Grant: Alliance Grants
The University of British Columbia
$292,600.00
Determining the full value of ore body knowledge in Mineral Exploration and Mining
FY 2024-25
Summary
Mineral resources are critical to the low-carbon energy transition, with significant resources of copper, nickel, lithium and various other elements needed for electrical infrastructure such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles and batteries. However, many mineral resources are not easily mined due to complexities of the geology and mineralogy of the ore bodies from which metals are extracted. Often, companies seeking to mine deposits do not have sufficient ore body knowledge. This leads to problems during development of later mining operations, whereby the mine design, mineral processing and waste management leads to poor financial and environmental performance. This project seeks to determine which ore body risks impede financial performance, and provide a quantitative determination of how improved data collection during mineral exploration and resource definition (e.g improved ore body knowledge) will improve the financial and environmental performance of mining projects.
Program
Alliance Grants
Recipient
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
585307-2023
Name nom
Barker, Shaun SLLB
Department département
Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Organization id
2
Institution établissement
The University of British Columbia
Province en
British Columbia
Province fr
Colombie-Britannique
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2024
Competition year année de concours
2023
Award amount
292600
Program id
ALLRP
Program name en
Alliance Grants
Program name fr
Subventions Alliance
Group en
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
Group fr
PARTENARIATS DE RECHERCHE
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
202
Area of application group en
Natural resources (economic aspects)
Area of application group fr
Ressources naturelles (aspects économiques)
Area of application en
Mineral resources ( prospecting, exploration, mining, extraction, processing)
Area of application fr
Ressources minérales (prospection, exploration, mines, extraction et préparation)
Research subject code
4003
Research subject group en
Earth science
Research subject group fr
Sciences de la terre
Research subject en
Economic geology
Research subject fr
Géologie économique
Field of research list names en
Not available
Field of research list names fr
Non disponible
Socioeconomic objective list names en
Not available
Socioeconomic objective list names fr
Non disponible
Application title
Determining the full value of ore body knowledge in Mineral Exploration and Mining
Keywords
critical metals; economic value; machine learning; mineral resources; mining; natural language processing; ore body knowledge; ore body modelling; risk assessment
Application summary
Mineral resources are critical to the low-carbon energy transition, with significant resources of copper, nickel, lithium and various other elements needed for electrical infrastructure such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles and batteries. However, many mineral resources are not easily mined due to complexities of the geology and mineralogy of the ore bodies from which metals are extracted. Often, companies seeking to mine deposits do not have sufficient ore body knowledge. This leads to problems during development of later mining operations, whereby the mine design, mineral processing and waste management leads to poor financial and environmental performance. This project seeks to determine which ore body risks impede financial performance, and provide a quantitative determination of how improved data collection during mineral exploration and resource definition (e.g improved ore body knowledge) will improve the financial and environmental performance of mining projects.
