Keynote insights: Mo Srivastava
We’re excited to announce Mo Srivastava from RedDot3D Inc as a keynote speaker for the Mineral Resource Estimation Conference 2025! In his address, Mo will share his personal and professional journey in using geostatistics to map seizure risk in his own brain following a stroke. This unique talk will offer new perspectives and innovations in both neuroscience and mining.
Mo Srivastava is a Resource Estimation Consultant at RedDot3D Inc.
Could you provide a brief overview of your keynote address?
This keynote address describes the use of geostatistics in a neuroscience case study. It is as much a professional contribution as it is a personal journey, with the brain that is the focus of the case study being my own. The spatial mapping task described in this presentation arose during my recovery from a left-hemisphere stroke that left me at risk of seizures. In the first post-stroke meeting with my neurologist, she showed me digital images that were very similar to what I am familiar with from my resource estimation consulting work. I realised that it would assist my recovery if information from 2D MRI slices could be mapped onto the brain's surface, a mapping task that has much in common with transposing 2D geophysical slices onto wireframes from a 3D geology model. When I was told that no such tool exists for clinical neurologists, I offered to develop the tool.
This talk presents a study that uses procedures from mineral resource estimation, indicator kriging and locally varying anisotropy, to produce a 3D map of the likelihood of seizure across the surface of my brain. This proof-of-concept study convinced my neurologist that I wasn't so stroke-damaged that I had become barking mad. Even though she was initially sceptical, she understood that, if it could be produced, this 3D probability map could be integrated with neuroscience knowledge of the brain's functional anatomy, making early warning signs predictable.
What key takeaways would you like attendees to gain from your talk, and how do you believe these insights can be applied to their work in resource estimation?
Attendees should walk away with three main insights:
a) that the tools familiar to us as resource geologists have general applicability in many completely different disciplines;
b) that probability mapping can assist with decision-making; and,
c) that it's great to maintain a positive outlook when the chips are down.
How does your talk address current challenges in mineral resource estimation, and why do you think events like the Mineral Resource Estimation Conference are important for advancing best practices and innovation in the industry?
Although we usually think of grade estimation as the #1 priority, many mine planning problems, from exploration through production, can be addressed by probability estimates. This presentation shows one example of how mapping probabilities in 3D, and in a way that respects complicated patterns of spatial continuity, can directly improve decisions.
Events like the MREC are critical for sharing ideas and for networking. The opportunity to meet colleagues face-to-face and to discuss practical innovations is invaluable.