Use of a portable photometer for accelerated exploration: Testing for geothermal indicators in surface waters

When exploration budgets are limited, cost-effective surveying techniques can add considerable value to an exploration program by increasing the return on investment. In western (British Columbia and the Alberta cordillera) and northwestern (Yukon and Northwest Territories) Canada, where water is abundant, sampling creeks, streams and springs and testing the waters for geothermal indicators can facilitate identification of thermal zones both regionally and locally around known hot springs. Such a sampling program can be rapidly and easily accomplished using a photometer, which provides chemical analysis of waters in real-time, enabling the survey team to evaluate and optimize a survey during the course of the field work. With this technique, suspected thermal springs and seeps can be verified and new ones discovered, allowing for the rapid identification and characteriza- tion of thermal anomalies. The cost and time associated with this technique is a fraction of what is required when employing traditional laboratory analysis. A pilot test, performed in the area surrounding Mt. Cayley in southwestern British Columbia (BC), concludes that despite some issues with instrument sensitivity at low concentrations the device provides feasible data for a surface water survey and promises to be an effective tool for the rapid identification of thermal anomalies.