Mining and minerals‐processing information: where and how to get it
| Date | 01 April 1995 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045384 |
| Published date | 01 April 1995 |
| Pages | 329-336 |
| Author | Olga Svoboda |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Article
Mining and minerals-processing
information: where and how
to
get it
Olga Svoboda
Mintek,
Private
Bag
X3015,
Randburg,
2125 South Africa
E-mail:
os@info.mintek.ac.za
Abstract: The planning and evaluation of new ventures in mining and mineral
processing requires strategic information of the highest
quality.
However,
specialised technical information on mining and related activities is poorly
represented in the electronic
media.
Africa has been particularly neglected by the
international information
industry,
even in comparison with other developing
areas of the
world,
and African countries typically lack the resources to fund and
develop their own information
services.
Increased cooperation between the
mining and information
industries,
and between the developing
countries,
is
needed to remedy
the
situation.
1.
Introduction
The geographical shift in the mining
and processing of raw materials from
the developed countries to the devel-
oping ones has already been well
documented in the technical and busi-
ness literature. Africa is one of the
mineral-rich regions in which the in-
ternational mining and minerals-proc-
essing industry is interested.
The result of this shift is a greater
demand by prospective investors and
mining companies for information on
previously little-known African coun-
tries,
as well as greater need for infor-
mation exchange among the minerals
industries of African countries them-
selves.
Any involvement in
a
new minerals
venture is a long-term process, which
requires strategic planning and taking
often very risky decisions. The invest-
ment needed is always many millions
of dollars, and rigorous evaluation of
me opportunities and risks is therefore
required.
Business decision-makers require
high-quality techno-commercial (or
strategic) intelligence to complete the
planning stage successfully, and to
monitor and re-evaluate the project.
Strategic intelligence can help in the
accurate assessment of the situation,
thus contributing to the increased
competitiveness of companies.
The quality of the strategic intelli-
gence depends on the relevance of the
input data, as well as on the interpreta-
tion of the information. The quality of
the initial information depends on the
accessing of needed data, which today
largely involves the knowledge of in-
formation sources and retrieval tech-
niques.
Figure 1 illustrates the process of
adding value to information, where the
value of information increases with
the degree of
focus,
interpretation and
accessibility. This paper concentrates
on the first two blocks in the diagram
— the existing information resources
and the methods of information collec-
tion, especially on the use of computer
technology for information retrieval
such as online access, CDROM and
the Internet.
2.
Availability of information
The amount of information available
in any field of human activity is enor-
mous:
attempting to locate and obtain
specific information is not an easy
task. Furthermore, compared to indus-
tries such as the retail trade or the
manufacture of consumer
goods,
min-
ing and minerals processing is a rela-
tively small industry.
With one notable exception there is
not a single publicly available techni-
cal database, either online through an
international database host or on
CDROM, that is devoted to mining or
minerals processing. In the search for
information, the industry has to resort
to a range of engineering and geologi-
cal databases. The only exception is
IMMAGE, the bibliographical data-
base compiled and marketed by the
British Institution of Mining and Met-
allurgy (IMM), and available either on
a subscription basis from IMM or on-
line through the European Space
Agency information system.
Business databases follow a very
similar pattern. Furthermore, the min-
erals commodities analysts do not
seem to encourage online database ac-
cess to their reports, which would en-
able the investigator to search for a
particular subject and print only a few
paragraphs or pages of a study. The
cost of such selective printing is high
but still cheaper than the purchase of
reports by organisations such as CRU,
Roskill Information Services or Min-
ing Journal Research Services, which
is the only option available now.
In spite of all these constraints,
mineral and mining information is ac-
cessible and can be obtained from one
or more database vendors around the
world. Figure 2 shows a selection of
the more important international data-
base hosts that can be accessed from
any place in the world.
All that is needed to gain access is a
computer with communications soft-
ware, and a modem that connects the
workstation via satellite to the global
The Electronic Library, Vol. 13, No. 4, August 1995 329
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