The online course on Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques for Mapping Sustainable Mining, is designed to equip Southern African geoscientists with the necessary GIS techniques for generating a sustainability atlas for Southern Africa. This course has been designed by academics in Cardiff University’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences to equip geoscientists working in the southern African region with the skills to produce a pilot atlas on sustainable mining. The course will be delivered in English by GIS and prospectivity mapping experts from Cardiff University, Geological Survey of Finland, and Midlands State University, Zimbabwe.
Interested participants can apply here.
The course is delivered in two parts - a general introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and QGIS (a free open source GIS), followed by an introduction to prospectivity mapping for sustainability.
This will cover the QGIS interface, coordinate reference systems, working with raster and vector data, other types of GIS layer and web mapping services, digitising, plugins and the toolbox.
The Weights of Evidence method will be introduced, along with the QGIS implementation. A case study will be used to show how to carry out all the necessary steps. This section will also address the requirements for mapping sustainability, from a consideration of the data layers required and their combination in a weights of evidence approach, as well as other methods.
The course takes approximately 32 hours to complete and delegates will be provided with access to the materials via UNESCO’s virtual learning platform. Most of the learning will involve asynchronous activities such as videos, exercises, and interaction through the Discussion Board. Participants can undertake learning in their own time and at their own pace.
The remainder of the learning will be delivered as ‘live’ sessions in which one or more leaders will teach fundamental concepts and techniques and provide feedback through question and answer sessions. There is also an end of course test to assess learning. Participants who achieve a 50% passrate or more will receive an e-certificate of completion.
We have assembled an expert team consisting of Professors Blenkinsop and Maier, and Will Smith, from the School of Earth and Environmental Science (GIS and sustainable mining), Dr Bijal Chudasama from the Geological Survey of Finland (GIS, prospectivity mapping), and Dr Antony Mamuse from Midlands State University (GIS and Mineral Systems) to provide a unique offering that meets these training requirements for professionals in the field.
Tom is a Professor of Structural Geology. He has 30 years’ experience in structural analysis. Much of this has been carried out in the context of consultancy for problems of hydrothermal mineralisation for major mining companies. Through this experience he has developed a unified and systematic approach to structural analysis, which includes new and simple methods of dealing with structures such as lineations, folds, and shear zones.
Wolf is Professor for Ore Geology. His research deals with petrological and geochemical processes in mafic-ultramafic igneous systems that contribute to our understanding of continental magmatism, mantle evolution, plate tectonics and the formation of magmatic ore deposits including PGE, Ni-Cu, Cr, and V-Ti-Fe deposits..
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