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Open Source... Mining?
farrellj writes "In mining, geophysical data is the "source code" of the industry, and is usually guarded as closely as Microsoft guards their source code for their programs, sometimes even more so. But one Canadian mining company opened up their data, and reaped the rewards of Open Source in higher profits. Read all about it at: FastCompany. NOTE: Originally seen on Linux Today."
In many cases, consessions for exploitation are only obtained after ascertaining the presence of whatever it is your after. Drilling for oil comes to mind. In such cases it is naturally vital to keep your data secret, as you don't want any competitors moving in and reaping the rewards of your hard work.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
That's their cost for pulling an oz out of the ground. It has gone down as they've gotten bigger and better at getting the gold out due to economies of scale, etc.. The price they can actually sell metal for is another thing, altogether (thankfully...).
JMR
My opinions != those of any employer.
Try e-gold - (contact me). I'm NOT e-
Secrecy in the mining industry is a matter of convenience. In the Red Lake district, mining has been going on for many years, nearly all the ground in the immediate area is under patented claims, in this case revealing the information poses little threat. Where I am currently working (Brasil) there is a lot of virgin territory, and making your data public increases the chance of a competitor snapping up the adjacent claims, not to mention attracting hordes of garimpeiros. A company is also willing to release data if they think it will sell shares, juniors are fond of doing this. A project I was involved in, the client posted the geophysical results from the surveys on their website as soon as they got their hands on the data... Mining companies can be selective about the data released as well, one well known promoter would do a hole parallel to the vein:
"look at the fabulous intersections!! 100 meters of 5 grams per tonne" while not mentioning the vein was only a half meter wide and had no significant strike length. Then there was Bre-X...
Watashi wa chikyubutsurigakusha desu.
It's more than just tradition. My experience is more from the petroleum exploration arena, so I'll speak it its terms.
Almost no property owner owns the mineral rights to their land, only the 'surface' rights. The mineral rights (in most cases) were seperated years ago.
Exploration for petroleum involves statistical analysis as well as physical discovery. Physical discovery used to involve guessing, based on prior performance or just a hunch, where there might be oil or gas. These days, there's a lot more technology to be applied. One method involves placing sensitive seismic instruments in a variety of locations. Then large machines called 'thumpers' are put in place to cause deliberate seismic disturbances. The effects of these disturbances and underground interference to them are measured, mapped and analysed using the instrumentation that's scattered about.
This type of physical discovery is not cheap. It consists of:
expensive instruments
expensive machines
well-paid geologists and other crew
paying landowners for use of their land.
costom analysis software
and more
The best ways for a venture like that to make money are to (a) sell the information to mineral rights owners, or (b) use the information to drill for petroleum themselves.
In case (a), making the information available at no charge is contrary to the business plan. In (b), they would need to acquire/lease the necessary mineral rights and it wouldn't pay advertise what they were looking for where.