JUNIOR POTGIETER
VIRIDIEN
Q. HOW CAN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS AI ASSIST WITH THE SEARCH FOR CRITICAL MINERALS IN UNDEREXPLORED REGIONS?
» Across regions like the Laramide Belt in Arizona and New Mexico, explorers are working across large areas where many geological domains remain poorly examined. This scale makes it essential to use technologies that can organise, compare and interpret information far more efficiently than traditional methods alone.
To support this, we developed a Southeast Arizona data library as a single, authoritative exploration solution, integrating our Bare Earth Plus spectral products, hyperspectral analysis, and curated multiphysics and geological datasets into a consistent, quality‐controlled framework, creating the most comprehensive data foundation ever assembled for Southeast Arizona. Instead of handling each dataset separately, this approach builds a consistent regional framework that AI and machine-learning tools can analyse. These tools help reveal relationships, subtle changes in geology and patterns that guide attention toward areas that warrant closer investigation.
Our unique combination of geoscientists, data specialists and high-performance compute capability allows us to work through these large datasets quickly and present what matters in a clear, usable form. We also use AI to organise historical and unstructured information from sources such as scanned reports, old logs and non-standard files, meaning valuable observations from past work
JUNIOR POTGIETER
TITLE: GLOBAL STRATEGY HEAD, MINERALS AND MINING
COMPANY: VIRIDIEN INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY
Junior is a strategic leader and geoscientist who thrives on building bridges between technical excellence and commercial success. His career has been defined by a hands-on approach to business development.
can be incorporated into modern exploration thinking. Unused historic data means wasted investments.
In summary, AI helps explorers work through larger regions more systematically, compare more data types and progress toward new critical-mineral opportunities with greater clarity. It is not a replacement for geoscientific expertise; it is a tool that strengthens it by highlighting patterns sooner and allowing specialists to concentrate on interpreting the geology rather than searching for the data.
Q. HOW DOES VIRIDIEN APPLY SEISMIC TECHNOLOGY TO ACCELERATE GEOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS?
» As mineral resource assessment shifts toward deeper and more structurally complex environments, technology becomes essential for reducing uncertainty and maintaining efficiency.
80 April 2026