Project duration: 1 April 2017 – 1 April 2020

Objective

While the territory of the EU in many parts shows a very high exploration potential,  it is still a fact that a mere 4% of global expenditure in exploration is invested within European countries. One tool to trigger a higher degree of investment in exploration and to secure ultimately the domestic supply of both main commodities and critical raw materials is to enhance our understanding of the Earth’s crust below the surface—and the major aspect is here to optimise our understanding about the 3rd dimension in geology.

The solution (technology)

By integrating industry, academia and research institutes with expertise and excellence in exploration and 3D modelling it is the ambition of the network of infrastructure to increase the understanding of geological bodies in 3D and 4D through improved visualization techniques. The vast majority of European mining companies are working in 3D for mine planning, resource estimations and production. For this purpose, a wide range of expert programs is utilized such as Leapfrog, Vulcan, Surpac, gOcad, MOVE and many others. This leads to a wide range of 3D-models with a very differing character as well as various types of data and file formats. Especially the combination of models on different scales, such as the incorporation of deposit scale models into regional scales models, often includes over-simplifications and may lead to the loss of data, respectively. Therefore, a network that improves the interchangeability of models and furthermore enables full data integration will decrease the need for over-simplifications and consequently increase the usability of geo models in exploration and research. One further benefit of some of the software packages is the possibility to dynamically generate alternative solutions to the geological problems, which are evident in cases where the data coverage is sparse, and the model uncertainties are consequently high to start with.

Partnership

  • Luleå University of Technology (LTU), Sweden (Lead Partner)
  • Boliden Mineral AB, Sweden
  • Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, BRGM (The French geological survey), France
  • DMT GmbH & Co. KG, Germany
  • Geologian tutkimuskeskus, GTK (Geological Survey of Finland), Finland
  • Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, GEUS, Denmark
  • KGHM Cuprum sp. z o.o. Centrum Badawczo-Rozwojowe (KGHM Cuprum Ltd. Research & Development Centre), Poland
  • Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria
  • Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen, RWTH Aachen, Germany
  • Tallinna Tehnikaülikool, TTÜ – Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
  • Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF), Germany
  • University of Turku, Finland
  • Uppsala Universitet (Uppsala University), Sweden
  • Zavod za gradbenistvo Slovenije, ZAG (Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering  Institute), Slovenia

For more information, please visit the official website of the project.