The funds, granted under the province's Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund, will be used by MineSense to develop and commercialise a solution that measures and reports ore grade and ore characteristics.

"MineSense's work is a great example of the type of made-in-B.C. innovation that supports our goal of responsible raw-material extraction," said Bruce Ralston, minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.

"The future of mining in this province will require greater collaboration between B.C.'s tech and mining sectors, so that cutting-edge technology like this can help advance responsible mining."

MineSense is currently using its predictive on-bucket technology, which gives operators a real-time estimate of the ore grade at the point of extraction, on wire-rope shovels at the Highland Valley copper mine.  

The company's "ShovelSense Systems" are installed on all mobile equipment typically used either on the surface or underground, while its "BeltSense" is used on conveyance at different points of the mine operation. Its ongoing data analytics services monitor changes to the ore body on a daily basis.