The mining sector requires constant innovation if it is to optimize production, lower costs, and, most importantly, improve safety for workers. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies can make a big difference and help businesses adapt even in the face of unpredictable events.

Recently, Boart Longyear (the worlds leading provider of drilling services, drilling equipment, and performance tooling for mining and drilling companies) announced that its Geological Data Services division will operate as a separate entity called Veracio. The new entity is set to combine science and digital technologies in a single, integrated platform and help mining companies get more value from their orebody data faster, while mitigating the environmental impact of their decisions.

Veracios technologies and platform, the result of a decade of testing and development in sensing, automation, and AI technologies, empowers miners to dig deeper into data, accelerating exploration and making better decisions that result in economically efficient operations and reduced waste. Powered by Boart Longyears award-winning Geological Data Services integrated technology platform, Veracio will support the growing global need for critical minerals by championing an approach to orebody science based on speed and sustainability.

Veracios (originally Boart Longyears) innovative in-field drill sample scanning system, TruScan, has been named mining innovation of the year at the prestigious Mines and Money conference in London, held in December 2022. This recognition highlights Veracios commitment to providing cutting-edge technologies that drive productivity and efficiency in the mining industry.

Afew weeks ago, I caught up with Veracios newly appointed CEO, JT Clark (JTC) and chief innovation officer, Mike Ravella (MR), to discuss Veracios recent graduation from Boart Longyear, as Clark likes to call it.

Veracio, a wholly owned Boart Longyear subsidiary, offers mining clients a range of solutions that improve, automate, and digitally transform their orebody sciences. Championing a modern approach through a diverse product portfolio by fusing science and technology together with digital accessibility, Veracio leverages AI and advanced analytics to accelerate real-time decision-making driving efficiency in mineral exploration and mining which is moving mineral resources forward.

CMJ:To start the conversation, my first question to both of you is how did you end up in your positions as CEO and CIO of the new company?

JTC:For most of my career, I worked at BCG, a prominent consulting firm and in my most recent position, I served as the global leader of BCGs mining practice. Six years ago, I shifted my focus to applying AI and advanced technologies to optimize mining operations, creating BCG Phosa, a real-time optimization tool for mineral processing covering the entire value chain. Although it has delivered significant improvements in production, we discovered that the accuracy and granularity of orebody knowledge were limiting factors. AI requires detailed and high-quality information to identify smaller differences and make finer adjustments and mining companies were not capturing sufficient detail about the orebody to support AI.

In my consulting work with Boart Longyear, I learned about the range of technologies under the Geological Data Services division and their ability to provide accurate and detailed orebody knowledge. I was amazed by their solution which had previously hindered my AI deployment work. With their technology, I also saw the potential to improve the production and recovery of critical minerals throughout the life of the mine. This is how I ended up at Veracio, this was a natural move for me, and I believe the products and services we offer are critical in driving accurate and detailed orebody knowledge for mining optimization.

MR:I am a hydrogeologist by trade, and in my background in contaminant hydrogeology, we used real time digital sensing for dynamic environmental site investigations to provide information about contaminant source areas and plumes. I worked in environmental and then mining related drilling for Boart Longyear. When I entered the mining field, I found orebody knowledge definition archaic in the mining space. After running several drilling businesses for Boart Longyear in the U.S. and then Australia, I started Geological Data Services from an idea for Boart Longyear in 2015 when we started to look at digital sensing and AI and applying it to mineral exploration and mining, and that is how Veracio started.

I consider Veracio a graduation from Boart Longyear. The AI/ML-based technologies under the Geological Data Services division have matured and deserve recognition and attention of their own.JT Clark, CEO of Veracio

CMJ:So, what do you like most about your job?

MR:Working with a group of people and clients who truly believe and are 100% focused on changing mineral exploration and mining through digital sensing and AI and knowing that the work we are doing is providing critical mineral solutions for humanity.

CMJ:Can you please talk to us briefly about Boart Longyears decision to operate its Geological Data Services division as a stand-alone entity called Veracio, what was the reason for the decision?

JTC:Boart Longyear is an ideal birthplace for the development of innovative technologies and capabilities for the mining industry. Developing such technologies requires a conducive environment, and Boart Longyears 127 years of experience in the most challenging operating conditions provide just that. I consider Veracio a graduation from Boart Longyear. The AI/ML-based technologies under the Geological Data Services division have matured and deserve recognition and attention of their own. Furthermore, technology development is a distinct business from drilling services, and it is essential to establish new processes for funding and operation to support Veracios technology objectives while working closely with the engineering and operating expertise at Boart Longyear. We are providing these technologies with an appropriate platform to grow and serve the industry.

MR:Boart Longyear is focused on providing safe productive drilling to the mining industry. At the end of the day, the product of Boart Longyears services and products is quality drill samples. Mining companies require these drill samples to understand the earth. A natural progression for Boart Longyear is Veracio, where we are focused on unifying orebody knowledge and giving mining companies information about the earth at high density in real time.

CMJ:Most people tend to not associate the mining industry with such things as advanced systems technology; however, in your opinion, how can artificial intelligence transform the mining industry?

JTC:This is a common misconception, as the mining industry has been investing in building advanced analytics and AI capabilities for some time now. However, compared to tech companies, the mining industry falls behind in terms of AI development. The reason is that mining poses unique and complex challenges that simplistic solutions of the first generation of AI were not capable of solving. AI had to continue to evolve and mature to effectively support the mining industry.

AI has already started to transform the mining industry and will continue to play a central role in its future. Primarily, this is because the world demands more critical minerals that the mining industry must supply, while at the same time mining companies must operate with a smaller carbon and environmental footprint. With declining head grades and increasing geological difficulty, new discoveries are geographically remote, more challenging to access, and often in challenging geopolitical environments. The traditional mining and exploration toolkits are ill-equipped to satisfy these demands. The mining industry significantly benefits from AI, as it equips them with the necessary tools to improve performance, automate processes in challenging environments without risking human lives, and achieve a higher level of accuracy and precision.

For example, mines that have been operating for decades have historically sent ore to waste that would now be considered economic ore. However, upcoming mining projects involve mines that might only have a 10- to 20-year mine life, are deep underground, and are hard to access. To overcome these challenges, the mining industry needs a more advanced toolkit that allows for more accurate, precise, and deliberate resource recovery. There is no margin for error, as valuable resources cannot be wasted and left in a pile for future generations to recover. They must be extracted today.

MR:I agree, and I see it growing more and more each year. It is clear that the future of mining will be very different from the past. Feedback and actions from early adopters and mining companies clearly define this.

CMJ:Can you please explain the role of AI and ML in improving mine safety?

JTC:Improving the understanding of the orebody and automating tasks using AI are two primary ways to operate more safely in the mining industry. By better understanding the structural geology of the orebody using AI, we can reduce the risk of bench failure and improve the quality of mine planning.

Additionally, by automating tasks that previously required human intervention using AI and other technologies, we can remove the person from dangerous environments and eliminate risk. For example, automating rod handling on drilling rigs which is one of the most injury-prone activities. By using AI to capture in situ geological information, we can reduce the number of times we have to handle rods, ultimately taking humans out of harmful activity.

Our goal is to reinvent workflows and activities that have been in use for decades and create safer and less vulnerable options.

MR:Digital sensing allows the mining clients to be bionic. They can work remotely and reduce exposure. The future mine site geologist will be far more accurate, consistent, and efficient. They will also be able to be on site less through digital sensing, software, AI, and ML.

CMJ:How can ML and AI maintain the operation and performance of mining machines using predictive maintenance?

MR:At Veracio, we utilize ML and AI to drive orebody discovery, definition extraction, and processing. Knowing what is in the ground and the parameters required to extract and process early and at high definition allows the mining company to make rapid decisions creating enormous value.

CMJ:Finally, how can Veracio help its mining customers meet the unprecedented minerals demand that is fuelling the transition to a more sustainable economy?

JTC:Veracios primary mission is to enable (i) a bigger vision, facilitating the transition to electrification and a more environmentally friendly world; (ii) smarter data, providing the right information at the right time for informed decision-making; and (iii) a smaller environmental footprint, achieved by improving mine design accuracy, reducing the impact on the environment, improving biodiversity, and lowering carbon footprint.

As the demand for critical resources in the world increases, it is becoming harder to discover new deposits. To make new discoveries economically viable, increased precision is required, and the margin of error must be reduced. At Veracio, we do not just provide data but also analytical tools to support the next generation of accuracy, making decision-making more efficient and accurate, and enabling more efficient execution of mining agendas.

Originally posted here:

A bigger vision for better use of the Earth's resources - Canadian Mining Journal

President Bidens Investing in America agenda is making a once-in-a-generation investment in Americas infrastructure and our clean energy future that is creating good-paying union jobs, growing our economy, building energy security, combating climate change, advancing environmental justice, and helping lower costs for families. To continue to drive these efforts, the Biden-Harris Administration today announced a set of priorities it urges Congress to pass as part of bipartisan permitting reform legislation.

The Biden-Harris Administration has already unleashed over $470 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments since President Biden took office, providing predictable funding for new projects that would not have been contemplated a few years ago, and secured $1 billion to help expedite federal agency permitting. As a result of the Inflation Reduction Act, near-term clean energy deployment is expected to increase by 25%.

Building clean energy projects in the U.S. at the speed and scale needed to adequately address the climate crisis requires strategic reforms that improve the way such projects are sited and permitted at the federal, state and local levels. The Administration is acting to move projects forward, using its existing authority to accelerate the federal permitting process. These actions include establishing a new interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate the timely, responsible, and equitable permitting of electric transmission infrastructure.

But more reforms are needed to build out modern American energy infrastructure and supply chains with the speed and safety that the moment demands. To take just one example, the law governing mineral claims commodities that are critical components of modern energy technologies is more than 150 years old. To ensure that we protect the environment and communities and keep our economy globally competitive, Congress should act on thoughtful permitting reform that puts science and people first.

Administration Objectives for Permitting Reform

The Biden-Harris Administration supports the important reforms contained in the Building American Energy Security Act of 2023 as the kind of bipartisan compromise needed to tackle this challenge. The Administration encourages the inclusion of the following priorities in any bipartisan permitting reform package:

Recommendations to Streamline the Permitting Process

Accelerating Administration Permitting Actions to Deliver ResultsThe Biden-Harris Administration is not waiting on Congressional action to accelerate permitting. Last year the Administration released aPermitting Action Planand is using its existing authorities, where additional Congressional action is not required, to accelerate project approvals to meet our infrastructure and clean energy goals while ensuring strong environmental protections and robust community engagement. Some examples include:

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FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Outlines Priorities for ... - The White House

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2023) - Jaxon Mining Inc.(TSXV: JAX)(FSE: 0U31)(OTC Pink: JXMNF) ("Jaxon" or the "Company")is pleased to announce it has received the first version from Geotexera of the inverted deep IP data from the geophysical survey conducted by SJ Geophysics in 2021 over Netalzul Mountain. This first set of inverted data has been used to update Jaxon's conceptual geological models and to generate more precise projections of the size, location and orientation of the Netalzul Mountain porphyry system. After the MT and other datasets have been inverted, the projections will be used to generate more accurate vectors that will be used in future drilling programs. The Company expects to publish a full report including an updated 3D geological model including the design of the anticipated test drilling program in Q2-Q3 of 2023.

Geotexera is a pioneer in the development of advanced geophysical modeling and inversion methods (https://www.geotexera.com/about). In the first version of a series of reports on the inversion results, Geotexera's Geophysical Modeling & Inversion "Geotexera GMI" used unstructured meshes to produce the inversions of the IP chargeability and DC resistivity data used to generate the visualizations (Figures 1, 2). The Company now awaits the delivery of the MT and the magnetic vector inversions (MVI) and will use these additional datasets to further advance the Netalzul Mountain target modeling program. These projections will be used to design higher-precision, drill test programs.

Geotexera's April 2023 report of the IP data projections (the "Report") confirm Jaxon's 2D projections and show the strong low IP chargeability or high conductivity anomaly the 2D projections place at the center of the Netalzul Mountain porphyry zone (Figures 3, 4). Geotexera's projections also show a large, medium to strong resistivity anomaly in the left-center of the porphyry target area (Figures 5, 6). The Report provides additional orientation information and confirms the coincident location of the Netalzul porphyry system as projected by Fathom Geophysics' 2021 model which integrated Jaxon's geophysical and geochemical datasets. Figures 7 and 8 show the overlay of both the 3D IP chargeability and resistivity anomalies with soil and rock geochemical anomalies as mapped in Fathom's 2021 model.

The Report further supports the Company's position that a large, deeper porphyry system exists within Netalzul Mountain, elevation between 1200 m to 1500 m, with the porphyry system located approximately 500 to 800 meters below the peak (Figures 4, 6).

The 3D inverted data adds orientation information as well as more refined size and location information to the Jaxon's models. Geotexera's results are consistent with the visualizations and conceptual locations generated by both Jaxon's and Fathom Geophysics' 2021 models which were based on Jaxon's existing 2D geophysical datasets as integrated with then existing geochemical datasets. Jaxon and Fathom will work with Geotexera's 3D IP/DC and other inverted datasets to generate updated models that will be used to visualize the targets and guide drill program design.

The Company is reviewing the inverted IP/DC data and the Report in anticipation of receiving and integrating additional datasets being inverted by Geotexera. Geotexera will also integrate Jaxon's 2021 drilling and other geotechnical data in its model. The additional inverted datasets are expected in the coming days and the Company anticipates Geotexera's final report will be released in Q2 of 2023. Updated versions of Fathom Geophysics' Comparative & Vectoring models will follow.

This same advanced target modeling and vectoring approach will be applied to inform the design of the contemplated drill programs targeting the Red Springs copper polymetallic porphyry system and the Kispiox Mountain and Blunt Mountain antimony-copper porphyry systems.

Figure 1. 3D view of chargeability inversion model, Netalzul Mountain project

Figure 2. 3D view of resistivity inversion model, Netalzul Mountain project

Figure 3. Large, strong, low IP chargeability or high conductivity anomaly in the center area of the Netalzul Mountain project, at 1,200m elevation, showing overlapping with soil, rock and magnetic porphyry targets

Figure 4. Vertical slices of 3D chargeability inversion model at center of area of the Netalzul Mountain project, showing very low chargeability below 1,500m elevation

Figure 5. Medium strong resistivity anomaly area in the center area of the Netalzul Mountain project, at 1,200m elevation, showing overlapping with soil, rock and magnetic porphyry targets

Figure 6. Vertical slices of 3D resistivity inversion model at center area of the Netalzul Mountain project, showing medium strong resistivity below 1,400m elevation

Qualified Person

Yingting (Tony) Guo, P.Geo., President and Chief Geologist of Jaxon Mining Inc., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and prepared the scientific and technical information and verified the data supporting such scientific and technical information contained in this news release.

About Jaxon Mining Inc.

Jaxon pursues the discoveries of deeper, under cover, commercial scale and high-grade Cu, Au, Ag, polymetallic porphyry epithermal systems. Jaxon has seven large-scale porphyry system targets on its 100% controlled Hazelton property, an interconnected network of concessions spanning ~730 km2 in the Skeena Arch in northwest British Columbia, Canada. The Company's flagship projects Netalzul Mountain and Red Springs are drill ready. The Kispiox Mountain and Blunt Mountain projects both host extensive and high-grade occurrences of antimony, a strategic and critical metal as designated by the governments of Canada and United States.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORSJAXON MINING INC.

"John King Burns"

John King Burns, Chairman

For more information, please contact:

Investor RelationsKaye Wynn ConsultingT: 604-558-2630TF: 1-888-280-8128 E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Corporate & Investor Relations T: 604-424-4488E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. http://www.jaxonmining.com

This news release may contain forward-looking information, which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information in this news release may include but is not limited to, the Company's objectives, goals, or plans. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, those risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release. No assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Continued here:

Jaxon Mining Receives Deep IP and MT Dataset Inverted by ... - Junior Mining Network

The UK government's White Paper on AI, published in March 2023, sets out the ambition of being "the best place in the world to build, test and use AI technology". The European Commission's 'European approach to artificial intelligence' sets out the aim of "making the EU a world-class hub for AI". The UK and EU are not alone in their ambitions so the AI race is on. So much so that the Future of Life Institute recently published an open letter from signatories including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, calling for a six month moratorium on development of high functionality AI to allow the world to decide how to ensure that AI serves rather than destroys humanity.

Opinions differ as to how far off we are from sentient or 'superintelligent' AI, capable of outwitting and potentially wiping out humans, but the potential for AI to radically change our world is undisputed and evolving rapidly. Given how long it's taking individual jurisdictions to develop AI policy (it seems every day brings a new consultation or report), the thought that six months would be sufficient to gain worldwide consensus is wildly optimistic, particularly when there is so much to be gained economically by coming in first. And yet some governments are trying to ensure that AI is developed within an ethical framework they just don't necessarily agree what that looks like you can find out more about various approaches here.

The European Commission proposed the Artificial Intelligence Act in April 2021 (find out more here). It sets out an overarching framework for governing AI at EU level, providing a framework of requirements and obligations for its developers, deployers and users, together with regulatory oversight. The framework is underpinned by a risk-categorisation system for AI with 'high' risk systems subject to the most stringent obligations, and a ban on 'unacceptable risk' AI. The EU is hoping to pass the legislation by the end of the year.

China's approach by way of contrast is both more fragmented, and potentially more controlling, with rules being introduced requiring prior security approval for consumer-facing generative AI.

The UK has taken longer to arrive at its own approach and it has turned out to be rather different from the EU's. One of the most difficult aspects of the EU's AI Act is how to define AI, and then how to allocate risk categories. The UK's answer is to use a principles-based, sector-focused, regulator-led approach instead of creating umbrella legislation requiring a host of definitions which may become quickly outdated.

The UK's road to regulating AI

The UK has been increasingly focusing on AI over the last decade. The Alan Turing Institute is the UK's largely government-funded institute for data science and AI, founded in 2015, to "make great leaps in data science and AI research in order to make the world better". Since its inception, it has worked not only on the research and technical side, but also on ethical questions, liaising closely with government and regulators like the UK's Information Commissioner.

The UK published its National AI Strategy in September 2021, setting out a ten-year plan to "make Britain a global AI superpower". In line with this, in January 2022, DCMS announced that the Alan Turing Institute, supported by the British Standards Institute and the National Physical Laboratory, would pilot a new AI Standards Hub intended to increase the UK's contribution to the development of global AI technical standards.

In July 2022, DCMS announced its AI Action Plan, again, part of its National AI Strategy. An AI paper set out proposed rules based on six principles for regulators to apply with flexibility in order to support innovation while ensuring use of AI is safe and avoids unfair bias. Rather than centralising AI regulation, the government proposed allowing different regulators to take a tailored, more contextual approach to the use of AI, based on sandboxes, guidance and codes of practice.

Separate to the AI Action Plan, the UK government published a response to its 2020 consultation on AI and IP in July 2022 as we discussed here. The consultation looked at three areas:

The government decided:

In November 2022, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee launched an inquiry into the governance of AI. The Committee is looking at how to address risks to the public from use of AI, and at how to ensure AI is used ethically and responsibly. Written submissions to a call for evidence were invited by 25 November 2022, including on the effectiveness of the current AI UK governance framework, areas for improvement, and how AI should be regulated. The Committee was still gathering evidence at the time of writing and is yet to report.

The AI White Paper

In March 2023, after some delay, the UK government published its White Paper 'A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation', which sets out a framework for the UK's approach to regulating AI. The government has decided not to legislate to create a single function to govern the regulation of AI. It has elected to support existing regulators develop a sector-focused, principles based approach. Regulators including the ICO, the CMA, the FCA, Ofcom, the Health and Safety Executive the MHRA and the Human Rights Commission will be required to consider the following five principles to build trust and provide clarity for innovation:

UK regulators will publish non-statutory guidance over the next year which will also include practical tools like risk assessment templates, and standards. The guidance will need to be pro-innovation, proportionate, trustworthy, adaptable, clear and collaborative, underpinned by the following four core elements of the government's AI framework:

Further elements to be considered by regulators are set out in Annex A.

The government also supports the findings of the Vallance Review published earlier in March, which looked at the approach to regulating emerging and digital technologies. With regard to AI, Sir Patrick Vallance recommended:

Interestingly, while providing for a regulatory sandbox, the AI White Paper does not set out further policy on the relationship between IP and generative AI although the Intellectual Property Office is working on a code of practice which is expected to be ready by the Summer.

The government has also published:

What does a regulator-led, sector approach look like?

Many AI systems are trained using personal data and many generate personal data. This means that data protection regulators (in countries which have them) are at the forefront of ensuring that AI data is used in a way which protects individuals. The way they interact with AI issues provides an indication as to how the government's approach might work.

The UK GDPR (as with its EU predecessor) is principles-based and many of the principles overlap with the government's five AI governance principles. This makes current data protection law a powerful tool for policing AI something clearly recognised in the government's policy choices.

In fact, the UK's regulator, the ICO, has already produced significant guidance on AI including an AI risk toolkit in and guidance on using live facial recognition technology in public places in July 2021, and an AI auditing framework and glossary. This sits alongside two major pieces of guidance Explaining decisions made with AI (developed with the Turing Institute) which covers transparency issues in some depth, and the ICO's guidance on AI and Data Protection which was updated in March 2023 to include a significantly expanded section on fairness (among other changes).

The power of data protection regulators to step in to protect individuals recently became clear when the Italian data protection regulator, the Garante, announced an immediate ban (since lifted) on LLM Chatbot, ChatGPT, and an investigation into its parent company OpenAI's GDPR compliance. Following a variety of responses from national data protection regulators, the European Data Protection Board convened a task force to share information and ensure a consistent enforcement approach.

Of course, as the White Paper recognises, the ICO is not the only regulator in town. Competition law, financial services law, human rights law and other areas can all play their part - the FCA, for example, is about to publish its response to its consultation on the impact of AI on its work. Similarly, the MHRA has published a roadmap clarifying in guidance the requirements for AI and software used in medical devices and is already developing more guidance (find out more here). The regulators themselves are broadly in favour of playing a leading role in regulating AI although both the ICO and the CMA have expressed concerns around funding and coordination.

The government's approach does raise concerns about contradictory guidance being produced by different regulators and about what happens when an AI system falls within the purview of more than one regulator. And what about a system where there isn't an obvious regulator? The government is looking to address the coherence questions and is currently consulting on how best to create a coordinated approach, with the DRCF likely to play a leading role.

Another issue is that the guidance produced by relevant regulators will not be statutory which means it will not be legally binding and while it may be influential in court proceedings, there will be no obligation to take it into account. This leads to questions around enforcement and what incentive there will be on businesses to comply. Enforcement will only be possible where other laws (rather than a specific AI law) have been breached and the pace of AI development is arguably considerably faster than, say an ICO or CMA enforcement action.

What happens next?

The government will monitor the effectiveness of this policy and of the resulting guidance, and consider whether it is necessary to introduce legislation to support compliance with the guidance. It intends to publish an AI regulatory roadmap which will set out plans for establishing central government functions for the four elements of the AI framework. The government also plans to publish a draft AI risk register for consultation, an updated roadmap and a monitoring and evaluation report some time after March 2024.

Time will tell whether the EC's top-down approach is more successful than the UK's lighter touch one. While too much regulation can certainly hamper innovation, there's a lot to be said for certainty. But this is difficult to achieve in such a rapidly developing environment. The EU's AI Act does attempt to future proof itself but is naturally more prescriptive when set against a jurisdiction where there is no dedicated AI law.

There is, however, more than one way to measure success. An ethical framework for AI is vitally important not just for economic success, but also for trust and adoption. There has already been push back against the UK government's approach with calls for more specific legislation. There are plenty of people who argue that it is better and safer to have a firmer, holistic framework for this aspect than a patchwork of non-binding guidance underpinned by laws which are not directly related to AI. Ideally, this would be agreed at a global level many argue that we will ultimately need an international supra-body to regulate AI in the same way we try to tackle nuclear proliferation, but achieving that, particularly in today's geopolitical climate, seems currently somewhat less likely than creating sentient AI.

Read more:

The UK's approach to regulating AI - Lexology

Posted by Paul Moore on 10th May 2023

A new partnership has been formed which will see cutting-edge IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and Augmented Reality (AR) technology being applied to the conceptualisation, design, construction and operational management of mining projects and mining operations.

The partnership brings together the mining expertise of UMS, a leading provider of engineering and contracting services to the mining industry, with the digital know-how of 1Worx, a specialist in the field of IIOT and AR.

We have signed a shareholder agreement which, in essence, has resulted in the establishment of a new joint venture company, UMS 1Worx, which is based at UMSs headquarters in Sandton, says Digby Glover, CEO of UMS. Not only will UMS 1Worx broaden the UMS service offering but it will also act as an independent business within UMS, with its own customer base.

Heading the new venture as MD is Charles Anderson, who has enjoyed a long career in the IT industry and who has extensive professional experience in robotics and mechanical engineering. The GM is Martin Hobbs, a very well-known figure in mining circles who was previously the MD of one of South Africas best-known shaft-sinking and mining contracting companies.

Anderson co-founded 1Worx in 2016 to market a leading US-developed IIOT development platform in South Africa. We initially aimed simply at selling this product to customers, who could then use it to develop their own solutions, he says. What soon became apparent, however, was that clients were not interested in doing their own in-house development. What they wanted was for us to provide ready-made solutions using the platform and this then became our primary focus.

He adds that the industry where the most traction was gained was mining. One notable project we worked on was a new mine which is still widely regarded as the most digitally enabled operation of its type in South Africa. Given the inroads we were making into mining, we made the decision in mid-2021 to concentrate on this sector, says Anderson.

One of the mining clients 1Worx subsequently interfaced with was UMS. We incorporated the 1Worx technology into one of our projects and liked it so much that we started talking about a partnership. That partnership is now a reality, says Glover.

The UMS 1Worx technology collects and analyses data that is generated automatically from sensors on plant and equipment or, in some cases, entered manually. This information can be displayed in a variety of formats, including dashboards that provide a visualisation of operational performance and status by area or by the entire mine. Immediate notifications and early warning of critical events can be sent to devices such as laptops or cell phones anywhere in the world.

Hobbs makes the point that UMS 1Worx represents a step-change for mining. Its really about delivering transformative solutions which are holistic in nature. Our solutions provide managers with accurate, predictive and actionable real-time data and information of a quality that has never really been available before in mining. In the past few years there has been much talk of the digital twin concept. Our technology delivers this but takes the concept much further.

Anderson says one of the key benefits of the solutions being offered by UMS 1Worx lies in the fact that they enable the exchange of information between the various teams involved in the design, construction and operation of a mine.

At a certain point, the personnel who design a mine hand the project over to the construction team for execution and then, when this is complete, the construction team hands over to the operational team, he explains. There is very little interaction between the teams everyone is working in compartments. With our solutions, this changes. Everyone has access to the same data and information. You have a continuous feedback loop that leads to problems being speedily identified and resolved and operations enhanced.Giving an example of what can be achieved, Glover says that intelligence can now be built into complex operations such as shaft-sinking.

Accurate reporting and analysis around key issues such as stoppages, water ingress, electricity consumption, tons blasted against tons hoisted and similar parameters can make all the difference on a shaft-sinking project and give managers the critical insights that allow operations to be optimised, he says.

Were extremely excited by this joint venture, he continues. The technology available from UMS 1Worx brings the Smart Mine concept a step closer to reality and has the potential to transform the way the mining industry works.

Link:

UMS brings high-tech digital solutions to mining, forming JV with ... - International Mining