Feds building digital library of mineral core samples
CBC
Natural Resources Canada says it’s investing up to $40 million to create a digital library for drill core data.
Mineral exploration companies and prospectors use a diamond-tipped drill to remove cylinders from hard rock, called a core.
The core samples are analysed in a lab to determine their mineral composition. That analysis helps determine if a site might be worth mining for critical minerals.
The Canadian Digital Core Library's goal is to make it easier for researchers, government agencies and mining companies to access digitized drill core data from across the country, according to Gisele Roberts, Laurentian University's director of research and innovation.
Laurentian is one of the partners that signed a non-binding agreement with the government at this year's Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto, alonside the University of Toronto’s Creative Destruction Lab and multiple mining companies — Agnico Eagle, Anglo American, BHP, Hudbay, Teck, and Vale — to collaborate on the digital library.
Roberts said that information could help mining companies discover new mineral deposits.
"So it basically de-risks a little bit, the exploration, the drilling for critical minerals, by using existing core samples without having to do the work again,” Roberts explained.
If a drill core shows some promise, a mining company might want to explore that area further to determine if there’s a valuable deposit there.
Roberts said the project is still in its early stages, however, and there’s no date for when the Canadian Digital Core Library will officially launch.
In a news release, Natural Resources Canada said the library will accelerate the discovery and responsible development of critical minerals.
“By bringing digital geoscience assets together, we can modernize how we map and understand the rich resources beneath our feet,” wrote Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson.
“This is how Canada will become a global mining and critical minerals leader — not just in what we extract but in how we build, process and deliver value at scale.”
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