3d Reflection Seismic Imaging For Gold And Platinum Exploration, Mine Development, And Safety: Case Studies From The Witwatersrand Basin And Bushveld Complex (South Africa)

The discovery of giant mineral and metal deposits needed to sustain long-term global growth is a great challenge. An integrated exploration approach involving geological mapping, high-resolution 3D seismic imaging, and drilling coupled with borehole geophysics will likely yield the best results. Seismic methods, in particular, have become, and will continue to be, an important tool to help unravel structures hosting mineral deposits at great depth. This chapter demonstrates how the reflection seismic method (mainly 3D seismic) has been successfully used to explore some of the world's largest gold and platinum deposits and map the gross structural architecture that controlled the formation of these ore bodies, support mine planning, and contribute to safety. Three case studies from the Witwatersrand Basin and Bushveld Complex in South Africa are presented, demonstrating the importance of reprocessing the legacy data using new seismic imaging techniques for high-resolution structural mapping. We further discuss the pitfalls with conventional 2D and 3D seismic surveys compared with broadband 3D seismic surveys for mapping both shallow (<500 m) and deep targets (>500 m) in hard rock environments. We argue that future deep exploration programs should use high-resolution 3D broadband seismic surveys.