Bentley Systems' Seequent business unit has acquired cloud-based software developer Imago Inc, a company specialising in the capture and management of geoscientific imagery.

The move enriches Seequent's solutions portfolio and bolsters its capabilities to help engineers solve earth, environment, and energy challenges, the company says.

With the acquisition, Seequent can utilise Imago's cloud-based platform, which facilitates the capture and cataloguing of drilling core and chip images to support several geological processes, like exploration and grade control. In addition, Seequent will continue the development of Imago's machine learning — which will lead to a step function in the interpretation of geological data, it says.

“It's an exciting step to welcome the Imago team on board to help advance Seequent's progression into the cloud,” says Seequent CEO Graham Grant.

“We're continually exploring ways to provide new technologies and solutions to solve workflow challenges, improve operational efficiency, and deliver greater value for our users who are working to solve some of the world's major civil, environmental, and energy challenges.

“This acquisition demonstrates Seequent's continued growth and our commitment to make a positive contribution to the industries we serve globally.

The goal of the acquisition, according to the company, is to unlock significant potential for mining and other industries, transforming image data into meaningful insights for geological activities.

Several mining companies worldwide employ Imago's solution in conjunction with geology data management and modelling tools. Imago says this enables teams to make better decisions using instantly available, high-quality images.

The addition of Imago elongates Seequent's growing list of integrations: it already integrates its Leapfrog, Oasis montaj, Target, and Minalytix MX Deposit with Imago's solution, making it easy for geologists, engineers, and other stakeholders to extract knowledge and learn from geoscientific imagery.

“As a small team in Phoenix and Perth, were excited to join forces with Seequent, as this will now allow us to substantially scale Imagos solutions in mining and other markets,” says Imagos co-founder Federico Arboleda.

“We founded Imago to help mining companies manage the high volume and size of geological images and unlock the great value in this geoscience imagery.

“Image data is an increasingly important source of data across the geosciences and can come from potentially any source, including core photos, hyperspectral, aerial photos, drones, and handheld devices,” says Arboleda.

“It will become even more important to transform image data into knowledge as automation needs increase.