Innovative sensing technology brings seismic surveying within the budget of mineral exploration

The fiber-optic sensors used in DAS are an order of magnitude cheaper and deliver data density and resolution higher than conventional seismic technology. Innovative deployment solutions developed by Milovan Urosevic and his research team at Curtin University also allow DAS to be laid out rapidly in both 2D and 3D configurations with minimal handling. 

The corrosion resistance of fibre-optic cable brings the added advantage of making DAS technology amenable to long-term use in saturated and hyper-saline conditions. These characteristics make DAS particularly valuable as a surveying tool across salt lakes, which are known to overlie prospective geology in many areas of Western Australia. 

These findings are summarised in MRIWA report 514, which is available here