Data dumping: 3 ways it’s killing your chances with non-traditional investors, and how to fix it with VRIFY

Here's the funny thing about data dumping:

On paper, it's doing the work of upholding transparency. 

But in an effort to give stakeholders every last little bit of information about a mining or exploration project, it often has the opposite effect. 

Data dumping, or sharing a large amount of information at once without sufficient context or narrative, is opaque to non-geologists, including non-traditional investors. Think: 

• Gantt charts
• National Instrument (NI) 43-101's 
• Drill tables

For people outside the sector, it can be laborious to comprehend. Confusion chokes two-way conversations because knowing how to talk about it is hard when we don't understand something. Imagine how frustrating it would be to be tossed a barrage of data in a 6.5-point font PowerPoint presentation and think, I have no idea what this means for me.  

In mineral exploration and mining, the number of people deterred by data dumping is growing. The green energy transition has non-traditional investors laser-beam-focused on critical mineral projects. 

These are intelligent folks. But they're not geologists. There's a more immersive way to tell the story and get non-traditional investors excited about your project. 

On a On the Rocks podcast episode with VRIFY's co-founder & CEO Steve de Jong and Emily King, founder of Prospector, they discuss the difference between data dumping and providing accessible channels such as 3D site tours for bringing the story of a mining or exploration project to diversely educated audiences. 

With their guidance, we'll look at three ways data dumping could hurt your exposure to non-traditional investors and how to fix it with VRIFY.

Unless You're a Geologist, the Information is too Complex

The global drive for critical metals is "pulling non-traditional capital into the space," King says. Investors and groups are focusing on minerals and metals that "the industry didn't see as a priority until five or six years ago." 

As such, the demographic for investor presentations has changed. Mining companies must communicate projects transparently and help investors make sense of complex technical information. 

Data dumping leaves your emerging, valuable audiences in the dark.

Data Dumping Makes the Information Look Less Transparent

"There's a big difference between transparency and accessibility," says King. "How do you make [information] accessible so that people can really understand what you're saying and make a decision?" 

Standardized reports, like the National Instrument (NI) 43-101, are published in the spirit of transparency but "have the opposite effect," de Jong says, "because you could bury whatever you want in it because no one goes through it." 

Like the scroll-forever Terms & Conditions we don't read when we install an update on our smartphone, there's just too much to take in, leaving us a little suspicious. Did I sign my privacy away? 

"If everyone [in the mining sector] is transparent with these massive data dumps, you're not helping anybody," says de Jong. "You're not making the sector more investable; you're making it less investable." 

It Discourages Two-Way Conversation

Data dumping’s colloquial cousin is word vomit. 

As past President and CEO of Integra Gold Corp, de Jong can empathize.  

"I’d walk in [to a presentation] nervous, start puking facts and information and everything else," he says. "The audience can't get a word in. Nauseating!"

That's a problem because, as de Jong has learned, different investors look for different details and have diverse focuses. By "plowing through a narrative," following the slide order of a PowerPoint presentation, the chance to organically follow relevant conversations to that specific audience closes off.

Without relatable or recognizable positioning of the information, the value of the project gets lost in the details. The audience is disempowered to probe, question, or make confident decisions. 

There's a better way to share the data.

With VRIFY, interactive 3D visualizations and 360 degree presentation tools make it easy to tell a story and help diverse audiences understand the opportunity. All technically accurate, fully disclosed, and fully "Wow!" 

Let's look at three ways to fix data dumping with VRIFY so you can engage non-traditional investors and other diverse audiences. 

How to Fix Data Dumping in your Investor Presentations

PowerPoint, PDFs, and 2D graphics are bound by their frameworks. What you see is what you get. The conversation stops and starts with the presenter of the information. 

‍But with VRIFY, the same information is expanded through rich 3D and 360 degree presentations that are explorable on-the-fly. 

‍By bringing your data into 3D models, you can open up different discussions based on the needs of the audience in front of you. Three hundred and sixty degrees of perspective allows for "an investor or stakeholder conversation," King says, empowering people to feel heard and to comprehend the information most relevant to them.

With VRIFY, you can create a customized presentation experience using annotation tools to markup, zoom in and draw on 3D sitemaps and PDF documents while you present. By engaging with your material in a visual, hands-on way, you bring the audience into the moment, along for the ride for something recognizable yet tech-forward.  

"Creating that immersive experience and bringing people to the project sets them up to ask the right questions," de Jong says. Now you're starting conversations and providing the context non-traditional investors require to make knowledgeable, confident decisions. 

How to Fix Data Dumping in your Press Releases

Press releases for mining projects pack a punch. Most include pages and pages of data, including drill tables, disclaimers, and 2D cross-sections; all important information that benefits from context to help investors make a confident decision about the project. 

VRIFY brings press release data into the immersive 3D realm with interactive site tours that remove complexity while upholding transparency. 

You can improve the clarity and context of your project data by uploading a high-res narrated video to the VRIFY platform to publish alongside your press release. In your video, take viewers on a 360 degree site tour, harnessing annotation tools to draw, markup, and clarify technical details. The narrated video gives you the platform to address your audience, human to human, and share a story in plain language. 

Narrated video is so fast and accessible on the VRIFY platform that you can record and send personalized videos on-the-fly to investors via email to answer questions or further clarify your data.

Demystify Mining With VRIFY

The mining industry is rife with misconceptions about global impact, particularly around critical minerals and metals. With demand outpacing supply, sharing a compelling story about sustainability and renewable energy sources is more urgent than ever. 

With VRIFY, mineral exploration and mining companies can demystify project footprints and educate diverse audiences. From community engagement sessions to investor presentations, VRIFY's tools allow for alignment with the experience levels of people of different backgrounds. 

"I have this hope that VRIFY will start to change how the whole world sees the sector," says de Jong. 

The time is up for data dumping. It's good on paper, but the future is paperless. 

Book a demo to see how VRIFY transforms complex mining data into a powerful visual conversation starter.