Exploratory drilling is used to assess soil content and identify valuable materials in various industries, such as mineral exploration and oil drilling. Core samples are taken to determine quality and quantity, and more holes may be drilled if the site is deemed profitable. Geologists can also use drilling to learn about geological strata and climate history.
Exploration drilling is a procedure in which several test holes are drilled for the purpose of assessing the soil content in a given area. It is conducted to find out if any valuable materials are present and to evaluate the quality of those materials. There are a number of industries that use exploratory drilling in their business, sometimes with their own drilling crews and sometimes through companies that provide drilling services for hire.
A common reason for exploratory drilling is mineral exploration. Once a potential site has been identified, exploratory drilling can be used to determine whether the site has materials of interest, ranging from metallic ores to diamonds, and to assess the quality and quantity of those materials. This is done by sinking a drill bit that takes a core sample into the ground; the core is extracted and analysed.
In the early stages of exploratory drilling, several test holes can be dug for core samples covering a large area. Once the value of the site is confirmed, more holes can be drilled and people can learn more about the quality of the site. The company must determine whether the exploitation of the site will generate profits in excess of the drilling costs and ongoing costs of maintaining the site once it is active. A site with potentially poor returns may be too expensive to invest in, leading the company to retire.
The oil industry also uses exploratory drilling to probe suspected oil deposits. Samples from the drill are analyzed to determine the quality of the crude oil, while geologists work on estimates of how much oil may be available at the site. People are sometimes surprised to learn that crude oil does indeed come in quality ranges that determine how much it can fetch on the open market, making analysis of oil deposits at a site critical.
Geologists can use exploratory drilling to learn more about geological strata, without the specific goal of exploiting mineral resources. Core samples can provide a wealth of information about a site’s geological composition and history. These samples can also be taken from deposits of ice and mud to collect layers of deposited data that provide information about climate; shifting pollen counts can indicate changes in the weather, for example, while increased deposits of some chemicals can sometimes be linked to geological or human activity.
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