Mining research centre to open at Snolab with $750,000 funding

Sudbury, ON – A new mining and exploration data centre is being created with $750,000 in funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC)

Through this support, the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) is establishing a Mining Observatory Data Control Centre (MODCC) in the Snolab surface building located at the Vale Creighton Mine near Sudbury. The new facility will help mining companies collect, filter and analyze mining and exploration data. This research collaboration will accelerate mining discoveries and enable the mining of deeper deposits.

“This centre will harvest the secrets hidden in large amounts of exploration and mining data, gleaning insights to improve exploration success and will result in better decisions that improve both daily and long-term profitability,” said Douglas Morrison, president and CEO CEMI. “Capitalising on the experience and expertise of both CEMI and Snolab, this proposal will increase the capacity and capability to service science and engineering communities in the North and around the world.”

“Snolab is delighted to be partnering with CEMI on the MODCC project, where the application of data management techniques used within astroparticle physics may afford new insights into rock mass studies,” said Dr. Nigel Smith, Snolab director. “The developing connections between these two leading innovation groups will provide new opportunities which will benefit the local mining communities, and further strengthen the reputation of Sudbury as a major research centre.” 

The MODCC project is scheduled to be completed by December 2015.