Mozambique MAGTAP project – second field campaign highlights
The second field campaign lasted from 26th August to 4th October 2019 and covered map sheets 393 Mutuali, 394 Malema, 433 Nintulo and 434 Inago – the most western sheets. Preliminary geological maps for the area have been ground truthed by the nine geologists involved who come from six organisations.
Over 1400 new waypoints have been added to the field database, with 349 on Mutuali, 419 on Malema, 335 on Nintulo and 346 on Inago. These will be added to the 290 waypoints inherited from earlier projects.
A substantial number of samples are stored in Nampula at the Direcção Provincial dos Recursos Minerais e Energia (DIPREME) awaiting transport to laboratories in South Africa and Europe.
IGS Providing Technical Support to the Saudi Geological Survey
IGS has been assisting the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) in compiling and reviewing a range of documentation associated with the Kingdom’s ambitious program to map the Arabian Shield. This program will generate high-resolution datasets for geology, geophysics and geochemistry. Along with the development of a National Core Library and a National Geo Data Centre the program forms part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
IGS is honoured to be part of this program, which represents one of the largest single programs of geo-scientific data collection being considered.
Mozambique MAGTAP project – Supervisory team meets field team during second field campaign
The MAGTAP technical supervision team (Hannu Makitie and Esko Korkiakoski), and representatives of the client organisations INAMI (Vladimiro Manhica) and DNGM (Elias Daudi), visited the field team during the second field campaign. The field team consists of geologists from IGS, BRGM, GONDWANA, INAMI, DNGM, and DIPREME Nampula. They undertook a joint field excursion through the north-eastern part of map sheet Malema (394) which exposes granulites. The second field campaign started on 26 August and is operating from a field camp near Malema in Nampula Province. The four 1:50,000 map sheets being surveyed are Mutuali (393), Malema (394), Nintulo (433) and Inago (434).
Photo credit: Didier Lahondere (BRGM).
Mozambique MAGTAP project – August 2019 – a successful first field campaign
Between 8 July and 8 August 2019 a total of 956 waypoints have been recorded within the first field area covering the three 1:50,000 map sheets Namecuna (395), Merripa (396) and Norre (397). A team of nine field geologists used personal electronic devices and digital mapping software to complete the work using GIS data packages prepared by IGS. The field camp was situated at Riane in Ribaue District (Nampula Province).
Picture credit: Christoph J. Dobmeier (IGS, Field Team Leader).
Mozambique MAGTAP project – Field programme begins
The field programme for the geological mapping project was started with a kick-off workshop in Maputo (3 & 4 June 2019). The workshop took place in the lecture hall of the Museum of Natural History in Maputo. The field programme commenced on 8 July with the first field campaign running until 10 August. Two more campaigns are scheduled for 2019. Presenters were Christoph J. Dobmeier (IGS), Stephen Reford (PGW, first row, left), and Frederick Hartzer (IGS, addressing the audience). Other attendees were staff from INAMI, DNGM, and the University of Maputo, the MAGTAP technical supervision team (Hannu Makitie and Esko Korkiakoski, first and second from right), and representatives of private companies.
Frik Hartzer (IGS) addresses the workshop 
IGS welcomes new Mapping Geologist
IGS is pleased to announce the arrival of a new member of staff to our team, Dr. Reik Degler.
Following an MSc in Economic Geology at the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology in Germany and a PhD in Tectonics at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil, Reik has gained considerable geological experience at international level. Beside his research at the Institute of Geosciences during the PhD, he participated as a leading geologist in joint regional scale geological mapping projects on mineral occurrences potential between Brazilian State Governments and the Geological Survey of Brazil.
Reik has been appointed as a Mapping Geologist and will initially be working on our project in Mozambique.
On joining IGS, Reik said “I am very happy to join IGS and look forward to applying my skills in international projects and contributing my part to the continued growth and development of IGS”.
Peter Zawada, Managing Director of IGS, commented “IGS warmly welcomes Reik whose experience will provide very useful contributions to the company’s current and future projects.”
IGS attends PDAC 2019
Bill McCourt, Peter Zawada and Feargal Murphy from IGS attended PDAC in Toronto from 3-6 March 2019.
IGS attends Mining Indaba, 2019
Frik Hartzer attended the Mining Indaba 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa in February 2019. The general mood during the Indaba was definitely more optimistic than previous years. South Africa in particular made a major effort to show that recent political changes should eventually be reflected in a better exploration and investment friendly atmosphere. Other countries that made significant presentations were Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. From an IGS perspective the Indaba was successful with established contacts renewed and new contacts generated.
IGS completes Lao Geological Mapping Project
IGS, in partnership with GTK (Finland) and PGW (Canada), recently completed a geological mapping project in Lao PDR. The client was the Government of Lao PDR and it was financed by the World Bank. The project area consisted of two 1: 50 000 map sheets in the Nambak and Ngoy areas of north-central Lao PDR. The project started with a high-density aerial geophysical survey executed by Sanders (Canada). The data was interpreted by PGW in Toronto and integrated with existing geological data by IGS. This was followed by field mapping by IGS and GTK and analyses of geochemical samples. The final products consisted of two geological maps and a comprehensive explanation to the maps including an assessment of the existing mineral deposits of the area and an estimation of the mineral potential elsewhere in the area. The project ended with workshop in Vientiane during which the results were presented to the client.
Completion of the Cameroon Supervision Geology Project
IGS is currently completing a World Bank financed project in Cameroon. The project is titled Supervision d’un programme de cartographie géologique et géochimique et la mise en place d’un Système d’Informations Géologiques et Minières au Cameroun. IGS, under the banner of its previous name BGSi, and in partnership with CGS (South Africa), supervised the project executed by the BRGM. The project started in 2016 and will be finished by March 2019 when the final products are expected.
IGS supervised the implementation of the three main components of the project included geological mapping of 13 map sheets at a scale of 1:200 000, collection and analyses of about 18,500 geochemical samples from the same area and the construction of a national GIS-based database (information system) which will contain all relevant geological information for Cameroon.
IGS assisted Precasem in Cameroon to define the project, wrote the Terms of Reference and assisted them in the evaluation of tenders and the appointment of a consultant. In addition to the role of quality control of the 3 sub-programmes IGS also assisted Precasem in the development of a data management and dissemination policy for the new National Geological Database.
