RE: Turkish Billonnaire - Nickel18 Apr 2025 13:50
According to URU Metals’ Regulatory News Service (RNS) announcement dated 11 April 2025, the company reported the completion of a high-resolution airborne geophysical survey over its Zebediela project area. The survey, conducted by Xcalibur Airborne Geophysics Pty Ltd, incorporated both gravity and magnetic data to enhance the understanding of the project’s underlying geological structure.
While the announcement highlighted that the survey was completed at no cost to URU Metals, it did not specify who funded the survey. In the mining industry, such surveys are often funded by government initiatives aimed at promoting mineral exploration, third-party investors, or through partnerships where service providers conduct surveys in exchange for future considerations.
Regarding the cost of such surveys, airborne geophysical surveys are typically priced per line-kilometer. For instance, a helicopter-borne magnetic and radiometric survey in Mexico was priced at $140 per line-kilometer, with additional mobilization and demobilization fees of $5,000, culminating in a total cost of approximately $69,260 for 459 line-kilometers. Another example is the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada awarding a contract valued at CAD 650,000 to Terraquest Ltd. for a fixed-wing horizontal gradient aeromagnetic and gamma-ray spectrometric survey, including post-survey data processing.
Given these examples, the cost for a high-resolution gravity and magnetic survey over a project area similar in size to Zebediela could range from tens to several hundred thousand dollars, depending on specific parameters like area coverage, data resolution, and logistical considerations.