NovaScan AFMAG System - Drone-Towed Exploration

The NovaScan system sensor probe and components.

Low-cost, High-Information Surveys

The NovaScan system is a lightweight, drone-towed AFMAG (Audio-Frequency Magnetotellurics) system. It passively uses naturally occurring geomagnetic signals, such as energy from global lightning (sferics), to create detailed 3D maps of the earth's electrical conductivity.

NovaScan provides an invaluable tool for early-stage exploration, capable of detecting shallow mineral deposits, mapping geological structures, and resolving lithologies at a low cost and with minimal environmental impact.

Aerodynamic bird housing the NovaScan sensor assembly.

Advanced System Design

Aerodynamic "Bird": The system features a 2.28m-long, 4kg aerodynamic housing. The head of the bird contains the highly sensitive 3-axis EM sensor assembly, while the tail houses the shielded data acquisition system, a low-drift gyro for orientation, and the positioning system. It is towed safely under a drone on a thin, non-conductive Kevlar line.

Full-Tensor AFMAG: By combining the in-flight data with simultaneous measurements from a stationary 3-axis base station on the ground, NovaScan calculates full-tensor transfer functions. This process extracts the maximum possible information about the subsurface conductivity structure, providing a more complete geological picture than scalar or tipper-only systems.

Performance Specifications

Wide Bandwidth

Optimized for AFMAG, operating from 100 Hz to 25 kHz.

Low Noise Floor

80 fT/√Hz at 100 Hz, dropping to an incredible 4 fT/√Hz at 5 kHz.

High-Resolution Data

Records three channels of data at 50,000 samples per second.

Under Development

Early flight testing in Sudbury Ontario has successfully demonstrated the system's capabilities.

AFMAG Testing

Over the Broken Hammer Deposit, tests showed good coherence between the airborne sensor and the ground-based station in the 5 kHz to 20 kHz band. Individual sferic events were clearly captured and correlated on both the airborne and ground systems.

Controlled-Source TEM Testing

In a test over the WD16 Nickel Deposit, the NovaScan was towed over a 150m x 150m transmitter loop. It successfully recorded the transmitted signal, with stacked data showing a dynamic range from ~100 pT at 400m distance to 20,000 pT directly over the loop, proving its effectiveness for drone-towed TEM applications.

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