Modern mineral exploration revolves around good teams, great localities, and good access to investment resources to get positive results. So there is no way to attract funds without an exciting project that promises great potential & opportunity; and even an average project (especially if its new) cannot be defined in any locality without the human resource.
But there is a hidden element that has relevance that is under-estimated (until you need it that is); yes human resource brings ideas & knowledge to a group to find that focus, but NO it is not that resource the hidden element, its access to technology.
Looking into the past, say 1960’s and before, most mineral discoveries came from unexplored localities as surface occurrences, with simple shapes and with visible mineral, lithological and structural associations. Other discoveries came from mining operations stumbling upon underground occurrences within already known vein & structure related resources.
The use of accumulated knowledge for the discovery and delineation of new hidden targets was uncommon, and required large teams to manage the extensive task of assembling and incorporating ideas & models into surface maps. Some extremes got into nearly absurd tasks as compilation of maps on paper to create big picture concepts and endless review of files to catch meaning buried in tons of reports.
There are many elements that comprise the technology realm that exists beside the exploration endeavor, and it’s almost impossible to summarize it without leaving out some or any aspects that are of interest for individuals, but in short, the cycle of the data/information/knowledge of any one or company is acquisition (from field, reports, exiting data sources) into its own store facility, where any kind of datamining approach can be followed (from standard statistics to AI or supervised learning), let’s call that analysis, then sharing results with fellow professionals up to investors, to orient next stages of acquisition, for the final objective of discovery.
Most current major mining companies have moved around the data cycle very far from those early technological limitations; while minor companies, small groups and individuals as long as they have access to the expensive private infrastructure of any of the majors, can advance under their wing towards new discoveries. So it’s the information platform that enhances the special abilities that the best professionals have, and serves them to excel in exploration.
To be able to benefit from part or all the ecosystem of solutions requires deep pockets, and long term commitment with a strict / not to flexible way of doing business; a large investment (whether its monetary, time, or both) has an impact on the ability (our ability as explorers) to change path when unexpected events occur.
Now we are entering (actually more than 15 years in) into the era of mobile & lite platforms, running on the cloud or just remotely, where the focus is falling increasingly on reducing effort and resources spent on assembling an in-house infrastructure.
That context is the seed that led “Mineral Exploration 3D – minex3D.com” team to come together and review/redesign the approach of tech use in exploration: clearly services is the way to go (for end users and contractors alike), but when services rely on the dominantly infrastructure hungry solutions available in the market, in the end no savings can be offered to the interested parties, the exploring companies & individuals, just a delegated business model is what many offer, forcing the end client to pay-for or assemble datacenters and offline workstations to meet the needs.
Minex3D.com technology approach in exploration is simple, comprised of a set of points:
• No need for the client to expand its infrastructure beyond its current size
Allow the end users to use what minex3D.com has to offer without them needing to shift or change their own structure, so it’s not a migration, just an add-on.
• Development of a platform, addressing industry needs incrementally
From what has not yet been fulfilled (eg. web based 3D visualization), through what is available in expensive packages (eg. 3D modeling, interpretation, processing), to what is available in currently payed standalone software but to be placed on mobile platforms (data acquisition and Databases management).
• Costs should not come from software usage fees but purely from services
Users should not pay for a functionality or specific package; that should come with the service, rather the access to the platform itself, modeling & GIS services, should be what generate costs at a fair proportion.
• The solutions focus should be pragmatic
No longer heavy Swiss knife solutions are needed, as solutions attempting to catch all the unforeseen needs of fringe users do not help in catching an edge in exploration performance, but divert companies & professionals from their core objectives which is finding value and being able to promote it.
The whole concept leads minex3D.com team of experienced mineral exploration professionals with the relevant additional knowledge in modern information technologies, in an ongoing effort to create the tools and services that focus on results, away from inefficiency, away from waste of human resource effort, away from unnecessary expenses or investment, into the path of achieving the goal of discovery of resources & value.
