XCALIBUR AIRBORNE GEOPHYSICS

Xcalibur Airborne Geophysics is a Pretoria-based South African airborne geophysical company operating world-wide with a second administrative office in Madrid, Spain. We specialize in ultra-high resolution airborne geophysical surveys with our main offering being low-flying fixed-wing gradient magnetic and radiometric surveys. A new fixed-wing electromagnetic (TEM) system on an Air Tractor platform is currently under development and fixed-wing gravity surveys also regularly flown. Our fleet of aircraft comprises seven owned turbine Air Tractors and two PAC-750 with priority access to leased turbine Islanders (BN-2T), and EuroCopter and Jet Ranger helicopters. These all enable data acquisition at the lowest safe ground clearance possible, typically 10m to 40m. The survey height is generally only limited by the height of the vegetation and the presence of man-made features such as power lines, buildings and antennae. Because spatial resolution improves when flight altitude is reduced, low-level data provides significantly more detailed information for kimberlite detection, base and precious metal exploration, structural and lithological mapping and mine planning, while depth of penetration is not compromised. The Air Tractors are particularly robust and powerful, thus providing excellent rugged terrain draping capability, together with unsurpassed endurance and safety. The twin-turbine Islander aircraft are used mainly for regional gravity, magnetic and radiometric surveys. These aircraft have the capability of operating at low speeds (80 knots) and are ideal for gravity surveys over water for hydrocarbon exploration. Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys will soon be available with our low-flying towed-bird basic off-time XAG-EM system. Since its inception in 2002 Xcalibur has collected over 4.5 million line-kms of low-level data and standard regional country-wide surveys (e.g. Botswana & Angola) with an excellent safety record. The company has operated successfully in the majority of African countries, the Middle East and Canada. Our clients vary from government departments to major mining and junior companies. The company provides additional services such as survey design, data enhancement and both qualitative and quantitative interpretation by experienced geophysicists. Interpretation work ranges from basic first-pass data enhancement and integration, through litho-structural mapping, to more detailed 2.5D and 3D modelling using state-of-the-art software.