This report describes the work undertaken by BGS between November 2006 and March 2009 in
collaboration with Fugro Airborne Surveys Pty Ltd on an airborne geophysical survey and
ground reconnaissance mapping of the Volta River and Keta Basins, Ghana. The project was
supported by the EU as part of the Mining Sector Support Programme, Project Number 8ACP
GH 027/13. The initial contract duration was three years, but this was extended by five months
to account for acquisition of gravity data by another project.
Some parts of Ghana have been airborne surveyed as part of the Mining Sector Development and
Environmental Project, co-funded by the World Bank and the Nordic Development Fund, but no
work was carried out on the Volta River and Keta basins, which together form a major portion of
the Ghanaian territory.
The approximate areas covered by the surveys are estimated at 98,000 km² for the satellite
imagery and the airborne geophysics, except for the Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM)
survey which was limited to 60,000 km².
The main beneficiary of this project is the Geological Survey Department, GSD. The work
enhanced its geological infrastructure and its personnel received hands-on training on modern
geological mapping technology. Indirect beneficiaries were the mining and exploration
companies that can follow up the reconnaissance work with detailed exploration work.
The project was conducted in five phases, and this document reports on the BGS input to Phase
1, 4 and 5, with no inputs required in Phases 2 and 3:
• Phase1: geological outline through Radar and optical satellite imageries.
• Phase 2: airborne geophysical survey over the two basins for magnetics and
Gamma Ray spectrometry (Fugro survey).
• Phase 3: airborne electromagnetic and magnetic geophysical survey of specific
areas, following the completion and interpretation of phase 2, using fixed wing
time domain technology (Fugro survey).
• Phase 4: interpretation of the combined geology and geophysics.
• Phase 5: production of factual and interpretation maps.
The full list of BGS products is outlined in Table 1 below, while Jordan et al. (2006) describe the
products delivered on schedule in Phase 1