The GIM Channel 05: Placing a value on your geological data

Our first episode for 2017 features guest speaker Jeremy Vincent, Manager of Production and Development Geology at Capstone Mining Corporation.

Jeremy catches up with us from Vancouver and discusses GIM challenges he’s seen in the mining industry from graduate to management level.

Show Notes

Here are some key take-outs:

• GIM concepts are not well known among geology graduates and many graduates lack experience in advanced data management.
• The skills to manage geological databases is not often common among new graduates and is a skill often learned on the job.
• Companies should employ a best practice approach to their geoscientific data. Companies employing best practice GIM ensure their data can’t be corrupted easily through common errors and is audit-friendly.
• Companies still using spreadsheets expose themselves to an increased risk in errors being made in the database.

“GIM software makes it a lot more difficult to have these types of challenges and helps us avoid these mistakes.” – Jeremy

• In a downturn, companies should do more to invest in GIM to help their operations.
• Errors that occur in data collected in the early stages of a project can have a knock-on effect down the mining value chain, leading to financial ramifications.

“The full ramifications of this data might not necessarily be fully understood. There are opportunities for companies to invest more into the management of their data.”

“Ultimately, it starts with placing a value on the data first.” – Jeremy

• Leading companies in the mining industry prioritise their data, data collection and data management and have robust GIM packages in place. Having a good GIM initiative in place is critical to leading companies to ensure their data is managed correctly.

“Necessity breeds innovation.” – Jeremy

• The industry as a whole is experiencing downsizing and managing costs is a priority to remain economically viable.
• Innovation is occurring as a result of this.

Here are the links you might need

Have you heard the one about…

We signed off 2016 with a podcast featuring our Managing Director, Alison Atkins. Hear what she had to say on 20 years of acQuire and the future of the mining industry. Listen here >

We also talked to Luc Savoie from CNRL about data and trust. Listen here >

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