100, but only a handfull of people use them.
He recently resorted to giving the mats to porospectors in northern Quebec free of charge. If they find sulphides and bring a sample to his office, he will pay them $100, then give them money to stake the ground for him if the sample looks promising. Only one in a thousand samples is worth going after, Gauchier says. But he has handed out about 500 “prizes” so far and has staked a number of groups of claims and sold one group of claims to a larger exploration company.
Why don’t more prospectors use the Beep Mat? “Because they’re convinced there are no more orebodies to be found close to surface,” Gauchier suggests. “The Silidor orebody didn’t show up on any other geophysical survey,” he argues, yet his device “beeps like hell” over outcrops in the area. “If it became widely used, it would throw a monkey wrench into the way prospecting is done,” he insists.
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