Unlocking the full potential of mineral exploration at depth: borehole logging methods and analysis for increased exploration efficiency

矿产资源的可获得性是我们所有经济活动的基础。新兴国家的持续发展给这些资源带来了更大的压力，因此我们发现和更新储量的能力可能会超过需求。为了迎接这一社会挑战，矿产勘探业必须创新。**由于未来的储量很可能在深部发现，覆盖在贫瘠或运输的盖层上，没有地表表达，我们必须建立成本效益高的计划，允许在深部进行矿产勘探。这项研究计划提供了解决方案，以提高这些类型的矿产勘探计划的效率。第一，通过系统地获取现场物理特性并将这些数据转换为影响勘探的信息，充分利用钻井时所作投资的全部潜力。第二是限制钻孔未能与目标相交或遇到代价高昂的钻井危险的情况。**打个比方，对现场岩石性质进行系统测量并将数据转换为有用的勘探信息的出现，提出了一种类似于摄影的范式转变。数码摄影消除了与胶片相关的成本，并通过允许我们只打印好的照片来显著降低处理成本。这项技术现在无处不在，并使我们能够以十多年前不可想象的方式使用摄影。识别照片拍摄时间和地点的元数据的自动捕获可以通过面部识别来增强。因此，与旧鞋盒和尘土飞扬的相册不同，新的数字相册允许基于这些元数据对照片进行快速分类和高效检索。数字信息的性质也意味着它可以自由备份和分发。对于储存在传统岩芯棚屋中的岩芯来说，情况并非如此，因为它们是独一无二的。岩心样品暴露在空气和湿气中会导致氧化，随着年龄的增长，它们会发生退化。只有地质描述和稀疏的化验数据可能会从特定的钻井计划中保留下来。**现场物理性质的系统测量提供了与井眼相交的岩石的定量评估。这些数据是定量信息的来源，不存在解释偏差，可以承受时间的推移而不会出现任何退化，并且可以在采矿项目的整个生命周期内轻松地存储、检索和在工作组之间共享。这些数据的数字特性还通过识别物理属性之间的空间关系为原始信息提供了增值的机会，否则这些空间关系可能不会被注意到。与数字摄影中面部识别所取得的成就类似，它将使人们能够快速识别潜在的矿藏。这些数据将有助于更好地了解岩体、钻探危险，并提供指导钻探走向矿化的信息。它们还将提供一个背景，以便将描述矿山规划整个生命周期的地质情况的信息整合在一起，并有助于加强回收、减少环境足迹和减少能源需求。**这项研究计划的结果有可能影响深远，并将推动加拿大和国外矿产勘探方式的阶段性变化。它将为培训高素质人员提供机会，这在加拿大和世界大多数地区都是独一无二的。这些毕业生将能够设计未来的勘探战略，并应用为应对行业和社会面临的矿产勘探挑战而开发的创新。

Availability of mineral resources underpins all sectors of our economic activity. Continued development of emerging countries places a greater strain on these resources and thus our ability to discover and renew reserves is likely to be outstripped by demand. In order to meet this societal challenge, the mineral exploration industry must innovate. **Since future reserves are likely to be found at depth, overlain by barren or transported cover and without surface expressions we must establish cost effective programs that allow for mineral prospection at depth. This research program provides solutions to increase the efficiency of these type of mineral exploration programs. The first, is to leverage the full potential of the investment made when the borehole is drilled by systematic acquisition of in-situ physical properties and transformation of these data into information that impacts exploration. The second is to limit cases where boreholes fail to intersect the target or run into expensive drilling hazards. **As an analogy, the advent of systematic measurement of in-situ rock properties and transformation of the data into useful exploration information proposes a paradigm shift similar to what happened to photography. Digital photography eradicated the costs related to film and reduced significantly processing costs by allowing us to print only the good ones. This technology is now ubiquitous in our lives and has allowed us to use photography in ways unthinkable more than a decade ago. Automatic capture of metadata that identifies the time and place where the photograph was taken can be augmented by facial recognition. Thus, far from old shoe boxes and dusty albums, novel digital albums allow for rapid sorting and efficient retrieval of photographs base on these metadata. The nature of the digital information also means that it can backed-up and distributed freely. Not so for the rock-cores stored in traditional core-sheds that are unique. Core samples suffer from degradation as they age by being exposed to air and moisture that can cause oxidation. Only geological description and sparse assay data may remain from particular drilling programs.**Systematic measurement of physical properties in-situ provides a quantitative assessment of the rock mass intersected by the borehole. These data are a source of quantitative information that is free from interpretational bias, can endure the passage of time without any degradation and can easily be stored, retrieved and shared amongst working groups throughout the life of a mining project. The digital nature of these data also provides an opportunity add value to the raw information by identifying spatial relationships between physical properties that may otherwise go un-noticed. Similar to what has been achieved for facial recognition in digital photography, it will enable rapid identification of prospective deposits. These data will allow for a better understanding of the rock mass, drilling hazards and provides information to steer drilling towards mineralisation. They will also provide a backdrop for integration of the information that describes the geology throughout life of mine planning and contribute to enhanced recovery, reduced environmental footprint and reduced energy requirements. **The outcomes of this research program have the potential to be far-reaching and will promote a step-change in the way mineral exploration is done in Canada and abroad. It will provide an opportunity for the training of highly qualified personnel that is unique in Canada and for most of the world. These graduates will be able to engineer tomorrows exploration strategies and apply the innovations developed to meet the mineral exploration challenge faced by the industry and our society.