SPECIFIC
EXPLORATION SERVICES
are specific with respect to the technical field of application to which they refer, and consist in a limited involvement of the Consultant just for the scope of the particular study or work he is hired for (i.e. a given soil geochemical survey or petrographic study). The type of specific exploration services that AES offers to realise for his Clients includes:
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Documentation and Data Compilation
This phase is considered as the most basic one in any exploration start up project, even though it does not produce a comparable added value on a mineral property than would a new drilling or trenching program, a geochemical or geophysical survey. As the most basic step it should not be neglected, in particular given that thorough research of existing data and information from government and/or company archives, its critical review and valuation, its compilation and re-interpretation, possibly in the light of published data from neighbouring land, can significantly reduce overall exploration costs, orient more knowledgeably your exploration strategy and the definition of potential exploration targets.
AES has a broad experience of data collection and research in many different cultural, administrative and social environments, i.e. in both developed and developing countries, maintains on a regular basis contacts abroad to update its internal database and is therefore well positioned to collect, re-process and re-interpret quickly and efficiently existing data of prospective mineral properties in English, French and Arabic speaking environments.
We will provide the Customer with updated state-of-knowledge reports of the area of interest including compilation maps and sections, and all references needed to start planning and budgeting a well-constrained exploration program. This document will be an invaluable reference and guide to all your future initiatives for this specific project or property, i.e. finance raising, joint venture or farm-out deal.
In times where finance raising for mineral exploration is extremely tough, using our expertise will place your Company and your project one step ahead of the other project promoters because an independent mineral exploration consultant, has done the initial compilation of data and evaluation of the potential of your mineral property.
Geoscientific Database Set-up, Management and Interpretation
The success of any exploration program is of course a direct result of
1) the effective potential of the explored land,
2) the adequacy of the research methods and targets followed, and
3) the efficiency of the research team.
Setting up at the start of a project a well thought data storage or database that will not only allow compilation, valuation and re-interpretation of all available data in a most soft, quick and accurate manner, but also integrate new data as you acquire them, will affect all these parameters. The first one because it will provide you with a most efficient tool to effectively and realistically assess the mineral potential of the property considering various scenarios, models and hypotheses. The second because having precisely assessed the mineral potential of your property, you are in a better position to define and prioritise targets, and choose the most appropriate exploration means to test and prove them. And finally, the data being well organised, easy to access, to update, and to re-interpret, as new information becomes available and is integrated in the database, the exploration team will be in a position to modify, correct, revise the planned exploration work almost in real time.
We will help you design, customise and set up a complete database centre for you together with customised management procedures, allowing you not only to store the data, but process and interpret it, in order for you to be able to visualise, edit and publish at any time a state of knowledge of your property, mineral occurrence or deposit, and considerably improve the 3 parameters listed here over that contribute to the success of your exploration work, and contribute to the best return on your exploration investment.
Design and Programming of Exploration Strategy and Budget
With an experience in mineral exploration of over 15 years, looking for Gold, Platinum Group Elements, Base Metals and Industrial Metals, in various climatic, cultural, social and economical environments, AES’ senior management is well positioned to help you define your exploration strategy, design and plan your exploration programs, manage and carry out all the exploration phases of your program in the most rational and economical ways.
Our staff has successfully started and operated exploration projects in various countries and branches of junior and major mining companies abroad, and more specifically in developing countries, managing large exploration teams and yearly budgets in excess of 2 millions US$, starting from scratch up to the feasibility study.
Based on the available data and compilation work, we will design and plan for you the optimal strategy and step-by-step exploration program taking into account the Customer’s objectives, constraints and parameters, such as target commodity, grade and size of optimal deposit, available budget, status of the exploration ground, and time.
In putting your projects in our hands, you will benefit of our long term commitment to the mineral industry, the partnerships and regular collaboration with miscellaneous other geoscience and mining contractors, such as assay labs, drilling and excavating contractors, geophysical service suppliers, research centres and universities, environmental and geotechnical specialists, and basically the complete range of professional services involved to bring a grass-root exploration project to an advanced developed mineral deposit.
Aerial photographs are among the most basic tools available to the exploration geologist and their interpretation is also an obliged pass-through step for the geologist to get the feeling of the morphology of the land to explore, its drainage pattern, to evaluate and locate vegetation cover, overburden, and exposed rock. From the logistics point of view, it will help determine and locate the possible and best access routes, campsites, and helicopter or plane airstrips. Therefore a good and thorough interpretation of available aerial photographs is fundamental in any exploration and land assessment.
Quite originally, AES’ specialists bring together the expertise of the quaternary and hard rock geologists for the extraction of both the information and surface characteristics relative 1) to superficial and erosional processes, and associated deposits and structures, and 2) those relative to the basement rock formations and structures.
Derived from the study and interpretation of aerial photos, we will produce for you land occupation maps, regolith maps, and preliminary basement lithological and structural maps, summarising the most salient features visible and extractable from the aerial photographs. These documents will invaluably guide and constrain down stream surveys such as geological mapping and prospecting, geochemical and geophysical surveys, drill and trench targets.
We can also produce detailed base maps for the geological and structural mapping in the field, and the various surveys to be carried out over the research areas.
Our interpreted aerial photographs will be reference tools also for the purpose of water prospecting, urbanism, for the building and planning of civil engineering projects, communication and transportation infrastructures, and the planning of any large scale project making land use.
In a similar way than for the Photo-interpretation, Satellite imagery provides the geoscientist and explorationist with a most realistic view of the prospective land on the Earth surface at a specific scale if in a printed form, or at variable scales if in soft digital form more convenient for the processing of the data and the editing, publishing of interpreted image-maps.
We will acquire for you printed or digital satellite imagery from selected commercial suppliers at best rate for the type of work being done. He will process the data, extract all pertinent information for the project’s objectives and map all information and interpretations on GIS base, together with all available data and information provided by the Customer with local grid or geographic co-ordinates.
The type of information commonly extracted and mapped from satellite imagery studies and interpretations, are human and cultural infrastructures, drainage network, lithological and alteration contacts, geological and tectonic structures, overburden distribution, etc.
General Prospecting & Geological Mapping
Depending on the Customer’s wishes, we will carry out either:
1) General Prospecting of the land to explore simply locating with modern GPS technology whatever exposed rock occurrences are discovered, sampling the various lithologies and potential mineralisations or indicator mineralisations, having them systematically analysed, and producing a general prospecting report including all pertinent maps and plans for the location of outcrops and collected samples, list of exposed rock stations, of rock and mineralised samples, as well as any other information collected during the prospecting transects, plus interpretations and recommendations summarising the mineral characteristics and potential of the prospected land;
or
2) Geological Mapping of the area to explore involves all the aspects of the prospecting, in addition to the systematic record and measurement of all geological information, including location, area, lithology, alteration and weathering level, and structure of any exposed rock, the mapping of all morphological features visible at surface, the lithologies and structures of superficial and basement formations, type and importance of previous exploration workings on base maps specially edited for this purpose by AES or supplied if available by the Customer. A Geological mapping and prospecting report is supplied including all pertinent maps derived from the mapping and prospecting surveys, detailed inventory and description of geological formations and mineral occurrences discovered on the property, sample lists, corresponding analytical results, interpretation and discussion of the results in terms of mineral potential, references of previous work, recommendations for exploration and follow up work.
We have the capacity to design, plan and carry out for you complete geochemical surveys and interpret the results for you. We have a long-term experience in geochemical surveys both for government institutions and mining companies.
Its expertise covers various types of geochemical techniques, including:
- Stream sediments geochemistry
- Biogeochemistry
- Soil geochemistry
- Ant & Termite mounds geochemistry
- Duricrust and ferricrust sampling
in various types of environments:
- Desert and Sahelian ground
- Rain forest
and at various scales, depending on the level of knowledge of the explored area and the type of target searched:
- Regional
- Local
- Property
For a typical survey, we will always carry out an orientation survey prior to start the effective systematic survey, in order to define the optimal sampling and sample processing parameters of the geochemical survey to undertake, and control whether the type of chosen survey technique is sensible to the type of anomaly and mineralisation the Customer is exploring for. This is a necessary by-pass for us to be able to guaranty the results of the survey for the Customer and his investors.
We will constrain and control the survey technique and sample distribution by all available information on the property or area surface characteristics, such as the occurrence and distribution of transported soil components, the occurrence of historical mineral production, mining or smelting within the boundaries or in neighbouring land to the property.
On any geochemical survey that we design and carry out, the planning and operating of the survey will include internal routinely run controls at all steps of the survey (sampling station location, type of collected material, sample processing and analysis, processing of results) and in particular geochemical check and test samples are introduced in all our surveys in order to control laboratory reliability.
Detailed reports describing not only the systematic survey and survey results, but also the orientation survey, key for the understanding of the choice of technique retained for the systematic survey will be produced. Geochemical survey reports will include all the analytical raw data, the analytical database used for the processing, interpretation and editing / publishing of the results, maps with sample locations, data symbol intervals, contoured and / colour-shadowed intervals, and an interpretation map with prioritised targets. Upon request we will also provide the interpretation map compiled with other geoscientific data or on specific base maps supplied by the Client.
Geophysical Surveys and Data Interpretation
Geophysical data acquisition and interpretation intervene at different steps in the exploration process, especially in highly weathered environment encountered in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, the use of geophysical data constitutes an indispensable tool for geological mapping and structural pattern interpretation at different scales.
The choice of the appropriate geophysical methods and survey parameters (arrays, configuration, flight altitude, readings spacing, frequencies, etc.) is highly important and has to be consequent with the geophysical properties of the prospected geological environment.
At the regional or strategic scales, the airborne geophysical data interpretation, compilation and integration with other geoscientific information represents a powerful tool in the identification of favourable lithological and structural contexts. At the local scales, ground and borehole geophysical data interpretation is used for detail geological - structural mapping and drilling targets positioning.
The integration and symbiosis between geophysical data interpretation and all the other geoscientific information available (remote sensing, photo interpretation, geology, geochemistry, etc) is an essential key for a successful mineral exploration program.
AES works in strategic partnership with SAGAX AFRIQUE S.A., a geophysical company based in Africa for more than 15 years. SAGAX has offered geophysical services and carried out geophysical surveys for most of the exploration and mining companies present in Africa, in most of North, West and Central Africa’s countries. The company has a strong and long-living expertise and highly skilled staff in most of the geophysical exploration techniques used in Africa:
Airborne geophysics data
acquisition and reinterpretation
Airborne Survey (MAG, EM
and RADIOMETRICS)
IP/Resistivity Surveys
(Ground and Borehole)
Ground Magnetic Surveys
EM
Surveys (TDEM, Frequency Domain, etc)
Gravity Surveys
Reconnaissance Trenching and Drilling
We will carry out for you specific Trenching and / or Drilling programs with the option to have us design and plan the program for you, or execute programs designed and planned by the Client.
Having already carried out
such exploration programs in West Africa, AES staff has reliable
professional contacts for all the logistics support and hardwork
(drilling and trenching) subcontracting. 
We
have set up routine procedures for the execution and quality control
of such work enabling us to guaranty the Customer the best and most
reliable trench and drill - RAB, RC and Core - samples.
For any standard program, we will negotiate best applicable excavating or drilling quality/price ratio from a selection of the most reliable excavating or drilling service companies available in the regional business environment, design the excavating or drilling program, with targets well constrained by all available means, integrate new data as they become available (lab return), set up trench and core logging procedures in conformity with the industry’s best standards but customised to the local environment, introduce routinely sample checks to test reliability of sampling procedure and lab processing as part of a general quality control.
All data and information collected from the subsurface work programs will be processed in order to supply the Client with detailed trench maps and drill logs, trench and drill sections, drill and trench surface plans, showing all pertinent information such as lithological contacts, alteration profiles, structural variations, identification and quantification of mineralisation or indicator minerals, sample grades and composite grades over continuous mineralised sections, etc., and a report will be produced including the project’s program, running, results, production and main conclusions including an evaluation of the geological resources - if any - defined in the course of the exploration program.
In a similar way than for exploration trenching and drilling programs, we will carry out for you detailed resource definition trenching and drilling in order to assess the economics of a specific ore deposit, and supply the classified resources in conformity to international standards, in order to perform a feasibility study and make a development decision.
GIS integrated project database
Whether for the general management of the exploration analytical data such as storage, easy update, mobility and transfer, reprocessing of all the numerical data, or for the complete support of all exploration data including images, reports, step-by-step interpretations, resource calculations and ore deposit modelling, AES can built for your projects a database totally geo-referenced in local and/or geographic coordinates supported by one or more GIS systems (MapInfo-Discover, ArcView, Interdex) in conjunction and completed with more specific mining softwares (GEMCOM, VULCAN, DATAMINE).
Such services can be offered right at the start up of a project or be introduced in the course of an on-going project in order to improve it.
AES with his broad professional experience and highly skilled scientific training has all the scientific and technical elements to provide the Client with modelling hypotheses for its ore deposits.
All we need is a complete geoscientific database, or empirical
model, database that we can contribute to assemble or built from
scratch on request, in order to be able to constrain all parameters
related to the genesis of a specific ore deposit.
Being able to define a metallogenetic model for a given ore
deposit, provides the explorationist with geological, geochemical,
geophysical and structural parameters specific to this type of
deposit which will be most useful for the research and prospecting
for other similar deposits, either in the same mining camp, or in
completely different environments where a number of such parameters
arise from the geoscientific exploration database. 
But
more readily, having an empirical and conceptual model for a given
ore deposit, will also contribute to the immediate development of
this deposit, providing the miner with detailed information about the
control of the mineralisation and the non-ore characteristics of the
proximal environment to the ore. The availability of such data and
information to the miner in the course of the development of a mine
will help constrain and define the optimal mine engineering for this
specific deposit, and orient future exploration for deposit
extensions along strike and at depth.
Ore deposit modelling is not an expensive exercise, as it does not involve heavy logistics or large infrastructures. It is mainly thinking as it consists mostly in the assimilation, the exploitation and interpretation of the existing geoscientific database for a given project or ore deposit. It is therefore an inexpensive investment for the Client but whose results can achieve the economic feasibility of the project, give the project the additional and decisive credibility investors tend to expect before funding, and guaranty the technical success of the development of the project.
EXPLORATION & MINING RELATED SERVICES
In addition to the general exploration services listed in extenso here over, the company offers a whole set of services related to the Exploration and Mining Sectors, but dealing with more specific scientific, administrative, political, economical, social and human resources issues, including:
- General consulting & advising for geology, exploration and mining issues
- Petrographic analyses and studies
- Metallogenetic analyses and studies
- Property and/or Mineral Occurrence Evaluation
- Company pre-qualification for stock exchange listing
- Company and / or Property promotion brochures
- Foreign countries natural resources legislation portraits
- Company / Company deal facilitator and negotiator
- Company / Government deal facilitator and negotiator
- Foreign Countries Political, social, economical & business operational conditions portraits and reviews
- Set-up and local registration of exploration camps and facilities, affiliate companies and / or branches in Foreign Countries
- Technical audits and Analysis of Company procedures, Exploration techniques, Strategy and Sample / Data processing and results
- Staff Training
- Project Monitoring, Advising and / or Supervising
- Customised GIS Work Station and Geoscientific Database set-up
(Turn-key type of service)
- Computer and drafting services
In order to be able to maintain this type of services, AES has set up and maintains a network of contacts and relationships with research institutions, legal counselling cabinets, and government representatives in a number of countries around the World.
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