Why AI
Our goal: increase exploration success with data science driven by academics.
copper as a global indicator of EXPLORATION SUCCESS
Discoveries have grown rarer, smaller, and lower grade
Only 12 copper deposits were discovered in the past decade, and their average grade and size are the smallest of the last three decades. Combined, they contained only 60.5 Mt (~5%), of all copper discovered since 1990.
“It is predicted that the current decade will be the worst for copper discoveries since the dataset began in 1990” –S&P Global Market Intelligence, 2021.
– 90%
Decline in grade per discovery over the last century
< 1
Current discoveries per year
CHALLENGES OF EXPLORATION
Explorers are looking deeper for new opportunities
The frontier of discovery used to be at surface, in remote locations, found by boots, mule and helicopters.
Today, the frontier of discovery is AT DEPTH, sitting below cover. Exploration at depth is even high risk and more expensive.
New methods are required for overcoming this challenge.
1990
Avg Depth
100 meters
Estimated Exploration Cost
$0.03 / lb discovered
Today
Avg Depth
400 meters
Estimated Exploration Cost
$0.30 / lb discovered
AI: New Tool Emerges
what is data science?
Data Science and the growth of AI
Compared with non-drilling exploration methods, data science is the fastest growing exploration method by portion of recurring annual spend.
While often referred to as “AI” (artificial intelligence), the field includes machine learning and other mathematical techniques and statistical theory applied to extremely large and distributed data sets.
Cloud computing excels at applying statistics and inquiries on large datasets, and AI excels at uncovering patterns in existing datasets.
…. But how do we use enable AI to innovate in new areas? We need the right people and the right platform.
Better than AI?
Better than AI: Predicting the unknown by adding physics, research and experience
Academics is about the human mind and the accumulation of the human experience. Exploration spending in this field includes hiring key talent in the field, outreach to universities, technical research and detailed laboratory work.
Our system recognizes contributions from the
THE PLATFORM DRIVING THE FUTURE
AI powered by a platform empowering a network of agents working together
Identifying data types, projecting 2D maps into 3D, inverting geophysics and more- the Map.Life platform allows the agents to work with each other and push the frontier of collaboration across multiple disciplines using real chemistry and material physics, pushing barriers and predicting geology in areas never before explored.
