An Efficient Inversion Algorithm for interpreting Gravity Data: Different Cases for Mineral Resources Development

Elhussein, Mahmoud; Anderson, Neil

doi:10.21608/jag.2022.284564

An Efficient Inversion Algorithm for interpreting Gravity Data: Different Cases for Mineral Resources Development

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mahmoud Elhussein ¹
Neil Anderson ²

¹ Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, P.O. 12613, Giza, Egypt

² Department of Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology.

10.21608/jag.2022.284564

Abstract

The gravity method is one of the most useful mining-applicable approaches because many economic minerals are denser than their host rock. In this study, an efficient processing technique was developed and applied to invert both the synthetic gravity data generated for three thin dipping mineralized sheets of finite depth extent (with and without noises) and two dipping sheets of mineral deposits of gravity datasets from Canada and Cuba, respectively. The technique employed relies upon global particle-swarm-optimization (PSO) technique, which was used, to determine the characteristic parameters of the thin dipping sheets, including the amplitude coefficient, the depth to the upper edge, depth to the lower edge, angle of dip and the source origin (w). The processing outputs support the conclusion that, the PSO technique is fast, accurate and effective, and applicable to the noisy data. The inverted gravity data from both Canada and Cuba are mostly consistent with the available borehole control.

Keywords