Artificial intelligence has a wide range of use cases that stretch beyond the technology industry – and in fact, has stretched into the mining sector thanks to companies like Emperor Metals (CSE:AUOZ).
With its headquarters out of Vancouver, B.C., Emperor Metals is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on developing high-quality gold properties in the Canadian Shield in Quebec.
Notably, the company recently acquired its flagship asset, the Duquesne West Gold property, which sits within the Duparquet gold mining camp in the southern region of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt.
John Florek, CEO of Emperor Metals, told The Market Herald Canada that when the company first discovered the property, it used artificial intelligence to do an evaluation of the deposit only within a month.
He explained that his experience in using the same platform within the ecoregion of Kirkland Lake where Florek was chief geologist prior to joining Emperor Metals, was advantageous when he did the evaluation at Duquesne West.
“I knew that I could potentially model this deposit and create the first-ever 3D model using artificial intelligence to do a proper evaluation and make a recommendation to the board of directors,” he said.
What is perhaps most impressive is that Florek explained that Emperor Metals was able to do a property evaluation far quicker than its competitors thanks to the use of artificial intelligence and proceed with an offer to the vendor.
Emperor Metals’ use of artificial intelligence
“Artificial intelligence is important because it allows for huge efficiency,” Florek said.
Case in point, the company’s AI models are able to accurately identify and finalize preliminary targets. Together with its AI model, the mineralized model and Emperor Metals’ geological model, the company is able to better understand the factors that influence high-grade mineralization.
Some of the advantages of Emperor Metals’ artificial intelligence models include the following:
- Increased Efficiency: The use of artificial intelligence helps automate data analysis, expedite exploration and optimize resource allocation.
- Improved Accuracy and Precision: Machine learning and artificial intelligence also reduces human bias, which ensures accurate identification of mineralization patterns and structural controls.
- Enhanced Resource Estimation: The technologies are able to handle large datasets, which enables for efficient and accurate resource calculations. Case in point, the company was able to successfully implement artificial intelligence and machine learning for the Duquesne West Gold Project.
- First 3D Model: Thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning, the technologies were able to create a comprehensive 3D model of the deposit, improving visualization and project communication.
- Geological Model and Drill Target Definition: Finally, the artificial intelligence algorithms are able to interpret data, which was instrumental in generating a precise geological model and assisting in identifying high-priority drill targets.
The company has now added to its existing artificial model with the addition of a newly developed artificial intelligence 3D geological model into its previous artificial intelligence mineralized model.
Florek told The Market Herald Canada that it only took the company a few months to evaluate the property thanks to its artificial intelligence models, which means it might have otherwise taken the company years to do conventionally.
“The birth of [Emperor Metals] is based on artificial intelligence,” he said.
The Duquesne West Gold property
Located 32 kilometres northwest of Rouyn-Noranda and 10 kilometres east of Duparquet in Quebec, the Duquesne property is located within the historic Duparquet gold mining camp.
The company has an opportunity to acquire a 100 per cent interest in a mineral claim package made up of 38 claims spanning 1,389 hectares in the Duparquet Township of Quebec from Duparquet Assets, which is a 50 per cent owned subsidiary of Globex Mining Enterprises Inc. (TSX: GMX).
The property, which is a high-grade Archean Lode Gold deposit, hosts a historical inferred mineral resource estimate of 727,000 ounces of gold in 4.17 million tons of material grading 5.42 grams per ton (g/t) gold and an average thickness of 5.71 metres.
The resource is distributed across eight zones, with the majority occurring in two zones, Fox and Liz.
Notably, the Abitibi Region is one of the world’s most prolific gold producing districts with roughly 200 million ounces of gold produced to date. In line with this, the Porcupine-Destor fault zone (PDFZ) transects the property and has total historical gold production from the many high-grade gold deposits along the east-west trending PDFZ exceeding 110 million ounces.
The project is situated near Agnico Eagle and Newmont mines in close proximity to the highway that leads to Rouyn-Noranda International Airport, has access to a local power supply and has year-round maintained road access. All of these are ingredients to the recipe for a company moving towards production in this tier one mining camp.
Impressively, because the company’s property is in a tier-one mining jurisdiction and is near mid-tier producers in the space such as Moneta Gold (TSX:ME), First Mining Gold (TSX:FF), Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX:AEM) and Newmont Corporation (TSX:NGT) as mentioned above.
Florek said the company is drilling based on the geological model, which highlighted evidence of the controls to mineralization following several gold-rich trends along a known plunge.
The drilling targets are intended to add ounces through several strategies based on the company’s new understanding of these controls. Emperor Metals now has a goal of enhancing grade and ounces internal to the deposit as well as discovering additional ounces external from the deposit.
The program, which started in May, has a goal of expanding the resource potential of an overlooked deposit. The company’s target selection will focus on the existing footprint and areas outside of it at varying depths.
Next steps for Emperor Metals
At present, the company is right in the middle of its 10,000-metre drilling program, which Florek explained the company wants an additional 100,000+ metres of drilling. Currently there are 100,000+ meters already drilled on the deposit.
He explained that the current drilling campaign is intended to get it into the consciousness of investors’ minds while demonstrating the project’s potential for resource expansion. Florek said the company also plans to raise more money in the future because he believes the project has a lot more targets to be identified and a lot more growth potential.
“[The company’s] roadmap is to continue to grow this deposit,” Florek said, adding that in the near term a plethora of news will come because results have begun trickling into the lab.
Florek said investors can expect regular updates over the next three to four months as drill hole results come out.
The management team
Collectively, the management team of Emperor Metals has more than 20 public mining companies under its belt.
The company’s directors and advisors own 20 per cent of Emperor and have raised more than $500 million for projects throughout exploration, development and production phases.
Alex Horsley, corporate development and director of Emperor Metals, told The Market Herald Canada that one of the biggest reasons the company exists is because of CEO John Florek’s experience and success with other major mining companies and his artificial intelligence experience.
Through Florek’s previous work at Kirkland Lake using artificial intelligence, his team was able to increase profitability substantially for the Life of Mine with an in-house grade control model using these concepts.
John Florek, president and CEO
John Florek has more than 30 years of technical and senior management experience working for major and junior mining companies. His roles have included founder, vice president and director. Florek has been instrumental in identifying and developing significant asset value for mines and exploration projects – from grassroots through to development. Florek has also worked for several majors including, BHP, Placer Dome, Barrick, Teck and Detour Gold/Kirkland Lake Gold/Agnico Eagle.
Sean Mager, CFO and director
Sean Mager has more than 25 years of mining sector, extensive corporate development, stakeholder relations, regulatory, financial and operating expertise.
Alex Horsley, corporate development and director
Alex Horsley has more than 18 years of experience in the mining sector and capital markets with a focus on finance, marketing, management, corporate development and communications. Horsley also has an extensive network of investment bankers, mining analysts, investment advisors, high-net-worth investors and mining professionals. Horsley is also the founder and former CEO of Emperor Metals.
John Williamson, independent director and chairman
John Williamson has more than 35 years in the mining sector and has been a chairman and founder of more than 20 companies in Canada and around the world. Williamson is also the founder of the Metals Group of companies and is the current CEO of Benchmark Metals.
Ian Harris, independent director
Ian Harris has more than 20 years of experience in the global mining sector. He is an accomplished senior mining executive leading mining projects from open-pit and underground development to processing operations. Harris is a former vice president and country manager for Corriente, which was taken over for $690 million. Harris is also the current CEO of Libero Copper.
The investment opportunity
No matter which way you look at it, gold continues to be a sound investment – and particularly during times of economic uncertainty.
This year, the price of gold reached a year-to-date high of US$2,017.60 per ounce in May and continues to hover above the $1,900 mark.
With central banks purchasing more gold than ever in 2023 – further fueling demand – companies like Emperor Metals will be in high demand.
Although artificial intelligence has the potential to completely disrupt the mining industry, Florek explained it still requires experienced geologists involved with the aspects of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Because of this, Emperor Metals has a significant advantage compared with its competitors in the space thanks to its experienced team with deep knowledge of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
“If you don’t understand how the algorithm works, you’re not going to get the results you want,” he said.
Thanks to artificial intelligence expediting processes into months that would otherwise take years, Emperor Metals is poised to be a game changer in the mining sector that investors won’t want to miss out on.
What’s more, because the property is a high-grade gold deposit with the potential to have robust economics, investors no doubt have the potential to benefit significantly from this small-cap company.
Case in point, with a current market capitalization of only $3.13 million and a share price of $0.07, the company’s value can only go up from here as it continues executing on its goals and attracting the attention of investors.
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