5. Exploration - Are we Swamped by Data?

There’s one concept everyone in the geosciences can’t stop talking about – data. Whether we’re collecting it, analyzing it, or cleaning it, the work never seems to end.As we face challenges like deposits becoming deeper and harder to find, how do we make sure we’re leveraging data in the right ways, to support us now and in the future?The first part is using the right data management practices when we’re collecting data – whether historical or new. Joanne Wood shares how KoBold Metals is approaching data intensive approaches to exploration, and her best practices in data management.Of course, we also need tools to manipulate and analyze this data once collected. Lindsey Heagy (Ph.D., UC Berkeley) talks about open source software development, and how it contributes to innovation and reproducibility in the geosciences.And once our data has been manipulated, perhaps we need to pass it onto another team to use. Usually, this is a long and frustrating process involving scripts and error checking. But the Global Mining Guidelines Group has introduced an open standard to combat this – the Open Mining Format (OMF). Franklin Koch (Integration Lead, Seequent) shares why interoperability matters, and his experience writing the first iteration of OMF.Theme music is Confluence by Eastwindseastwindsmusic.comCome join us in Salt Lake City, Utah for SEG 2026, September 30th to October 3rd. You can expect world-class technical content, including iconic ore deposits and the geological processes of North American Cordillera. The program balances applied case studies, framework geology, and technological innovation. The conference offers a unique opportunity to connect, learn, and help shape the future of economic geology. See you there.