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The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) has partnered with Hitachi (TYO: 6501) to develop TracePoint, a fully automated suite of services to help locate valuable minerals.
SRC worked with Hitachi Canada’s tech division to develop custom instrumentation, data analysis and interpretation software. The council says the technology is the first of its kind and offers a service not available anywhere else in the world.
“By bringing together expertise and innovation from across the Hitachi Group, including advanced automation solutions, analytical technologies and AI-driven data analysis, we have helped create a world-first automated mineralogy platform that delivers unprecedented efficiency and insight,” said Chad Ostrander, Hitachi Canada’s president.
Technology and process
Traditional indicator mineral analysis involves examining samples manually, often with microscopes, to identify mineral grains. This analysis is used by mining companies to make exploration decisions.
The system includes an automated mineral sample preparation machine and a dual-beam mineral analysis instrument that combines micro-X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Combining these technologies produces larger mineralogical datasets that SRC says can be enhanced through artificial intelligence (AI).
“Sample preparation that would have taken even the most skilled technician a full week to complete by hand can now be performed in mere hours,” said Mike Crabtree, SRC’s president and CEO.
Exploration applications
For mining companies, SRC says this means they can extract more information from glacial till samples than was previously possible.
"This technology vastly increases the likelihood of critical mineral deposit discoveries by giving companies access to information they have never had access to before,” said Warren Kaeding, the province’s minister of trade and export development. “Using this technology on previously processed archived samples can uncover new mining opportunities that have, up until now, remained unexplored,” he added.
For more information, visit: https://www.src.sk.ca/