**4. Field work/data storage**

The field work consists of sampling the planned points and recording the associated data. The importance of GIS and database are with a great significance here. Effectively, the team on the field uses the planned data installed in the GPS and the database to collect the data and store them.

During the data sample collection phase, geologists use the GIS to plan their movements on the field, given that roads and topography are not uniform. With the GIS, a geologist can adopt the use of another road avoiding steep slopes. The GPS helps the geologist in navigation on the field. Inside the GPS, all the maps are inserted in order to help the geologists go through to their target. The GPS also contains

pre-planned points done in the GIS. Also, the GPS ensures that the geologist is within a reasonable distance to sample the target, record the coordinates and mark the point with a specific name as defined in the SOP of the project. The geologist records inside his field notebook, others characteristics of the sample like color, texture, and environment etc. At this stage, the notebook is considered like the hard database. When the field trip is finished, all the data taken contained in the GPS and the notebook are recorded inside the database. Access can be used for such project. At this stage, it is consider being a soft database. Tracking and other data from the GPS are also extracted via Basecamp software capable to extract and send data from GPS. Those tracking and stored data will be called later in the GIS to assess the work achieved.

A map containing the area of interest is put into a GPS to ensure the safe navigation of a prospector on the field. In the case of the Meiganga topo sheet, pre-defined points are sampled following the GPS guiding and recorded (MARK) button to collect GPS coordinates on the sample points acting as a reference which will be further checked and validated once the prospector is back from the field. This exercise on the field is not complete without orderly labelling.
