Exploration and infill resource drilling budgets can be considerable and per metre cored-hole costs are typically between EUR150- 200, depending on factors such as hole size, project remoteness and planned depth. Larger greenfield projects will drill several tens of kilometres to prove-up a resource before progressing to the later technical phases. With this investment, it begs the obvious question: are project owners getting full value from their early drilling programmes?
The poor quality or absence of geotechnical and groundwater data usually necessitates separate specific drilling programmes at extra cost and delay related to the procurement process, rig mobilisation, separate logging and testing teams.
This presentation demonstrates that hydrogeological and geotechnical test methods can be adapted to piggy-back on resource drilling programmes, thereby considerably enhancing the value of such investigation programmes to the project owner. A number of efficient data capture methods are described in this presentation that need not be expensive and can be tailored for the project stage. Being able to demonstrate to the Client flexibility when it comes to integrating hydrogeological and geotechnical test methods with resource drilling programmes is critical to the success of this approach; methods that are cumbersome, cause delay and expense will not be accepted by the Client. A well planned piggy-back investigation should result in the need for fewer dedicated drill programmes saving time, lessening the capital outlay and reducing the logistical burden on the owner. As a result, there is an improved holistic understanding of issues at an early stage in the project and better planning for future technical studies. Additionally, this approach enables the early capture of baseline data for environmental studies when such studies frequently require long-lead times giving rise to project delays.
