Key Takeaways

  • There’s no dedicated AI product for geotechnical reports. Most sites build BI dashboards on top of their existing modelling platform’s data.
  • Power BI and Tableau on top of Datamine or Deswik data is the common, pragmatic path.
  • Cancha is worth a look if you want geotechnical reporting combined with geometallurgical modelling in one platform rather than a bolt-on dashboard.

TL;DR

To automate geotechnical reports, connect a BI tool such as Power BI or Tableau directly to your live geotechnical block model and monitoring feeds. The reports then regenerate as new data lands, instead of being compiled by hand each week. Platforms like Cancha are a more integrated option if geomet and geotech reporting need to live together.

What Are Geotechnical Reports?

Geotechnical reports tell mine engineers and managers whether the ground is behaving as designed. They track rock quality and stability across the pit or underground workings. Typical content includes RQD (rock quality designation) trends, rock-mass ratings, monitoring summaries and design compliance.

These reports are produced on a regular cycle, often weekly or monthly, and again for audits and reviews. However, the data behind them lives in several systems: logging databases, block models and monitoring platforms. As a result, compiling them by hand eats a large share of a geotechnical team’s time.

How Do I Automate Geotechnical Reporting With AI?

Geotechnical reporting is a workflow where “AI” mostly means automation and live data connection rather than a novel model. There are three practical steps.

Connecting BI tools to live data

The pragmatic path most sites take is pointing Power BI or Tableau directly at the data already inside Datamine or Deswik. You build dashboards that refresh automatically as new logging and monitoring data lands. Therefore, no one has to compile the weekly report by hand.

Both BI platforms natively support automated trend detection and anomaly flagging. For example, a dashboard can highlight a drop in RQD along a planned wall, or a monitoring prism moving faster than usual. That gets you useful automation without a specialized product. Predicted rock-mass variables from machine-learning block models can feed the same dashboards.

Choosing an integrated platform instead

You may want reporting tied more tightly to the underlying geometallurgical and geotechnical modelling. In that case, Cancha is a purpose-built platform. It uses machine learning in its analysis module to propose prediction algorithms for recovery, throughput and related parameters. It then automates the documentation and reporting layer on top, which cuts the manual work around audits and reviews. The same platform also handles geometallurgical reports.

What to Expect From Automated Geotechnical Reports

There isn’t a mature, dedicated generator for geotechnical reports beyond these two paths. Expect to assemble this from BI tooling or a broader geomet platform rather than buying a narrow point solution.

The hardest part is usually data, not dashboards. Logging codes, coordinate systems and monitoring exports must line up before any report can refresh on its own. Movement data is a special case: radar and InSAR vendors already ship their own mine monitoring reports, so link to those rather than rebuilding them. Finally, a geotechnical engineer still needs to review and sign off each report.

FAQs

What is included in geotechnical reports for mines?

They usually include RQD trends, rock-mass ratings, monitoring summaries and design compliance checks. Many also cover incidents, ground support and changes to slope or stope designs. The exact content depends on the site’s geotechnical management plan.

Can AI write geotechnical reports?

AI can automate the data compilation, charts and trend flags. It can also propose prediction models for key variables. However, interpretation and sign-off remain the responsibility of a qualified geotechnical engineer.

Which tools are used to automate geotechnical reporting?

Power BI and Tableau connected to Datamine or Deswik data are the common choice. Cancha is an option when you want geotechnical and geometallurgical reporting in one platform. Monitoring vendors provide their own automated reports for radar and InSAR data.

How long does it take to automate geotechnical reports?

It depends mainly on how clean and connected your data is. If logging and monitoring data already sit in one modelling platform, a first dashboard can be quick. If data lives in scattered spreadsheets, the integration work comes first.

Try It With Geocluster

Getting your geotechnical, monitoring and modelling data into a state where a BI tool or reporting platform can consume it live, rather than via manual exports, is connective work. Geocluster is designed to help with it. Read how the Geocluster Research Harness works to see where it fits.