Original subtitles

[narrator] On Tomorrow's World Today,

we explore the cutting-edge advances

that are shaping four different worlds.

The world of inspiration, where the wonders of

the natural world amaze and inspire us.

The world of creation, where ideas

come to life from traditional arts.

The world of innovation, where ideas and inventions

move us all forward.

The world of production, where innovations are

mass-produced to improve our lives.

From Inventionland World Headquarters, here's

your host, George Davison.

Hi, everyone. I'm George Davison.

You know, our fascination with gold, silver,

and copper, it dates back centuries, and it puts

civilizations to work in search of them.

They sparked innovation, and it inspired the creation

of new things and adorned empires.

And while these metals shaped our past, they continue to

shape our present and play a colossal role in

tomorrow's world,

driving the engines of progress and sustainability.

Gold specifically has been viewed as the epitome of

rarity, beauty, and value throughout history.

But what's truly fascinating is how the process of

extracting gold from our Earth today is much more sustainable

than many of us realize.

From cutting-edge technologies that guide exploration to

reclamation practices that ensure a greener tomorrow,

every step is carefully planned with sustainability in mind.

I'm sending Greg to the world of production just outside of

Denver, Colorado, where he'll venture into the heart of

the gold mining industry, exploring the relationship

between technology, sustainability,

and the precious metals that are needed to shape a future

that sparkles with innovation and responsibility.

[Greg] According to the old adage, the only constant in

the universe is change.

And some might argue that we've made more technological

advancements in the last 50 years than in all of

human history up to that point.

Well, the mining industry is no different.

And as we look towards a greener, more sustainable,

more electrified future, gold, copper, and silver will

be more important than ever.

And that's why we're here at the Newmont Corporation in

Denver, Colorado, to explore the modern mining industry,

look at the whole process from beginning to end, and see how

they're incorporating advanced technologies like AI to move

mining into tomorrow's world.

-Hi, Erin. -Hi, Greg.

-Welcome to Newmont. -Thank you very much.

I'm excited to be here.

I'm gonna get to learn about the modern mining industry

from beginning, middle, and end,

and it is very complex.

It is complex, Greg, but it all starts with exploration.

Well, how does that exploration begin?

-How do you get started? -That's a great question.

It starts with the mineral systems approach.

So we take a look at the geophysics,

the geochemistry, the geology.

We even use AI and machine learning in order to zero in

on where we think those future discoveries are.

Newmont has been around since the early 1900s and has always

been at the leading edge of mining technology.

-That certainly hasn't stopped. -[Erin] Absolutely, Greg.

One fun fact about Newmont is we actually developed

induced polarization or IP,

which is a geophysical technique

that allows us to see under the ground.

Traditionally, we had to cut large swaths of land through

the forest in order to lay down cables to collect

this data, but today,

we're piloting technology that's going to

bring it up into the air.

Okay, well, once you get on the ground, what happens next?

Well, before we can even get on the ground, we first need

to work with governments.

So that's state, local, federal governments in

order to access those mineral tenures.

Then we need to ensure that we have the right

environmental permits in place so that we can safely execute

any work that's on the ground.

And most importantly, we need to work with those

communities, and we need to ensure that we have the social

license to operate before we even do any work on the ground.

[Greg] Okay, well, you've got all of that in place now.

How do you know that you're looking at a viable mine?

[Erin] We have to take it to the truth machine,

which is the drill rig, so let's put on

our safety gear and go look at some core.

Okay.

[Erin] So, Greg, here we are at the core.

I'd like to introduce you to Scott, our chief geoscientist

for North America, and Sarah,

our principal geochemist.

Well, it's nice to meet you both.

So, Scott, from what I understand, the drill is

the truth machine -- tell me more about that.

Absolutely, so we start off with diamond drilling.

They're called that because they have little tiny diamonds

in them, which help them cut through the rock as it turns.

And those diamonds will cut out a tube of core --

it looks just like this.

And we'll look at this in the boxes here, and we'll log

what the geology is doing and what's changing in it.

We can look at different kinds of rock and then ultimately

what's related to gold.

Once we do that, we'll finish it up, and we'll cut it in half

with a saw, and we'll send off the one half to be analyzed

at the lab.

So at the lab, we have to take the half-core and crush

it into gravel-sized pieces, and then we actually grind

it further into a fine powder so that it can be measured out

for analysis, and we're looking at the ore elements, like gold,

silver, and copper, but we actually analyze for

65 elements, which is the majority of the periodic table,

and we're using all that information to help

vector the drill towards more ore zones and to see how far

away from where we were.

So then you'll take all that information, all that data,

and you'll use that to build a 3D model that'll give you

a much better idea of what the mine will actually

look like. -Yeah, absolutely.

So we'll take these tubes of rock and we'll put them into

3D so we can see how things are moving around and we can

plan additional drilling and we can do resource

estimation based on that.

So why don't we take a look at the 3D model?

So we'll start off looking at an aerial photo to get

interested in what areas look better than other ones.

And this will give us an idea of what kind of things

we're up against.

And we'll begin layering in the satellite images and also

some of the technology where we can begin

seeing minerals from space,

and we'll start looking at mineralogy changes from

the satellite data.

From there, we can plan to do some soil surveys, and we can

start looking at surface exploration techniques that'll

get us into our first target area.

And from that, we're gonna plan our first drill hole.

Okay, so you've drilled that hole, and you're starting to

get information -- what's the next step?

So when we get those assays back from the analytical lab,

that tells us how much gold is in each drill hole and where

that gold's located in that drill hole.

We'll then start to layer that out in 3D space, and we'll

start to build a 3D wireframe of that gold vein.

And we'll use that 3D wireframe to predict where

that gold vein is traveling.

And we'll use it to plan additional drill holes.

[Greg] Well, how many of these sites

that you look at in this way

end up producing gold? -Very few.

Less than 0.1% of any discovery ever becomes

an active gold mine operation. -Wow, what do you do from here?

What can you tell from this assessment?

So the next step, after we've built the geologic model,

is to build the resource model.

So the resource block model is a 3D block model.

And what it does is it uses all of that data from those

drill holes and statistics to populate what we think

the average gold grade is for each volume of block.

And that'll tell us whether or not there's

one million ounces of gold or 10 million ounces of gold.

Wow, well, I'm very impressed with how much

advanced technology is being used in modern mining.

I'm gonna go talk with Elaina now, and she's gonna teach me

even more. -Sounds great.

[Greg] With Erin, we learned about

the discovery and exploration process

that goes into finding the location of a new mine.

We looked at the drill cores that helped to determine

the viability of that mine.

Now, with Elaina, we get to find out about advanced

technologies in the modern mining industry and explore

great new job opportunities that are available worldwide.

-Hi, Elaina. -Hi, Greg.

-How are you? -Great, how are you doing?

Doing great.

Well, Elaina, I just saw the process by which

you collect data, and it's fascinating,

but now there's a whole lot of information that comes in.

What do you do with that?

Well, once we know what the resource is in the ground,

we've got a whole team of people dedicated to mine

design and mine planning.

So they take that data, they create a mine optionalities,

looking at both surface and underground,

using technologies and data analytics to create

optimized mines, not just what we would start with,

but considering throughout the mine life,

and even including closure into that design right from

the very beginning.

Wow, so you're taking the beginning,

the middle, and the end of the entire mining process into

consideration before you even break ground.

Absolutely, as they're looking at those design options,

they're considering the total mine life and reclamation

enclosure of that property, as well.

And that goes into our permitting so we can

engage with our communities.

I've got some examples I'd love to show you.

So here's an example of one of our surface mines.

This pit is over 2,000 feet deep.

And the image that we're looking at is an orthographic photo

with an overlay of images that were created from

data points taken from survey drone footage.

So when you were doing your initial planning

and envisioning what this pit was gonna look like, this is

helping you to make sure that you're accurately digging

the way you want to. -[Elaina] That's right.

It's also setting us up then for future technology coming in,

things like autonomous haul trucks, which we have at

some of our other mines where we're operating haul trucks

without a person in the truck at all.

Wow, now how does this technology advance

further on down the line?

So it all is interconnected, all of that data from around

the world ultimately feeds back right here to Colorado.

So we've got visibility around what's happening,

what's going well,

and what areas we can further optimize.

Great, well, what about the processing of the ore

after the fact? -Great question.

So after we take the ore out of here, we send it to one of

our processing plants.

So one of the big things that we're looking to do is

optimize the recovery.

How much of the metals are we getting out of the ore?

The gold, the silver, the copper.

And when we do that, we're being good stewards of

the resource, ensuring that we're getting all that we can

out of that finite resource.

And when we're doing that, that the way we're doing

it minimizes our water usage and is looking at managing

our electrical consumption, as well.

[Greg] Excellent, so you're maximizing the use of that land,

and then you're also minimizing your environmental

impact on the surrounding area.

[Elaina] You got it.

I've got more to talk about underground, too.

This colorful image is from one of our underground mines.

So what we see here with all of these gray lines is

they actually represent our haul roads.

They're each about 15 feet wide, and they connect all

the way down.

They spiral down throughout the mine all the way down to

about 300 meters above sea level.

Wow, now what do the different colors represent?

So that's related back to the mine plan and again,

making sure that we're staying compliant with the plan as

we're developing and completing

our stoping areas.

So this ties into the geomodeling

that we looked at earlier.

[Elaina] All of it connects, absolutely.

Underground, we do have a bit more infrastructure that

we need to put in place in order to ensure we've got

network coverage as we're getting that connectivity of

data in real time of what's happening.

And we're able to then visualize that from

the surface and ultimately, again, all around the world.

Wow, what are some of the other issues that are

associated with going this far underground?

So one of the things that's really important in

underground mining is around the ventilation.

And ventilation is to ensure that we've got safe, clean air

for the workers that are underground.

And so as we transition towards electric equipment

underground, then that need for ventilation actually

decreases, because we're removing those diesel

particulates from the diesel equipment from

the mine entirely.

Excellent, so there are just as many jobs available in

mining as there used to be, they just look different now.

[Elaina] They look quite a bit different now.

We've actually just recently had a breakthrough where

we've got

loader-operators operating loaders from the surface,

and they can actually remote operate multiple loaders on

different levels of that mine at the same time in a safe,

clean, healthy environment.

We've seen this much technology advancement

over the last 150 years.

What do you see happening, say, maybe in the next 20?

So our vision for mining going forward is to create

fully connected, fully automated,

fully electric mine sites,

both surface and underground. -Excellent.

[Greg] So far, we've learned about the mining process

from the beginning almost to the end.

We've even seen how the ore comes out of the ground,

but now we're gonna meet with Janet.

She's gonna turn that ore into a gold ingot.

Well Janet, I've gotten to get a look at the drill core

and see how that's all brought out of the ground,

but this is where it comes for analysis.

That's right.

So right now we're in the mineralogy lab.

So in this room, we have advanced instrumentation that

we can use to characterize the minerals in the ore,

and we utilize this information to help us

determine how we're gonna extract the gold from the ore.

[Greg] Okay, well how does that process actually work?

First we start by crushing the ore or making it into fine

particles, and then we're gonna mix in that with chemicals to

bring the gold into solution.

Once in solution, we can apply electricity to bring it back

into a sludge that will now contain mostly gold and other

precious metals, like silver.

This sludge we will melt then at a high temperature in

a furnace, so we're talking temperatures of about

2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and this molten metal

then will pour into our molds that then will make

our gold bars.

Wow, so if this were actual gold, which it is not,

what would it weigh, and how much would it be worth?

They'll be a little heavier than this.

They'll be anywhere from 50 to 100 pounds

and about half to 1 million dollars.

Wow, well we'll have to make sure we get one of these back

to Inventionland so George can have one of those,

but in the meantime, I'm gonna go meet with Rebecca.

Yeah, let's go this way.

-Hi, Rebecca. -Hi.

-It's nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you, too.

Well, Rebecca, I've gotten to see a lot of the modern

mining process, the discovery and exploration

of a mine, how it operates.

I've even gotten to see some gold being poured.

-Excellent. -Pretty cool.

What I wanna find out from you that was about Newmont's

commitment to sustainability.

We're a purpose-driven organization, and our purpose

is to improve lives through sustainable

and responsible mining -- that's our North Star.

We achieve that by living our values,

and we have five values.

The first and foremost in everything we do every

single day is safety.

The other four are integrity, sustainability,

responsibility, and inclusion.

So those five values inform how we work and how we deliver

on those sustainability commitments.

So what that means is before we build a mine, we try to

understand the physical environment,

the flora, the fauna, the water quality

and quantity, air quality, all the physical environment

things to help inform the design

and operation of the mine.

In the sustainability, we try to work with

the communities from the very beginning to say,

what does a post-mine economy look like for you?

What does a thriving and resilient community

look like for you?

And then how, throughout the whole life cycle

of that operation,

do we aim for that and work together to achieve that?

[Greg] So this is actually an opportunity for

these communities to kind of reassess where they're at

and where they would like to go and work that in

conjunction with Newmont.

[Rebecca] those partnerships are absolutely key.

There's three things we call the big rocks of

sustainability in social performance.

One is that impact management.

So we understand the baseline of where we are when we start

and then any activities that we do that might impact on

the social and economic status of that community.

So we work together to optimize the positive impacts

and minimize the negative impacts.

So then the second piece of the big rocks is

value creation.

So that means careers and employment with Newmont

while we're there, it means buying stuff.

We buy a lot of stuff and a lot of services as

a mine operation.

How much of that can we buy from the local communities

and host jurisdiction?

And then the third piece is community investments.

How do we invest in the community

in education, healthcare, infrastructure,

connectivity, so that that community thrives

while we're there and long after we're gone?

Rebecca, let's talk about the mining industry in general

and Newmont in particular, and the commitment to diversity.

Absolutely, as I mentioned earlier,

one of our five values is inclusion.

And if you want to have diversity,

you have to have inclusion.

For those people to come and want to stay in a place,

they have to feel seen, and valued, and heard.

So we're being very intentional

around our inclusion, diversity, and equity programming.

In addition to that, we have set targets

for ourselves.

We want to include our gender diversity, so we have a target

to improve every single year at every single operation.

We have targets around diversity and leadership

and female diversity.

We also have a long way to go at including the cultures that

host us and the communities that host us.

We're doing really good work, and we're working hard,

but we still got a ways to go.

One example of some of the strides that we've made is

that at some of our mine sites, we've named buildings

and conference rooms using the indigenous language of

the communities that host us.

Now, we didn't choose those names.

We worked with the host communities,

usually the elders, and asked them, what would be

appropriate names?

What do those names mean in their culture so that we can

learn about their culture and not just see a name on

a conference room. -That's excellent.

It's pretty clear that mining is gonna be a really important

part of a greener and more sustainable future.

Really loved everything I've gotten to learn here,

but now I've got to head back to Inventionland.

Absolutely, let me show you out.

Hey Dean, welcome to Inventionland.

Hey George, thanks for having me.

-It's a pleasure to be here. -Well, I'm glad you're here.

I got this replica gold bar from your team,

and they sent me these images.

I was hoping you could talk to us about it.

Well, this is the actual process that would produce

gold bars that look like that.

But George, that's not where it starts.

Oh, hey, is this where it starts?

Yes, it starts with us understanding what the mine

needs to look like.

But actually, before that, we need to gather data from

these core samples that come from nearly 1,000 meters deep

in the Earth.

We take that information through mathematical modeling,

develop a digital twin of the ore body, which helps us

understand how we need to do the mining.

Wow, so that makes sense.

I mean, so you're gonna drill little holes down into

the earth, and you're gonna be able to extrapolate what's

down there and start to build, like, a formula, right, a plan?

Yep, absolutely.

And what that allows us to do is develop the most efficient,

effective, low cost and sustainable mine that

we can with having the information that comes

from core samples like this. -Oh, that's great.

We are on Tomorrow's World Today.

So, how about we talk a little bit about what's going on

in the industry -- where's the future going?

I think where the future's gonna go is continuing down

this path of automization and adding robotics to

what we do.

And what that will then allow us to do is electrify

our mining fleet, which will allow us to reduce

carbon footprint, which again, helps us with

our sustainability goals. -That's great.

Hey, do you think I could hold onto this?

George, these are yours to keep.

-Thanks, Dean. -Thank you.

Take care now.

[George] And remember, tomorrow's world is where

inspiration and creation drive

innovation and production -- see you next time.