A. MINFILE Name/Number Search

Each mineral occurrence may have up to 16 different names, in descending order of importance. The MINFILE name search considers all 16 entries for each occurrence. If you do not know the entire name of an occurrence, you can search the database using only the first part of the name.

You can search for a specific MINFILE number, a set of numbers, or a range of numbers. If you want specific MINFILE numbers you need to fill all nine spaces in the MINFILE Number field (e.g. 114P 045; or 082ENW025). Otherwise you can enter partial numbers, for example enter '092J' to select all the occurrences that have 092J as the first 4 numbers.

The search by both MINFILE number and name at once is useful to quickly find a name within a MINFILE number range.

See Use of Wildcard Characters for additional rules.

Reference in MINFILE/pc User's Manual: Chapter III, Section D

B. Commodity/Status/NTS Search

Up to 15 commodities are listed for each MINFILE occurrence in descending order of importance, with the Primary Commodity first. The Primary selection will search on the Commodity ranked as the most important and listed first. The At least selection will search on a Commodity entry anywhere in the list. A drop-down list shows all the commodities; choose one. A list of the commodity codes and descriptions can be found in Appendix D of the MINFILE/pc User's Manual.

Reference in MINFILE/pc User's Manual: Chapter III, Section B

Each MINFILE occurrence is assigned one of 5 status designations. You can search for up to five status types at one time by selecting the appropriate status(s).  Definitions of Status are in the Coding Manual.

Reference in MINFILE/pc User's Manual: Chapter III, Section C
Reference in MINFILE Coding Manual: Section 3.4

The National Topographic Series (NTS) Map selection searches for map areas with scales from 1:1,000,000 (e.g. NTS 094) and ranging to 1:25,000 (e.g. NTS 092J02W). When searching by NTS map, ensure that ALL or partial digits are entered to the desired scale (e.g. enter '092', not '92'. MINFILE allows up to 4 NTS maps for each occurrence. An NTS Index map is available. See Use of Wildcard Characters for additional rules for the NTS Map search.

Reference in MINFILE/pc User's Manual: Chapter III, Section A3

C. Deposit Type Search

Deposit Type data is ranked in descending order of importance, with up to 4 entries for each occurrence. The Primary selection will search on the Deposit Type ranked as the most important and listed first. The At least selection will search on a Deposit Type entry anywhere in the list. WARNING: Not all occurrences will have this data.

For this search, enter the code or description which represent the deposit type you wish to search. Use a single letter for code to search on a group of deposit types (e.g. "K" for SKARN). To browse and select from the drop-down lists, click on the down arrows and select an entry from either list. A complete list of the Deposit Types, which are based on the B.C. Geological Survey Branch's Mineral Deposit Profiles, is included in Appendix G . Also, visit the BC Mineral Deposit Profiles site of the Economic Geology and Mineral Inventory Section, BC Geological Survey.

Reference in MINFILE/pc User's Manual: Chapter III, Section H

D: Tectonic Belt/Terrane/Latitude/Longitude

Tectonic Belt:  There are 5 tectonic belts covering BC (click map displayed on screen).  This search allows you to isolate all of the occurrences within one or more Tectonic Belts.  (WARNING: some occurrences do not contain this information).

Terranes:  The terrane codes are listed in Appendix VI of the Coding Manual.  A drop down list of terranes is available; choose one. (WARNING: some occurrences currently do not contain this information).

Latitude/Longitude: coordinates are based on a NAD 27 datum.  Searches by latitude and longitude may be general (searching across a wide range of each) or specific (looking for specific coordinates). If you are searching for a specific location, it is important to note that only degrees and minutes can be input for searching. For example, if you need to locate 50 degrees 03 minutes 34 seconds North latitude, you should use a small range (for example, from 050 degrees 03 minutes to 050 degrees 04 minutes), rather than searching for a precise location. Valid ranges of latitude for occurrences in British Columbia are 48 to 60 degrees North, and valid values for longitude range from 114 to 140 degrees West.

E: Import Numbers

A list of import numbers can be created using MINFILE/WWW or MINFILE/pc, or created using an editor such as Notepad.  The list must follow the format for MINFILE numbers and must have a .txt file extension.

The list of MINFILE Numbers can then be imported into your search (under the Import Numbers tab) for downloading or reporting on a specific set of MINFILE occurrences.  Enter the full file path and name (e.g. c:\minfile\work\list.txt) or browse your computer for the file.  Once complete the Search Results screen will appear populated with the data for your import list (e.g. list.txt).

F. Search Does Not Work?

If you are conducting a search or navigating the reports you may encounter an error similar to this one:

Our search engine needs to kept track of where you are in the system.  This requires you to accept cookies: under Netscape choose Edit, Preferences, Advanced and click on Accept all cookies or Accept only cookies that get sent back to the originating server; under Internet Explorer choose View, Options, Advanced and click off Warn before accepting "cookies".

G. Use of Wildcard Characters

The wildcards % and _(underscore) will work with MINFILE Name, Number and NTS Map searches.

If you precede a word with %, the search will return occurrences which have that word anywhere within the field.  For example,  %Poll will find names like POLLY, APOLLO, and MOUNT POLLEY. And %2F will find NTS maps like 082F02W.