Innovation in exploration
Not your father’s mining
The mining of today is a far cry from the mining of even a decade ago, and perhaps one of the areas this is most true is in the technologies and resources that geologists have at their fingertips at the exploration stage of a project. When starting up, many juniors inherit information about their properties in the form of old, clunky data sets, maps, and wisdom trapped inside PDFs. What they do with it is up to them.
Mira Geoscience was founded on the idea that digital data integration in the form of exploration models can lower exploration risk. It has since evolved into a two-branch company, with a software side that builds custom solutions like its new geophysical inversion tools, alongside a consulting branch that helps companies make use of their existing data. Jean-Philippe Paiement, director of global consulting at Mira, believes the mining sector is witnessing a significant shift in how users interact with the data they have available to them, a shift that is largely generational. “We are at an inflection point in the industry where you still have the old-timers working on paper using pencils and crayons, and then you have the younger generation that is all about coding,” he explained. “We try to bridge the gap and at least get everything into a 3D viewing platform.”
Despite a few boomers dragging their feet behind the transition, digitalized information has become a mainstay in the exploration space. In fact, thanks to synergies at play between GoldSpot Discoveries and its recently acquired subsidiary Geotic, clients can now log and linearize data directly from pictures. Mineral exploration companies are legally required to photograph drillcore as they collect it, meaning that over time, many deposits generate thousands of photographs that often end up abandoned in servers. LithoLens, GoldSpots’ proprietary core imaging technology, automatically examines these old core images to generate geological logs using AI and machine learning. Users of Geotic’s GeoticLog can now use the platform in conjunction with the AI imaging solution to maximize their data input and interpretation. According to Joel Jeangrand, managing director of Geotic, the beauty in this pairing lies in its potential: “The AI and machine learning components of this solution mean the more it is used, the more it will train itself and become more accurate.”
“The energy transition is a very interesting prospect for our industry that will continue to drive demand for metals like copper, nickel, lithium, and gold. In many cases, juniors have to search deeper and in more complicated geographies.”
Nadine Veillette, President, Abitibi Geophsyics
Artificial intelligence can also be used to suggest rock type at surface, and IOS Services Geoscientifiques has developed a method to do so with gold. According to Réjean Girard, the company’s CEO and general manager, the shape of gold grains reveals several clues about the type of deposit it comes from. “If the grain is coming from a quartz vein, it is going to have a specific type of shape, whereas if it is in a sulfide, it will have a different shape,” Girard explained. “We have developed algorithms that can recognize the shape of the gold grain according to the type of deposit.”
This allows exploration companies to revise their geophysical techniques as necessary.
Some companies such as Abitibi Geophysics are focused on developing specialized methods that allow for deeper exploration. Particularly when it comes to gold, projects are increasingly targeting deep-lying deposits, and according to Nadine Veillette, Abitibi’s president: “One of our core focuses is to create innovative methods by using new ways of acquiring data that meet the needs of the market to find deeper deposits and mineralization."
“Historically, geologists built a model and geophysicists did inversions, but rarely would this data be put together or interact. This has been happening more in recent years, as geophysicists seek to incorporate geological models into their data before running inversions.”
Jean-Philippe Paiement, Director, Global Consulting, Mira Geoscience
Others look to introduce technological advancements from outside the mining sector. Vision 4K provides drone magnetic geophysics surveys. By implementing a collision avoidance system within its drones, the company can conduct surveys in the 20 to 30 meter range above ground, which is important given the significant relationship between the proximity of sensors to the target and the resolution of the data. “Data gets exponentially better the closer you get to the source,” explained Pierre-Olivier Dostie, the company’s director of operations. “For this reason, drones can offer far better results than helicopters if flown at lower altitudes.”
Géophysique TMC has also experienced steady demand for its drone services. Co-owner Gabriel McCrory acknowledged that for large areas, helicopter surveys tend to be more effective. "That said, in small to medium areas, using a drone is perfect," he asserted.
As companies have more access to information at their disposal, ensuring it is of sound quality becomes all the more important. “Quality control of data is becoming increasingly important as companies are using data to drive decisions,” commented Hugues Guérin-Tremblay, president of Laurentia Exploration, whose company provides mining clients with a range of specialized geology and consulting services.
Finding the right balance between optimizing data and assuring its quality will be key for service providers and their mining clients moving forward.
“A helicopter is limited to daytime flights, pilot flight hours, and wide windows of time to take off and conduct mapping. On the other hand, our drone crews are very flexible. We can work in 15-minute intervals, even when the weather is challenging.”
Pierre-Olivier Dostie, Director of Operations, Vision 4K
The dark side of innovation
As information accumulates from maps, photos, and various other sources, a new concern arises: how to keep this virtual stockpile safe? Information is valuable, yet ironically, in an industry so accustomed to protecting its most prized assets, this tends to be overlooked.
“A problem we have seen worsen over the past 2.5 years is the theft of information from organizations,” acknowledged Claude Sarrazin, president of Groupe SIRCO, a company specialized in investigation and protection services.
More often than not, according to Sarrazin, this theft is carried out not by outsiders but rather by authorized personnel or subcontractors who are responsible for maintaining the software systems. “They may be taking the information for a competitor, to re-sell, or to be used as blackmail, but there is always a financial component fueling their motives. Unfortunately, we usually get called in when something problematic has already occurred. Everything is always okay until it suddenly isn’t.”
Ben Sharpe, senior industry consultant at Rockwell Automation, further underscored the need to properly scrutinize and implement network security: “Firewalls around the whole site are not enough; you must break it down inside as well. People will bring a thumb drive into a network even if they are explicitly told not to, so there must be security between networks that ensures any leakage only impacts a small portion of process operations.”
Rockwell Automation can provide its clients with both cybersecurity and network analysis, two services which are on the rise within the mining sector. With new tools comes new responsibilities, and to neglect the security concerns of modern mining could be a mistake of monumental proportions.
Image courtesy of Agnico Eagle
“One of our goals is to become more of a one-stop shop for geophysical surveys, from initial geophysics to drill campaigns with orientation tools and rig aligners.”
Gabriel McRory, Co-Owner, Géophysique TMC