Advanced Wideband Electromagnetic Sensors

. Geophex, Ltd. 

Raleigh, NC 
 

Geophex has developed a prototype airborne sensor that can measure variations in the electrical conductivity in the Earth.

• The technology developed under this project produced the GEM-2, an airborne electromagnetic sensor to find mineral deposits.
• Geophex developed a handheld version, known as the GEM-3, which has been successfully used for investigating soil and groundwater contamination.
• The sensor is a strong candidate for inclusion in the future planetary rover missions by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to detect ice or water, essential for supporting manned missions in the future.

• Geophex received US Patent # 5,557,206, entitled “Apparatus and Method for Detecting a Weak Induced Magnetic Field by Means of Two Concentric Transmitter Loops.”
• The patent has wide applications in geology, geophysics and biophysics.
• Currently, two GEM-2s are flying in Australia for mining companies looking for diamond deposits (known as Kimberlite pipes), precious metal (gold and silver), and base metals (copper, nickel, etc.). They expect to start a similar airborne geophysical operation out of the U.S. using the same sensors.
• The GEM-3 is also used for detecting and identifying buried landmines and unexploded ordnance. The cleanup cost related buried unexploded bombs for the U.S. alone is estimated to exceed $10B.

• The GEM-2 has been used for airborne geophysical surveys to explore mineral deposits.
• The handheld GEM-3 has been applied for detecting and identifying buried unexploded ordnance and landmines.
• Both the GEM-2 and GEM-3 have been used for environmental site characterization.
• Potential future applications include: detection and identification of concealed weapons; medical tomography for imaging conductivity of human bodies, and planetary exploration for water and other natural resources for sustaining human colonization.

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