SIT4ME: seismic imaging of mineral-hosting structures in Sotiel-Coronada (Spain)

<p>In order to tackle the ever-increasing demand of raw materials, the European Institute of Technology (EIT) promotes research and innovation solutions for safe and sustainable mineral exploration through its Raw Materials Programme. The SIT4ME project (&#8220;Seismic Imaging Techniques for Mineral Exploration&#8221;) has been funded as part of this program to develop efficient techniques in seismic acquisition and imaging methods for mineral exploration in crystalline environments. Within SIT4ME, a multidisciplinary data acquisition experiment (i.e. 3D-3C active and passive source seismic datasets) took place in November 2009 in Sotiel-Coronada (Iberian Pyrite Belt, SW Spain). The aim of this experiment was to image a 300-500 m depth pyrite-rich massive sulfide orebody interbedded with felsic volcanic rocks and shales. The seismic dataset involves the recording of 875 vibration points in 653 seismic receivers, distributed in a 3D mesh around the target and six 2D crooked lines. Conventional processing workflow (such as static corrections, surface-consistent deconvolution, amplitude equalization, frequency filtering, and velocity analysis) was combined with more advance methods (e.g. ground roll attenuation or post-stack coherency filtering) to obtain robust images of the subsurface of the target area. The processing workflow has been applied to four 2D seismic sections, one in the North-South and three in the East-West directions, distributed across the study area. The preliminary imaging results show coherent reflective packages down to two seconds two-way traveltime (TWT). The North-South line contains a north-dipping ~400 m long highly reflective zone in the center at 130 ms TWT. The east-west profiles show a slightly folded structure (antiform and synform) which is evident down to 0.25 s TWT. Towards the north, the seismic lines become parallel to subsurface structures and therefore the track of these structures is lost. Current work involves the incorporation of well-log data to improve the quality and resolution of the interpretations. The next processing steps will involve pre-stack depth migration, P-wave travel-time tomography and a combined analysis of controlled source imaging and ambient noise interferometry data.</p><p>The SIT4ME project has been funded by EIT Raw Materials (17024).</p>