A ZTEM natural field helicopter EM and magnetic survey was flown over the Berg coppermolybdenum-silver project in the Huckleberry district, near Houston in central British Columbia, Canada. Mineralisation at Berg surrounds a quartz monzonite intrusion. Analyses of the airborne geophysical responses, using 2D-3D inversions, show combined well-defined ring-like resistivity low surrounding a resistive core and similar annular magnetic high and low signatures over the known and suspected porphyry deposits, similar to those previously found in ZTEM surveys over other porphyry deposits in the Western Cordillera. A mineral targeting approach is implemented that uses a semi-automated, machine-learning (ML) assisted method that includes: Structural Complexities (SC), Self-Organizing Map (SOM) classifications, and Supervised Deep Neural Network (SDNN) targeting of the geophysical data. The new targeting approach has identified both the Berg and Bergette porphyry copper occurrences, as well as two others our areas for follow-up that also host known mineral showings.

Open-Access Online Publication: October 30, 2023