How AI is transforming geology and grade modelling - A conversation with Harmony Gold and Micromine

Ronald Reid is the Group Resource Geologist for Harmony Gold SE Asia, bringing over 25 years of experience in the mining industry. He has held key roles with major mining companies and junior exploration firms, focusing on greenfields and brownfields exploration, resource development, estimation, and geological modelling. His career spans multiple regions, including Australia, Nicaragua, Namibia, and Papua New Guinea, with expertise in copper, gold, uranium, base metals, iron ore, and nickel.

He has been instrumental in developing the Wafi-Golpu structural geological model by recognising the thrust development and the tilted and folded stratigraphy. The thrusts directly impact the structural geometry of the Golpu and Wafi deposits, with important implications from a mining perspective and is the focus of his current PhD.

As a high-end user of various 3D geological modelling solutions, Ron has extensive experience integrating complex geological models with both linear and non-linear resource estimation techniques. His expertise extends to structural geology, structural controls on mineralization, geological modelling, prospectivity analysis, resource modelling, and GIS.

Meet Rupert Osborn, a seasoned Technical Product Manager at Micromine, with a rich background in exploration geology and resource estimation. As Technical Product Manager, he now leads innovation and development for Micromine's flagship product Micromine Origin. Rupert's journey began with a solid academic foundation, studying Geology at Edinburgh University and further specialising with an MSc in Mining Geology from Camborne School of Mines in 2004.

Drawn by new challenges after 17 years in exploration geology and resource estimation, Rupert made the switch to software, where his unique blend of geological expertise, industry experience, machine learning, and product management skills make him an asset in driving innovation and excellence in the dynamic field of mining technology.

With 6 years of experience as an Exploration Geologist, Chloe Leddy has gained valuable expertise working on diverse sites across the UK, Africa, and Western Australia. Chloe's passion lies in geological modelling, which led her to join the Micromine team a little over a year ago.

As the Technical Presales Manager for Geology, Chloe now assists geologists across Australia to get the most out of their geological data. She also delivers all our free Micromine Origin training courses to equip professionals with necessary software skills.