A SYNERGISTIC APPROACH TO THE USE OF CADD, DBMS, 
DIP AND GIS FOR MONITORING MINERAL RESOURCES 
Helius de Almeida Guimaräes Filho 
Alvaro P. Crösta 
Joäo Carlos Cristophe da Silva 
Companhia Mineradora de Minas Gerais - COMIG 
Geoprocessamento 
Rua Aimores, 1697 - 7° andar 
230140-000 - Belo Horizonte - MG 
ISPRS Commission VII / Working Group 4 
ABSTRACT 
This paper presents a methodology for integrating several programs commonly use by geologists for 
assessing mineral resources and planning mineral exploration activities. These programs usually include 
CADD (Computer Aided Drafting and Design), DBMS (Database Management Systems). The methodology 
contemplates the implementation of dynamic interchange of information between these programs, 
independently from hardware platforms, making use of modem software tools currently available. A DBMS 
structure was developed, specific for mineral resources databases. The main objective is to simplify map and 
image interpretation and to provide fast and accurate final products, to be used in the decision making 
process for monitoring mineral resources. This approach was tested and is now being employed in mineral 
exploration projects of COMIG (Minas Gerais State Mining Company). The results obtained testify its 
effectiveness, resulting in time and costs optimization and helping the decision making process. 
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