GIS IN THE MINING ENVIRONMENT By N.MLAMBO BSc, FSIZ, L.S. (Zim) & T.P. MASARIRA MSc, MBA, BSc, MSIZ, L.S.(Zim)

INTRODUCTION A well designed, implemented, and supported GIS management structure is critical in the success of any mining operation. Sophisticated technology is required to find, extract, and manage the resources in the earth's crust. Since mining is inherently spatial, requiring accurate knowledge of areas of the earth's surface and subsurface, geospatial technology is best suited to intelligently oversee all phases of the mine operation. GIS gives mining companies the tools they need to operate mines responsibly and at optimum efficiency.

INTRODUCTION GIS can be used by mining companies to target mineral exploration, evaluate mining conditions, model mine construction, and display data such as geochemical or hydrological. GIS can also be employed in applying for mining permits, assessing environmental impact, and designing closure and reclamation plans. This presentation tries to give an overview of the different uses of GIS in the mining industry.

INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY How can Geographical Information Systems (GIS) be used in the mining industry: mine and ore body exploration, development and production, Closure, and reclamation.

WHAT IS GIS GIS technology provides a computerized mechanism for capturing, verifying, storing, manipulating, querying, analyzing, and displaying geospatial data referenced to their location on earth. The basic components of a GIS are: (1) the software (including application software and DBMS software), (2) the computer platform (i.e., hardware and operating system), (3) the data, (4) the people who use, operate, and maintain the GIS, and (5) procedures.

GIS IN MINING With the advent of Geographical Information System (GIS), many mining activities (from exploration to stope development, and production to mine rehabilitation) evolved from pure luck to science. Gone were the days when operations would rely on linen and paper maps and old surveys and drawings and superimposing transparencies to create layers and composite images. GIS replaced old map-analysis processes, traditional drawing tools, and drafting and database technologies.

EXPLORATION GIS is ideal for integrating various exploration datasets such as geophysical images, geochemistry, geologic maps, radiometric surveys, boreholes, and mineral deposits. GIS gives the explorationist tools to manage, display, and analyze data, resulting in successful, cost-effective discovery of new mineral deposits. Mapping of mineral potential using GIS is conducted to delineate areas with different probabilities of hosting certain types of mineralization. The main steps in generating mineral potential maps are: establishing the exploration conceptual model building a spatial database spatial data analysis (extraction of evidence maps and assigning of weights); and combination of evidence maps to predict mineral potential

EXPLORATION

DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION GIS can be used during the development phases of a mining operation, Reserve estimates, annual planned production, or cost-per-ton statistics can be linked to complementary geospatial technology, such as GPS. GIS can be applied to both short-term and long-term scheduling to help optimize production at operations. GIS is used by mine planners to establish the optimal location for exploration drifts, crosscuts, sublevels, manways, and ventilation shafts. For service and ancillary systems, mine planners and engineers use GIS to: find the lowest-cost path to route delivery of supplies to working areas, find the closest facility, establish which areas are within service range, assign proximity, model inaccessible areas, and model mine ventilation networks. In production planning, GIS can help to: site and query the location of service facilities relative to the main production centers. Are the orepass, drawpoints, ramps, shaft, winze, raises, haulways within a certain distance of production centers (stopes) and meeting production criteria? Are production stopes affected by unstable ground conditions, hazardous gas, refractory ore, etc.

MINING CLOSURE AND RECLAMATION GIS systems are playing a role in abandoned mine land reclamation, from the initial inventory of abandoned mine features through the closure of mines and mills, GPS data can be overlaid onto GIS maps to provide precise routes to, and locations of, abandoned mine sites. GIS mapping allows rapid sizing and plotting of mine openings, waste piles and cultural features for accurate drawing and quantity computations during office design of the closures. Tied to coordinate systems, the maps are accurate with respect to orientation and provide precise information for the preparation of construction documents. The GIS database provides streamlined storage of all pertinent information regarding the mine features including location, access routes, photographs and tabular summaries of dimensions, land ownership and notes regarding each location.

MINING CLOSURE AND RECLAMATION Three-dimensional views generated by the GIS system can be used to illustrate the pre- and post-reclamation design features. In the final phase of reclamation, the GIS systems can similarly be used to locate the site, monitor closure and provide as-built dimensions and documentation of closure within the database.

MINE TITLE APPLICATION The Government of British Columbia in Canada uses GIS to enhance mineral title administration by adopting an e-commerce, GIS-based map selection system. By setting up a GIS database, government regulators and potential investors get a first-hand look at a particular location, its mining feasibility, and possible effects of the operations on the environment - resulting in a broader understanding of the project. A useful website for potential mining investors or anyone looking to obtain information on geological or past mining operations is MINFILE. MINFILE contains geological, location and economic information on over 12,500 metallic, industrial mineral and coal mines, deposits and occurrences in B.C.

GIS IN THE MINING ENVIRONMENT By N.MLAMBO BSc, FSIZ, L.S. (Zim) +263 772 367910 nedmlambo@gmail.com & T.P. MASARIRA MSc, MBA, BSc, MSIZ, L.S.(Zim) +263 712 875773 tpmasarira@yahoo.com