Queensland Mining Journal analytics: new information from old data

Abstract

Summary The Queensland Mining Journal represents a wealth of information relating to mining activities in the state, from 1800 to the present day. This material has been scanned and made available in the public domain as high-quality image files. We have applied Google Vision optical character recognition, parsed the output JSON files through a domain-specific filter and indexed the content for presentation via an analytics dashboard based on mineralogy and which can be filtered by commodity age and location. The dashboard further incorporates mine site information from Queensland’s Digital Exploration (QDEX) Data System allowing prospective miners to drill down into QDEX content based on mineral occurrence, mine status and deposit size. We plan to build on this activity using Elastic Search to improve our association of content from articles to spatial location. This activity supports individuals and mining companies with an interest in Queensland to rapidly identify locations of interest. It offers a pragmatic approach using freely available information to support the Queensland authorities in attracting investment to their region through lowering the barrier in terms of effort level for companies looking to explore in the state. This comes at a time of heightened competition for investment and could ultimately lead to increased exploration activity and success, resulting in brownfield development of historic prospects and mine sites, minimising environmental impact of new exploration and mining yet generating income for the state through local activity and tax revenue on any mineral extraction.