Artificial Intelligence, (“AI“) is used in many sectors & applications, but not so much in the Mining space. That makes no sense because AI is an extremely useful tool in dealing with challenges that involve tremendous amounts of data and hundreds of variables. However, AI is just a tool, it’s not a silver bullet solution. For Mining, the area most in need of what AI offers is exploration for new discoveries.
The costs of exploration are going up. The easy stuff has already been found, the higher-grade ore already mined. Most exploration programs are searching in part, or entirely, for mineralization, “under cover” (under overburden). Overburden is worthless rock or soil overlying a mineral deposit. It’s the enemy of exploration geologists because it’s hard to, “see through.” Various tools are deployed to understand what’s beneath the overburden, geophysics, geochemistry, etc.
But each property is unique, what works well in one place, might not work at all in another. Exploration (not just for metals) is the perfect setting — high uncertainty, lots of data, lots of variables, the potential for a Big reward & substantial cost savings — for AI to be a valuable, cost-effective tool to aid geologists. Albert Mining’s (TSX-V: AIIM) / (OTCQB: MJXFF) technology will never replace geologists, only assist them. Income tax software has been around for > 20 years, but it has not replaced tax accountants, not even close.
Due diligence tool for prospective $AIIM investors.
Albert Mining has been using AI, machine learning & data mining for > decade. Clients benefit from a multidisciplinary team that includes professionals in geophysics, geology, AI & mathematics. Most of the team has been together for 6-10 years, they have 30+ proven discoveries. Management says it has a 70% success rate in identifying new zones of mineralization. If a gambler could be right 65% of the time, he or she would become quite wealthy. Albert Mining’s success rate is not higher because sometimes there’s no additional mineralization to be found. Or, there’s not enough data for the technology to operate at an optimal level, or the geology is simply too difficult to understand.
Each time the Company’s CARDS (Computer Aided Resources Detection System) system finds something, it saves the client considerable exploration time & money and frees up managerial resources. The benefits are many, for all stakeholders, when there’s a successful outcome.
Let me throw in this testimonial by Ron Perry, then a Director of Metanor Resources, that I paraphrased from a recently shot video. {see 2-minute video clip} This was an Albert Mining success story from 2009-10 that’s now going into production. How many exploration projects make it to production? Not many!
Ron Perry, formerly of Metanor Resources.
“I met Michel [Fontaine] of Albert Mining in 2009, he came into our booth at the Cambridge show, it sounded like he had some proprietary algorithms. We hit it off, I approached our VP of Exploration. I told him, ‘if we use Albert Mining’s technology and find something, it’s your discovery. If not, just blame me, the finance guy’…. In 2010 we made a discovery, off the main road, in an area that had no inkling or smell of gold. At the same time, Michel’s team did some mapping around our tailings pond and there was another discovery, and that discovery is now going into production. A pretty amazing technology….”
What’s Albert Mining’s Secret Weapon?
Albert Mining owns 100% of a proprietary software package called CARDS, a state-of-the-art computer system used to identify areas with a high statistical probability of containing mineral deposits. High statistical probability is a key phrase, CARDS does not provide certainty, no system of any kind can. The backbone of CARDS is a knowledge extraction data mining engine that uses pattern recognition algorithms to learn the signatures of positive & negative data points to create a model that makes predictions on the positive or negative nature of new data points. CARDS uses powerful algorithms to analyze digitally compiled exploration data and identify zones with a high potential for discovery.
How Does All This Work?
Data is entered into CARDS in the form of a geo-referenced database. Each data point, or “cell,” in the database is linked to its own set of criteria extracted from geophysical surveys, drill & rock sample assays, geological maps, etc. It’s critical that as much data as possible is captured & logged. The system can take many different forms of data, (geophysics, geochemistry, topography, satellite, geology, faults, spatial data, etc.) which is why it’s such a robust predictive tool. The data is divided into 2 databases.
The first database includes cells with known assay results (drill hole / rock sample data, etc.) and is used to develop, to learn, a model of the geological target being sought. For example, the model could be set to identify targets containing > 5 g/t Gold. The second database, equally important, includes cells with no assay results. Complex algorithms are used to identify those cells that have a high similarity to the signatures of positive mineral deposits. In addition, in the analysis of each cell, the characteristics of cells within a specified distance, (in the same neighborhood), are weighed into the evaluation of that cell. Due diligence tool for prospective $AIIM investors.
Therefore, even cells lacking data can be effectively evaluated if the combination of their limited characteristics, and their proximity to cells with other significant characteristics, is similar to that of cells with known positive results. Unlike rule-based computer models, CARDS is not biased by the rules of any particular geologic model. In fact, because of the CARDS system’s ability to learn and make predictions based on the signatures of multiple positive data points, it can make predictions on any geological deposit type.
Once the data has been crunched, which typically takes several weeks, prospective targets generated by CARDS are evaluated with the client, and both parties discuss & outline potential exploration & drill targets.
A New Business Model, A New Chairperson Coming, A New Albert Mining
In the past, this is where Albert Mining’s work ended, they would provide a valuable service and move on. However, all of that is about to change. The Company, with the support of large shareholders, is taking ownership stakes in companies it does work for. In addition, a new Chairperson should be named shortly. He or she will be well versed in this new operating model. The Company’s objective is to develop new revenue streams by participating in the exploration success rate of AI-assisted exploration.
Albert Mining is currently running a program in Norway for Playfair Mining. Management recently invested C$100,000 in Playfair at C$0.05 (2M shares) and signed a C$75,000 service agreement. The RKV project covers 2 past-producing VMS copper mines (Kvikne & Rostvangen), a magmatic nickel-copper deposit (Vakkerlien) and > 20 additional mineral occurrences. Albert Mining will use its proprietary technology to analyze a large amount of geophysical, geochemical & geological data to uncover patterns hidden in Playfair’s data. It will then run those machine learned patterns through its algorithms to identify prospective targets.
This technology has been successful in assisting geologists in the identification of a number of mineral discoveries, especially in the context of VMS mining districts. As management continually tweaks the CARDS system, making it more robust, they will now benefit more directly, and more substantially, from their high success rate.
CEO Michel Fontaine tells me his Company will look a lot different in 3 or 4 months. A new Chairperson, a new business model, perhaps programs outside of Mining. Readers may recall in a recent interview I did with Michel that he mentioned searching for abandoned underground land mines and exploring for water as possible rapid growth segments. Almost any high-value field or application where there’s A LOT of complex data is ideally suited for CARDS.
As CEO Fontaine of Albert Mining (TSX-V: AIIM) / (OTCQB: MJXFF) said in our interview last month,
“We feel this is just the beginning of something potentially much bigger. No other company, has the breadth & depth, the vast experience in AI technology for Mining (and new sectors) that we do. No one.“
Due diligence tool for prospective $AIIM investors.
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