Against a backdrop of energy transition and concerns about industrial sovereignty, France is strengthening its strategy to secure supplies of critical mineral resources. To address this, BRGM is leading an ambitious national programme to update knowledge of the geological potential for strategic metals: the mineral resources inventory (IRM).
This programme involves producing a large-scale inventory of the subsurface over part of mainland France and the French overseas territories, targeting around fifty critical elements.
As part of this, BRGM is launching two innovation competitions focusing on two key aspects of the inventory: data acquisition using geophysical methods, and data analysis using artificial intelligence.
These two competitions will lead to the signing of partnership agreements with BRGM.
Campagne d'acquisition par géophysique héliportée.
© Alexandre Magnan
Innovative geophysical methods for acquiring geophysical data in French Guiana
The geophysics innovation competition is aimed at those who could put forward innovative data acquisition methods in an environment where acquisition conditions are difficult: French Guiana.
The aim is to improve our understanding of geological structures and mineral potential, taking a number of constraints into account: restricted accessibility, dense vegetation cover and tropical climatic conditions.
Expected proposals may include:
- new acquisition methods: new-generation geophysical sensors and/or transmitters, new vectors, new physical phenomena, etc.
- optimised combinations of methods: multi-sensor and/or multi-physics platforms, hybrid acquisitions, etc.
Competition calendar
- Deadline for entries: 5 September 2025
- Short-list announcement: 26 September 2025
- Start of acquisitions: late 2025 - early 2026
Modélisation 3D des objets géologiques régionaux, mis en perspectives avec les minéralisations.
© BRGM - Dubreuil et al.
AI4Minerals: explore how AI is transforming mineral resource management
The aim of the second competition launched by BRGM, in partnership with Cap Digital, is to stimulate people or organisations working in the field of artificial intelligence, including those not specialising in geosciences, to experiment with innovative approaches to data analysis applied to mining exploration.
The mineral resource inventory is based on several thousand geochemical samples, from which multivariate anomaly maps can be produced to effectively guide prospecting campaigns. The expected results must combine technical rigour, geoscientific relevance and high-quality interpretation.
The main objectives of the proposed projects are as follows:
- To generate an anomaly map for each of the 49 chemical elements in the dataset provided. There are three types of anomaly.
- To use statistical, spatial or machine learning approaches to identify potential areas of interest from heterogeneous and noisy data.
As bonuses, entrants may also:
- Bonus 1: Put forward methodology for integrating geophysical data in order to add to the list of detected anomalies and explain or confirm them.
- Bonus 2: Provide a metallogenic or anthropogenic interpretation of the anomalies (e.g. identifying a natural phenomenon of interest from agricultural pollution).
Competition calendar
- Deadline for entries: 1 September 2025
- Shortlist announcement: week of 22 September 2025
- Pitch training session for the shortlisted entrants: week of 29 September
- Announcement of selected companies: week of 13 October
- Start of the collaboration phase: from 20 October 2025
