Read this news release on the Government of Saskatchewan website.
Today, the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) officially launched its TracePointTM workflow, a new fully automated mineralogy technology circuit of services in Saskatoon that will provide the fast, accurate and reliable data needed to propel the next era of global mineral exploration.
Through a strategic collaboration with Hitachi High-Tech Canada, Inc., to develop custom instrumentation, data analysis and interpretation software, SRC's TracePointTM workflow is the world's first fully-automated process for indicator mineral analysis - a service not available anywhere else across the global mining industry.
Indicator mineral analysis is a well-established exploration method in the mining industry and involves examining till samples to find prevalent mineral grains that often serve as the "breadcrumbs" to identify and locate valuable commodities that may be present in a deposit. This, in turn, helps mining companies make decisions on where targeted exploration should occur.
While SRC's expertise in this area has been established for many years, it has always been a manual process with a narrow focus, meaning sub-samples were prepared by hand and then examined under a microscope by the human eye.
SRC's new automated technology circuit includes a first-of-its-kind automated mineral sample preparation machine and a custom-made dual-beam mineral analysis instrument that combines micro-X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). By pairing these technologies with SRC's expertise in sample processing and microanalysis, SRC can now offer high throughput indicator mineral analysis, resulting in much larger, quantitative and reusable mineralogical datasets that can be enhanced through machine learning and artificial intelligence.
For mining companies, this means they can extract much more information from till samples, enabling more informed exploration targeting and reducing uncertainty in exploration decision-making.
"Now more than ever, the mining industry is in need of innovation to assist exploration efforts and SRC has truly delivered with its new TracePoint workflow," Minister Responsible for SRC Warren Kaeding said. "This technology vastly increases the likelihood of critical mineral deposit discoveries by giving companies access to information they have never had access to before. In addition, using this technology on previously processed archived samples can uncover new mining opportunities that have, up until now, remained unexplored."
Key to unlocking this new service was SRC's Sorting and Separation team reimagining how grains from a till sample can be prepared for analysis. Using automation, SRC can now take the heavy mineral concentrate from a till sample, arrange it into a precise single layer of grains and then encase it in batches of polished resins pucks, all ready for analysis within a few hours.
"Sample preparation that would have taken even the most skilled technician a full week to complete by hand can now be performed in mere hours by SRC's automated sample preparation machine," SRC President and CEO Mike Crabtree noted. "This advancement is not possible without automation. SRC's TracePoint workflow is exactly what our clients need. They need these answers much faster to make decisions for next year's drill season or even that same drill season if they're still in the field."
This innovative end-to-end technology circuit was developed and refined over a number of years through a collaboration with Hitachi, which not only designed and custom-built the preparation and analysis instruments for SRC, but also came through with the massive data storage and programming capabilities that allows for quick and accurate results.
"This achievement demonstrates the power of collaboration between leading research organizations and global technology innovators," Hitachi High-Tech Canada President Chad Ostrander said. "By bringing together expertise and innovation from across the Hitachi Group, including advanced automation solutions, analytical technologies, and AI-driven data analysis, we have helped create a world-first automated mineralogy platform that delivers unprecedented efficiency and insight. Together with SRC, we are enabling a new era of data-driven exploration that will help unlock the critical mineral resources essential to the energy transition and the technologies of tomorrow."
Photos and video for media use can be found within SRC's media kit.
About The Saskatchewan Research Council
SRC is Canada's second-largest research and technology organization. As a catalyst for innovation, SRC focuses on providing leading-edge services and solutions to the agriculture, energy, environment, and mining industries. SRC is also constructing North America's first fully integrated commercial rare earth processing facility. With a workforce of more than 400 employees and nearly 80 years of applied research and development experience, SRC supports 1,400 clients in 16 countries around the world.
About Hitachi, Ltd.
Through its Social Innovation Business (SIB) that brings together IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products, Hitachi aims to be a global leader in continuously transforming social infrastructure through digital, contributing to a harmonized society where the environment, wellbeing, and economic growth are in balance. Hitachi operates worldwide across four sectors - Digital Systems & Services, Energy, Mobility, and Connective Industries - as well as a Strategic SIB Business Unit focused on new growth areas. With Lumada at its core, Hitachi creates value by combining data, technology and domain knowledge to solve customer and social challenges. Visit www.hitachi.com. For more information on Hitachi technology used in this solution, visit the Geo Mineral Insights Solutions webpage.
