Improved data management through Geosoft DAP Server helps boost efficiency and the value of exploration data within Rio Tinto

"Improved data management, through Geosoft’s DAP technology and our data management initiatives, is expected to have a significant impact on the value of our data. Our geologists exploring for diamonds in North America, for instance, now have access - at the click of a mouse - to the geophysical data that Rio Tinto has collected during previous diamond exploration campaigns in other parts of the world. This fresh perspective could be the trigger that leads to new target areas or discoveries."
Peter Thurston, Data Administrator, Kennecott Exploration Company, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto

Customer:	Kennecott Exploration, a division of Rio Tinto Exploration
Country:	Salt Lake City, USA
Industry:	Mining Exploration
Solution:	Exploration Data Management System
Technology:	Geosoft DAP Server

Summary

Within Rio Tinto, a world leader in finding, mining and processing the earth's mineral resources, the concept of using a formal data management process to tackle the ballooning terabytes of digital information was first introduced in Kennecott Exploration, a division of Rio Tinto Exploration in Salt Lake City. The company implemented Geosoft DAP Server middleware technology as a way to improve productivity through seamless data delivery and retrieval within their global organization.

Business Need:
Overwhelmed by the burden of organizing, reformatting and distributing geophysical data in the exploration department, Kennecott Exploration identified the need for a data management solution to boost efficiency.

Geosoft Solution:
Geosoft DAP servers were deployed at Rio Tinto’s  offices in Salt Lake City and in Bristol, England. Data delivered has included geophysical data, scanned topographic and geological maps and digital maps from commercial GIS packages such as MapInfo.

As part of its Data Management Strategy, the company is evaluating its data repository requirements, and plans to centralize storage for its historical exploration data. As middleware, Geosoft DAP Server will help to connect data users with these back-end data repositories, providing access through one single interface.

Results:
With the Geosoft DAP Server, Rio Tinto was able to replace the sticky notes with a central server that is readily accessible to everyone in the company. Now, instead of relying on a colleague to retrieve and reformat data for them, geoscientists can access the information directly from their desktops, decreasing the time and cost of interpretation.

Having a central system with a secure server has ensured that data is not lost, corrupted or stolen, regular occurrences when digital information is stored on individual hard drives and CDs. Another advantage is that data semantics and formats can be standardized to ease interpretation.

For a company as big and widespread as Rio Tinto, improved data management, and data access, is expected to have a significant impact on the value of exploration data in evaluating projects and identifying new opportunities. Geologists exploring for diamonds new target areas for discoveries.

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