Arthur Brant was a teacher and a director of Newmont Mining's mining exploration research team. He was the individual most responsible for the successful application of induced polarization (IP) and many other geophysical methods to the discovery of hidden ore deposits. These methods played a central role in the mining boom that followed World War II. And they have been employed in detecting and delineating many ore bodies around the world.
During the 1930s, Brant worked with the Ontario Department of Mines. He theorized that a band of iron thought to run under Steep Rock Lake could be traced using electrical resistivity methods. Working on the winter ice of the lake, he tested this theory. Subsequent drilling demonstrated that he was correct.
During World War II he worked with a geophysical/ geological team searching for uranium in northwest Canada. During that time, Brant helped develop the first portable field Geiger counter for use in airborne and water operations. This work led to a uranium discovery at Beaver Lodge south of Great Slave Lake.
In 1946, Newmont Mining asked Brant to investigate research done during World War II for possible adaptation to minerals exploration. His tank tests on sulfide ore samples led to development of field equipment to send electric currents into the ground and measure voltage decay in the period following the cutoff of the current. This method is now known as time domain IP. Brant's report identified this new technique as a potential means of locating previously unresponsive disseminated sulfide ores.
In 1948, Brant became director of Newmont's newly formed geophysical department. In 1949, he formed a team to conduct geophysical research at the Jerome Mine in Arizona. This team included some well-known names in the field of geophysics, such as Harold 0. Seigal and James Wait. The team was the first significant research group in the history of mining geophysics in the United States. Its work resulted in new technologies in time domain and frequency domain IP and helicopter electromagnetic systems. With Newmont's permission, Texasgulf Minerals built a helicopter airborne electromagnetic system to detect the Kidd Creek copper, zinc and silver ore body near Timmins, Ontario.
One of the most important aspects of Brant's dual careers as a teacher and an exploration research supervisor was the influence he had on the first generation of mineral explorationists that made mining geophysics their life's work. Brant and his Newmont team placed mining geophysics on a professional, scientific level not previously known in the mining industry. Brant's name ranks high in the annals of mining geophysics as it emerged after World War II.
Excerpted from "Eight inducted into National Mining Hall of Fame during MINExpo '96", Mining Engineering 48(8):63-65, August 1996.