Technology for Transparency in Mining: Wyloo and the Lynx Platform
Read the Wyloo 2025 Canada Sustainability Approach HERE
Introduction
Mining projects depend on reliable data to assess environmental change and inform community dialogue. Wyloo Metals has adopted what it calls the Glass Box approach, an initiative to make monitoring data accessible and verifiable to stakeholders. Central to this effort is the Lynx Global Intelligence platform, which structures, analyzes, and publishes Wyloo’s environmental and social information. The partnership shows how data-driven systems can reduce uncertainty, preserve historical knowledge, and create a foundation for constructive engagement.
The Glass Box in Practice
The Glass Box is more than a metaphor. It is a digital infrastructure where environmental and stakeholder data are collected, validated, and shared. Wyloo uses the Lynx Portal to consolidate streams ranging from air quality and groundwater to meteorological measurements and geochemistry. Rather than reporting through static annual summaries, the company is building a live record that can be interrogated, compared, and extended over time.
A distinguishing feature is the treatment of historical data. Records dating back over a decade were not simply appended; they underwent statistical variance analysis to confirm comparability with new data before being incorporated. Outliers were checked against certified laboratory results. Raw inputs such as field sheets and lab certificates were attached directly to their datasets, so each number is linked back to its original source. This approach allows stakeholders to see not just the results, but also how those results were verified.
Surface Water Monitoring
Water monitoring illustrates the scale and rigor of the system. Wyloo began with baseline sampling carried out between 2008 and 2012, which provided reference conditions for the Muketei River and its tributaries. Building on that foundation, a surface water quality program was launched in mid-2023 and expanded in 2024. Approximately 30 monitoring stations were strategically located across the project area. Their placement was guided by watershed delineations and hydrological modeling to ensure coverage both upstream and downstream of potential areas of influence.
Through the Lynx platform, these data are reviewed continuously. Seasonal changes in parameters such as turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and trace metal concentrations can be tracked in real time. This allows adjustments to the monitoring network if spatial coverage proves insufficient or if emerging trends warrant closer investigation. Expertise from hydrologists, ecologists, and geochemists is integrated into the analysis, ensuring that interpretations are grounded in multiple disciplines rather than a single viewpoint.
Ensuring Data Integrity
Wyloo’s reliance on the Lynx system is not only about storing information but about ensuring that information meets clear quality thresholds. Each dataset undergoes comparability checks, with statistical tools highlighting potential anomalies. When discrepancies arise, results are cross-checked with laboratory certificates before they are accepted into the database. Metadata and raw files are retained alongside results, providing an auditable chain of custody. This reduces the risk of human error and creates confidence that environmental indicators reflect actual conditions in the field.
Expanding AI Applications
The Glass Box is also evolving. Wyloo and Lynx are testing artificial intelligence to improve efficiency in areas that traditionally require significant manual effort. Wildlife camera photos, which can number in the tens of thousands, are being analyzed with AI models to identify species automatically. Borehole and core logging data are being structured within the same system as environmental results, allowing geological information to be compared with hydrological or geochemical findings. Future developments include integrating noise and acoustic monitoring and linking vegetation surveys with carbon absorption data. The objective is to give decision-makers a comprehensive picture of how operations interact with ecosystems over time.
Engagement and Dialogue
Transparency is not limited to environmental variables. Social data are also managed within Lynx. By integrating email records and tagging correspondence, Wyloo can track how issues raised by communities and stakeholders evolve. Work with a specialist partner in First Nations engagement ensures that dialogue is documented consistently and that outputs reflect the priorities of Indigenous partners. This systematization helps Wyloo demonstrate that engagement is ongoing, recorded, and linked to decision-making processes.
Public Access Portal
The external-facing Glass Box portal represents the most visible outcome of this work. Communities can view selected datasets, including surface water, groundwater, air quality, and wildlife monitoring. More detailed information, such as laboratory reports, is available to registered users. The portal also includes functions for stakeholders to provide feedback or pose questions. By reducing barriers to access, Wyloo makes its monitoring program subject to public scrutiny in near real time, creating accountability beyond traditional reporting cycles.
Conclusion
Wyloo’s collaboration with Lynx demonstrates how structured data systems can underpin transparency. Historical records, current monitoring, and new AI-driven applications are brought together in a framework that is verifiable and open to review. For communities, this provides assurance that environmental changes are tracked with rigor. For Indigenous partners, it offers a consistent record of dialogue. For Wyloo itself, it creates an evidence base to guide operations and planning.
Rather than treating transparency as a compliance obligation, the Glass Box embeds it into daily practice. By linking datasets, applying statistical checks, and making results publicly accessible, Wyloo is developing a model where environmental and social accountability are measured, recorded, and visible.