Exciting nickel discovery: Remy Belanger (above) with his trusty Phoenix V5 IP Receiver used at the Nuinsco Mines nickel discovery near Lac Rocher, about 120 km northeast of Matagami. A drill hole spotted on a V5 receiver IP anomaly intersected excellent thicknesses and values of nickel ore (see the Feb 1,1999 issue of The Northern Miner). The Phase IP technique implemented in the V5 Receiver is fast in the field and excellent at locating subtle IP anomalies. Lightweight, reliable and simple to operate with flexible power supply options -- those were the transmitter specifications demanded by well-known Canadian IP contractor Remy Belanger when he requested Phoenix build a successor to our famous IPT-1.
We did what he asked, named it the TXU-3 IP Transmitter - and Remy bought the first two units.
Not many people know more than Remy about the requirements of field-worthy IP equipment. Based in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, he’s been an independent contractor since 1975 (the same year Phoenix was founded); before that he was an IP operator with McPhar Geophysics. Just recently, Remy did the IP work (with his Phoenix V5 receiver) at the exciting Nuinsco Mines nickel discovery near Lac Rocher, about 120 km northeast of Matagami, Quebec.
The TXU-3’s predecessor, the IPT-1 that we first sold in 1977, became the most popular IP transmitter in Canada due to its simple design, light weight, ease of operation and general durability. Nearly 300 units were sold worldwide and, at one time, one of Phoenix’s survey competitors in Canada owned 18 of our units.
The new transmitter builds on the success of the IPT-1. The shape and weight distribution make it suitable for backpacking, essential in the bush. It works well in either Arctic or desert conditions, operating over a temperature range of minus 40 degrees to plus 40 degrees Centigrade. Equipped with both time domain and frequency domain capability, it satisfies a client’s requirements for either. The top-notch engineering group responsible for these developments includes Tim Butt, Jack Dodds, Yoichi Koguchi and Liang You.
The first units will be in the field in April. Like the IPT-1 and McPhar’s P660 before it, we expect to sell hundreds of this transmitter as it becomes the new industry standard for IP contractors. The TXU-3 IP Transmitter has an interesting upgrade path that we’ll tell you more about in our next issue. |
