Identification_Information:
    Citation:
      Citation_Information:

        Originator: Alberta Energy Regulator

        Originator: Alberta Geological Survey

        Originator: Meek, D.M.

        Originator: Lopez, G.P.

        Publication_Date: 2024

        Title: Gamma-Ray Spectrometry Data from Selected Alberta Mineral Assessment Reports (tabular data, tab-delimited format)

        Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: tabular digital data
        Series_Information:

          Series_Name: Digital Data

          Issue_Identification: DIG 2024-0027
        Publication_Information:

          Publication_Place: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

          Publisher: Alberta Geological Survey

        Online_Linkage: https://ags.aer.ca/publications/all-publications/dig-2024-0027
    Description:

      Abstract: The Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) contracted Purple Rock Inc. (Purple Rock) to extract geoscience data and information from a selection of 328 mineral assessment reports (MARs) currently only available in PDF format, submitted by the mineral exploration industry to the Government of Alberta between 1954 and 2022, primarily concentrating on post-2000 assessment reports and selected older reports.

This publication provides a compilation of more than 20000 unique gamma-ray spectrometry measurements reported in 12 of the MARs submitted to the Government of Alberta from 1975 to 2014. Data in this compilation were captured "as is" and may include errors from the original reports. Users should consult the original MARs to confirm data accuracy and quality. The user should be aware that transcription or unit conversion errors may be present, and that historical geoscience data are not a substitute for original, first party research. If errors in this dataset are uncovered, please contact the AGS.

This compilation is published in a unique format to limit the number of columns required. Additional details are available under the Completeness Report section of the metadata.

This work was completed under the Mineral Grant provided by the Government of Alberta June 22, 2021.

      Purpose: To provide scintillometer and U-Th-K spectrometer measurements extracted from Alberta mineral assessment reports.

      Supplemental_Information: Language: In English;
    Time_Period_of_Content:
      Time Period Information:
        Single Date/Time:

          Calendar_Date: 2014

    Currentness_Reference: compilation date
  Status:

    Progress: Complete

    Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: None planned
  Spatial Domain:
    Bounding Coordinates:

      West_Bounding_Coordinate: -120

      East_Bounding_Coordinate: -110

      North_Bounding_Coordinate: 60

      South_Bounding_Coordinate: 49
  Keywords:
    Theme:

      Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category

      Theme_Keyword: boulders

      Theme_Keyword: compilation

      Theme_Keyword: critical minerals

      Theme_Keyword: data

      Theme_Keyword: digital data

      Theme_Keyword: exploration

      Theme_Keyword: geology

      Theme_Keyword: glacial till

      Theme_Keyword: mineral assessment report

      Theme_Keyword: mineral exploration

      Theme_Keyword: mineral mapping program

      Theme_Keyword: outcrop

      Theme_Keyword: radioactivity

      Theme_Keyword: radiogenic

      Theme_Keyword: spectral gamma ray

      Theme_Keyword: thorium

      Theme_Keyword: uranium
    Place:

      Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category

      Place_Keyword: 72e

      Place_Keyword: 72l

      Place_Keyword: 72m

      Place_Keyword: 73d

      Place_Keyword: 73e

      Place_Keyword: 73l

      Place_Keyword: 73m

      Place_Keyword: 74d

      Place_Keyword: 74e

      Place_Keyword: 74l

      Place_Keyword: 74m

      Place_Keyword: 82g

      Place_Keyword: 82h

      Place_Keyword: 82i

      Place_Keyword: 82j

      Place_Keyword: 82n

      Place_Keyword: 82o

      Place_Keyword: 82p

      Place_Keyword: 83a

      Place_Keyword: 83b

      Place_Keyword: 83c

      Place_Keyword: 83d

      Place_Keyword: 83e

      Place_Keyword: 83f

      Place_Keyword: 83g

      Place_Keyword: 83h

      Place_Keyword: 83i

      Place_Keyword: 83j

      Place_Keyword: 83k

      Place_Keyword: 83l

      Place_Keyword: 83m

      Place_Keyword: 83n

      Place_Keyword: 83o

      Place_Keyword: 83p

      Place_Keyword: 84a

      Place_Keyword: 84b

      Place_Keyword: 84c

      Place_Keyword: 84d

      Place_Keyword: 84e

      Place_Keyword: 84f

      Place_Keyword: 84g

      Place_Keyword: 84h

      Place_Keyword: 84i

      Place_Keyword: 84j

      Place_Keyword: 84k

      Place_Keyword: 84l

      Place_Keyword: 84m

      Place_Keyword: 84n

      Place_Keyword: 84o

      Place_Keyword: 84p

      Place_Keyword: alberta

      Place_Keyword: canada

  Access_Constraints: Public

  Use_Constraints: Acknowledgement of the Alberta Energy Regulator / Alberta Geological Survey as the originator/source of this information is required as described in the Open Government License - Alberta.
  Point_of_Contact:
    Contact_Information:
      Contact_Organization_Primary:

        Contact_Organization: Alberta Geological Survey

        Contact_Person: AGS Information Manager

      Contact_Position: AGS Information Manager
      Contact_Address:

        Address_Type: mailing and physical

        Address: Alberta Energy Regulator

        Address: 2th Floor, Twin Atria Building

        Address: 4999-98 Avenue NW

        City: Edmonton

        State_or_Province: Alberta

        Postal_Code: T6B 2X3

        Country: Canada

      Contact_Voice_Telephone: (780) 638-4491

      Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (780) 422-1459

      Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: AGS-Info@aer.ca

      Hours_of_Service: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  Cross_Reference:
    Citation_Information:

      Originator: Alberta Energy Regulator

      Originator: Alberta Geological Survey

      Originator: Meek, D.M.

      Originator: Lopez, G.P.

      Publication_Date: 2024

      Title: Drillhole Data Extracted from Selected Alberta Mineral Assessment Reports (tabular data, tab-delimited format)

      Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: tabular digital data
      Series_Information:

        Series_Name: Digital Data

        Issue_Identification: DIG 2024-0022
      Publication_Information:

        Publication_Place: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

        Publisher: Alberta Geological Survey

      Online_Linkage: https://ags.aer.ca
  Cross_Reference:
    Citation_Information:

      Originator: Alberta Energy Regulator

      Originator: Alberta Geological Survey

      Originator: Meek, D.M.

      Originator: Lopez, G.P.

      Publication_Date: 2024

      Title: Outcrop Descriptions and Sample Geochemistry Extracted from Selected Alberta Mineral Assessment Reports (tabular data, tab-delimited format)

      Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: tabular digital data
      Series_Information:

        Series_Name: Digital Data

        Issue_Identification: DIG 2024-0023
      Publication_Information:

        Publication_Place: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

        Publisher: Alberta Geological Survey

      Online_Linkage: https://ags.aer.ca
  Cross_Reference:
    Citation_Information:

      Originator: Alberta Energy Regulator

      Originator: Alberta Geological Survey

      Originator: Meek, D.M.

      Originator: Lopez, G.P.

      Publication_Date: 2024

      Title: Sediment Geochemistry from Selected Alberta Mineral Assessment Reports (tabular data, tab-delimited format)

      Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: tabular digital data
      Series_Information:

        Series_Name: Digital Data

        Issue_Identification: DIG 2024-0024
      Publication_Information:

        Publication_Place: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

        Publisher: Alberta Geological Survey

      Online_Linkage: https://ags.aer.ca
  Cross_Reference:
    Citation_Information:

      Originator: Alberta Energy Regulator

      Originator: Alberta Geological Survey

      Originator: Meek, D.M.

      Originator: Lopez, G.P.

      Publication_Date: 2024

      Title: Surface Water and Groundwater Chemistry from Selected Alberta Mineral Assessment Reports (tabular data, tab-delimited format)

      Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: tabular digital data
      Series_Information:

        Series_Name: Digital Data

        Issue_Identification: DIG 2024-0025
      Publication_Information:

        Publication_Place: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

        Publisher: Alberta Geological Survey

      Online_Linkage: https://ags.aer.ca
  Cross_Reference:
    Citation_Information:

      Originator: Alberta Energy Regulator

      Originator: Alberta Geological Survey

      Originator: Meek, D.M.

      Originator: Lopez, G.P.

      Publication_Date: 2024

      Title: Outcrop Section Logs and Sample Geochemistry from Selected Alberta Mineral Assessment Reports (tabular data, tab-delimited format)

      Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: tabular digital data
      Series_Information:

        Series_Name: Digital Data

        Issue_Identification: DIG 2024-0026
      Publication_Information:

        Publication_Place: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

        Publisher: Alberta Geological Survey

      Online_Linkage: https://ags.aer.ca
Data_Quality_Information:
  Attribute_Accuracy:

    Attribute_Accuracy_Report: See original mineral assessment report(s) for additional details.

  Logical_Consistency_Report: Data from 12 different mineral assessment reports (MARs) were compiled into a single dataset. When spatial locations were checked for uniqueness neither location names, sample names, or actual locations (e.g., latitude/longitude) were unique, because of data duplication in multiple MARs, and a lack of location/sample name complexity (e.g., Sample_nme "14" is reported in MAR 1976-0012, 1977-0019, and 2007-0025).

Many MARs included unstructured text related to the sample. In many instances this text was captured in a "notes" column. The text included in these columns was not thoroughly reviewed, and it is possible that offensive language has not been removed.

The number of significant digits for extracted values is as reported in the original mineral assessment reports. Values not reported or illegible are recorded as -9999.

Samples that return values that are less than the lower detection limit are indicated by the "<" symbol followed by the numerical value of the lower detection limit. Samples that return values that are more than the upper detection limit are indicated by the ">" symbol followed by the numerical value of the lower detection limit. For additional laboratory methodology details please see original mineral assessment reports.

  Completeness_Report: In some cases, data in the original mineral assessment report are illegible (i.e., poor scan quality, messy handwriting). These data were omitted from the compilation and recorded as -9999.

This compilation dataset is reported in a unique format. Rather than including analysis method and detection limit in the analyte column, both are reported for each individual record. In many cases this results in multiple records providing analyte determinations for a single sample. For example, one record will report analyte determinations for a sample where inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used and reported a detection limit of 2 ppm, and a second record will report analyte determinations for the same sample where ICP-MS was used and reported a detection limit of 10 ppm, etc. This format was required to reduce the number of columns reported, which would number in the thousands if both analysis method and detection limit was encoded into each column.

Data in this compilation were captured "as is" and may include errors from the original reports. Users should consult the original MARs to confirm data accuracy and quality. The user should be aware that transcription or unit conversion errors may be present, and that historical geoscience data are not a substitute for original, first party research. If errors in this dataset are uncovered, please contact the AGS.
  Positional_Accuracy:
    Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy:

   Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report: See original mineral assessment report(s) for additional details.
    Vertical_Positional_Accuracy:

   Vertical_Positional_Accuracy_Report: See original mineral assessment report(s) for additional details.
  Lineage:
    Process_Step:

   Process_Description: Purple Rock Inc. (Purple Rock) was awarded a contract with the Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) to extract geoscience data from digital copies of mineral assessment reports (MARs) in PDF format through a request for proposals process in 2022. Work was completed between August 2022 and March 2024.

All data in this compilation were extracted from MARs submitted to the Government of Alberta by individuals and/or companies exploring for minerals in Alberta. The MARs are only available in PDF format, and as such it is difficult and time consuming to extract useful geological data from these publicly available documents. All MARs were downloaded from the Government of Alberta's metallic and industrial mineral assessment report searches webpage.

Purple Rock used the scanned images from individual MARs where data were reported and converted the image data into tabular form. These data were irregular and had to be standardized to be ingested into a database format and then compiled for use. Several tools, programs, statistical methods, machine learning techniques, and past experience with similar reports from other Canadian jurisdictions were applied to process these data.

Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC)

At each stage of the process there were automated and manual checks for quality assurance. The QA/QC process was as follows:

- Excel is used for data entry, fields have data validation rules applied.

- Submitted work is reviewed by senior staff until accepted as completed. Feedback is documented in internal records.

- A validation script in Python (>2000 lines of code) checks all Excel files. Whenever the script is changed, all existing Excel files must pass its validation. Sometimes the addition of a new rule can trigger corrections to other files.

- The validation script submits the data to the staging area of the database. Here some additional validation is performed mainly regarding data type and maximum field length.

- Data are transformed and loaded into a replica of the AGS geoscience schema.

- Reports are generated to look for orphaned locations or sample names (location without data, sample without location), among other "orphan" conditions.

- Location data are checked in QGIS (e.g., locations that are outside of Alberta, outside the MAR boundary, or unexpected in any way)

- When errors appear above, corrections are made to the original Excel working files (or scripts, or SQL, to address data validation, transformation, and loading as needed) and data are reloaded. The working files are kept in a version tracking system to ensure everyone who works on them has consistent copies and the reason for changes after initial submission are noted.

- Exploratory data analysis is performed as a form of QC. Investigating the data and verifying anomalies or unusual values with primary data can help find errors.

- Data compilations are examined for a selection of the highest value samples (e.g., gold), and then checked that the original reports have the same values.

- Deliverables are generated with scripts to avoid errors during compilation.

Sources of Error

Despite thorough QA/QC procedures, errors may have occurred during the transformation of extracted MAR data into structured data. This includes:

- Original errors. Many reports submitted by industry in the MAR collection contain errors. Original errors in the MAR collection, such as incorrect UTM coordinates, were corrected whenever possible. It cannot be guaranteed that the original reports are without errors, or that reasonable corrections to errors do not mask deeper problems.

- Data omissions. In some cases, data in the original MARs are illegible (e.g., due to a poor quality scan) or not fully usable (e.g., sample information with no location data). In such cases, the data were omitted.

- OCR/transcription errors. When copying content from scanned documents, mistakes may be introduced in numerical quantities such as missing digits, incorrect digits, or a missed decimal point. A variety of statistical checks were performed to look for errors in this category and avoid many manual transcription errors by using more accurate and efficient tools to capture the data.

- Category reduction errors. In extracting and standardizing MARs data, information was condensed into categories. Some nuances and details are lost when data is categorized.

- Loss of context. Extracting content from reports and aggregating it with other data means that some information and knowledge is not captured. In particular, decisions, intent, objectives, omissions do not translate into numerical data. Geoscientists who use data from this compilation should consult the original reports to learn contextual information, in proportion to the importance to their project.

- Georeferencing errors. Many maps were georeferenced throughout this project to establish coordinates when these were not given numerically. Wherever possible, georeferencing was confirmed by comparing to base maps. However, georeferencing is an imperfect process and it is not always possible to establish location with optimal precision.

- Reliance on other datasets. Many Government of Alberta and third party datasets were used to complete this project (e.g., Alberta unique well identifier database, Alberta Energy's MAR boundary shapefile, Esri's World Satellite Imagery and Topography, Google Earth, etc.). Errors in these datasets may be propagated into the compilations.

Common Problems

Several common problems were identified during the data extraction process of mineral assessment reports from Alberta, including:

- A lack of standardized format for MARs.

- Sample locations missing (or available in a different report; or available on a low-resolution map with low coordinate confidence, which does not include a UTM grid or an EPSG code).

- Sample numbers/names not matching between sample description table and assay/analysis certificate (either missing or inconsistent).

- Reports are so intertwined that up to five need to be processed simultaneously.

- Some reports contain an entire duplication of data from another report.

- Some reports do not contain extractable material and/or do not contain location information for the analyses included.

- Some reports contain analytical data for one set of samples and locations for a different set of samples that match another report in the collection.

- Reports include unofficial table of assay certificates, but not the original signed certificates, which leads to higher uncertainty about the data.

- Data are often captured in low-quality raster tables, photocopied or hand-drawn maps, and/or handwritten notes. Sometimes data are not provided in tables and the necessary information needs to be captured from the unstructured text of the report.

- The authors are often not clear about when the work was completed and/or what was sampled or analyzed.

   Process_Date: 2024

  Data_Quality_Information: Data quality varies between the individual mineral assessment reports.

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Entity_and_Attribute_Information: Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label: DIG 2024-0027 Gamma Ray Spectrometry Data

Entity_Type_Definition: This dataset is a compilation of more than 20000 unique gamma-ray spectrometry measurements reported in 12 mineral assessment reports (MARs) submitted to the Government of Alberta from 1975 to 2014.

Entity_Type_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: AGS_ID

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Unique identifier designated by the AGS for all records in this dataset in 2024.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Uniq_ident

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Unique identifier created by Purple Rock Inc. during the compilation, concatenating several values to uniquely identify a record.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Data_src

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Name of the mineral assessment report data was extracted from.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Rep_order

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Order in which data appeared in the original report.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Loc_name

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Location name identified in the original report.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Sample_nme

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Sample name provided in the original report, often equal to Loc_name.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Smpl_int_t

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Depth of the top of the sample interval, measured in metres.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Smpl_int_b

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Depth of the bottom of the sample interval, measured in metres.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Sample_nte

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Notes related to the sample.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Sample_dt

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Date, YYYY-MM-DD, of the visit to the location; sample collection date.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Material

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Material type sampled.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Long_NAD83

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Longitude, NAD83 datum, decimal degrees east.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Lat_NAD83

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Latitude, NAD83 datum, decimal degrees north.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: E_10TM83

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Easting, 10 TM, NAD83, central meridian -115°.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: N_10TM83

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Northing, 10 TM, NAD83, central meridian -115°.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Methd_code

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Method code used by the analytical laboratory to summarize their procedure where available. In other cases, this code was created by Purple Rock Inc. during data capture to summarize a specific analytical process. See original mineral assessment report for more details.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Methd_inst

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Instrument used for the analysis.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: K_cps

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Potassium detected, in counts per second, measured with methods described under Methd_code.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: K_pct

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Potassium detected, in per cent, measured with methods described under Methd_code.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: K_ppm

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Potassium detected, in parts per million, measured with methods described under Methd_code.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Rad_cps

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Gamma radiation detected, in counts per second, measured with methods described under Methd_code.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Th_cps

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Thorium detected, in counts per second, measured with methods described under Methd_code.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Th_ppm

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Thorium detected, in parts per million, measured with methods described under Methd_code.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: U_cps

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Uranium detected, in counts per second, measured with methods described under Methd_code.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: U_ppm

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Uranium detected, in parts per million, measured with methods described under Methd_code.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Compiler

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Company that compiled the data into its present form.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Publisher

Attribute_Definition_Source: Alberta Geological Survey

Attribute_Definition: Organization that published the dataset.
  Distribution_Information:
    Distributor:
      Contact_Information:
        Contact_Organization_Primary:

          Contact_Organization: Alberta Geological Survey

          Contact_Person: AGS Information Manager

        Contact_Position: AGS Information Manager
        Contact_Address:

          Address_Type: mailing and physical

          Address: Alberta Energy Regulator

          Address: 2th Floor, Twin Atria Building

          Address: 4999-98 Avenue NW

          City: Edmonton

          State_or_Province: Alberta

          Postal_Code: T6B 2X3

          Country: Canada

        Contact_Voice_Telephone: (780) 638-4491

        Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (780) 422-1459

        Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: AGS-Info@aer.ca

        Hours_of_Service: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Distribution_Liability: The Alberta Energy Regulator / Alberta Geological Survey (AER/AGS) licenses this information under the Open Government License - Alberta. Any references to proprietary software in our documentation, and/or any use of proprietary data formats in our releases, do not constitute endorsement by the AER/AGS of any manufacturer's product.
  Metadata_Reference_Information:

    Metadata_Date: 20241204
    Metadata_Contact:
      Contact_Information:
        Contact_Organization_Primary:

          Contact_Organization: Alberta Geological Survey

          Contact_Person: AGS Information Manager

        Contact_Position: AGS Information Manager
        Contact_Address:

          Address_Type: mailing and physical

          Address: Alberta Energy Regulator

          Address: 2th Floor, Twin Atria Building

          Address: 4999-98 Avenue NW

          City: Edmonton

          State_or_Province: Alberta

          Postal_Code: T6B 2X3

          Country: Canada

        Contact_Voice_Telephone: (780) 638-4491

        Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (780) 422-1459

        Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: AGS-Info@aer.ca

        Hours_of_Service: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

    Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata

    Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

    Metadata_Time_Convention: local time

    Metadata_Access_Constraints: none

    Metadata_Use_Constraints: none