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Preliminary evaluation of GPR for nickel laterite exploration [4084-02]

Article · January 2000

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 A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF GPR FOR NICKEL LATERITE EXPLORATION

Jan C. Francké and David C. Nobes

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
jfrancke@groundradar.com

ABSTRACT nickel content in the ultramafic bedrock is typically low, the

With the dramatic growth of interest in nickel laterite
resource exploration, fuelled by increased demand and new
processing technologies, the need for accurate resource
delineation and careful mine planning becomes paramount.
The traditional use of borehole grids to calculate ore reserves
is neither sufficiently accurate nor cost-effective at many
sites due to the complexity of tropical weathering profiles.
Although an unconventional approach to laterite mine
planning and resource delineation, ground penetrating radar
(GPR) has shown tremendous potential for addressing
project geology, resource delineation, and mine planning
issues.
GPR processing techniques have been developed
specifically for laterite applications and utilized successfully
at a number of sites worldwide. Each site exhibits unique
geology, and thus radar characteristics. The GPR data have
shown excellent correlation with the weathering profile as
confirmed by boreholes and test pits.
GPR has significantly increased the database of knowledge
regarding project geology, as well as provided invaluable
assistance to mine planning by imaging the bedrock
weathering texture, including the precise location of
subsurface pinnacle structures and fault planes. The
information provided by the GPR data, in concert with
strategically placed boreholes based on these data, has
enabled a laterite project to be upgraded to the measured
category of mineral resource.
weathering process concentrates certain elements including
oxides of iron, as well as nickel and cobalt.
As the process of weathering progresses, the redistribution
of the liberated minerals produces compositional layering as
shown in the typical vertical profile in Figure 1. The
geology of laterite profiles is generally discussed upwards
from bedrock to best emphasize the effects of the intense
leaching of the peridotites.
The bedrock topography tends to be highly irregular, with
numerous spires and trenches. In deposits such as Weda
Bay in Indonesia, Ramu in Papua New Guinea, and Celestial
in the Philippines, pinnacles formed by bedrock resistive to
weathering extend tens of metres above the adjacent bedrock
topography and frequently outcrop. Preferential weathering
within the bedrock along joints and fractures produce narrow
weathered zones that extend deep into the bedrock. The
narrow weathered zones are generally composed of saprolite
and are known to generally contain high nickel grades
(Golightly, 1978). An understanding of the frequency and
amplitude of these pinnacles and troughs is critical to
resource estimation and mine planning.
The topography of the transition from bedrock to saprolite is
similarly highly variable. A region of rocky saprolite exists
as a transition zone, and may be tens of metres thick. The
rocky saprolite is comprised of ultramafic boulders

Key words: Nickel, Laterite, Francke, Nobes, Ore Reserve,

Limonite, Saprolite, Bauxite

INTRODUCTION

Nickel is generally found in either sulphide or laterite

deposits. Laterites occur almost exclusively in tropical
regions characterized by heavy seasonal rainfalls and intense
solar heat. The lateritization process involves the dissolution
of the most soluble minerals in the parent rock, thereby
increasing the relative concentration of the remaining
components. Nickel laterite deposits are derived from Figure 1: Typical Laterite Weathering Profile and
olivine-rich igneous rocks called peridotites. Although the Mineral Concentrations (courtesy L.D. Queen)
contained within a matrix of earthy saprolite. With
increasing depth, the proportion of rock in the rocky
saprolite increases until the cobbles and boulders merge into
jointed bedrock. The rocky saprolite zone consists of
objects varying in size from large boulders to gravels, where
most of the parent rock minerals are present and the original
structures and textures are well preserved. Partly
decomposed joint blocks in fracture zones may be separated
by cracks or voids containing silica boxwork or nickel-rich
green garnierite. The accurate determination of the
composition and thickness of the transition from bedrock to
saprolite is important during both exploration and mining
phases. Large zones of boulders may cause drilling and
sampling difficulties, and also may promote rapid wear of
mining equipment or require blasting during mining
operations. The unweathered rocky saprolite rocks and
boulders commonly contain a thin weathered shell, which
has practical significance. Mined ore may be upgraded by
tumbling unserpentinized boulders to remove the
nickeliferous rims.
The alteration of rock to saprolite is iso-volumetic as the
leaching process removes silica from the matrix without
affecting the volume. The resulting earthy saprolite zone
atop the rocky saprolite contains significant pore space.
Although it superficially resembles a clay due to its high
bound water, it is actually an open grain supported boxwork.
As a rock-free unit, drill holes and test pits indicate that the
moisture content of the saprolite region averages 50% by
weight interstitial water. In addition to preserving rock
textures, the earthy saprolite exhibits well-preserved jointing
which commonly may be traced downwards into the rocky
saprolite and bedrock zones. The earthy and rocky saprolite
units typically mark the zones of highest nickel
concentration in the laterite profile.
The zone atop the earthy saprolite is referred to as limonite.
This is generally distinguished from the saprolite by the
absence of parent rock textures, since these have usually
been flattened dramatically by the volume collapse induced
during the weathering of the more soluble components.
Limonite is primarily comprised of goethite with some
chromite and quartz, and is usually depleted in nickel and
cobalt as compared to the saprolite zones. In the very near
surface, the limonite may have been mobilized in surface
acid conditions and recrystallized in the form of ferricrete,
which can form a hard surface layer.
INTEGRATION OF GEOPHYSICS IN RESERVE
ESTIMATES
The Joint Ore Reserves Committee (AusIMM, 1999) has
made recommendations on Australian stock exchange listing
requirements appropriate to mining companies reporting Ore
Reserves. These definitions are relevant to the description
of laterite deposits in that they address and stress the issue of
continuity. In laterite deposits, continuity of layer thickness
is difficult to prove with drilling but is imaged directly with
ground penetrating radar. The homogenous nature of
limonite and its limited variability in radar velocity, grade
and density may allow a program of limited drilling
combined with detailed radar to bring a deposit into the
measured category.
The widespread nature of lateritization generally precludes
the need for geophysical exploration to determine the extent
of the region of mineralization. Although it may not be
economically viable, lateritization over any peridotite
adjacent to a known deposit usually contains appreciable
nickel grades. Therefore, the responsibility of geophysics is
generally to assist the geologist in determining the amount of
resource known to be present. This may be accomplished by
determining the lateral variability in grades, or in mapping
the variability in thickness of the primary facies of the
lateritization. As no technology is known to exist that will
consistently and accurately determine mineralization grades
from the surface, geophysics must be directed towards the
imaging of the physical dimensions of the near surface
weathering layers.
Deposits of economic laterite ore vary from several metres
to over 100 m in thickness. For the purposes of mine
planning, the highest resolution method that can penetrate
the required depth is required. The widespread nature of
laterite deposits dictates a method that ideally can be
interfaced with a GPS and which operates in a continuous
profiling mode.
Geophysical techniques useful for lateritic nickel exploration
must exploit the fundamental differences in physical
properties of the weathering profile:
Ferricrete: Very resistive, hard and dense, high in iron
and low in water content.
Limonite: Moderately resistive, soft and porous,
uniform soil-like properties and a
moderate water content.
Saprolite: Moderately conductive, low porosity, firm
and clay-like with high water content, relic
structures.
Rocky Saprolite: Boulders resistive but with conductive
weathering skins, low overall water
content.
Bedrock: Usually relatively dense, resistive and with
low water content relative to saprolite.
Based on extensive experience, radar is the method of choice
if the laterite thickness is between zero and approximately
50 m. To some extent radar requires damp residual soils and
preferably an open level surface to attain its maximum
capability. It is interesting to note that alluvial tropical soils,
which superficially resemble laterites, are often nearly
opaque to radar due to their high organic and clay content.
Reworked and transported limonite however is still
extremely transparent to radar energy. Radar can be used
either in a step and measure mode in extremely rough terrain
for first exploration or in a continuously reading mode from
GPS equipped vehicles to acquire data for detailed mining
panel layout. Borehole radar is also employed to
characterize velocities and to map the distribution of rocky
saprolite.
GPR IN LATERITIC WEATHERED
ENVIRONMENTS
Geophysical techniques such as ground penetrating radar,
have the ability to essentially continuously image the details
of the top of the rocky saprolite layer, which is the horizon
that defines the maximum depth of economic ore in most
lateritic nickel deposits. Radar images show that these
horizons have a surprising variability between boreholes,
which is completely undetectable by drilling at any
economic spacing. Conventional estimates of reserve
volumes based on the point sampling provided by boreholes
at commonly employed 200 m, 100 m and 25 m saturation
borehole grids do not often converge upon a single reliable
estimate. This situation occurs whenever the borehole
spacing is greater than the spatial frequency of the variations
in the deposit. Overcoming this limitation of borehole
laterite exploration requires an inferential statistical
approach to reserve estimation.
Examples of changes that affect electrical impedance, and
thus radar reflections, in tropical weathering profiles are
listed in the order of their importance:
1) Water content: Variations in the percentage of bound
water present is the major controlling factor of the
impedance. Changes in mineralogy, porosity and grain
size are the major geological determiners of water
content. The high dielectric coefficient of water slows or
impedes the passage of the radar wave, shortening the
wavelength. Unsaturated soil and limonite are porous
materials with relatively low bound water contents and
thus can have a higher velocity even when wet as
wetting rarely completely saturates pore space. Saprolite
has a higher typical total water content due to the large
amount of bound water in the clay minerals which results
in a very low velocity. Rock has a low water content and
thus has a high radar velocity, which is significantly
different from the saprolite. As a result, rocks embedded
in the saprolite scatter strong reflections if they are larger
than a wavelength, or if they form an assemblage larger
than a wavelength.
2) Conductivity: Surface deposits of conductive fine-
grained clays from alluvial or lacustrine sediments can
affect the passage of radar waves into deeper materials
and limit penetration. Radar energy is absorbed strongly
by conductive materials such as fine-grained, fresh
clays, which can limit penetration to several meters.
Residual clays in tropical environments are typically
well leached of conductive minerals by heavy rainfalls at
warm temperatures and as a result are less conductive.
3) Percentage Iron: High concentrations of magnetic
minerals such as iron and possibly chromium as are
abundantly found in some paleoplacers, can lead to radar
reflections in horizontal bands.
GPR PROJECT EXAMPLES
Ramu – Papua New Guinea (Highlands Pacific Ltd.)
The Ramu deposit consists of lateritization that can vary
between outcropping and up to 40 m thick. The peridotites
have been strongly uplifted and extensively tectonically
faulted to form plateaux, ridges and valley systems. A recent
resource definition program of drilling and over 100 km of
radar coverage has to date moved the reported resource of 70
million tones into the measured / indicated category. A
remarkable degree in correlation of layer elevations has been
observed with borehole elevations confirming that the
measured velocities of 85 m/µs for saprolite, 95 m/µs for
limonite and 115 m/µs for overburden are highly constant
within the main resource area. Figure 2 displays a radar
profile that indicates a rocky saprolite rise not detected by
two boreholes situated adjacent to it. The simplified
borehole and interpretation legend relates limonite to red,
earthy saprolite to yellow, rocky saprolite to green, and
bedrock to blue. This profile exemplifies the importance of
geophysical imaging in concert with borehole drilling to
adequately define deposit geometry.
 Figure 2: GPR data from Ramu showing bedrock rise not imaged by boreholes.

Loma de Níquel – Venezuela (Anglo American plc)

The nickel resource at Loma de Níquel is primarily located
within the saprolite. A significant factor in mine planning is
the bedrock topography, which forms the base layer of the
mining benches. Subdued bedrock topography is desirable
to reduce the need for blasting and costs for specialized
equipment. Utilizing a GPR data processing scheme based
on frequency content analysis, modified specifically for
laterite investigations, the bedrock topography and texture,
as well as the relative distribution of rocky saprolite were
imaged over a significant portion of the deposit. The GPR
data correlates well with the available borehole information,
as demonstrated in Figure 3. The simplified lithology on the
boreholes shows limonite as red, saprolites as green, and
relatively unaltered bedrock as purple. A narrow pinnacle
of bedrock resistant to weathering is clearly shown near
1065m. Structures such as these are common in lateritic
environments and have mine planning implications by
impacting on bench design and traficability. A second
example from Loma de Níquel demonstrates the extreme
variability in bedrock depths encountered in lateritic
environments. The frequency plot in Figure 4 shows
bedrock outcropping near 1050m and plunging to over 40 m
near 1010m. Remobilized nickel mineralization is often
deposited in the complex joints and fissures of the deeply
weathered bedrock. Although further saturation drilling at
12.5 or 25 metre centres would be required prior to mining
for grade control, a priori geophysical information may be
used for the strategic placement of individual holes.

Figure 3: Bedrock pinnacle imaged by analyzing frequency content of GPR data.

 Figure 4: Variability of bedrock topography and texture imaged by GPR data.

Celestial – Philippines (Mighty Beaut Minerals) CONCLUSION

The Celestial deposit on Palawan Island consists mainly of
peridotites, harzburgite, and dunite, which are serpentinized
to varying degrees. GPR data have been corroborated by
test pit information in indicating a highly variable bedrock
topography with a thick transition zone of rocky saprolites,
which ranges in size from pebbles to boulders. Figure 5
illustrates the thickness of the partially weathered zone and
the difficulty in assigning a simple curvilinear interpretation
to the weathering profile. A relatively indefinable zone of
partially weathered material, denoted green on the profile,
exists between 160m and 260m. Test pits are often
ineffective at determining the extent of transitional zones
due to their inability to penetrate beyond their first encounter
with sizable boulders.
The application of geophysics in general, and GPR in
specific, to nickel laterite deposits is the subject of an on-
going MSc. thesis at the University of Canterbury in New
Zealand. Although significant research remains to be
undertaken regarding the constituent electrical and chemical
properties of laterites that permit their transparency to radar
waves, extensive experience has shown GPR to be highly
effective in imaging the complex subsurface structures of
humid nickel laterite deposits. Based on previous projects,
GPR appears to be a more effective method of defining the
gross lateritization sequence in some deposits than a linearly
interpolated model derived from borehole data alone.
Strategically placed boreholes based on geophysical
information may result in significant cost savings.

Figure 5: Data from the Philippines showing region of thick transition zone from weathered to un-weathered material.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors extend their sincere appreciation to Graham

Parkinson of Klohn Crippen Consultants Ltd., without whom
none of this would have been possible. Appreciation is also
extended to Highlands Pacific Ltd. of Brisbane, Anglo
American Base Metals of Caracas, and Mighty Beaut
Minerals of Manila for permission to include their respective
datasets in this paper.

REFERENCES

Golightly, J.P., 1981. Nickeliferous Laterite Deposits.

Economic Geology, 75th Anniversary Volume,
p.710.

Golightly, J.P., 1978. Nickeliferous Laterites: A General

Description. International Laterite Symposium,
New Orleans, p. 3.

Francké, J.C., And Parkingson, J.G., 2000. The New Role

of Geophysics in Nickel Laterite Exploitation and
Development. Mining Millennium / PDAC 2000
Conference Proceedings, Toronto.

Parkinson, J.G., 1998. Geophysical Site Characterization in

Tropical Weathering Profiles. 8th Congress of
International Association of Engineering Geology,
Vancouver, Vol 1, pp 103-110.

Queen, L. D., Parkinson J.G, Francké, J.C., And Brown,

E.A, 1998. The Integration Of Ground Penetrating
Radar In Resource Delineation For Nickel Laterites
In Papua New Guinea. Expanded Abstract For The
Pacific Exploration Technologies’98 Symposium,
Nadi, Fiji

The Australian Institute Of Mining And Metallurgy, 1999.

Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral
Resources and Ore Reserves (The JORC Code).
pp.6-7.

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