Problem

Resource companies are under increasing pressure to keep costs down and increase productivity. This means minimising delays at the rig, keeping drilling costs down and being able to make decisions fast, based on reliable information received in a timely manner.

Solution

In a field trial of the REFLEX EZ-GAMMA, the innovative combination of the REFLEX EZ-GYRO (a north seeking gyroscopic survey instrument) was coupled with the REFLEX EZ-GAMMA in order to provide critical information on the hole position and lithology of the surrounding rock, in near real time.

The coupling of the REFLEX EZ-GAMMA with the REFLEX EZ-GYRO and their communication with the secure, cloud based, REFLEX HUB in near real time, provided significant efficiencies for one of the world's largest gold producers, KCGM, at their Fimiston Open Pit (known as the Super Pit) in Kalgoorlie.

"Being able to look at the gamma logs while still on site was very useful," said senior geologist David Nixon. "It would usually take days for this data to be available."

With both instruments being driller operable and, as a result, no service providers required to perform the task, the gamma logging was done without downtime delays and at minimal cost.

"Apart from the time and cost advantages," said REFLEX's gyro products support engineer, Guru Jabbal, "using the rig wireline, we could get to the bottom of the hole. Many service providers cannot get to this depth. However as we were able to, we managed to get the maximum data all the way to the bottom."

REFLEX's area manager - Goldfields WA, Linton Fariss supported this saying; "We were so confident in our solution that we were happy to let it go down to the extreme depths in this real production environment at KCGM."

Results

The gamma logs from the EZ-GAMMA provided a direct correlation to the core samples already logged. This provided the assurance that the logged core was accurate, while simultaneously identifying and confirming the location of the Golden Mile Fault. Core orientations have historically been notoriously unreliable, so the affirmation of this information in the REFLEX EZ-GAMMA provided further confidence for KCGM in their findings.

"The REFLEX EZ-GAMMA data clearly identified a zone of higher readings which correlated with the Golden Mile Fault," said Nixon.

How this was achieved

Ongoing discussions and a long standing working relationship with innovative, world leading drilling services company, Foraco, enabled REFLEX to develop the fit for purpose instrument based on feedback from their customers. "We recognised the potential in what REFLEX was doing," said Foraco's WA manager Paul Allen, "and could see where it would provide exceptional value."

"We like to embrace new technologies that are right for our clients. Working with REFLEX gives us the early adopter advantage in a very competitive market."

Significance for industry

Resource companies, wincing from the historically high cost of obtaining natural gamma data, now have the opportunity to access gamma logging at minimal additional cost with the additional benefit of near real time access to accurate logging data through the secure, cloud based, REFLEX HUB.

Without the need for a trained service provider on-site, the driller operable REFLEX EZ-GAMMA, an industry first, offers significant time and cost savings.