Mining projects are known to take a long time from exploration to production. They are also known for being asset-intensive which demands high capital investment that can reach billions of dollars.
The fact is, it can take on average five to ten years to develop a producing mine and the capital and operating expenses to get there are high. It is surprising though, how very little of this investment goes into the heart of any mining project, the drill hole database. Drilling is not cheap, the cost of one drill hole can be over 200,000 dollars. Considering every viable project will need hundreds of drill holes, the cost of exploration drilling can rise to millions of dollars. Furthermore, there is no guarantee of returns. However, it is not the drilling that provides the value of a mining project, the value is found in the samples obtained from drilling and their analysis to determine the feasibility of the project. The information collected through the exploration process is the real capital of a mining project. Without this information, there is no way to determine if there is any ore, its quantity, type or location. This information will determine the feasibility of the project and how, if possible, to process it. Bottom line, there is no mine without drill hole data.
Today, it is a fact that most exploration companies use a common, cheap and yet ineffective tool to manage this information – an Excel spreadsheet. Why do they use this type of record keeping tool? Because it is cheap, almost everybody knows how to use basic Excel, and it’s a great way to keep costs down. Remember my comment earlier about how exploration companies may never see returns on their investment? It would seem logical then to consider Excel as the right, low-cost solution. Exploration companies need the money to drill, so let’s cut out the IT stuff, right?
Very wrong! The goal of any exploration project is to determine feasibility through the analysis of drill holes in a drill hole database. Without a properly managed, stored and validated drill hole database, there is no data to be analyzed by geologists, and nothing to show from all the millions invested. And yet, Excel? Really?
Of course, not all mining and exploration companies keep their drill hole databases in Excel. Some know the value of this information and use geological databases. These companies understand the importance of drill hole data and store it in central repositories, which can be accessed by multiple people, yet maintaining a single version of the truth. The benefits of capturing information in the field to then synchronize with a central database are also very much understood. These solutions help reduce human error, simplifying and speeding up capture. Most importantly, they allow exporting drill hole information seamlessly into a preferred geological and mine planning solution to confirm project feasibility.
Keeping data safe and secure by using a database management solution should be the highest priority for any exploration project. Drill hole data is their most valuable asset and maintaining its integrity in a central repository should be paramount. Relying on spreadsheets to manage this data create an unnecessary exposure, one that is certain to be costlier than the savings achieved by using Excel.
Fernando de Orbegoso
Regional Manager
MICROMINE USA
