GIS for Mineral Explorationists, Geospatial and Geoenvironmental Engineers - 2025 entry

Provides an introduction to basic and advanced GIS skills used by geologists, scientists and engineers in the mining and environmental industry. You will learn and familiarise with the most fundamental tools and software packages used to collect, analyse, manipulate and display spatial datasets. 

Prerequisite modules for MSc cohort: Undergraduate module(s) in GIS

The module introduces and develops advanced spatial visualisation and modelling skills associated with the daily work of an exploration geologist and environmental scientist. These include practical work on a number of spatial datasets and will guide the student from simple data visualisation to designing geodatabases and spatial modelling/ mineral potential mapping practicals.  The module caters for the needs of senior undergraduate and postgraduate students and will therefore be split into the following components:

Basics of GIS and cartography: Applicable to all module participants.

Specialised GIS streams: Three specialised GIS pathways are offered for (1) 3rd year undergraduate and MSc MEM and (2) MSc Exploration and Mining Geology students.

After completing this module you will be able to confidently apply GIS methods and software packages in the applied geoscience sector. The module provides the foundation knowledge for CSMM193 Exploration Targeting of the MSc Exploration and Mining Geology Programme.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

Module Specific Skills and Knowledge

Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge

Personal and Key Transferable / Employment Skills and Knowledge

Basics of GIS and Cartography 

• Introduction to the use of GIS in the geology, surveying and environmental sectors
• Coordinate systems and georeferencing
• Data collection from different sources including base maps, satellite images, local databases, field mapping works and…
• Making vectors and some vector analysis
• Creating and editing data 
• Relationship between common data formats and databases with GIS Geodatabases 
• Symbology and Visualisation 
• Map production and Cartography
• Software packages: ArcGIS Pro, Google Earth, Surfer

 
MSc Exploration Geology specialisation 

• Spatial analysis and Interpolation  
• Data integration methods  
• Fuzzy logic in GIS and Mineral Potential Mapping

 MSc SLEM (Surveying and Land/Environmental Management) MEM (Mining Environmental Management) specialisation 
 

• An introduction to Remote Sensing GIS layers in Mining Environmental Management 
• Layer Integration weighted with multi-criteria decision-making methods (MCDM) in Mining-Environmental projects 
• Site selection projects from data collection to layer integration, with Map production and technical reporting for a mining-environmental project

Deferral – if you have been deferred for any assessment you will be expected to submit the relevant assessment. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be expected to submit the relevant assessment. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 50%.

Basic reading:

All ArcGIS workflows are described on the ESRI support web pages detailed below. This should be your first call for all technical ArcGIS matters

ELE:

A list of web resources and academic papers are available through ELE. In addition, the course site contains comprehensive online resources including lectures, PowerPoint presentations, documents and reference material in pdf format, mp3 podcasts, videos, e-tivities, discussion boards; and links to the University of Exeter electronic library and its comprehensive resources.

Web based and Electronic Resources:

Module is largely delivered by a dedicated ELE website that also involves links to external corporate, professional, educational websites and YouTube.

http://support.esri.com/en/knowledgebase/Gisdictionary/browse (useful GIS dictionary provided by ESRI)

http://resources.arcgis.com  (useful website for ArcGIS forums, online help and support)

http://help.arcgis.com/ (another useful ArcGIS online help website) 

Other Resources:

The site will have additional literature resources from external professional bodies, technical guides and manuals and use of company annual reports.

Reading list for this module: