Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer the stuff of science fiction. The technology is already disrupting multiple industries, many of which impact you on a daily basis. Own an iPhone X? Its facial recognition system is powered by AI. Ever been redirected by Google Maps because of an accident or construction ahead? And those are just a couple of small examples.

Machine learning and artificial intelligence are becoming key components of mineral exploration programs as companies set exploration targets. Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) have the ability to solve two of the mining industry's biggest challenges: rising exploration costs and a lack of new discoveries. After a heavy downturn in the past few years, the mining and mineral exploration sector is finally starting to recover, but deep challenges remain. In an industry that thrives on new discoveries, today's resource companies are finding it harder and more expensive to locate new deposits. Gold provides one of the greatest examples of this dearth of new discoveries in the face of rising exploration costs.

Brazil's mining major Vale is set to start applying machine learning to identify new drilling targets at its Coleman nickel mine. Coleman Mine, which is the flagship asset of Vale in Ontario, Canada, is part of the company's base metals operations. Vale has selected technology company GoldSpot Discoveries to examine and analyse the vast amount of data acquired by it over decades of mining at Coleman. GoldSpot Discoveries' team of geologists and data scientists will also discover previously unrecognised data trends, which may point to unknown areas of in-depth mineralisation. By using its geoscience and machine science expertise, GoldSpot Discoveries' team will clean, unify and analyse exploration data from Vale's Coleman Mine.

Artificial intelligence is no longer the stuff of science fiction. The technology is already disrupting multiple industries, many of which impact you on a daily basis. Own an iPhone X? Its facial recognition system is powered by AI. Ever been redirected by Google Maps because of an accident or construction ahead? And those are just a couple of small examples.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer the stuff of science fiction. The technology is already disrupting multiple industries, many of which impact you on a daily basis. Own an iPhone X? Its facial recognition system is powered by AI. Ever been redirected by Google Maps because of an accident or construction ahead? And those are just a couple of small examples.