Project duration: 01 January 2019 – 31 December 2021

Objective:

The new research school is aimed at educating emerging scientists and engineers in on-site drilling and geoscientific investigation technology. The initial focus will be on activities around the fully cored 2.5 km deep COSC-2 borehole planned for 2020, with future sites identified in cooperation with industry. Participating students will obtain the deep methodological knowledge and entrepreneurial skills required in the exploration industry.

The solution (technology):

I-EDDA-RS has the aim of conveying advanced and novel methods with high potential for improved deep mineral exploration, via academia and academia-industry partnerships to the general exploration sector. The target audiences are the next generation of exploration professionals, that is graduate students at MSc & PhD level, but the research school is also open for experienced professionals for lifelong learning. I-EDDA-RS is an initiative within EIT RawMaterials and is based on the I-EDDA Network of Infrastructure with invitations to new partners.

I-EDDA-RS education will be grouped into three major themes that, on their own and in combination, have the potential to fundamentally advance future mineral exploration, as well as a focused entrepreneurship course.

Theme 1, “Scientific methods applied to deep mineral exploration”, will provide education in how geoscientific methods can be utilised to discover new, deep mineral deposits, how these methods can be applied to better and more cost effectively characterize existing and new targets and thus, provide a solid basis for exploration and exploitation engineering.

Theme 2, “Exploration engineering”, will address the different engineering aspects that occur during exploration, including the design and planning of in-situ studies (exploration drilling), a comprehensive treatment of exploration drilling technologies and how to best utilize the data, samples and boreholes that are created during an exploration campaign to characterize the physical and mechanical properties of the subsurface for engineering purposes.

Theme 3 “The life cycle of exploration data” is about improving and consolidating the knowledge base. Data and samples are the essential and the most valuable products of any exploration campaign, but beyond direct and internal use are often neglected. Key issues are the acquisition of the operational-technical and scientific data that originate from exploration drilling and best practices for taking care of samples and data by better survey design, documentation and subsequent preservation and re-use and/or release.

The above themes will be complemented by the topic “Entrepreneurship”, which will provide the tools that are necessary to become an entrepreneurial scientist who will work with novel methods in a future-oriented exploration market.

The courses will have hands-on components at drill sites, boreholes and repositories. For this purpose, both scientific and exploration drilling projects and boreholes will be used, including a test centre that possibly will be established by the I-EDDA group (if the EIT RawMaterials I-EDDA-TC project will be funded). Furthermore, the research school will also engage in lecture tours at universities, as well as outreach on exploration methods to the public.

Partners:

Uppsala Universitet (Uppsala University), Sweden (Lead Partner)
Epiroc Rock Drills AB, Sweden
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e.V. (HZDR), Germany
Luleå University of Technology (LTU), Sweden
Lund University, Sweden
RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, Sweden
Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF), Germany

For more information, please visit the project website.