In a letter printed in your issue of Nov. 22-28, 1999, Jerry Roth of Stratagex raised some concerns about the Ontario government’s Operation Treasure Hunt initiative.
To clarify, for the benefit of Mr. Roth and your readers, Ontario Treasure Hunt was announced by the government in March 1999 as a vehicle to strengthen Ontario’s geoscience infrastructure and support the province’s mining industry. It is one of the most complex geological initiatives ever undertaken by a government in Canada.
The Ontario Geological Survey took steps to ensure that the needs and priorities of the mineral industry were addressed by seeking advice from its industry-based OGS advisory board. The board struck a technical committee (consisting of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, the Ontario Mining Association, the Ontario Prospectors Association, Ontario university geology departments, the Geological Survey of Canada and independent industry experts) to consider and recommend commodities, geographic areas, survey types and products that would meet industry requirements. The funds earmarked for Operation Treasure Hunt are allocated on a fiscal-year basis, as is the practice for all Ontario government programs.
The OGS followed the committee’s expert advice to formulate the Operation Treasure Hunt projects. The program was endorsed by the OGS advisory board in July 1999.
With respect to the airborne geophysical program, the OGS selected Paterson, Grant & Watson, through a request-for-proposal process, to assist in the planning and management of the complex airborne geophysical surveys.
During 1999-2000, about 50,000 line km of magnetic and time-domain electromagnetic and 56,000 line km of magnetic and frequency-domain EM airborne surveys will be flown over parts of Ontario. A second stage is planned for the following fiscal year.
One area in the Abitibi greenstone belt was surveyed by the OGS in 1979 and 1984. This duplication is warranted because new, deeply penetrating geophysical technologies will be used. All other surveys are new and fill gaps in the existing OGS coverage of Ontario.
A public request-for-proposal invited innovative submissions from all airborne survey providers. The OGS and Paterson, Grant & Watson selected airborne service providers from those who submitted bids prior to the stipulated deadline, according to standard government procedures. While the time allocated for the project will necessitate aggressive programs, we are confident the vendors selected will complete the surveys on time.
The frequency-domain EM survey was selected for some areas because of its ability to resolve specific mineral targets. Where depth penetration or overburden are concerns, the more expensive time-domain EM survey was chosen. This balanced approach allowed the OGS to increase the survey coverage by 16,000 line km over the budgeted amount in the current fiscal year.
We are confident that the selection of the system types ensures clients will receive the most suitable, high-quality product. The quality of the survey data is assured because each vendor must follow a rigorous quality assurance and control system at all stages of the program.
To complement the acquisition of new airborne geophysical data, the OGS is working with Paterson, Grant & Watson to identify proprietary airborne geophysical data sets that exist in the private sector. This initiative was heralded by an advertisement in The Northern Miner, by letters to prospective owners of data and through normal networking. The OGS will evaluate and consider data sets for purchase later this winter through a formal tender process. We believe our staged approach to this complex airborne geophysical program is the right one, and that it is supported by the industry itself. It ensures that technical feedback from the 1999-2000 phase of the Operation Treasure Hunt geophysical projects will influence the implementation of the second phase, planned for 2000-2001.
The OGS is confident that, in collaboration with the OGS advisory board and our technical consultants, Operation Treasure Hunt will provide results that meet the needs and priorities of the mineral industry in Ontario.
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