EXPLORATION
immediate success. It was soon being used
worldwide. The surface Pulse EM gear continued to
evolve enabling deeper penetrationwith larger loops
and more power (many years later, during his active
retirement, Crone visited Oman and the mining
operations at the site of the PEM-aided discoveries).
In 1978, the first commercial Borehole Pulse EM
system in the world was produced by Crone
Geophysics. The borehole method was initially a
very hard sell, but he persevered and after a few
successes, such as the discovery of an ore lens at
a depth of 950 m adjacent to the Corbett mine near
Noranda, Crone managed to convince the sceptics
that borehole geophysics was a useful, valuable,
practical tool. Today, borehole Pulse EM is an integral
part of many exploration programs, and has led to
Crone was one of the early members of KEGS
(Canadian Exploration Geophysical Society) and a
long-standing member of the SEG. In 2009, he
was recognised as a geophysical pioneer and is
included in the roster of notable Canadian
geophysicists honoured and commemorated by the
KEGS Pioneers Scholarship Fund for education in
geophysics.
the discovery of many deep massive sulphide orebodies.
In 1990, he sold the assets of Crone Geophysics
to a renamed company, Crone Geophysics &
Exploration, owned by many of his veteran
employees, while continuing as President. After
retiring in 1993, he continued an active life,
undertaking many ambitious trips to various parts
of the world.
He presented many papers and wrote numerous
case histories in his very readable, straightforward
style. In 1987 his paper at the MGLS Symposium
entitled Case Histories of Borehole Pulse EM
Surveys won the Best Paper Award. Other awards
included the A.O. Dufresne Award from the
Canadian Institute of Mining in 1992 “in recogni tion
of his pioneering development and successful
application of geophysics to mining exploration over
the last 40 years”, and the Distinguished Service
Award from the Prospectors and Developers
Association of Canada in 2001 “for his lifetime of
work in geophysics and his many important
contributions to the advancement of the science.”
The prototype Borehole Pulse EM system
The Crone JEM Shootback EM method corrects for topography and identi¬fies conductors in operation.