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DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY IN THE INITIAL PHASES OF MINERAL EXPLORATION

Obiettivo


In the pilot areas, selected for the practical application of the GEIS (Iglesiente for Italy and Cabo de Gata, for Spain), the simulation tests compared successfully with the known data, and also allowed the selection of priority areas at different stages of the prospecting programme.

Successive phases of exploration programmes may be simulated with the use of GEIS simply by adding new data, as they came in from further field investigation; the dimensions of exploration targets will decrease accordingly to the quantity of the information received.

In terms of costs, the financial evaluation, based on the simulation tests, has shown that the most important savings are made in the period between the preliminary and the reconnaissance phases, where the application of the GEIS methodology permits to cut down about 50% of costs; after this stage, the GEIS methodology may only be used to refine the decision making, through updating of the information data-base and model, as new data from the field and from the laboratory come in. The costs of this updating do not bring big variation to overall costs, and incise in a very small way.

In any case, the conclusion is that the GEIS methodology can be advantageously applied in the early stages of an exploration project, like the one which was simulated in this exercise; considerable savings of time and costs have been theoretically realised up to 50% of the total. This is a very important result, which means that the study and the application of new, advanced methodologies may help in lowering down the costs of an exploration project.
The proposed research aims at developing a new methodology using advanced remote-sensing technology for the initial phases of mineral resources exploration. By integrating remote-sensing data with ground data, it will provide input for improved planning of exploration activities, eventually leading to its integration in traditional exploration programmes. Major technical tasks are :

a) acquisition/processing of prospecting and satellite data;
b) integraton of processes satellite data with a numerical model based on ground data, and building of a multivariate classification model;
c) building of a preliminary integrated geological resources exploration and planning system;
d) field testing of the model using ground data on the geological parameters of the prospected areas;
f) costing of the methodology in relation to the total cost of exploration programmes.

Successful completion should yield a reduction by 20-30% of the risks of exploration programmes.

Invito a presentare proposte

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Meccanismo di finanziamento

CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Coordinatore

Earth SrL
Contributo UE
Nessun dato
Indirizzo
Via cineto romano 57
00156 Roma
Italia

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Costo totale
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Partecipanti (6)