Ben Polzer – President and Chief Scientist (PGO), Specialist in EM methods applied to mining exploration.

Focusing primarily on EM methods for exploration Ben has worked on both sides of the fence;  for a service provider (Lamontagne Geophysics, 1986-1997) and for a mining company (Inco-Vale, 1997-2007) before turning to technology development.  As the area geophysicist for Sudbury (1999-2003) he was involved in using borehole EM to explore numerous Sudbury nickel deposits including Kelly Lake, Victor, Onaping Depth, Garson, Creighton.  These efforts most notably included the discovery by Chief geologist Gord Morrison and geologist Kathy Hattie of the Totten Main Ni-Cu ore body (~8 million tonnes) resulting in the Totten Mine opening in 2014.  Ben later took on a senior role with a global scope supporting the exploration for nickel in Canada, Finland, Brazil and Australia.  In 2007 Ben turned to technology development first for Vale (2007-2020) and for Novaminex (2014-Present) with a focus on EM methods.

Geophysical Consulting for Exploration

Ben is an expert in EM methods applied to mineral exploration with deep experience in nickel exploration. 

Novaminex Approach to Exploration using EM methods

Survey Planning

• What is the target from a geological point of view and how does this influence the detection challenge?
  • Emplacement mechanism and how this might influence deposit geometry. Are the deposits expected to be ribbon-like (long in one direction), tabular (long in two dimensions) or equant?
  • Stratigraphy especially with respect to nuisance conductors

Rob Eso – Senior Research Geophysicist

Rob Eso worked under Doug Oldenburg for 5 years at the UBC on problems relating to the inversion of geophysical data.  He is an expert in inversion theory with experience in the inversion of potential field, IP/Resistivity and MT data sets.  Since 2014 he has been working for Novaminex on IP/Resistivity and MT systems and processing methods.  He is an experienced C++ and Matlab programmer.

John Golightly – Research Scientist

John Golightly graduated with an MSc. in Physics in 2008 and has worked as a research scientist since then.  Since 2014 he has been with Novaminex working on a variety of problems relating to instrumentation and geophysical data processing including design of sensor orientation and stabilization systems, mechanical simulation of airborne systems and natural field (AFMAG) data processing.  He programs in C++ and Matlab.

Yongxing Li – Research Geophysicist

Yongxing Li obtained his  PhD in geophysics working on the modelling  and inversion of Radio Imaging data using COMSOL MultiPhysics.  He has six years of professional experience working both as an geophysicist for the China Aero Geophysical Survey & Remote Sensing Centre and for the last four years as a research geophysicist with Novaminex on problems including MT data processing and interpretation, EM data modelling, magnetic data visualization, and AFMAG data processing and modelling.  He programs in C++.

Thomas Bagley – Research Scientist

Thomas Bagley has a BSc in Geology and an MSc in Geophysics and is also an experienced C++ programmer.  He worked with Richard Smith at Laurentian University developing techniques for inverting airborne on-time resistive limit data using GPUs including the use of neural network approaches.  He is the lead programmer on the team developing the Provus EM modelling software. 

Sylvain Moreau – Technician

Sylvain is responsible for fabrication, calibration , testing and troubleshooting of geophysical instrumentation as well as providing logistical support for field surveys and Health and Safety.

Carl Laamanen – Technician

Carl is a geological technician with over 30 years of experience.  His responsibilities include testing of geophysical instrumentation, mechanical design and machining.