Large, modern multi-scale multi-technique datasets provide knowledge that can be used for purposes other than those originally intended, effectively extending the “use by end date” and value of data that may have been interrogated in a limited way. For example, data that are commonly used to define the metallurgical properties of a mineral deposit, which are generally important in the downstream segments of the mining value chain when a resource has already been defined and needs to be processed in the most efficient and sustainable way, can be used to constrain the genetic processes that led to the formation of that very mineral system. This session seeks contributions that showcase collaboration among researchers with different backgrounds and expertise, and that offer new ways to maximise use of existing mineralogical, geochemical and isotopic datasets to improve exploration, mineral processing, metallurgical extraction and post-mine land rehabilitation, which are priorities for both industry and society. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: new frontiers in predictive targeting tools (greenfield), new frontiers in detective targeting tools (brownfield), success stories, and innovation.

This session is subdivided into a series of sub-sessions focussed on different mineral systems, including (but not limited to):

• Porphyries and epithermal systems
• Orthomagmatic systems
• Alkaline and carbonatitic systems
• Seafloor volcanic systems
• Sediment-hosted systems
• Orogenic and post-orogenic systems
   

Each session will provide an environment where specialists in each discipline will have the chance to exchange ideas and push forward the science in specific disciplines. The sessions will be linked by the keynote speakers, who will highlight common elements amongst different mineral systems to better elucidate a common process-based understanding of ore forming mechanisms. Examples may include:

• Metal transport, concentration and deposition processes associated with high density (sulfide, silicate) liquids
• Metal transport, concentration and deposition processes associated with low density fluids (carbonic and hydrous) liquids
• Metal transport, concentration and deposition processes associated with brines and ionic liquids

Ore deposits are loci on Earth where energy and mass flux are greatly enhanced and focussed. They act as magnifying lenses into the mechanisms of metal transport and fractionation across the continental lithosphere, providing new constraints on its poorly known metallogenic architecture. This session welcomes contributions that advance our understanding of structural and architectural controls on the genesis of a wide range of mineralised systems. As ore forming mechanisms can be imaged as processes where energy flux is maximised in space and time, presentations in this session will highlight the latest insights into multi-scale data integration and visualisation from different sources, including geophysics, computational modelling, geochronology and field mapping.

The renewable energy transition will require unprecedented production of copper, and cumulative demand to 2050 is expected to exceed $US 1 trillion. However, resource depletion, environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) expectations, and rising costs mean that global production is expected to fall short of demand within the next few years. New resource discoveries and increased production are essential.
The session will provide a forum for new insights into copper-related research across a range of mineral systems, highlighting commonalities and opportunities for cross-fertilisation among disciplines that have not communicated effectively historically. The session will be structured to reassess and reframe mineral deposit classification and comparisons, exploring commonalities among diverse mineral deposit “types”, and challenging conventional models that treat such mineralised systems as unrelated. By eschewing a structure based on rigid classification schemes, the session will provide a clearer view of the lithospheric-scale first-order drivers that control mineralisation. To facilitate this approach, contributions based on process-based approaches are encouraged

The concept of search space for mineral systems is transient and highly dependent on market demand for raw materials and advancement in technology. As a result, ore deposits of the future will look very different from the ones that have been mined from millennia; more importantly they will be discovered? in very different geological and/or anthropogenetic environments.
This session welcomes contributions looking at innovative ways to consider search space for ore deposits of the future. Examples include but are not limited to: 1) new frontiers in lower crustal terranes, previously commonly considered as barren and unprospective but now recognised as potentially highly prospective; and 2) waste repurposing and wealth extraction from secondary sources such as mine tailings.

This session focusses on recent experimental and computational breakthroughs pertaining to the physio-chemical conditions of metal mobility in mineralising fluids and melts across the lithosphere. The session is motivated by the recognition that experimental results have been extrapolated to physical conditions or chemical systems beyond those where the original results were valid, with consequences for genetic models based on those extrapolations. Contributions are sought that highlight and address such cases, that provide new or modified working hypotheses that open search spaces in areas previously deemed unprospective, and that apply the power of multi-scale modelling to enhance our capacity to predict the nature of mineralising fluids and melts at different conditions.

The session focusses on advances in data-to-knowledge translation that enhances data integration and interpretation throughout the exploration, characterisation, and processing stages of the mining value chain. Presentations will highlight how knowledge graph technology will enable data accessibility and facilitate scientific discoveries. This approach is essential for delivering data-driven and evidence-based research outcomes. It will generate valuable insights, train future geoscientists in big data science skills, and influence the future roadmap for companies in their data interoperability strategies.