NamDat is the in-house mineral information
system developed by the Geological Survey of Namibia (GSN).
The database runs on Microsoft Access on a Windows NT
platform. The database is currently being edited of minor mistakes.
The database is presently made up of two interlinked
components, namely Prospecting Grants and Mineral Deposits, with a third Exploration Data
component in the initial stage.
Much of the information pertinent to mineral exploration is
obtained from lapsed prospecting grant reports housed at the GSN. Such data include grant
locations, name of previous grant holders, and reports and maps related to the exploration
targets.
The spatial data has been digitised using the U.S. Geological
Survey's GSMAP software to produce 1:250 000 scale colour index maps of all exploration
grants. Utilising Global Positioning Systems, it is envisaged that this component will be
linked to a management system for mineral titles in the office of the Mining Commissioner.
Over 1500 known mineral deposits ranging from mineral
occurrences to active mines have been described spatially and cross-referenced to the
54-chapter Mineral Resources of Namibia handbook. Mineral deposits have been further
characterised in terms of commodities, minerals, host lithologies, geological structures,
and deposit type, shape and dimensions.
Details on exploration activities and results are being
separately entered under headings of exploration grids, located anomalies, trenching,
drilling and pitting. The spatial aspects of these data are also recorded in a regional
geoscience Geographic Information System (GIS) which utilises ARC/INFO software.
NamDat currently allows the extraction of a great deal of
practical information for the mineral exploration sector via screen queries, hardcopy
reports and colour thematic maps. The availability of licensed digital products will
further allow end users to integrate such data into their own datasets, thereby optimising
time spent at the GSN. |