From Airborne to downhole TDEM: a case study from the Iberian Pyrite Belt

Located between Spain and Portugal, the Iberian Pyrite Belt is one of the most important mineral districts in Europe with an average production of 20 million tonnes of mineral ore per year. Here, the different mineralization styles, the geological challenges and the weak conductance of the remaining mineralization calls to an integrated approach to constraint the geophysical anomalies, so that to drive the exploration. With this contribute we propose a case study for VMS exploration in the Pyritic Belt where some Airborne EM anomalies have been tested around a known mineralization using ground-based EM methods and modelling approach. The AEM located conductive bodies have been confirmed by some EM moving loop lines to improve the mineralization modelling and go beyond the depth limits of the airborne method. After the plate modelling, the anomalies have been constrained with several downhole EM surveys and the geometry of the known mineralized body has been defined.