WB Clarke Geoscience Centre - Londonderry core library
The Londonderry Drillcore Library is part of the W B Clarke Geoscience Centre located at 947-953 Londonderry Road, Londonderry. The drillcore library is modern and highly mechanised with an efficient retrieval system. It has 1.13 million metres of drillcore comprising 50% from metalliferous exploration, 40% from coal exploration and 10% from other drilling programs such as geotechnical drilling. The core library is open for inspection and sampling of drillcore by industry and research geoscientists. Contact details are available on the Contact page.
Core acquisition and submission
Mineral exploration companies are required to offer drillcore to the department upon relinquishing a lease. The drillcore is evaluated by the department to establish for its scientific, educational or economic value. Key drillholes or sample intervals of most value are systematically collected, indexed and stored.
Exploration companies with core to offer must contact the Core Library Manager to determine arrangements then complete and submit the drillcore inspection sheet (DOCX, 65.4 KB).
Title
Drillcore acceptance, disposal and access - policy and procedures (PDF, 1.79 MB)
Access to drillcore
Access to drillcore is free. For occupational health and safety reasons, inspections need two people to facilitate layout of core boxes.
To inspect drillcore, contact the Core Library Manager seven (7) days before visiting the facility and submit the drillcore inspection sheet (DOCX, 65.4 KB).
When sampling, the drillcore sample sheet (DOCX, 67.81 KB) needs to be completed and submitted to the Core Library Manager. All results from sampled drillholes need to be returned to the core library within 3 months using the exploration reporting template.
Other services
The core library provides ancillary facilities for core sampling and cutting. Sampling can be undertaken under controlled conditions provided 25% of a sample is retained. Diamond saws are available for slicing core and slabbing rock. Sampling of the core can be used to validate previously recorded values of economic materials and where advances in technology allow a re-evaluation of known mineral concentrations.
Online access to drillcore information
MinView will display the location of drillholes and the location of drillcore stored at a drillcore library, over the top of tenement information. MinView will also display this data over historical tenements while the GDW will display the data over Google Earth®.
Both systems will provide information about the drillholes and their index numbers for retrieval. MinView will provide a link to DIGS® where the actual core downhole logs and other related information can be accessed.
Clients can determine whether core for the selected location is available for viewing or sampling from the convenience of their own desktop.
- Click MinView. Then select the type of view required, e.g. the 'minerals' interface or 'titles' etc.
- Select the Core Library location layer from the list.
- Highlight an area on the map (by dragging the cursor across the map).
- View the list of drillcore relevant to the area selected. This list shows the location of the material in the Core Library and also provides a link to the DIGS system.
- Log onto DIGS® to view the report containing the actual core downhole logs and other relevant information if available.
- Select drillholes for viewing of core and record the core library storage index number.
- Contact the Core Library Manager to arrange viewing and/or sampling of core.