Introduction

One of the major developments in mineral

exploration has been the increased use of computerized

data management. This has been used

to handle the flow of the large amounts of data

generated by modern instrumentation as well

as to speed up and improve decision making.

This chapter details some of the techniques

used to integrate data sets and to visualize this

integration. Two types of computer packages

have evolved to handle exploration and development

data: (i) Geographical Informations

Systems (GIS) for early stage exploration data,

usually generic software developed for other

nongeologic applications, discussed in section

DATA INTEGRATION AND GEOGRAPHICAL

INFORMATION SYSTEMS

to enable mine planning and resource calculations,

discussed in section .

INTEGRATION WITH RESOURCE

CALCULATION AND MINE PLANNING

SOFTWARE

What must be emphasized is that the quality

of data is all important. The old adage “rubbish

in and rubbish out” unfortunately still applies.

It is essential that all data should be carefully

checked before interpretation, and the best

times to do this are during entry of the data into

the database and when the data are collected.

A clear record should also be maintained of

the origin of the data and when and who edited

the data. These data about data are known as

metadata., and (ii) mining-specific packages designed