The application of mineral information management and delivery systems in the sustainable management of mineral resources

摘要

Changes in political, social, regulatory and technological factors will shape the interfaces between the minerals industry, government and the public, resulting in changing requirements for information, knowledge and policy related to the sustainable management of mineral resources. This provides a new challenge to review the current and future needs for such information, its collection, analysis, and publication. In the last decade, there has been a large shift in the way that land and mineral resource information is collected, analysed and presented. Resource information is now collected quickly, using advanced digitizing, scanning and vectorizing routines. Geographical Information Systems and integrated database technologies allow rapid analysis of such data, which can then be published in map or table form instantly to a global audience via internet technologies. Despite the availability of these technologies, the management and stewardship of mineral resources is a substantial responsibility. Planning decisions to permit mineral working are based upon integrating a variety of data from government policies, up-to-date land resource information and related economic and social factors. Data and information gathered from such a variety of sources needs to move, in a seamless way, from the domain of the information provider to the users of the information. The ability to answer the right questions at the right time is central to a more efficient planning system. The British Geological Survey is currently in the process of gathering such information from a variety of projects. The Minerals Information System has been designed to gather and store resource information and make it available quickly to a variety of users. This paper will demonstrate how the system may be utilized.