Tag Archives: IMDEX

IMDEX symposium sets the exploration scene for AME Roundup

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IMDEX recently held its fifth annual Xploration Technology Symposium in Vancouver, Canada, in which virtual reality, machine learning and new exploration technologies all received significant airtime.

The event, held on January 17, came ahead of AME’s annual Mineral Exploration Roundup, also held in Vancouver, on January 20-23. It saw 16 speakers and 160 attendees turn up.

IMDEX, which has a suite of drilling optimisation products to improve the process of identifying and extracting mineral resources globally, said the event covered multi-element data, artificial intelligence for mineral exploration and exploration instrumentation, along with a series of case studies. The focus was on improving and driving innovation in the mining industry and providing a platform to share big ideas, new technologies and new processes in exploration.

International consulting practice, SRK, had Principal Structural Geologist, Wayne Barnett, present on virtual-mixed reality, where he discussed augmented visual powers to automatically measure surface orientations and how this technology is changing best practices in data collection and analysis, IMDEX said.

Professor Bern Klein, of the University of British Columbia, meanwhile, discussed industry research to optimise value and ensure worker safety in deep underground mass mining operations.

The use of machine learning for mineral exploration in greenfield areas was discussed by GoldSpot Discoveries Corp Chief Operating Officer, Vincent Dube-Bourgeois, during the session on artificial intelligence.

Among the exploration case studies was one from Chris Gallagher, Rogue Geoscience President, a company that has been instrumental in developing several exploration technologies and geological data management systems used in the industry today, according to IMDEX.

And, Nick Payne, Global Product Manager Structural Geology at IMDEX, in his presentation ‘A New Wave of Drilling Optimisation’, discussed new technologies IMDEX COREVIBE and IMDEX XTRACTA – which, he says, offer substantial improvements in safety and productivity.

IMDEX exercises Flexidrill option, adds COREVIBE and MAGHAMMER to offering

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IMDEX has exercised its option to acquire Flexidrill and its patent-protected drilling productivity technologies, COREVIBE™ and MAGHAMMER™, it said.

The transaction is expected to be completed in January 2020 by the payment of NZ$3 million ($1.95 million) cash, which will be followed by further payments of cash and IMDEX shares.

Earlier this year, the company entered into a secondary option period to acquire the company from March 2019 – December 2019 to acquire the companies as it conducted further product development and testing, while establishing its supply chain and manufacturing requirements.

IMDEX Managing Director, Bernie Ridgeway, said: “The investment proposition is compelling. COREVIBE (pictured) has consistently delivered substantial drilling productivity benefits in hard ground conditions at our test site in New Zealand and in client trials. We are confident this new technology will be a step-change for the minerals drilling industry globally and deliver significant earnings for IMDEX.”

He said the company’s focus for COREVIBE during the rest of its 2020 financial year was to further introduce the technology to clients.

Ridgeway continued: “Further development of MAGHAMMER at our test site is also progressing well and we are on-track to commence client trials in Q3 2020 (September quarter of 2020).”

“We will provide further updates regarding these technologies with our H1 2020 results announcement in February 2020, however, we anticipate these technologies will provide recurring rental revenue from FY 2021,” he added.

COREVIBE uses high frequency energy pulse assisted drilling for wireline coring and provides a significant advancement in core drilling productivity. This unique technology can deliver significant benefits to clients including: higher penetration rates – up to 90%; reduced hole deviation; fewer inner tube blockages and associated tripping; and longer drill bit life, according to IMDEX.

IMDEX undertook successful trials at the company’s test site in New Zealand, which concluded the COREVIBE generated a productivity gain of 33% over conventional coring. These results were also validated by SGS, a leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, and client trials in diverse locations and conditions, it said.

MAGHAMMER uses a new hybrid drilling technique, which combines rotary diamond drilling with fluid driven percussive drilling to achieve higher penetration rates compared to conventional coring.

The technology enables an entire drill hole to be completed with a coring rig where RC and diamond drilling is required, according to IMDEX.

Benefits for clients include: the ability to drill deeper faster and with lower cost – MAGHAMMER is not affected by water intrusion and is only limited in depth by the pullback capacity of the rig; rapid drill case setting; lower rig mobilisation and demobilisation costs; and a safer operating environment with substantially less dust than compressed air RC drilling, IMDEX says.

The first iteration of MAGHAMMER will be targeting high speed pre-collar drilling through barren rock to the coring zone. This eliminates the need for multiple drill rigs at site and, accordingly, the MAGHAMMER will significantly reduce the cost of drilling these targets, according to IMDEX. Additional development of the MAGHAMMER will provide geological samples.

IMDEX’s drill and blast technology gains traction

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IMDEX, known for its technical sensing capabilities in exploration, is looking to lock in non-cyclical global revenue streams through the development of technology for drill and blast applications.

The company, in an update last week, said its BLAST DOG™ technology remains on track to increase mine to mill efficiency for clients globally and it was conducting trials in multiple commodities with global resource companies.

To date, successful trials have been undertaken in Nevada, USA, and in Queensland, Australia; with additional trials planned in Chile and Australia in the first half of 2020, IMDEX said.

“The company continues to have strong support from industry partners including: Orica; Anglo American; Teck Resources; and METS Ignited and expects to generate revenue from the drill and blast technologies in the 2020 financial year,” it said.

In addition to updating the market on its BLAST DOG technology, the company also revealed details about drilling productivity technologies COREVIBE™ and MAGHAMMER™.

Back in January 2018, IMDEX revealed it had an exclusive option agreement to acquire Flexidrill and its patent protected drilling productivity technologies, the COREVIBE and MAGHAMMER.

“The company has been progressing the development of these technologies based on strong demand from drilling contractors and resource companies,” IMDEX said, adding that it undertook successful trials at the company’s test site in New Zealand, which concluded that COREVIBE generated a productivity gain of 33% over conventional coring. These results were also validated by SGS, a leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, according to IMDEX.

More recently, IMDEX conducted client trials with the COREVIBE in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. “These trials were successful and supported the results achieved at IMDEX’s test site,” the company said.

Further trials with another large drilling contractor in Arizona, USA, are scheduled for late July 2019 and IMDEX expects to have COREVIBE units on rent in the current September quarter, it said.

Development of the MAGHAMMER at IMDEX’s test site in New Zealand is also progressing and the company intends to commence client trials in the second half of 2020, it said.

“The first iteration of the MAGHAMMER will be targeting high speed pre-collar drilling through barren rock to the coring zone,” IMDEX said. “This eliminates the need for multiple drill rigs at site and accordingly, the MAGHAMMER will significantly reduce the cost of drilling these targets. Additional development of the MAGHAMMER will provide geological samples.”

On the basis of continued positive development of the drilling productivity technologies and ongoing successful client trials with COREVIBE, IMDEX said it anticipated exercising its option to acquire Flexidrill in December 2019.

IMDEX Managing Director, Bernie Ridgeway, said: “We have an exciting pipeline of new technologies and connected devices to support our growth strategy. The new technologies have the potential to grow our core business by enhancing technical leadership; and extending our capabilities into the larger adjacent mining market, to create an additional non-cyclical revenue stream.

“Our new technologies – including the COREVIBE, MAGHAMMER and BLAST DOG – have the ability to deliver important advancements in drilling methods and mining workflows. New deposits are likely to be deeper and under cover; and resource companies are embracing innovation to achieve greater productivity. These new technologies position our company to benefit from changing industry dynamics.”

 

IMDEX’s ioGAS to feature in Micromine 2020 3D modelling and mine design software

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MICROMINE and IMDEX have agreed to collaborate on the next release of Micromine 2020, with the latter company’s ioGAS solution being incorporated into the 3D modelling and mine design software.

This collaboration, bringing together detailed geoscience analytics with sophisticated 3D modelling and mine design software, will enhance the geological modelling workflow, according to MICROMINE.

According to IMDEX, ioGAS is a leading exploratory data analysis software application developed specifically for the resources industry. “Traditional methods to analyse results would take many hours and is prone to human error; ioGAS can generate accurate results in a fraction of the time. Over the past decade, a wide range of visual analytics and advanced quantitative tools have been developed to help you obtain a greater insight into the underlying structure of your data,” the company said.

The two companies have been working together for several months to integrate output from IMDEX’s ioGAS solution, according to MICROMINE.

“The collaboration means geoscientists will be able to directly import ioGAS (.gas) files into Micromine 2020 software to map and model geological domains,” MICROMINE said.

Micromine Product Strategy Manager, Mark Gabbitus, said the ability to import the files and related geological and geochemical interpretative analysis into Micromine 2020 was a boon for both companies and their thousands of global software users.

“MICROMINE and IMDEX recognise it’s in everyone’s interests to enable the efficient transfer of data between packages,” he said.

“Integrating software with third-party systems like ioGAS not only makes our client’s jobs easier but advances the industry, which MICROMINE values as a thought-leader in the METS sector.”

Micromine 2020 might still be in development, but Gabbitus confirmed some of the key features that would integrate with ioGAS included:

  • In-built ioGAS symbol library so that data imported into Micromine looks exactly as it did in ioGAS;
  • Down hole data that can brought from an ioGAS .gas file directly into Micromine as points where attributes (eg material type) can be modelled or displayed alongside geological logging to validate boundaries and contacts; and;
  • Down hole data displays that effectively show how geochemical properties differ between logged geological units.

MICROMINE added: “In Micromine 2020, drill hole traces can be easily created from down hole points contained in an ioGAS.gas file. This data is then saved as a drill hole database in Micromine.”

With over 10 years of development, IMDEX’s ioGAS software has resulted in optimised workflows and easy to use tools that incorporate industry best practise in interpretive techniques, according to MICROMINE. The exploratory data analysis software offers detection of patterns, anomalies and relationships in geoscience data. With over 350 commercial clients and 20 government organisation users, ioGAS has established itself as a global market leader, MICROMINE said.

Dave Lawie, IMDEX Chief Geoscientist, said: “It is exciting to combine the benefits of these market-leading software packages to provide additional value for our clients. This integration offers a seamless integration of ioGAS files and related interpretative analysis directly into MICROMINE 2020.”

Last month, MICROMINE said Micromine 2020 will no longer support installation or use on computers with a 32-bit processor.

IMDEX showcasing real-time and downhole exploration solutions at PDAC

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IMDEX is showing off its exploration drilling wares at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s (PDAC) annual bash in Toronto, Canada.

IMDEX’s booth – incorporating the REFLEX and AMC brands – is showcasing the company’s integrated solutions and latest technologies including its AMC ULWSRU™ featuring the IMDEX MUD AID, IMDEX MOBILE software, drilling optimisation and downhole navigation solutions, and real-time 3D visualisation solutions for downhole and structural geology data, the company said.

The AMC ULWSRU, featuring the IMDEXMUD AID, has seen IMDEX combine the benefits of its ultra-lightweight solids removal unit and automated in-field drilling fluid diagnosis unit – including remote tracking technology – to optimise penetration rates, core recovery and metres drilled per bit, according to the company.

IMDEX MOBILE, meanwhile, has seen the company work closely with clients to create more than 20 ready-to-use forms and reports including daily drill reports; pre-start inspections; verified cost reports; and rig productivity reports.

All of these are available via the new off-the-shelf software, according to IMDEX.

General Manager, IMDEX Product Development, Michelle Carey, said: “We are committed to being at the forefront of dynamic solutions that deliver accurate data, whilst saving time and money for clients.”

A good example of this is the company’s IMDEX Downhole Navigation solution, according to Carey.

The company said of this solution: “As pioneers in downhole navigation, IMDEX has further enhanced its solution to support clients’ complete downhole needs. The latest integration of IMDEXHUB-IQ™ with Seequent’s Central software (pictured) means clients can now have real-time 3D visualisation of the drill hole.”

IMDEX Chief Geoscientist, Dave Lawie, said: “Increasingly, geologists are wanting to make decisions in real-time, however, they need to have the right live data available. We’re excited to be part of this industry-first to deliver real-time 3D data, which will dramatically improve the speed and accuracy of decision-making for drilling projects.”

The company’s REFLEXGYRO SPRINT-IQ™, officially launched at last year’s PDAC event, also integrates with IMDEXHUB-IQ™ and Seequent’s Central software. This technology surveys three times faster and two times more accurately than traditional gyros, according to the company, and can survey holes at any angle and operate in single, multi-shot and continuous modes.

IMDEX sticks with Flexidrill acquisition plan as drill tech trials continue

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IMDEX has entered into a secondary option period from March 2019 – December 2019 to acquire New Zealand-based companies Flexidrill Ltd and Flexidrill Construction Ltd, and the patent-protected technologies COREVIBE™ and MAGHAMMER™.

IMDEX’s decision to progress the COREVIBE and MAGHAMMER towards commercialisation is based on strong demand from drilling contractors and resource companies, together with successful trials at IMDEX’s test site in New Zealand, it said. COREVIBE trials – validated by SGS, a world leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company – concluded a productivity gain of 33% over conventional coring.

The secondary option period will allow IMDEX to conduct further product development and testing, while establishing its supply chain and manufacturing requirements, Imdex said.

In relation to COREVIBE, IMDEX expects to trial commercial prototypes with clients by the end of its 2019 financial year. MAGHAMMER commercial prototype trials will follow in the first half of 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

“The consideration to enter the secondary option period was varied from NZ$5 million ($3.4 million, 50% cash/50% IMDEX shares) to NZ$3 million in IMDEX shares to allow for NZ$2 million cash being applied to additional investment in product development,” Imdex said. There are no other variations to the original option agreement or extended option agreement, as announced in January 2018 and September 2018, respectively, the company said.

“Should IMDEX choose to exercise its option to acquire Flexidrill in December 2019, the COREVIBE and MAGHAMMER are expected to provide additional global revenue and earnings during financial year 2020 and be earnings accretive within 12 months of the exercise date,” the company said.

IMDEX’s Managing Director, Bernie Ridgeway, said: “We are pleased to further progress the COREVIBE and MAGHAMMER technologies towards commercialisation. These unique technologies have the potential to deliver substantial economic and productivity benefits to our clients globally, which is becoming increasingly important as new discoveries are likely to be under ground cover, deeper and require more drilling.

“It is widely recognised within the industry that drilling costs represent approximately half of global mineral exploration expenditure. Reducing these costs has been a major challenge, which is likely to intensify given increasing safety standards, environmental restrictions and greater average hole depths.”

Flexidrill Construction said its MAGHAMMER technology followed successful deep hole field tests it carried out in the oil and gas industry. “It is a unique, magnetic down the hole hammer, compatible with any rotary rig and designed to drill open holes in virtually any formation, hard or soft,” the company said.

It can operate with any drilling fluid (including viscous bentonite solutions) so is ideal for overburden, often without the need for casings. This system is not affected by ground water, so flooded formations are also not a problem, according to Flexidrill Construction.

COREVIBE, meanwhile, offers productivity improvements through high penetration rates, extended bit life and reduced tripping of inner tube for blockages, IMDEX has previously said.

Inmarsat and IMDEX collaborate in the cloud for drilling intelligence solution

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Inmarsat has said it and IMDEX, a leading mining equipment, technology and services provider to the global minerals industry, are working together to enhance a drilling intelligence solution with satellite connectivity.

Now combined with Inmarsat’s L-band satellite connectivity as standard, IMDEXHUB-IQ™ gives mining and drilling companies the ability to analyse and upload field data in real-time from the most isolated locations around Australasia without the need to procure their own communications, Inmarsat said.

IMDEXHUB-IQ (formerly REFLEXHUB-IQ) provides secure access to validated data, seamlessly transmitted from a range of sub-surface instrumentation, analytical instruments and mobile form data inputs, according to IMDEX.

Inmarsat said: “IMDEX’s innovative, cloud-based solution aggregates and transmits vital field data collected from a range of subsurface instrumentation and mobile units. IMDEX’s instruments and systems can connect to IMDEXHUB-IQ to instantly upload real-time field data to headquarters.”

Michelle Carey, General Manager IMDEX Product Development, said: “For mining and exploration operations to be successful, accurate subsurface data needs to be quickly collected and analysed to provide teams on the ground with intelligence to maximise the value of their decisions. This collaboration will allow our IMDEXHUB-IQ solution to connect to the cloud via Inmarsat’s highly secure and reliable network, meaning that the data obtained can be uploaded for analysis in real-time, even in areas with no terrestrial coverage.

“In the first instance we expect to take the solution to market on a regional basis to mining organisations across Australia and New Zealand, with worldwide distribution following closely behind.”

Joe Carr, Director of Mining Innovation at Inmarsat, said: “Inmarsat is committed to enabling the connected mine. We are working closely together with IMDEX to power its IMDEXHUB-IQ drilling intelligence solution, making it accessible to resource and drilling companies across Australasia by providing access to our L-band network.

“By building our global mobile satellite connectivity into the solution as standard, end-users do not have to spend time and considerable effort to reduce the complexity of procuring their own network providers on a project by project basis.”

Earlier this month, IMDEX and Seequent announced an ongoing partnership to deliver a real-time 3D visualisation solution for the mining and exploration industry, aimed at dramatically improving the speed and accuracy of decision-making for drilling projects.

Micromine and Imdex team up to make geologists’ jobs easier

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Micromine has announced a partnership with Australia’s Imdex, where the former’s Geobank platform will integrate directly with the latter’s REFLEX IQ-LOGGER™ core logging technology.

Micromine said the integration enables “quality, reliable structural data by ensuring optimised and auditable workflows, QA/QC protocols and data integrity, while providing a seamless and user-friendly software interface”. The integration will enhance Geobank’s capabilities in both exploration and product environments, according to Micromine.

The REFLEX IQ-LOGGER handheld structural logging device can be rolled along the orientation line on diamond core, automatically recording depth and structural measurements at the press of a button. The data can be used for a better understanding of the orientation of ore controlling structures.

“The solution negates the excessive time required for logging, while the digital transfer of structural measurements provides a reliable digital audit trail. The inbuilt data verification capability, via immediate stereonet projection, ensures orientations are accurate and reliable,” Micromine said.

Micromine said the Geobank development team saw the integration as a “key strategic direction” for the product.

Geobank Product Strategy Manager Mark Gabbitus said: “Integrating with the IMDEX REFLEX IQ-LOGGER allows geologists to view and manage data in Geobank at the time of collection, reducing the effort required to merge data later. It also allows the data to be presented to the geologist in the field as they are working instead of weeks later.

“This gives the geologist the ability to make near real time decisions that add value to a drilling programme.”

The additional benefit of the integration is that all readings and measurements are automatically uploaded to the master database where they are merged with the laboratory assay results to produce a full geoscientific database for use in 3D modelling software, such as Micromine.

Nick Payne, IMDEX’s Global Product Manager – Structural IQ, said: “Our aim is to make the job of geologists easier and to improve real-time decision making. This integration serves both those ends.”

In addition to the IMDEX integration, Geobank is also able to connect to magnetic susceptibility devices, barcode readers, GPS, scale devices and on-board cameras.

METS firms receive Australia government backing

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Eight METS (mining equipment, technology and services) companies will receive A$7.14 million (US$5.3 million), combined, to “launch collaborative industry projects that will deliver highly-advanced solutions to a variety of mining challenges and contribute to the growth and capability of the METS sector”, METS Ignited has confirmed.

The METS Ignited Collaborative Project Funds is a government-funded, $15.6 million, four-year initiative to support, encourage and fund sector-wide collaboration. It, like the industry-led, state-backed METS Ignited organisation, was set up to improve productivity, competitiveness and innovative capacity in the country’s METS sector.

The latest announcement represents the second round of government funding, with the first round of recipients being Austmine, Unearthed Solutions, CORE Innovation Hub, Resources and Engineering Skills Alliance, and the Coalition for Energy Efficient Communition.

This round of funding recipients includes:
• IMDEX
• The University of Western Australia (UWA)
• Manufacturing Intelligence
• Emapper
• Energetique Mining Vehicles
• Qtec
• Resolution Systems; and
• Micronised Mineral Systems.

METS Ignited CEO Ric Gros said the funding would spur necessary collaboration in the sector: “Opportunities for the sector to band together and innovate are vital to the growth of the sector. Facilitating such innovation is part of the mandate for METS Ignited, and the recipients of this round will be making invaluable contributions to the mining and METS sectors through their initiatives.”

Recipients of the funds are required to secure equal or greater investment from an industry partner. As a result, the total value of the eight projects is $17.4 million.

The largest share of the funding – $2 million – was awarded to Resolution Systems, a South Australia-based business conducting a project to develop fleet management software to allow different operational areas of mine sites to communicate with one another, increasing truck fleet productivity by 20%.

Resolution is partnering with Barrick Gold, South 32, Macmahon Holdings, Petra Data Science and Manta Controls on this project, which has been able to source $3.5 million of industry investment.

Other projects to receive funding in this round include:

• Technology testing facilities (UWA, partnered with BHP and Core Innovation Hub)
• Battery-powered vehicles for underground mining (Energetique Mining Vehicles, partnered with Aeris Resources, Safescape, Minetech Australia and Cougar Mining Group)
• Data acquisition software for environmental rehabilitation and drilling (Emapper, partnered with Roy Hill Iron Ore, Mt Gibson Iron, eagle.io and Astron Environmental Solais Geoinformatics)
• A new water treatment process (Micronised Mineral Systems, partnered with Tronox, Acadis Australia Pacific, Tech Bakery)
• Real-time data collection during blasthole drilling (IMDEX, partnered with Orica, Anglo American and Tech Resources)
• Software for data transfer between different platforms (Manufacturing Intelligence, partnered with Fortescue Metals Group, South 32 and Mining3 Enterprise Transformation Partners); and
• Production of drilling sensors and instrumentation (Qtec, partnered with Wallis Drilling and Gyromax).

METS Ignited said: “Collectively, the projects will benefit the mining sector by optimising the value chain, increasing productivity for mining and mineral processing, supporting and enhancing environmental management, and improving operational safety.”