Where does CTAC fit into Colombia’s mineral extraction ecosystem, and how can it be an asset to local mineral transformation?

CARLOS MORA CTAC’s mining branch is focused on copper, gold, graphite, rhodium, and other materials that are important for the electronics industry. We see in Colombia great potential to develop the copper industry, and the nation also boasts high-value gold reserves. We want to start the mining process in this country with state-of-the-art technology and environmental control of the highest precision, because we are in a sensible operational environment. CTAC’s Mineral Finder Technology (MFT) enables the precise mapping of mineralized ore bodies to help companies reduce environmental risks. We support the ministry’s plan and intend to create solid synergies with the Colombian mining industry.

How can CTAC be an asset for companies to reduce risk and improve their chances of transitioning to operations?

CéSAR ZáRATE There is a high risk with exploration, and the question is how they can reduce their risks, the uncertainty, and time expenditure of the projects. Typically, companies have to invest a great deal of time and resources to determine if a project will be successful or not. In many projects, they cannot make discoveries until they draw a lot, which is time consuming. By using CTAC’s MFT, firms can determine the exact location of the mineral with the highest potential, be it gold, copper, silver, or platinum, and adjust the project before the initial drilling. This completely changes the approach of the industry. The technology allows a company to know exactly what they will find before drilling, resulting in savings of almost 80% of overall cost compared to traditional methods. Companies can even increase their investments returns by up to 20 times. Colombia is not traditionally a mining country, especially in copper and gold, and we are only starting to engage in major projects.

How can CTAC’s technology be beneficial for operators to navigate matters of environmental and community relations in Colombia?

CZ In terms of environmental regulations, for exploration stages companies do not require a complicated license. For mining industries to be as harmless as possible, you need to extract as little as possible because every gram of material you extract that is not valuable has an environmental impact, in addition to being cost inefficient. In terms of community, large extensions of terrain are both undesirable and, moreover, unnecessary because companies now clearly know the specific area in which to extract. With CTAC technology, companies can do really precise ore mapping, minimizing the waste, also water mapping as well and demonstrate to local communities that they will not impact the water reservoirs; in short, the process in one of greater transparency.

CTAC’s technology is also useful for the exploration of oil and has multiple other applications. How can it be useful for the development of Colombia in terms of planning more widely?

CM The country desperately needs to invest more in oil and gas exploration. Oil and gas exploration is fairly demanding from a bureaucratic perspective given that there are many environmental regulations to observe. We need a more dynamic method to check if we have the potential. A normal process for an oil and gas company takes three to five years to start drilling, and we can help reduce it to less than a half of that. Colombia is keen to diversify its energy matrix but requires more information to plan for tomorrow, especially given the likelihood of a depletion of oil reserves within approximately in seven years. The country has so much potential, yet it is in the middle of a complicated fiscal situation. If CTAC can help the government and the oil and gas and mining industries, it could yield a workable solution to the serious challenge we face.