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Hi tech version of prospecting flies over Barriere

Flying the skies over Barriere since Oct. 22, concentrating on the East Barriere Lake area
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(L to r) Great Slave Lake Helicopter Services Ltd’s employees Will Harper

A hi tech version of prospecting has been flying the skies over Barriere since Oct. 22, concentrating on the East Barriere Lake area.

The geotech exploration work is being done by the Fugro Exploration Surveying Company, and they have enlisted the services of Great Slave Helicopter Services Ltd., out of Yellowknife,  to do the fly overs.

Chopper pilot Danny Ragan, from Edmonton, said the exploration involves an EM system that hangs below the chopper.  The electromagnetic system is a 30m loop generator and transceiver that measures conductivity.

Ragan notes that weather plays a large part in the chopper being able to go out with the EM system.

“Fog is tough,” said the pilot, “We have to do a compensation at 2500 feet to level out the system, so if it’s foggy we can’t go flying; or if it’s windy.”

The pilot says his job has taken him all over the world doing geotech exploration, “From Alaska to Mexico, Australia, Indian, and now Barriere.  We’ve also done a lot of environmental work in Mackenzie.”

During this interview the pilot and the helicopters engineer, Will Harper, of Grande Prairie, were busy fueling the  chopper.  Harper commented that the helicopter carries 540 litres of fuel, and that the weight load of the EM system is 1,800 pounds.

On the Barriere job, along with the helicopter crew of two, there were three Fugro geologists, hailing from Ontario, Romania, and the Ukraine.

The chopper crew said they did not know the name of the client who had contracted the exploration for the area.