UltraFine+® The Future

Providing the science to interpret geochemical results in landscape context

After the conclusion of the UltraFine+ Next Gen Analytics project in November 2023, we are currently building new project proposals and collaborations related to the UltraFine+® technology. Over the next three years the team will be looking at developing projects around three key objectives:

1 UltraFine+® Next Gen Science

At the core of all current and future UltraFine+® developments is the fundamental science needed to drive new discoveries. While the UltraFine+® Next Gen Accessibility and Expansion will inevitably incorporate science, the data produced by previous projects and the availability of the workflow enables the interrogation of large-scale scientific questions. This will not only benefit the method and workflow development for previous and future sponsors, but also the mineral exploration community at large. Broad-scale scientific questions include, but are not limited to, spectral and spatial data acquisition and application, soil sample properties and metal mobility in relation to ore deposits, and supervised machine learning (e.g., identification of ore deposit-related “signatures” from the UltraFine+® data sets). The development of an UltraFine+® analysis-ready database that enables the extraction of data will be essential to answer these questions and will advance surface minerals exploration in Australia and beyond.

Update November 2024: Since the conclusion of the M462a project in November 2023, the team has been working on utilising and expanding the science around UltraFine+ (soil analytical technique) and Next Gen Analytics (landscape modelling). During 2024 we have conducted research and collaborated with several industry partners on:

  • Assessing the effect of quarantine release treatment on soil samples (Noble et al. 2024)
  • Publishing over 74,000 UltraFine+® soil analytical results (Henne et al. 2024)
  • Assessing the UltraFine+® application to Rare Earth Elements and Li (in review)
  • Conducting comparison to Newmont’s DSG
  • Assessing the application of spectral mineralogy (Henne et al. 2024)
  • Conducting an in-depth study to ground-truth our machine learned landscape models (Henne et al. 2024)

All of these studies will be published in peer-reviewed journals and made available in our Publications tab.

Our research continues. Please contact us if you would like to get involved.

2 UltraFine+® Next Gen Accessibility

The UltraFine+® Next Gen Analytics for Discovery project has successfully tested a machine learning approach to identify landscape context for geochemical soil sample analyses and improved the UltraFine+® soil analytical method to include additional soil properties. The commercialisation of the Next Gen workflow will include the development of a click-and-collect UltraFine+® Next Gen Data Package for easy interpretation of geochemical samples in landscape context from your desktop.

Update November 2024: Since the conclusion of the M462a project in November 2023, the team, with the support of CSIRO’s Exploration Toolkit software engineers, have developed a Next Gen Analytics prototype that will make landscape modelling and statistical outlier definition by landscape context commercially available to industry. The release of the final product, LandScape+, is anticipated for April 2025 on CSIRO’s Exploration Toolkit.

We continue to engage with industry on tailored research approaches that advance the research or are outside the scope of LandScape+. Please contact us for more information.

3 UltraFine+® Next Gen Expansion

Expanding the UltraFine+® Next Gen workflow will have two main aims: (1) developing and testing a workflow that can be applied to soil settings outside of Australia and (2) testing parts of the Next Gen workflow for other applications. The former may include the assessment of different spatial data products that are available outside of Australia as well as amendments to the method to adjust for vastly different soil types (e.g., till, peat-rich soil, young volcanic soils). The latter may include the application and subsequent improvements of parts of the Next Gen workflow for other stages of exploration (e.g., large-scale regional mapping, tenement-scale pre soil survey mapping to identify areas of interest, incorporation of historic and future analytical data into the workflow) and potentially other applications in the environmental and/or agricultural space.

Update November 2024: Since the conclusion of the M462a project in November 2023, the team has continued to engage with collaborators to:

  • Apply the UltraFine+® soil analytical method in Norway and Canada
  • Amend the Next Gen Analytics workflow to Norwegian and Canadian sites
  • Amend the Next Gen Analytics workflow for other stages of exploration such as soil survey planning
  • Expand the Next Gen Analytics workflow to catchment analysis

Where possible, the results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and made available in our Publications tab.

Our research continues. Please contact us if you would like to get involved.

If you are interested in working with us, contact us or email ryan.noble@csiro.au