Micromine Technical Specialist, Liam Murphy and Business Development Manager, Jeremy Pestun, recently attended the first ever Resources for Future Generations Conference Vancouver, Canada June 16 – 21, 2018.
The conference gathered geoscientists, policy-makers and other stakeholders to explore topics related to resources and sustainability. Led by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), RFG2018 was hosted by the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences (CFES), the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), the Geological Association of Canada (GAC), and the Mineralogical Association of Canada (MAC).
This conference brought together individuals from different areas of expertise, with the common goal of creating a conversation around the earth and its resources. RFG 2018 looked to educate attendees about the delicacy of the earth and its environment and issues from a fresh perspective by addressing topics not typically studied in conjunction with one another. The ultimate purpose of the conference was to lay the ground work for future generations to be able to explore and implement new ways of managing and extracting natural resources in an environmentally sound manner.
“We do have ‘future generations’ in the title and our goal is to engage young people. We have about 350 students coming to the conference. They’re from almost all parts of the world, they’re the future. They need to be involved in the issues regardless of which side of the fence they’re on.” – John Thompson, General Chair.
As a leading provider of innovative software solutions spanning the entire mining cycle, MICROMINE provides solutions that help mining companies be more efficient at every step of the mining process, from geological exploration and data management to resource estimation, 3D mine design, planning and production control
“It was an immense pleasure to attend RFG2018 on behalf of MICROMINE and make some new connections, in addition to seeing many familiar faces. The ongoing discussion surrounding the availability and delivery of resources to sustain future generations is a vitally important one, and as an seasoned innovator in this space MICROMINE wants to be at the forefront in developing new technologies for use towards these goals. Bringing stakeholders together at events like this is guaranteed to incubate innovative ideas that each one of us stand to benefit from in the near future” commented Murphy.
RFG2018 had six major themes: the Earth, Energy, Minerals, Water, Resources and Society, and Education and Knowledge. Each theme had individual sessions with experts from diverse and international backgrounds discussing their research, current activities, key issues and innovations within their related fields. Below are some interesting paper excerpts, per theme, of technical research presented throughout the sessions (All excerpts taken directly from RFG2018 website http://www.rfg2018.org/).
GBDB, a potential open data platform for global plate tectonic modelling
Juanxuan Fan – Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS
The global plate tectonic modelling requires big data from many disciplines of geology, such as stratigraphy, palaeogeography, sedimentology, palaeomagnetics, geochronology and plate tectonics. How to compile those geological data with inherent relationship is the key issue for the modelling. There are many geological databases available online, but only a few have the capability to fully support the global plate tectonic modelling. The GBDB (Geobiodiversity Database, http://www.geobiodiversity.com) was initially designed for the archiving of legacy data of stratigraphy and palaeontology, but finally expanded to much wider scope. It presently covers many disciplines of geology, including stratigraphy, palaeontology, palaeogeography, geochemistry and sedimentology. GBDB is archiving a huge global database of over 18,000 outcrops/drillcores and 500,000 fossil occurrences from the world, over 95% of which is open to the public. The GBDB is constructed based on section, which makes it unique among any other geological or palaeontological databases in the world. A new, virtual paleoglobal function is released for test recently, which provides a palaeogeographic demonstration of geological data on a 3D globe since 540 million years ago.
Optimized Geothermal Exploration: Next Generation of Exploration
Craig Dunn – Borealis GeoPower
As drilling is such a high cost component to geothermal energy development, it is advantageous to better utilize exploration phase funds and new technologies, including using less expensive exploration techniques that can identify, quantify and delineate the heat reservoir. Borealis Geopower has been working on an ‘Optimized Geothermal Exploration’ (OGE) program (with IRAP and SDTC research support) to overcome the uncertainties associated with early-stage resource modeling and drilling success in the geothermal energy industry.
The program involves the testing and analysis of our field data collection system using a tablet-based data collection software, ‘Collector’ with cloud-desktop capabilities via ArcGIS software. The use of handheld equipment in the field increases the efficiency and the number of geothermal exploration datasets available to exploration field team using highly portable, cutting edge technology.
With a wealth of key exploration data sets, the OGE methodology then involves the integration of this exploration data into the mathematical models & algorithms to build ‘favourability’ maps and 3D reservoir models for future drill targets. The OGE can therefore help reduce the overall risk of production drilling in the geothermal industry.
Sorting the Signal from the Noise – Analytics in the Geosciences
David Lawie – Imdex
Modern geoscientific data, from exploration through to production, is sourced from an extremely broad range of sensing technologies that generate data of varying size and intrinsic information content. Data may comprise all levels of measurement, from nominal (rock type), ordinal (degree of alteration), interval (azimuth) and ratio (concentration) scales. Additionally, the data may be incomplete, vary in measurement precision with time and location, contain artefacts (closure) and be collected at vastly different spatial scales; from continental surveys to discrete meter(s) long sample increments, to continuous downhole logs.
Analytics in Geoscience also needs to adapt to some peculiar requirements. Our data is typically not ‘large’ but is often incomplete. Analytics in exploration models out background to find the outliers; the ‘sensors’ need to be moved to the (remote) point of data collection and the analytics done at the ‘edge’ environment, not months later. Conversely, production seeks to eliminate outliers to better model background and also needs to link spatial and temporal data. The historical emphasis of Analytics in Geoscience has been on exploratory data analysis. To move to machine learning requires high quality nominal data for training which is typically unavailable or determined by imperfect ‘human’ sensors. These are issues, but there are also immense opportunities for the industry should the Data Scientists of the future be carefully guided by the Geoscientists once the novelty of the approach has worn off.
Emerging Trends In Freshwater Availability As Viewed From Space: Implications for Water, Food and Human Security
James Famiglietti – Senior Water Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Earth’s water cycle is changing. Patterns of precipitation and land water storage are shifting, while hydrological extremes of flooding and drought are becoming more extreme. Over half of the world’s major aquifers are being depleted, which threatens regional and global food production. Population growth is further stressing both the demand for food, and in locations of water scarcity, freshwater availability. In this presentation I review the complete record of terrestrial water storage variations from the lifetime (2002-2017) of the NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission. Hotspots for climate and human-driven changes will be highlighted. Implications for environmental and human security will be discussed, as will the pressing need for better science communication.
British Columbia Geological Survey mapping: From the field to the web.
Adrian Scott Hickin – British Columbia Geological Survey
The British Columbia Geological Survey (BCGS) is British Columbia’s oldest scientific organization, and geological mapping has remained a core mandate of the Survey for over 125 years. The BCGS has developed an efficient mapping workflow beginning at the field collection stage, to the compilation and interpretation stage, to the final production and public dissemination stage.
Geological mapping remains a field-based activity where the geologist is on the ground collecting structural and geological measurements, rock and soil samples, and documenting relationships amongst various rock units and surficial materials. What has changed in recent years, as a result of technology, is how these data are captured. Geologists now have a variety of portable analytical tools at their disposal. Similar to other geological surveys, the BCGS has embraced digital data capture through tablet GIS technology as the preferred method of real-time navigation, data display, and mapping in the field.
Using a paired teaching model for transferring good practices in university education
Sarah Bean Sherman – University of British Columbia
Tara Holland – University of British Columbia
The use of mentors for new employees in industry and many other sectors is widespread but is sorely lacking in the area of teaching at many higher education institutions. Young faculty, who may have limited teaching experience and/or knowledge of modern pedagogy, can find their first teaching assignments overwhelming. This can foster a dislike for the classroom environment for the rest of their careers.
In Paired Teaching arrangements, two or more instructors are sharing the planning, organization, delivery, and assessment of instruction, as well as the physical space in the classroom. This means that both Instructors (the “Experienced” and “New” Instructor – reflecting one who has previously taught the course, and one who is new to the course) are present in every class. In some cases, the paired Instructors each cover certain topics or individual classes; in others, they bounce back and forth in each class session.
In the department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia, paired teaching was employed in over 15 courses since the fall of 2014. In this presentation, we will explore the efficacy of this paired teaching model and its potential to become standard practice for all new faculty at UBC.
RFG2018 brilliantly addressed today’s concerns for the future and raised awareness of current challenges with the sustainable management of natural resources. RFG 2018 initiated crucial conversations and encouraged attendees to exchange knowledge and to generate a buzz that attracts the interest of future generations, who will ultimately be handling the issues of tomorrow.
“We’re excited and hopeful that these conversations will extend beyond this conference and that RFG 2018 will encourage similar events to be developed” commented Murphy.
