DESMEX-MinD
DESMEX-MinD advances mineral exploration in Germany by developing modern surveying technologies, exploration concepts and integrated interpretation strategies, focusing on the Erzgebirge and Upper Harz.
This project builds on the predecessor projects DESMEX, DESMEX II, and DESMEX-REAL. In the first two phases, a novel semi-airborne exploration methodology for ore deposits was developed and tested at sites in Germany, Sweden, Namibia, and Spain, including the use of drones as cost-effective platforms and complementary methods such as AFMAG. The third phase, DESMEX-REAL, was conceived as a real-world laboratory for regional-scale (tens of kilometers) exploration in the historic Upper Harz mining district.
The overarching aim of the BMFTR-funded collaborative project DESMEX-MinD is to close the gaps that hinder the success of exploration programs by employing and further advancing state-of-the-art surveying technologies and modern exploration concepts, and to derive new exploration models for prospective mining regions in Germany. In addition to methodological and technical developments, the work focuses on mineral systems located in the Erzgebirge and the Upper Harz.
DESMEX plays a leading role in semi-airborne electromagnetic exploration (sAEM) - both for drone-based and helicopter-borne systems - and sets benchmarks in 3D imaging using pyGIMLi and custEM. While commercial airborne EM systems typically operate in the time domain, DESMEX data have so far predominantly been analyzed in frequency domain. An important research question is analyzing the characteristics of the existing frequency-domain in comparison with a new time-domain approach. Therefore, the development of time-domain EM processing and 3D imaging algorithms is one central objective of DESMEX-MinD subproject 5 at LIAG to increase the visibility, compatibility, and transferability to other established time-domain exploration methods.
A further task is to establish an integrated, process-based understanding of the Upper Harz mineral system by linking geophysical and geological 3D models within an ore-deposit context. Subproject 5 will provide high-resolution, complementary geophysical data and 3D models to improve subsurface imaging and understanding, and to support geological model building and integration into broader applications.
Relevant Publications
Mörbe, W., Yogeshwar, P., Tezkan, B., Kotowski, P., Thiede, A., Steuer, A., Rochlitz, R., Günther, T., Brauch, K. & Becken, M. (2024): Large-scale 3D inversion of semi-airborne electromagnetic data - topography and induced polarization effects in a graphite exploration scenario. Geophysics 89(5), B339-B352, doi:10.1190/geo2023-0471.1.
Nazari, S., Rochlitz, R. & Günther, T. (2023): Optimizing semi-airborne electromagnetic survey design for mineral exploration, Minerals 23(6), 796, doi:10.3390/min13060796.
Rochlitz, R., Becken, M. & Günther, T. (2023): Three-dimensional inversion of semi-airborne electromagnetic data with a second-order finite-element forward solver. Geophys. J. Int., 234(1), 528-545. doi:10.1093/gji/ggad056.
Stolz, R., Schiffler, M., Becken, M., Thiede, A., Schneider, M., Chubak, G., Marsden, P., Bergshjorth, A.B., Schaefer, M., Terblanche, O. (2022): SQUIDs for magnetic and electromagnetic methods in mineral exploration, - Mineral Economics 35(3-4), 467-494, doi:10.1007/s13563-022-00333-3
Becken, M., P. O. Kotowski, J. Schmalzl, G. Symons, and K. Brauch (2022): Semi-Airborne Electromagnetic Exploration Using a Scalar Magnetometer Suspended below a Multicopter, First Break 40(8), 37–46, doi:10.3997/1365-2397.fb2022064.
Steuer, S., Smirnova, M., Becken, M., Schiffler, M., Günther, T., Rochlitz, R., Yogeshwar, P., Mörbe, W., Siemon, B., Costabel, S., Preugschat, B., Ibs-von Seht, M., Zampa, L.S. & Müller, F. (2020): Comparison of novel semi-airborne electromagnetic data with multi-scale geophysical, petrophysical and geological data from Schleiz, Germany, J. Appl. Geophys. 182, 104172, doi:10.1016/j.jappgeo.2020.104172.
Becken, M., Nittinger, C., Smirnova, M., Steuer, A., Martin, T., Petersen, H., Meyer, U., Matzander, U., Friedrichs, B., Rochlitz, R., Günther, T., Mörbe, W., Yogeshwar, P., Tezkan, B., Schiffler, M. & Stolz, R. (2020): DESMEX: A novel system development for semi-airborne electromagnetic exploration. - Geophysics, 85(6): E239-E253, doi:10.1190/geo2019-0336.1
Rochlitz, R., Skibbe, N. & Günther, T. (2019): custEM: customizable finite element simulation of complex controlled-source electromagnetic models. Geophysics 84(2): F17-F33, doi:10.1190/geo2018-0208.1
Team
Project scientist
TBA
Project lead
Dr. Pritam Yogeshwar
Dr. Raphael Rochlitz
Partners
Funding
Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR)
Grant number: 033R436E
Duration: 01.03.2026 – 28.02.2029
