JV Q&A: How Seequent eases mining’s new complexity

Key Concepts

Digital Transformation in Mining: The adoption of digital tools and platforms to improve efficiency, decision-making, and resilience in the mining industry.
Integrated Geoscience and Geoengineering Platforms: Software solutions that connect people, data, and decisions across the mining value chain.
Agility and Resilience: The ability of mining companies to adapt quickly to market volatility, geopolitical shifts, and regulatory pressures.
Data Wrangling: The process of cleaning, transforming, and organizing raw data for analysis.
Cloud-Enabled Applications: Software that runs on remote servers and is accessed over the internet, facilitating collaboration and fast computation.
Subsurface Intelligence: The use of data and technology to gain deeper understanding and make better decisions about underground geological formations and resources.
ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance): A framework for evaluating a company's sustainability and ethical impact.

Sequent's Role in Reshaping Mining

Sequent aims to address the increasing complexity in the mining sector, driven by factors like copper shortages for AI data centers and the resurgence of nuclear energy boosting uranium demand. Their core offering is the development of integrated geoscience and geoengineering platforms designed to connect people, data, and decisions, thereby enabling faster and smarter subsurface decision-making.

Adapting to a Challenging Mining Environment

Dr. Yanina Elliot highlights that mining companies are currently navigating a challenging landscape characterized by market volatility, geopolitical shifts, tighter regulations, and investor pressure. Sequent assists these companies in building resilience and agility by providing digital formats and methods for interacting with this new environment. Technological advancements are crucial for both established operators and junior explorers to optimize processes and build resilience.

The EVO Platform and Integrated Workflows

Sequent's cloud platform, EVO, is central to their strategy. It allows mining companies to integrate their existing software stacks and build seamless workflows, ensuring data flow and process optimization in a digital space. This integration is key to unlocking new value through the rapid reconfiguration of operations.

Practical Application of Sequent's Technology

The concept of "rapid reconfiguration" at a mine site involves more than just implementing new technology; it necessitates a cultural shift in how employees interact with data and adopt a proactive mindset. This means moving away from simply checking off tasks to actively engaging with real-time information.

Operational Changes with Digital Tools

Adopting tools like Leapfrog Geo or MX Deposit, and more broadly the EVO platform, leads to significant operational changes. Miners move from siloed, specific geoscience focuses to a broader, cross-disciplinary view. This allows for learning from each other and understanding contextual information flowing across different departments. Optimization arises from this data flow, creating an iterative cycle of understanding and learning. The emphasis shifts to communication and collaboration within the right digital spaces.

Simplifying Collaboration with EVO

A key benefit of the EVO platform is its ability to reduce the manual labor burden on geoscientists, freeing them to focus on complex geological analysis rather than data wrangling and core handling. EVO integrates cloud-enabled applications for fast computation and data flow.

Example Workflow:

Core Shed: Geologists spend less time on manual core handling and data entry due to automated approaches facilitated by tools like IMAGO. This allows them to focus on interpreting complex geology.
Geological Modeling: The data is quickly integrated into platforms like Leapfrog Geo, enabling 3D modeling not just within small teams but across different departments.
Transparency and Sharing: Cloud-enabled products like Central facilitate information sharing, bringing transparency to the entire process.

This integrated approach, from the core shed to geological modeling and downstream operations, is what EVO facilitates, bringing geoscience teams together for a more agile approach.

Time as a Critical Currency in Mining

Dr. Elliot emphasizes that time is a crucial currency for mining companies. Digital tools, by automating labor-intensive tasks and reducing data wrangling (which can consume 80-90% of a geologist's time), save significant time. This also reduces risks and enables clever data analytics.

The "Driver" App for Upstream Analysis

The "Driver" app, part of Sequent's upstream offerings, helps geologists analyze geology from the initial stages. It focuses on understanding structural constraints and identifying mineralization targets before entering the 3D modeling phase. This is particularly useful when geologists are hampered by outdated deposit models, lack of data, or an overwhelming amount of information. Driver helps streamline this by providing insights into geological complexity, allowing for better domain definition and structural understanding before applying specific models or frameworks.

Signals of Genuine Digital Transformation for Investors

For investors and mining partners looking to identify companies genuinely leveraging subsurface intelligence, Dr. Elliot suggests watching for:

Transparent Information Sharing: How companies share their data and insights, particularly through technological means.
Collaborative Portfolios: The presence of tools like Central that enable both internal and external collaboration.
Stakeholder Engagement: The use of intuitive and transparent visual means to involve stakeholders, including communities and investors.

This transparency is crucial for building stakeholder confidence and for changing the perception of the mining industry, demonstrating a commitment to ESG targets and community engagement. Technology plays a vital role in inviting everyone to the table and fostering a shared understanding of company goals.