Brenton Crawford presents "Teaching computers how to see geology... " for GSA SGEG June 2023 Webinar

Brenton Crawford (Datarock) presents 'Teaching computers how to see geology - extracting geological information from drill core imagery using machine learning' for the June 2023 GSA SGEG Facets of Exploration Webinar.

Abstract: As the global mining industry seeks to meet the ever increasing demand for minerals, drilled metres are increasing as many operations are struggling to find skilled geologists and geotechnical engineers available to produce high quality logging data. Subjectively logged datasets commonly collected by geologists are increasingly not being included in critical mining models due to a lack of quality, auditability and consistency. Recent advances in computer vision - specifically in the field of deep learning - have provided algorithms that have the ability to efficiently augment and automate the many observational tasks in geology such as core logging. In this talk we will demonstrate that datasets collected using computer vision based workflows can provide detailed, consistent and auditable data that has the ability to greatly improve data collection workflows for the mining industry.

Bio: Brenton Crawford is a geologist, data scientist, entrepreneur and mining technology enthusiast. He studied geology and geophysics at Monash University and began his career in consulting working for PGN Geoscience in a number of geological and geophysical roles in both exploration and mining. Brenton has also worked as a geophysicist and data scientist for MMG Exploration working in nickel, copper and zinc exploration and project generation in Australia, Africa and South America. In 2015, Brenton co-founded Solve Geosolutions – Australia’s first exploration and mining focused data science consultancy which has since been acquired. In 2018, Brenton co-founded Datarock – a computer vision technology company geared at building productionised image and video analysis solutions for exploration and mining where he has served as both its Head of Business Development and Chief Operating Officer. Brenton currently serves as Datarock's Chief Geoscientist and Technology