Tag Archives: automated spectral mineralogy

IMDEX posts record underlying earnings as technology deployments accelerate

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As well as posting record underlying earnings for its financial year ending June 30, 2023, IMDEX made significant strides with deploying its newest technology, the company says.

This is the first set of financial results to include revenue from global directional drilling and sensor technology company, Devico, which IMEX acquired in February.

Revenue for the 2023 financial year was A$411.4 million (265.1 million), an increase of 20.3% on the previous year, which included four months of Devico revenue.

Underlying earnings, normalised for the Devico transaction costs as well as exceptional legal costs, was a record at A$122.6 million and delivered at a sustained margin of 30%, notable given the rising cost environment experienced more broadly in the mining industry, IMDEX noted.

IMDEX Chief Executive Officer, Paul House, said: “We are especially pleased at the record performance of the business and the sustained margins. This is a testament to the relentless effort by our teams around the world; the strength of our business model; and a reflection of our prior investment in our digital 1.0 platforms. This allowed us to ward off the rising cost environment while at the same time continue our investments in R&D and our IMDEX Mining Technology business unit.”

As well as the Devico acquisition, IMDEX took a 40% investment in drilling analytics software company Krux Analytics and increased its stake in geoscience image analysis company Datarock.

IMDEX continues to grow its suite of mining technologies including IMDEX BLAST DOG™ which remains in the commercial prototype phase with three units now on rent with trials in Western Australia, Queensland and South America.

Underground production hole survey technology IMDEX BOLT™ and blast hole stabiliser IMDEX BHS™, both commercial prototypes, have been installed in four sites with two trials underway and installed in 11 sites with five trials underway, respectively, it says.

During the financial year, the company achieved the commercial launch of its automated spectral mineralogy technology IMDEX aiSWYFT™, the advanced IMDEX OMNIX 38 & 42 GYRO™ and its core logging solution IMDEX LOGGERX™.

“IMDEX is well positioned to leverage the robust industry fundamentals and the unique competitive position its global presence, leading technologies and integrated solutions provide,” House said.

IMDEX readies a host of new survey and measuring tools for PDAC crowd

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IMDEX will reveal the latest advances in its survey and measuring tools and its aiSIRIS interpretive mineralogy software at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference next week.

IMDEX claims to have the most accurate north-seeking gyro on the market – REFLEX SPRINT-IQ (pictured) – but Chief of Product Management and Marketing, Michelle Carey, says the new OMNIx gyros to be revealed at PDAC offer another level of accuracy, reliability and speed.

REFLEX IQ-LOGGER, the company’s existing core logging tool launched at PDAC in 2015, has been redesigned and re-engineered and will be introduced as LOGRx.

Advancements and development of aiSIRIS have facilitated the release of a new product in the aiSIRIS suite, aiSwyft, offering results in minutes, and at a reduced cost to the consumer.

“The continued improvement of these tools, as with all IMDEX technology, further strengthens our ability to assist the mining industry improve its resource stewardship,” Dr Carey said.

“Resource stewardship starts with reliable, accurate orebody knowledge, and that is what these IMDEX products deliver – quality data around the location, structure and mineralogy of rocks contributing to orebody knowledge.”

PDAC runs from March 5-8, in Toronto, Canada.

OMNIx

The advanced gyros, featuring Bluetooth communications, will have above and underground applications. REFLEX SPRINT-IQ has been upgraded, improved and streamlined and will be renamed OMNIx42, a 42-mm diameter tool. IMDEX is also introducing a new north-seeking gyro, OMNIx38, a 38-mm diameter tool.

Modifications and improvements for OMNIx42 have delivered reductions in tool length and weight, with savings in time per run and reduced running gear costs, according to the company.

The new OMNIx38 is at least 80% more accurate than IMDEX’s existing tool, which is the best and most accurate north-seeking gyro on the market, it added.

“The vast majority of rock knowledge data collected in the resource industry come from drill holes,” Dr Carey said. “There is no alternative to drilling a hole – so IMDEX is developing, designing and improving the best tools available to produce the most accurate drilling results.”

aiSwyft

aiSIRIS continues to be the leader in automated spectral mineralogy from handheld infrared spectrometers, processing millions of spectra from mining projects across the globe, and now has a new product offering, IMDEX says.

Building on the several million spectra in the database behind the aiSIRIS cloud-based AI spectral mineralogy solution, aiSwyft allows standardised and repeatable results within minutes of uploading spectra.

aiSwyft provides the solution to those users who put an emphasis on quick turnaround, as well as allowing a reduced end cost to the user. It still operates within the aiSIRIS platform, allowing a smooth transition for current aiSIRIS users, and enabling faster decision making, the company says.

As with the current aiSIRIS offering, aiSwyft can be used to process historical datasets, ensuring all data is interpreted in a consistent and standardised way, improving the understanding of geological deposits and helping with the planning of future drilling programs.

Dr Carey said: “The value to the customer of using aiSwyft is the ability to have consistent and unbiased mineralogy results, using a repeatable process, at a lower cost per spectrum, almost instantaneously.

“It provides expert quality results simply, without having a spectral geologist on staff or hiring a consultant and at the same time building up a consistently interpreted database which becomes increasingly valuable over time.

“For aiSIRIS, results are checked and audited for quality control and interpretation accuracy. Expert human oversight is applied in providing an interpretation of the spectra.

“With aiSwyft, an accuracy assessment metric is provided that indicates the level of confidence in the results. It is reported as a ‘probability’ value for each interpreted mineral.”

LOGRx

IQ-LOGGER remains the market-leading core logging solution, providing accurate structural measurements, IMDEX says.

The device records structural measurements (dip and dip direction), structure type and depth at the push of a button. Data collected can be visualised and validated instantly in an app where structural readings can be viewed on a stereonet before they are updated to HUB-IQ.

IQ-LOGGER significantly reduces time required for logging, while the digital transfer of structural measurements provides a reliable audit trail, according to the company.

Improvements in design, ergonomics and workflow have been introduced in the new LOGRx to further streamline the data collection process and make the tool easier to use.