Aim-listed Botswana Diamonds (BOD), which holds exploration licences in Botswana and South Africa, has started with an AI programme on its Botswana database, which will assist in a comprehensive search for new diamond deposits and potentially other minerals.

The company expects initial exploration results to be available in the next four to six weeks, as the programme evaluates the company’s database, comprising 95 000 km² of data – the second-largest diamond exploration database in Botswana.

Chairperson John Teeling says the mineral database in Botswana is simply too vast for timely analysis by people. Rather, AI techniques can analyse substantial amounts of data in a shorter time, as well as identify inconsistencies or gaps.

BOD’s database comprises 375 000 km of airborne geophysical data, 606 ground survey results, 228 000 soil sample results and 32 000 drill hole logs.

The company will use Planetary AI Explore mineral prospectivity technology, which was developed together with International Geoscience Services.

The system uses a unique combination of semantic technology with machine learning. 

Semantic technology is a branch of AI focused on understanding and representing the meaning of data, information and knowledge in a machine-readable format. It enables computers to comprehend, interpret, and reason with data in a manner similar to human understanding, enhancing the effectiveness of information retrieval, integration and analysis.

This allows computers to “understand” the meaning and context of geological data in much the same way a geologist would, to identify zones of prospective mineralisation based on specific mineral deposit models.

The system acts much like a geologist but can function quicker and more efficiently.  Vast datasets are processed though AI that finds logical gaps in the data and learns to correct them.

“This exercise is expected to yield fresh insights that will offer drillable targets previously unseen,” Teeling concludes.