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Tarachi publishes PEA for the local tailings project gold and silver news on December 13, 2021
Gaines resigns as CEO of Fortescue December 10, 2021
Lundin’s Vicuña is in focus. Feasibility December 9, 2021
Franco raises 30.9 million Canadian dollars to the Skeena project December 13, 2021
After BHP Billiton negotiations, Wyloo raises Noront’s bid Base Metals December 13, 2021
As inflation in the United States rises, gold rises in the capital market December 13, 2021
Franco raises 30.9 million Canadian dollars to the Skeena project December 13, 2021
Tarachi publishes PEA for the local tailings project gold and silver news on December 13, 2021
Rio Tinto will wipe US$2.3B from Mongolia’s debt. Copper News December 13, 2021
Sustainability of the Hydrogen Wave December 13, 2021
Investors suspect that the leading prospects come from capital December 9, 2021
For Robert Friedland, London is a good year for brickwork December 7, 2021
Gaines resigns as CEO of Fortescue December 10, 2021
Los Cerros prepares to be the spotlight Discovery December 1, 2021
BHP Billiton increases exposure to copper and nickel base metals November 12, 2021
Gaines resigns as CEO of Fortescue December 10, 2021
OreCorp Obtains Key License for Nyanzaga Gold and Silver December 9, 2021 News
U.S. critical minerals review deadline is imminent. Politics December 8, 2021
Sustainability of the Hydrogen Wave December 13, 2021
Barrick cited the progress made in the release of human rights...Sustainability December 13, 2021
Miners face increasing threats of water scarcity. Sustainability December 9, 2021
ESG is an opportunity, not an obstacle
One paradox of the mineral exploration sector is that it is both distinct and inseparable from the broader mining industry. Although the probability of a greenfield exploration project becoming a mine is estimated to be about one in a thousand, every mine starts with an exploration project.
With this in mind, explorers should always pay attention to the challenges facing the industry. In the next ten years, there are no two challenges greater than the need to continue to demonstrate strong sustainability certificates, including appropriate environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles and practices, and to meet the growing global economy and emerging green environmental protection Increasing material needs. economy.
ESG: Opportunity rather than obstacle
More projects than ever failed to advance, not because of technical problems, but because of environmental and social problems. The exploration department is responsible for addressing sustainable work practices, including ESG, early in the project life cycle, rather than setting them aside when the project enters the development phase. Incorporating sustainability into decision-making from the beginning of the exploration project has laid the foundation for constructive long-term participation with all stakeholders, thereby significantly reducing project risks. Therefore, sustainability should not be seen as an obstacle to exploration, but as an opportunity.
Establishing a relationship of respect, openness, participation and support with the local community, where shared values can be established, is essential for establishing a sustainable social operation (or exploration) license. Although part of the participation may include highlighting the type of exploration activity, thereby highlighting the difference between exploration and mining, there are many other aspects to this participation-responsible behavior, openness to considering alternatives (e.g., non-invasive With intrusive activities, moving, etc.), look for opportunities for cooperation, understand what you need: discover green economic rights and views that can satisfy various stakeholders, and maintain open, regular and effective communication, to name a few.
Establishing a positive and constructive record in the early stages can build trust and respect, and help lay the foundation for discovering and exploring success. Success in this area, coupled with successful discovery, should bring better results (and exploration funding) for investors.
Adopting non-intrusive and lower-impact, more environmentally friendly on-site technology will help make the project more environmentally friendly and reduce fears in communities that may only learn about mining from negative descriptions in movies or the wider media.
These non-invasive techniques include:
♦ UAV, low-impact acquisition of geophysical or other remote sensing images;
♦ Passive geophysics, technology to better understand underground geology and structure without using destructive seismic sources or power sources; 0
♦ Non-invasive geochemical surveys. Most surface geochemical surveys are relatively non-invasive, but the use of ion geochemistry and other technologies can perform rapid anomaly detection with the smallest possible impact;
♦ In-depth 3D geophysical inversion modeling, using new geophysical techniques to evaluate deep features, and using geological models to help constrain them during inversion modeling;
♦ Remote sensing and hyperspectral platforms, using these tools more in the early stages to guide exploration, ensuring that fewer areas require invasive exploration; and
♦ Downhole monitoring, using downhole tools and probes to maximize data capture and make full use of each borehole.
Increased use of non-invasive technologies provides additional benefits of lowering costs and increasing technical efficiency-KPIs will only become more important as prospectors get deeper and deeper to discover the minerals needed to drive economic recovery after COVID. And help decarbonize the global economy.
The exploration sector is also a rare case in the industry. The more successful we become, the harder it becomes. As the number of viable deposits near the surface decreases, especially in mature mining jurisdictions, prospectors need to go undercover to find new discoveries, increasing uncertainty and risk. This will increase our reliance on geological concepts such as new technologies and systems science. This is where technical efficiency and effectiveness become critical.
Using the non-invasive techniques described above will help. The same will be true for new invasive technologies, such as coil drilling, which reduces costs and increases drilling speeds, allowing us to drill deeper in places where the next level of deposits is more likely to be discovered. Coil drilling technology also provides additional benefits by reducing the drilling footprint, thereby minimizing the impact on the environment. Combining this with new rig laboratory technology and other developments such as portable XRF and PhotonAssay, we have the potential to significantly speed up mineral exploration.
Data science, especially machine learning, is another important growth area for the exploration sector and mining industry. Today, our industry collects a lot of data. For any geologist or team of geologists, there is too much data for effective analysis within a reasonable time frame. Machine learning models can be trained to examine large amounts of data in a shorter period of time—whether it is proprietary company data and/or historical pre-competitive data in jurisdictions where such data is available. However, it is important to note that machine learning is not a panacea. It performs the heavy work for geologists, just as paralegals do for lawyers. But it is also much more than that, for example, it has the potential to detect connections between different data sources that are almost invisible to the human eye.
Discovery success lies not only in having a large geological team capable of using these technologies. Improving efficiency also requires the adoption of certain organizational principles. Having a strong technical team is the foundation of successful exploration, as Robert Friedland and Turquoise Hill Resources and Ivanhoe Mines and other companies have demonstrated in various exploration companies. Combining technical capabilities with a strong team culture is also a successful combination, just as the leaders of a Western mining company (later acquired by BHP Billiton) discovered from the late 1960s to the 1990s, including Western Australia’s Kambalda and St Ives, and South Australia’s Giant Olympicba copper-uranium deposit.
Finally, improving technical efficiency requires a new way of thinking. A potential new method is scenario planning, which is a strategy for planning for multiple future scenarios related to the business. Based on this concept, researchers at the Exploration Targets Center of the University of Western Australia are developing a "multiple hypothetical reserves" method. Based on this method, explorers will develop a variety of plans for mineral deposits that are not currently discovered and can be mined in the future. .
Countless observers have pointed out that the continued growth of the world economy, especially low-carbon technologies such as batteries, wind turbines and solar panels, will require a large amount of certain commodities, such as copper, cobalt, lithium and graphite, and the quantity of these commodities will be far. Exceed the production volume of these commodities. Existing (or known) resources and reserves. The exploration department must meet this growing demand from the new green reality. To this end, our success rate and discovery rate must increase. Coupled with sufficient funds, this will require the industry to adopt and successfully combine new technologies and new thinking with good geological knowledge and thinking.
SRK was established in 1974 and has more than 1,500 professionals in more than 45 offices on 6 continents.
SRK Consulting (UK) Limited, 5th Floor, Churchill House, 17 Churchill Way, Cardiff, CF10 2HH, Wales, UK
SRK was established in 1974 and has more than 1,500 professionals in more than 45 offices on 6 continents.
SRK Consulting (UK) Limited, 5th Floor, Churchill House, 17 Churchill Way, Cardiff, CF10 2HH, Wales, UK
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