Grant: Canada First Research Excellence Fund

Laurentian University (LU) will be the administrative nucleus governing and monitoring Metal Earth. With an internationally renowned team, LU will leverage its Mineral Exploration Research Centre (MERC) leadership and support staff, its Advisory Board of industry and government leaders, new Metal Earth academic, industry, and government partners, and international collaborators to provide scientific and fiscal governance to achieve programme goals. Metal Earth will use proven data management, analysis, and programme delivery workflows developed by stakeholders to meet the needs of multi-million dollar, multi-partner resource sector initiatives. Operations and communications will be managed by an Executive Director (Chair in Exploration Targeting) with mixed industrial and scientific qualifications, an Associate Director, Research from the geosciences at Laurentian University and an Associate Director, Operations from MERC. The Executive team will be assisted by support and IT-GIS staff. A Scientific Advisory Board, chaired by Laurentian's Tier 1 CRC in Metallogeny, will be established amongst research partners and outside experts to provide guidance and oversight of scientific methodology, data management, analysis, visualization, interpretation and risk assessment. Stakeholder management will include national and international linkage building and communications. A knowledge transfer group, from within LU and accountable to the Executive Team and Scientific Advisory Board, will foster ongoing and new collaborations, organize meetings, workshops and presentations, reporting outputs and outcomes, and timely open-source delivery of data, 4D models, knowledge and technology. Following an annual, external arms-length science review, a yearly Global Benchmark report will be published highlighting the results and impacts of programme activities.