Source: Mining Weekly
Aim-listed Botswana Diamonds (BOD), which holds exploration licenses in Botswana and South Africa, has started with an AI program on its Botswana database, which will assist in a comprehensive search for new diamond deposits and potentially other minerals.
The company expects initial exploration results to be available in the next four to six weeks, as the program evaluates the company’s database, comprising 95,000 km2 of data – the second-largest diamond exploration database in Botswana.
Chairperson John Teeling says the mineral database in Botswana is simply too vast for people to analyze it on time. Rather, AI techniques can analyze substantial amounts of data in a shorter time, as well as identify inconsistencies or gaps.
BOD’s database comprises 375,000 km of airborne geophysical data, 606 ground survey results, 228,000 soil sample results, and 32,000 drill hole logs.
The company will use Planetary AI Explore mineral prospectivity technology, which was developed with International Geoscience Services.
The system uses a unique combination of semantic technology with machine learning.
Semantic technology is a branch of AI focused on understanding and representing the meaning of data, information, and knowledge in a machine-readable format. It enables computers to comprehend, interpret, and reason with data like human understanding, enhancing the effectiveness of information retrieval, integration, and analysis.
This allows computers to “understand” the meaning and context of geological data in much the same way a geologist would, to identify zones of prospective mineralization based on specific mineral deposit models.
The system acts like a geologist but can function quicker and more efficiently. Vast datasets are processed through AI that finds logical gaps in the data and learns to correct them.
“This exercise is expected to yield fresh insights that will offer drillable targets previously unseen,” Teeling concludes.
THE AUTHOR: Marleny Arnoldi, Deputy Editor Online. Edited by Chanel de Bruyn, Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online
