The growing demand for raw material, coupled with the need to reduce the environmental footprint of the resource sector, highlights the importance of accurately characterizing both primary (ore) and secondary (recycled) material streams.
Improved efficiency requires detailed resource data to (1) effectively concentrate and extract valuable materials, (2) minimize and manage waste, and (3) reduce the total energy consumption and CO2 footprint. Advances in digitalisation and automatisation offer solutions to these challenges, through robotic data-collection platforms, data-driven resource, and process modelling tools.
These technologies facilitate real-time, precise decision-making, improving the efficiency of exploration, mining, and recycling processes while contributing to a more sustainable circular economy.
This session will explore cutting-edge mineral exploration and resource characterisation tools, including techniques that integrate multi-scale, multi-source, and multidisciplinary approaches. These include, but are not limited to, X-ray sensors (e.g., XRF, XRT), spectroscopy and hyperspectral techniques, LIBS, electromagnetic, seismic, and potential-field geophysics, combined with machine learning, AI models, and efficient mechatronic solutions.
Topics of interest include:
- Field based and analytical approaches to understand and map resources at multiple scales (e.g. geophysical and/or geochemical mapping, isotopic characterization, digital outcrops and hyperspectral imaging);
- Non-destructive techniques, featuring core scanners, in-line sensor systems, and the use of ground-based and airborne sensors for precise and efficient resource identification and characterisation;
- Automated, real-time data processing that optimize ore sorting, processing, and recycling;
- Data-driven quantification and predictive modelling of mineral systems and contained resources;
- Innovative methods for data integration and visualization from diverse sources to enhance accuracy and efficiency of resource characterization.
By bringing together experts from various disciplines, this session aims to foster collaboration and inspire innovative approaches that will shape the future of sustainable resource exploration and management.