MINERAL EXPLORATION
Ivanhoe Electric currently has three Typhoon units and three more will be produced for the Joint Venture in the first half of 2024 . Three additional Typhoon units on order with I-Pulse will be delivered subsequently to Ivanhoe Electric . When the construction and delivery of these six new generation units is completed , the global fleet of Typhoon units will have tripled from three to nine .
Sensore lunches iChromite
Geoscience technology innovator SensOre Ltd has announced the launch of iChromite , a new suite of automated mineral chemistry assessment tools it has developed that it says can identify exploration targets more efficiently and accurately . “ The mineral chromite is extremely stable in highly weathered environments . It preserves its unique geochemical fingerprint over geological time and thus has great utility for reliable detection of potential mineralisation and fertility .” iChromite it says uses new and highly innovative data processing techniques integrated with machine learning tools delivered from an agile accelerated program . “ The SensOre geochemical technology team has delivered the new tool suite from the first phase of a comprehensive research program directed at improving the fidelity of mineral chemistry . When the new tool is applied to the mineral chemistry of chromite , an important resistate heavy mineral sample , it can quickly aid in the rapid assessment of fertility , a key ingredient in generating new exploration targets for mineral discovery .”
Importantly , the new technology workflow can be used to rapidly analyse the vast quantity of legacy industry chromite geochemical databases collected from across Australia ( and the world ) over many decades . “ Application of this technique will unlock value from in field sample collections and analysis currently concealed in mining and exploration company databases , which represents millions of dollars of previous investment .”
SensOre CEO Richard Taylor said : “ As mineral exploration increasingly focusses on a new generation of targets to deliver mines of the future required to meet the world ’ s increasing demand for critical minerals , the industry is moving into more remote projects and deeper targets . Consequently , this shift has brought back into focus the role of resistate mineral geochemistry in early-stage exploration programs . Aided by new machine learning tools such as iChromite , the technique is potentially undergoing a revolution or new dawn in greenfield exploration .” Major cited benefits of iChromite application to geochemical ‘ Big Data ’: n Rapidly and cost effectively process and
classify vast quantities of historical chromite mineral chemistry data collected over many decades by industry n Identify the unique geochemical fingerprints of chromites with high confidence – iChromite considers 14 elements simultaneously in the classification process compared to more traditional methods which commonly assess two or three elements at a time n Provide important geological information such as age and paleo – tectonic environment . SensOre ’ s development of iChromite it says significantly improves on the application of chromite as a kimberlitic indicator mineral ( KIMS ) as a vector to the presence of rocks such as kimberlites and lamproites and its use as a vector to nickel and copper , namely komatiitic – magmatic Ni and mafic / ultramafic – hosted V – Cr – PGE mineralisation .
SensOre ’ s steps in developing the new technology : n Compilation , cleaning , labelling and data imputation of global mineral geochemistry database + 1.5 million sample records n Advanced text – mining applied to attached textural information and SensOre ’ s adjacency modelling ( SAM ) utilised to identify individual samples coincident with , or proximal to , significant economic mineralisation for 24 different deposit types using our global metallogenic databases n State – of – the-art unsupervised learning workflow ( SimClust™ ) applied to chromite chemistry to automatically generate highly discrete populations in the data in 14 element space Application of SimClust™ technology resulted in identification of highly discrete populations that are observed to coincide with chromites derived from komatiite and magmatic Ni and V – Cr – PGE ore deposits in addition to diamond – bearing kimberlites leading to development of iChromite . SensOre says it is continuing development to apply its SimClust™ technology to other minerals including porphyry indicator minerals to assist with porphyry target assessment and vectoring . “ The new mineral datasets will allow SensOre to provide an advanced suite of machine learning tools , like iChromite , that can be applied to the SensOre data cube to be utilised in its own exploration programmes and by clients on their own data in SensOre ’ s Solution as a Service ( SOLAAS ) targeting services .”
iChromite from Sensore is a new suite of automated mineral chemistry assessment tools it has developed that it says can identify exploration targets more efficiently and accurately
SGS ’ s Mobile Sample Preparation Units
With the mining industry dealing with a backlog of sending their samples to labs for test results over the past year , some companies are turning to Mobile Sample Preparation Units as a solution , with SGS ’ MSPU offering coming to the fore . The turnaround times associated with sampling are especially important in the early stages of exploration for companies requiring reliable testing data in real time to make important investment decisions to advance their projects .
Matador Mining realised that there were issues in addressing the realities of exploring in remote areas like its Cape Ray project in an isolated area of Newfoundland , Canada , SGS said .
In April 2021 , SGS started working with Matador Mining to build a Mobile Sample Preparation Unit ( MSPU ) in one of the most remote areas of Newfoundland . Sitting on the edge of the ocean in Port-aux-Basques , many were sceptical about the feasibility of building a lab there , SGS said . The site is a two-and-a-halfhour drive away from Deer Lake and the closest regional airport linking to the rest of Canada .
Cindy Collins , Director of Sales and Business – Geochemistry SGS Natural Resources , said : “ The goal of the project was to find a way to more easily execute the testing that Matador Mining needed while staying mindful of the possibilities and problems associated with a location as remote as this one . We felt that if we could come up with a mobile lab , then we could staff it with local talent and replicate it across the world .” Collins says there are great benefits from MSPUs when it comes to sustainability . Instead of building bricks and mortar , the mobile unit runs on its own power and prepares samples for on-site analysis . Having their data faster allows
FEBRUARY 2023 | International Mining 73