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F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 8
NEVADA
GROUNDWATER SAMPLING CAN LEAD TO GOLD DEPOSITS
While Nevada is America's most important gold producing state, James
Buskard, President of Nevada Exploration Inc. and a hydrogeologist,
pointed out to Resource World that 55% of Nevada is covered by desert
sands, gravels and evaporites in the many wide valleys. Prospectors
and geologists may love to look at mineralized outcrops; however,
Buskard's company is using a technology to "see" below the overbur-
den to find blind, or covered, gold deposits.
The desert floor may look dry but at depth ground water that carries
minute gold particles is flowing over bedrock gold deposits. With new
lab technology now sensitive to measure gold in ground water, it is
possible to successfully define covered gold deposits.
Buskard told Resource World that with Nevada being a mature gold
mining jurisdiction, he is of the view that exploration using groundwater
geochemistry will be more extensively used in the future to discover
blind deposits – and not just gold – but other metals as well in the
extensive but unexplored covered valleys. Indeed, Nevada Exploration
has compiled the most comprehensive groundwater chemistry data-
base in Nevada, making it an additional layer of data that otherwise has
not been available.
Buskard said that groundwater exploration should be used along with
other conventional exploration techniques. Groundwater geochemistry
has also been successfully used in Australia.
Nevada Exploration
drilling for gold-bearing
groundwater to target
covered gold deposits.
Photo courtesy Nevada
Exploration Inc.
