The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Sorted by date Results 426 - 450 of 450
Could we mine the nickel we need for lithium-ion batteries, stainless steel and other applications in much the same way as we make pure maple syrup – from the sap of trees? Research at one nickel syrup agromining grove in Malaysia is demonstrating that this concept is not as far-fetched as it might sound. While most of Earth's flora tend to avoid the sulfide-rich and potassium-poor ultramafic deposits that host much of the world's nickel – geologists often use sparse veg...
Looking to put its best foot forward when it comes to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG), Golden Predator Mining Corp. is testing a non-cyanide and environmentally friendly way to extract the otherwise hard to recover gold from its mine project in the Yukon. For more than 130 years, cyanide has provided an inexpensive and effective means of extracting gold from ore. A chemical compound of carbon and nitrogen, cyanide dissolves gold into a solution, from...
A promising concept in the mining industry, utilizing the technology of artificial intelligence to accomplish never before dreamed of precision in mineral deposit discovery. While not an entirely new concept, as companies become more familiar with machine learning, the rate of success in its calculations can only grow. Finding buried lodes of metals that are economic to mines has become more difficult with time. If you examine the past twenty years of exploration expenditure...
Minerbots unite! With an arsenal of lasers and explosives able to reduce mineral-rich bedrock to rubble before morphing into trucks, loaders and other heavy equipment to deliver ore to processing plants that extract the sought-after metals, the Transformers of movie fame would make great miners! While today's mines do not currently employ Optimus Prime-like automatons to produce the metals the world needs and wants, they have developed non-transforming robots on a grandiose...
White Gold Corp. is adding artificial intelligence to the exploration toolbox at its disposal as the innovative company unlocks the massive gold potential of its namesake district in the heart of Canada's Yukon Territory. White Gold already employs a systematic exploration strategy that combines traditional mineral exploration techniques such as soil sampling and good old-fashioned prospecting with state-of-the-art technologies such as the use of drones for lidar mapping and...
Advanced wireless sensors are being developed to accompany automated vehicles in next-generation artificial intelligence-operated heavy machinery in mining and other sectors, to help predict malfunctions before they arise. With a fleet of futuristic self-driving equipment being set up to operate standalone, a system for maintenance of these vehicles is necessary to circumvent untimely failures. Typically, standard preventative maintenance is applied, which is just routine...
A global mining expert and entrepreneur has teamed up with a Boston-based tech firm that specializes in using machine learning to optimize market research to create Prospector, a new company and online platform that brings mining sector investment into the digital age. Considered "the Zillow for the mining industry," Prospector uses artificial intelligence to streamline and simplify the complex geological, engineering and financial data in mining and mineral exploration techni...
Roy Hill, an iron mining company with operations in Western Australia's Pilbara region, has signed a deal with global mining equipment and service provider Epiroc, and automation specialist ASI Mining to convert 77 of their human operated fleet of trucks and excavators to autonomy. Taking a different approach to the future, Roy Hill has chosen to modify their existing fleet and give them a futuristic upgrade. Epiroc and ASI Mining will collaborate to meet Roy Hill's...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rolled out plans to get more electric vehicles into and less carbon dioxide emitting from Canadian mines in the coming years. To help Canada achieve its climate goals and keep its mining sector and other industries competitive, the federal government plans to include off-road vehicles to the current zero-emission incentive for electric vehicles on Canadian highways. Trudeau introduced the plan during a March 2 speech at the Prospectors &...
SpaceX will be launching a NASA payload to 16 Psyche, a roughly 173-mile-long asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter that is made up of nickel, iron and other metals. Currently slated for launch in July 2022, the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will carry three payloads – equipment to support studies of the metallic asteroid, Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE), which will study the Martian atmosphere, and Janus, which will study binary a...
Rupert Resources partnered with Exyn Technologies to map 30 underground mining stopes in three days using the world's first industrial-grade fully autonomous drone at the past producing Pahtavaara gold mine in central Lapland of northern Finland. Since its acquisition of the Pahtavaara mine in 2016, Rupert has undertaken extensive new exploration and geological modelling, utilizing the substantial amount of historical drilling data and 35 kilometers (22 miles) of underground...
Hardrock mining companies have long been envious of their oil and gas counterparts' ability to drill a hole into the ground and extract liquid minerals. Group 11 Technologies Inc., a US-based technology firm, aims to provide miners with a way to pump gold and other metals out of the ground. Group 11 is a planned partnership between Golden Predator Mining Corp., EnviroLeach Technologies Inc. and enCore Energy Corp. that will use EnviroLeach's proprietary formula, which...
Mining powerhouse Rio Tinto is raising the renewable energy standard for all global industrialized sectors by completely powering its future Koodaideri iron mine in Pilbara, Australia with solar energy. Having approved of a US$98 million-dollar (A$144 million) investment in a new solar plant as well as lithium-ion battery storage at Koodaideri, Rio Tinto seeks to achieve a fully renewable mine site as early as 2021. This is expected to be Rio Tinto's first company-owned solar...
Global miner Anglo American has teamed up with Williams Advanced Engineering to develop the world's largest electric vehicle – an ultra-class mining haul truck. A hydrogen fuel cell module and bank of lithium-ion batteries will replace the diesel engines that have traditionally powered these mega-earthmovers. This massive power source and storage system is controlled by a high voltage power distribution unit delivering in excess of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy to the 2...
As security concerns mount over the nearly total reliance of the United States on foreign sources of rare earth elements, mostly from China, researchers in public and private laboratories across the country are aggressively searching for ways to spur domestic production of these critical minerals in the face of rapidly growing global demand. Rare earths, which in reality are plentiful in natural settings, can be found most everywhere. But the prohibitive financial and environm...
Reminiscent of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a small submersible scours the inky depths of the ocean, not in search of seams of coal, but towering spires created by thermal vents. The remotely operated sub's lights splash across the cluster of vents that spew mineral rich plumes of super-heated water from deep in the earth into the chill of the ocean depths. The ROV moves into position, its clawed arm reaching out and breaking off a sample of mineral rich rock...
Understanding that the transition to renewable energy is going to require a vast amount of metals yet mining them consumes a lot of energy, Teck Resources Ltd. is joining a growing number of mining companies with aims of becoming carbon neutral. On Feb. 3, the diversified Canada-based miner announced a goal to be carbon neutral across all operations and activities by 2050. "Setting the objective to be carbon neutral by 2050 is an important step forward in our commitment to...
Artificial intelligence and real boots-on-the ground geological investigations have resulted in a significant new high-grade gold discovery at New Found Gold Corp.'s Queensway project in Newfoundland. Formerly known as the Linear project, Queensway is a massive land package covering at least 17 known high-grade gold showings along a roughly 55-mile- (88 kilometers) stretch of the Central Newfoundland Gold Belt. To help identify the best drill targets across this roughly...
High-speed networking and interconnected devices, which form a unified whole, are opening a new realm of possibilities for consumer and company alike. As the world continues to become more digitally interconnected, the value of companies and their success can almost be directly linked to how quickly they adapt and utilize newer technologies. We can see remnants of bygone eras still lingering in many industries, including mining, in an era where the speed of development of new...
Whether it is a necklace from Tiffany & Co., an Apple iPhone or a pre-ordered Tesla Cybertruck, many buyers want to know that the metals going into the products they are purchasing are sourced ethically and sustainably. Metals pass through many hands on their way from mine to consumer, which can make it hard to ensure the source of the minerals. This adds time and cost and origins tend to become convoluted and even questionable. As we evolve into the digital age, recording...
When it comes to emerging mining technologies, high-speed wireless networks and drones are the top investment choices of companies seeking to discover new deposits and mine them more efficiently. A recent survey by GlobalData, a London, England-based analytics and research firm, found that 61 percent of mine sites around the globe have already made significant investments in fully implemented mine communication systems, such as private LTE networks or 5G. This is up from...
Companies have begun using drones in many industries around the world. One of the most interesting is the effectiveness of drones in the mining industry. The economic benefits of drones are becoming more obvious as industry experts focus on specific problems drones may be able to solve. Drones have proven to be particularly well-suited for discovering new mineral deposits, as well as safely and efficiently tackling some of the tough tasks around operating mines. These...
Australia, which already sits at the cutting edge of mining innovation, is investing heavily into ensuring Aussie miners remain on the cusp of emerging technologies that make the sector more efficient, sustainable and safer. Toward this goal, the Australian government and private sector partners are investing more than A$27 million in mining technologies, training and research. This includes A$12.5 million in funding, from the Australian government and industry organizations,...
From the enormous equipment that dig up and haul ore to processing facilities that extract the sought-after metals, mines use a lot of energy. Over the past century, the largest share of this energy has come from fossil fuels. In recent years, however, an increasing amount of mine power is coming from renewable sources such as wind and solar. Many mines are in remote locations that are beyond the reach of electrical grids, making them ideal for considering renewable sources...
Space, the final frontier... No, this isn't the opening credits of Star Trek; though that would be appropriate. Since man has set himself among the stars, he has wondered at the possibilities and the riches it might have. In 1967, during the Space Race when no one was sure who would get to the moon first, the United Nations passed a resolution stating that no country could claim ownership of the moon. In 1969, the United States landed on the moon, planted a flag, and took...
