For me and the global generative exploration teams I led, GLAM products are an essential  foundation for global area selection and project generation for most deposit types at (sub)province, corridor to district scales. It’s not just about the great map products that aim to change the world, but the IP behind them that drives innovative ways of thinking about how the earth works, how dynamic mineral systems operate, and where large ore deposit clusters are located. GLAM compliments conventional top-down exploration approaches, that focus on where ore deposits end up near surface, with an insightful bottom-up approach that tracks from where things began and their fundamental lithospheric pathways, thereby contributing to a 4D road map with optimal routes defined for addressing known mineral systems and shortcuts to new discoveries.

I have been exploring global terranes with access to the GLAM data for over 15 years and it has become a critical part of my discovery methodology – something that I use every time I work in GIS space. The ULD/LMD framework was a key driver in focusing search space for the Dablo Ni-Cu-PGE discovery in West Africa.  Over the last four years, the Trans-Lithospheric Fault model and interpretation layer have become key drivers in prioritising search spaces for multi-commodity discovery in the Yilgarn Craton.

GLAM sets the benchmark in delivering world-class resources that bridge academic research and industry needs, enabling the assessment of continental-scale structural and tectonic frameworks that are interpreted to govern the distribution of magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposits. Its insights have been used by mining and exploration companies to gain insight for advancing exploration strategies for base metals and gold. You can see how the surface geology, crustal-scale boundaries, and geochronology are all linked together. GLAM is the difference between poring over old geology to seek implied meaning and quickly absorbing a synthesised summary of high quality published work. We have used it in countless continents, countries and belts.

Part of IGOs approach to global targeting for nickel, copper and lithium deposits involves building robust 4D mineral system frameworks to identify areas-of-interest and new project opportunities. The GLAM data platform is integral to the IGO process and provides an important guide to mapping critical targeting elements and most importantly, offers deep insights into the geodynamic evolution of prospective terranes. This temporal component is vital to our understanding of multiscale ore-forming processes at any critical moment in time. Often this is achieved in a collaborative forum which has led to further development of exciting new exploration concepts. We thank the GLAM team for its dedication to the continual evolution and improvement of the GLAM product over the years.

The Global Project Generation group at Fortescue has been using GLAM for the last three years and found the product and the data of immense value to quickly assess new terrains globally. The GLAM data forms a global-scale dataset that can be used with in-house data and forms a stepping stone to quickly focus on areas of interest, particularly for entries into new terrains. Fortescue in particular appreciated Graham’s insights and knowledge and the group really enjoyed his technical input during several in-house seminars.

GLAM stands out as a robust and well-established global exploration targeting product underpinned by a solid scientific foundation related to a mineral systems approach, which Graham clearly articulates. The literature reviews of crustal terranes and domains are thorough, and the information is well integrated into digital interpretative datasets. Graham’s depth of expertise, evident in both presentations and discussions, further solidifies GLAM as an essential part of AGA’s exploration workflow.

Having done an enormous amount of regional targeting studies and metallogenic analysis over the last two decades, I find the GLAM product to be a critical input. It provides a wealth of architectural and geodynamic information – information that we increasingly understand is central to regional targeting – in an accessible format. There is nowhere else to get this. The first question I ask a new client when they approach me is, “do you have GLAM?”