Dr. Antoine Caté

Dr. Antoine Caté is senior consultant in structural geology at SRK Toronto. He has 9 years of both academia and industry field experience working on gold and base metal deposits. He is an expert in the applications of data science and machine learning in geosciences and in mineral exploration. Before working with SRK, Dr. Caté was part of teams awarded at the Integra Gold Rush Challenge and the Disrupt Mining Challenge. He was involved in the founding of two companies applying machine learning in the mining industry. Antoine current work at SRK includes structural field investigation, 3D modelling, machine learning, and the development of innovative tools applied to structural geology, and mineral exploration.

Machine learning has seen a growing interest in the last five years and we often see the term applied in the context of mineral exploration, mine exploitation and geoscience studies. In the mineral exploration space, both recent start-up companies and well-established mining and service companies are implementing machine learning in all facets of their work. Machine learning is used to support targeting, help define and interpret exploration vectors, integrate complex datasets, extract value from geophysical data and make core logging quicker and more reliable. New applications are regularly developed, and it is not clear yet what the limitations are.

These implementations promise impressive value gains but how these gains will be achieved is not clear to a general public who is unaware of the underlying technology. In addition, the potential for these technologies to surpass human performance in specialized tasks creates fear around job loss and restructuring, motivating some to reject them altogether. As is often the case, however, the reality of the impact of these methods on the mining industry is more complex than is widely perceived. Through a series of examples and case studies, this presentation explains machine learning, shows current applications in mineral exploration and discusses future applications, opportunities and challenges.

Dr. Thierry Sempere

Thierry Sempere is an engineering geologist and doctor from the Ecole des Mines of Paris. He has 37 years of experience in Central Andes, especially in Peru and Bolivia.

As a purely Andean geologist, he has specialized in the articulation of multidisciplinary observations and data on a regional to local scale: economic geology, basin stratigraphy and
analysis, geochronology and geology of magmatic arcs, tectonics, geomorphology, etc.

He is author or co-author of about 100 scientific articles, with about 3000 citations in international journals.

He is currently a consultant and exploration manager for the company ANDES C&P, since 2017.

(Since 2017, he is Consultant and Exploration Manager at ANDES C&P).

It is self-evident that a better understanding of large- and small-scale Andean geological features and timeline can make a difference in exploration, especially in terms of duration and costs. In other words: the better the geological knowledge in the Andes, the easier it should be to discover and develop ore deposits of economic interest.

Knowledge of the Andean evolution continues however to be plagued by geological myths and obsolete concepts (such as “compressional tectonic phases” or “ocean-continent collision”), while major key features of this evolution remain underrated. Because they rely little on experiments but mainly on interpretations, narratives, and sometimes rhetorics and sociological situations, the Earth sciences form a field where traditional paradigms have never been easy to challenge, and even less to change. Andean geology makes no exception.

Yet research on the general geology of Peru has been fruitful during the last two decades, bringing about many new and unexpected observations and data, which have considerably challenged previously authoritative interpretations. These advances now make that we are reaching a state of knowledge where the diverse pieces of the geological puzzle are falling into place. Although this information remains partly unpublished, this talk will review the main progresses made about the geology of Peru in the course of the last decade.

This talk aims (1) at highlighting updated aspects of the tectonic, stratigraphic, magmatic, structural, and chronological record; (2) at showing how the new interpretations are mutually consistent and combine fruitfully; and (3) at suggesting how they could be assembled and used when conducting mineral exploration in Peru. “Getting the geology right” – conceptually speaking – is simply crucial in mineral and oil exploration, as it considerably increases the chances of success, and decreases costs and risks.

Dr. Jon Hronsky

Jon Hronsky has more than 35 years of experience in the mining and exploration industry. He is currently Director of Western Mining Services (WMS), a consultancy group that provides strategic-level services to a wide range of groups (from juniors to majors) across the global mineral exploration industry. Previous roles included Manager- Strategy & Generative Services for BHP’s global mineral exploration group and Geoscience Leader for WMC Resources. Jon is an Adjunct Professor at the Center for Exploration Targeting at the University of WA. He is, or has been, a Director of several ASX mining companies, and is also a partner in Ibaera Capital, a mining-focused private-equity fund. In January 2019, he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to the mining industry.

Convergent margin orogens, such as the Andes, show a complex range of Cu and Au ore types. While there are often clear links between Cu and Au metallogeny, there are also situations where these deposits occur separately. Recent advances indicate that two fundamental processes act to form ore deposits in convergent margins. These are the Loucks process, which relates to anomalous high-pressure fractionation of hydrous arc magmas, and generates Cu metallogeny, and the FUME (Fertile Upper Mantle Extraction) process which generates Au metallogeny. 

Both processes occur in response to anomalous regional-scale geodynamic conditions. In some cases, these conditions favour only one of these two processes whereas in other cases, both processes are simultaneously favoured.

Dr. Michael Doggett

He is a mineral economist based on Vancouver, Canada with 35 years of experience working with clients in some 20 countries on issues related to project assessment, mineral taxation, private and government royalties, and industry exploration trends. From 1997 to 2007, Doggett served as Director of the Mineral Exploration Program at Queen’s University, Canada where he continues to serve as an adjunct professor. He has authored or co-authored more than 20 publications and provided training to more than 2,500 industry professionals. He has been member of the board of 6 public companies as well as the PDAC and the Committee for Earth Resources at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

The Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum presented him with their Robert Elver Mineral Economics Award in 2002 and named him Distinguished Lecturer in 2010. The Society of Economic Geologists named him as their International Exchange Lecturer in 2005 and the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration presented him with their Mineral Economics Award in 2019.

Analysis of trends in copper exploration and production over the past 20 years provides insight into the factors impacting future sustainability. Essentially all production over the next 20 years will originate from already known mineral resources and reserves. The challenge of meeting future demand for metals is, therefore, not insufcient resources rather the convertibility of resources and reserves into production. Our industry has made major strides in convertibility from a technical and economic perspective through innovations in mining and mineral processing, increased productivity, automation and use of artificial intelligence. Conversely, the first 20 years of the millennium have seen lost opportunities to adequately address other fundamental issues of convertibility.

Social conflicts over land and water continue to temporarily, or permanently, derail mine developments. Massive tailings dam failures continue to haunt our industry. We remain stubbornly silent on many key social issues including gender and ethnic workplace diversity and economic inequality in mining jurisdictions. Future convertibility will hinge as much or more on these factors as on technical and economic issues.

MSc. Econ. Erik Heimlich

He is a Senior Analyst in the Base Metals Analysis team at CRU and has wide experience in the analysis of mining and metals markets. Erik joined CRU in September 2012. His work at CRU focuses on the copper market, with special emphasis on the global copper concentrate market and the Latin American supply. Prior to joining CRU, Erik Heimlich worked for several years as an economist and coordinator of econometric studies for the Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco). In addition, he was president of the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) and worked as an economics consultant. Erik Heimlich holds a master's degree in economics and econometrics from the University of Essex.

We will analyze the current and future copper market, showing the potential growth of demand and its main variables, as well as the estimated future production of the red-colored metal, including projects that can be transformed into productive units. We will estimate the impact of these variables on the medium and long term price of copper.

Finally, we will conclude with the competitive advantages for the Peruvian copper industry and how all these fundamentals could benefit the country tremendously.