CANADIAN TECHNOLOGY
The # DisruptMining competition was sponsored by Goldcorp Inc and Integra Gold Corp during the PDAC. # DisruptMining showcased individuals, groups and companies that are using exponential technology and disruptive concepts to tackle the vast challenges faced by mining, from exploration and discovery to production and automation to financing and corporate social responsibility. The final was a Shark Tank / Dragons Den type presentation event.
The judges were Todd White, Executive Vice President and COO, Goldcorp; Rob McEwen, Founder of Goldcorp and McEwen Mining, who also launched Goldcorp Challenge; David Harquail, President, CEO, Franco-Nevada Corp; Bernadette Wightman, President, Cisco Canada; and Robert Herjavec, CEO, Herjavec Group, Founder of BRAK Systems, and a judge on CBC’ s Dragons Den and ABC’ s Shark Tank.
At the time of writing, deals are currently still being negotiated. All five finalists walked away with deals with Cementation( see Tomorrow’ s underground mine article, this issue) and KORE getting an invite to Goldcorp’ s deal room to negotiate for the C $ 1 million.
The other four judges combined to award C $ 400,000 in deals: n Rob McEwen awarded C $ 50,000 each to Cementation and KORE Geosystems n David Harquail awarded C $ 50,000 each to
Bio-Mine and TradeWinds n Bernadette Wightman awarded C $ 100,000 to
Goldspot Discoveries n Robert Herjavec awarded C $ 50,000 each to
Cementation and KORE Geosystems.
Photo courtesy of The Redpath Group which is working hard on communications in shafts and shaft sinking
The Canadian edge
John Chadwick reports on # DisruptMining and the impressive Canadian technologies represented there, and other news from Canadian suppliers
# DisruptMining finalist, KORE Geosystems Inc notes the true power of machine learning and artificial intelligence can only be unleashed with robust, high quality data inputs. KORE plans to install instruments onto the drill rig that can provide real-time, automated data accelerating timelines for multiple mining stages and decision-making intelligence. The team, Vince Gerrie, Aaron Maher, Sebastian D. Goodfellow, Chris Drielsma, Patrick Hooker and Chris Lane, bring together years of expertise in geology, geophysics, software engineering, and technology development.
Goldspot Discoveries is revolutionising mineral exploration by using machine learning to target on a regional and localised scale. The Goldspot Algorithm significantly
KORE ' s stress inversion technology extracts information about stress orientation and relative magnitude from borehole breakout data collected in multiple deviated boreholes using Acoustic Televiewer borehole logging technology. This means a borehole drilled for any reason( exploration, definition, geotechnical etc.) can be used to measure stress orientation, quickly and inexpensively
decreases risk, while increasing the efficiency and success rate of mineral exploration. This in turn will completely disrupt the investment decision model by using the Goldspot Algorithm to stake acreage, acquire projects and royalties, and invest in public vehicles to create a portfolio of assets with the greatest reward to risk ratio.
Acoustic Zoom( AZ) was a # DisruptMining semi-finalist. It is an advanced geophysics company established to develop new processes for mapping the character of complex geological formations at a finer scale than previously possible. AZ’ s innovative seismic method comprises a key advance in imaging the Earth’ s microstructure and one that has an important application in mineral deposit delineation. The AZ method can produce high-resolution 3D images of a mining property’ s subtle geological structure, making it possible to differentiate orebearing features from the barren host rock, including under areas overlain by bog and thick glacial till. The specific advance achieved is the ability to identify detail beyond that possible with state-of-the-art long offset, wide-azimuth seismic, even when very high source location density and multi-fold data are acquired.
Also a semi-finalist, Objectivity. ca is a data analytics consultancy using simulation and data mining to develop niche products and services addressing challenges in exploration / MineEx geology, mine ventilation financial analytics, 4D visualisation software and large scale visualisation and collaboration systems.
Royal Nickel Corp, interested in evaluating emerging technologies, applied Objectivity’ s DRX to its Dumont open pit project. The goal of
30 International Mining | APRIL 2017