An Evaluation of Geoscientific Data Management Systems for

Geological Exploration and Mining:

Commercial and Open Source Solutions

Sharon Cembi
African Nickel Limited
Geological Database and GIS Manager

INTRODUCTION
GEOSCIENTIFIC DATA

WHAT IS GEOSCIENTIFIC DATA?

GEOLOGICAL
GEOPHYSICAL
GEOCHEMICAL
CADASTRAL
TOPOGRAPHICAL
3D MODEL
DRILLHOLE

INTRODUCTION
GEOSCIENTIFIC DATA

SPATIAL DATA
GEOSCIENTIFIC
DATABASE
ASPATIAL DATA

DECISION
MAKING

INTRODUCTION
GEOSCIENTIFIC DATA

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)can

handle SPATIAL Data
What about ASPATIAL Data Such
as Drillhole Data?

PROBLEM STATEMENT

An investigation of possible data

management solutions for
handling geoscientific data such
as drillhole data for Geological
Exploration and Mining.

DRILLHOLE DATA
TYPES OF DRILLHOLE DATA
COLLAR
RQD
SURVEY
GEOLOGY
GEOPHYSICS
SAMPLING
ASSAY
GEOTECH
CONDUCTIVITY
DENSITY
MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY
DRILL ACCRUALS
OTHER INFO RELATED TO A DRILLHOLE

DRILLHOLE DATA
Collar

Geology
Survey

GEOSCIENTIFIC DBMS
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Data Capture and Sharing
Data Query and Search
Data Maintenance
Data Tracking
Data Integrity
Data Validation
Data Security

GEOSCIENTIFIC DBMS
AIMS:
Improve data flow
Ensure data integrity
Standardize procedures
Complying with regulatory bodies
Rapidly report on and audit data
Expedite decisiondecision-making
Secure and centralize all data
Increase confidence in interpretations

GEOSCIENTIFIC DBMS
COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS
AUSTRALIA BASED

AcQuire GIMS

Maxwell Geoservices
MicroMine GBIS/Geobank
GBIS/Geobank

SOUTH AFRICA BASED

Sable Data Works

OTHER

Century Systems (Canada)

GEOSCIENTIFIC DBMS
FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOLUTIONS
FOSS include tools for:
Web Mapping (Map Server)
Desktop Applications (GRASS)
Geospatial Libraries
Interoperability (GeoServer)

For our drillhole data we would utilise relational

database platforms such as:
My SQL
PostgreSQL

GEOSCIENTIFIC DBMS
COMMERCIAL vs. FOSS SOLUTIONS
License Costs
Maintenance Costs
Development of Utilities
Vendor Lock
Customisation
Flexibility
Data Capture
Updating
Web Migration
Technical Performance

GEOSCIENTIFIC DBMS
RECOMMENDATIONS
Skepticism in the Geological and Exploration Environment is
centered around compliance to Mining Standards (JORC and
SAMREC)

CONCLUSION
The huge technical improvement in Information
Technology has made new systems such as GIS,
WEB-GIS, DBMS and OSS to grow rapidly, so
more geological and mineral discoveries can be
made.
The Mining and Exploration Industry need to take
advantage of this rapid growth

QUESTIONS
&
ANSWERS

THANK YOU!