Workshop Format
In-Person
The workshop is a joined effort by experts from the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) and Beak Consultants GmbH in the frame of the “DroneSOM” research project, co-funded by EIT Raw Materials.
Workshop Description
The workshop will showcase how (drone) geophysics and machine learning techniques can be effectively used for 2D and 3D data integration, mineral prospectivity mapping and exploration targeting. Firstly, an introduction to mineral prospectivity mapping with supervised and unsupervised methods will be presented with use cases and results from Europe and Africa. Secondly, a practical hands-on training on machine learning techniques such as self-organizing maps and artificial neural networks applied to 2D and 3D geospatial data will be provided including basic 2D data preprocessing in QGIS/ArcGIS and 3D data visualization in Skua Gocad.
Workshop Schedule
1.-5. September 2025 (9:00am – 4:00pm)
Day 1
- Introduction to mineral prospectivity mapping: workflow and methods
- Uses cases
- Application example: ANN
- Introduction to data import and the most common data processing steps in QGIS/ArcGIS
Day 2
- Introduction to Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) method
- Application example: SOM
Day 3
- Hands-on 2D SOM: “GisSOM” Open-source software for integrating and clustering geospatial data
Day 4
- Hands-on 2D ANN: “advangeo® 2D” Prediction software for integration of 2D geo-spatial data
Day 5
- Hands-on 3D SOM/ANN: “advangeo® 3D” Prediction software for integration of 3D geo-spatial data
Workshop Presenter(s)
Mr. Andreas Knobloch
Andreas Knobloch studied Geology at Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology from 1998 to 2004. He joined Beak Consultants GmbH in 2005 and has been a project manager in various mineral exploration projects, among others in Kosovo, Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, DR Congo and Nigeria. Since 2007, his research is focusing on application of artificial intelligence for mineral predictive mapping. Currently, he is leading related work packages in the Horizon 2020 project “GoldenEye” and the Horizon Europe project “EIS – Exploration Information System”. Since January 2023, he is Managing Director of Beak Consultants GmbH.
Dr. Ina Storch
Ina Storch earned a Master’s in Geophysics from TU Bergakademie Freiberg in 2010. Subsequently, she pursued a Ph.D. in Geophysics at the same institution from 2011 to 2021, focusing on controlled source deep seismic imaging at the North Chilean subduction zone, which she obtained in 2022. Currently, she contributes as a software developer and geoscientist at Beak Consultants GmbH, engaging in diverse commercial and research projects since 2021. As of 2023, Ina Storch leads the team behind the in-house developed advangeo® prediction software for 2D and 3D geospatial data.
Dr. Johanna Pesonen
Johanna Pesonen, PhD, Senior Researcher, has educational and research background in physics and astronomy and more than ten years of experience in geoscientific research. During 2000-2019, she has worked in both astronomical and geoscience research projects in research institutes and business sector. Since 2019, she has been working at the Geological Survey of Finland as an expert in data analysis and multivariate data integration of different types of geoscientific data. Her aim is to develop new methods for data analysis and to make these methods available to the geoscience research community in form of easy-to-use software tools.
