Increasingly, owners and operators of underground mines that have a long history are realising the economic and practical advantages of capturing historic mining records and converting hand drafted plans of underground mine workings into an electronic collection of attributed 3D wireframes that can be used for mine planning and exploration purposes._x000D_
This case study looks at the conversion of historic data to 3D models, with examples from three historic mining operations where this task has been undertaken: West Wits gold projects in South Africa, Northern Mining's Radzimowice gold mine in Poland and Avalon Resources' Viscaria copper mine in Sweden._x000D_
West Wits Mining Limited holds leases in the West Rand Goldfield of the Witwatersrand Basin, which has significant gold and uranium resources that have been mined since the 1890s. The Radzimowice Gold mine, Poland, hosts Au-Cu-As-Ag mineralisation that has been exploited since the 15th to 16th centuries. The Viscaria Copper mine is located in northern Sweden and was operational during a 15 year mining period to 1997._x000D_
The process of data collection, management and modelling is inherently challenging for these mines; specifically, collation of historical information, organising this data into logical arrangements that could be validated and sequentially creating 3D models using geo-spatial computer software._x000D_
Despite the challenges and costs involved in creating a digital 3D model, the conversion has added significant value to each project through identifying areas of potential new resources, aiding planning and presentation to stakeholders._x000D_
This paper outlines the processes involved in conversion from paper records to a 3D model, the challenges encountered and how these can be overcome, and importantly, the practical and economic advantages of undertaking such a task for explorers, miners and investors._x000D_
FORMAL CITATION:Goulios, A and Matheson, M, 2009. New value in old data - three-dimensional modelling of historical mine records, in Proceedings Seventh International Mining Geology Conference 2009, pp 95-100 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).