Subatomic
particles are now being used to map the subsurface in the vicinity of mines.
The technology can be employed in mines to map outward from mine shafts and
tunnels. Currently, there is a very high demand for minerals, yet the time it
takes to develop new mines is very long, usually a decade or more. As a result,
more explorers are trying to optimize development in existing mines. Subatomic
particles like cosmic rays are being used to do this.
The article in Scientific
American explains the process of block caving, which is being used to optimize
the recovery of ores of lower concentration.
“Those massive timelines are driving mining companies to
expand older “brownfield” surface mines by going underground, using a method
called block caving—a brute-force technique that makes the need for subsurface
intelligence more urgent than ever. Widely used in copper and gold mining,
block caving is suited to lower-grade ore deposits that are more or less
vertically oriented. It works a little like open-pit mining in reverse.
Engineers dig underground tunnels, then blast an undercut below the ore body,
forming an artificial cavern. Large rock funnels called drawbells are built
below the undercut to channel rubble into loaders. Once the setup is complete,
the undercut removes the ore body’s support, and the rock above starts to
fracture and cave in under its own weight, crushing itself as it funnels into
the drawbells.”
Block caving is cheaper since
it relies on gravity to break the ore free. It also keeps the disturbance
underground, which reduces the surface impacts of mining. However, block caving
is also risky since it can initiate collapses and water infiltration. Expensive
infrastructure must be built before it is employed. Mapping the mine walls with
subatomic particles can help to understand fracturing dynamics and rock
stresses that will determine how the rocks break up when it is block caved.
“British Columbia start-up Ideon Technologies, a
spin-off from TRIUMF—Canada’s national particle-accelerator center—has built
its business around muon tomography. Gary Agnew, the company’s co-founder and
CEO, describes the approach as “the first net new geophysical technique in
literally decades.”
“Muons are subatomic particles produced when cosmic rays
from supernova explosions interact with matter in Earth’s upper atmosphere.
They rain down continuously, traveling at nearly the speed of light and
penetrating up to 1.5 kilometers into Earth’s surface.”
Particle detectors measure
how fast the muons move through the rock, enabling the mapping of the density
of the subsurface.
“The detectors themselves were once the size of a room,
confined to government labs. Ideon has miniaturized its borehole sensors to
roughly the diameter of a coffee cup and hardened them for field conditions.
“We’ve kind of industrialized particle physics,” Agnew says. “The technology
used to find hidden chambers in the pyramids is now working in mine sites a
mile deep, under pressure, under temperature.”
Below, it is explained that
muon tomography offers a higher resolution, down to the sub-meter scale, that
other subsurface imaging techniques, such as passive seismic, cannot do.
“Muon tomography offers resolution—from about 20 meters
down to submeter scale—that competing techniques cannot match. Passive seismic
sensing can go deeper than muons but generally offers resolution of only 50 to
100 meters. Many other subsurface-imaging techniques are limited to 2D outputs,
showing a big blob on the surface where minerals might be. Critically, whereas
other subsurface-imaging techniques are impacted by the operational noise of a
working mine, “muons don’t care,” Agnew says.
The muon tomography is
integrated with other subsurface imaging techniques, including seismic,
magnetic, gravity, and drill hole data. AI processing of data is also utilized.
Large flat detectors can be mounted on mine tunnel walls, or smaller ones can
be dropped down boreholes. The ones mounted on the mine walls can collect muons
four to five times faster due to their larger surface area. Muon tomography,
which, like passive seismic, does not require an external signal source, can
map continuously in real-time, which can really help mitigate the risks of
block caving. It aids both productivity and safety.
“The consequences of uncertainty can be severe. Last
September a mudslide at the Grasberg Block Cave mine in Papua, Indonesia—the
world’s largest underground block cave and second-largest copper mine—killed
seven workers. Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan, which operates the mine, blamed
the disaster on an uneven collapse that unleashed a flood of mud and rock.
Although Ideon’s muon technology was only in a pilot phase at the mine at the
time, the tragedy showed the exact kind of unseen hazard the sensors are designed
to catch. Freeport said it plans to use an expanded array of muon detectors
going forward to map the true shape of the cave and verify that the rock has
stabilized before workers return.”
In October 2025, Ideon signed a five-year partnership with
Rio Tinto to deploy muon tomography at six of the company’s largest operations.
Ideon will apply its proprietary REVEAL subsurface intelligence platform in
conjunction with Remote Operations Centres (ROCs) and automation.
“Our partnership goes far beyond technology trials,”
added Agnew, “it’s about unlocking the future of mining through real enterprise
integration that improves productivity, reduces cost, and increases confidence.
By embedding our platform directly into Rio Tinto operations, we’re helping to
re-engineer workflows, enabling faster, high confidence exploration and mining
decisions. This is how long-term value will be generated in critical mineral
exploration and development — scalable, intelligent, and highly integrated.”
The technology was
successfully deployed at Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Mine near Salt Lake City, which
has been in operation since 1903. They also needed to map voids caused by past
artisanal mining that can trap water and high-pressure air.
Agnew also notes that the
current rush for critical minerals is driving innovation, just like perceived
shortages helped the U.S. oil & gas industry innovate from shortages to
surpluses in natural gas and oil. Muon tomography does two very important
things: increases the accuracy of production estimates and identifies
potentially dangerous subsurface situations such as voids and fracturing
weaknesses.
Below is a link to a video from Ideon's website, which gives a nice, very visual overview of its muon detection mapping technology
Ideon REVEAL™ Platform | Technology Stack
References:
Mining
companies are using cosmic rays to find critical minerals: As rich ore gets
harder to find, the mining industry is using subatomic particles to map rock
deep underground. Adam Bluestein, edited by Eric Sullivan. Scientific American.
April 14, 2026. How cosmic rays are helping mining
companies find critical minerals underground | Scientific American
Ideon
and Rio Tinto Global Partnership Applies Next-Generation Subsurface
Intelligence to Reduce Cost and Accelerate Critical Minerals Supply. Ideon. October
6, 2025. Ideon and Rio Tinto Global
Partnership Applies Next-Generation Subsurface Intelligence to Reduce Cost and
Accelerate Critical Minerals Supply - Ideon Technologies
No comments:
Post a Comment