The Company Mineral Drillhole Database (MDHDB) includes over 3 million historic drillholes and more than 11 million surface samples from open-file reports. According to the Mining Act 1978 (WA), companies must submit annual exploration reports, which often include surface sample and drillhole data. This information becomes publicly available after a confidentiality period of five years. The MDHDB doesn’t provide a complete history of drilling in Western Australia as reporting requirements have changed over time.
MDHDB content:
Pre-2000: Only a few datasets have sufficient metadata to be included in the MDHDB. The earliest data in the database dates from 1997.
2000-2006: Mineral Exploration Reporting Templates were introduced in 2000 and have been gradually adopted for submitting data digitally.
2007-present: Submitting data in digital format became mandatory in 2007. All drillhole data from 2007 onward is included in the MDHDB.
As a minimum drilling data available in the MDHDB comprise a collar file that has been validated against the tenement outline. Additional files — assays, geology and surveys — may also be available depending on the company’s submission. There has not been validation of the data itself, but it may have been amended or reformatted to allow its import into the database. To view data as originally submitted, consult the relevant mineral exploration Western Australian Mineral Exploration Index (WAMEX) report.
Caveat: The data in the tables have been extracted from the Mineral Drillholes Database which stores the assay data as supplied by mining and exploration companies. There has been no quality control carried out on the actual results. It is incumbent on the user to check the original reports if there is any doubt about the validity of the harmonised data.
Access the Company Mineral Drillhole Database (MDHDB)
Access the Surface Geochemistry Database
Searching the MDHDB
The ‘Drillholes’ and 'Geochemistry' search tools in GeoVIEW.WA allows the MDHDB to be queried textually using project name and operator, or spatially by tenement number, an area of interest, coordinates or map sheet.
Access to these data is via the online spatial viewing application, GeoVIEW.WA. Note that due to elevated data density, the layer is only visible when you zoom into the map.
Searching and downloading of harmonised drillhole and surface geochemistry is also available from the WAMEX Geochem website.
The assay data is available in a pivoted format.
Downloading the complete MDHDB
The complete database can be downloaded from the DEMIRS Data and Software Centre. Navigate to the Datasets [GDA1994] tab, then to Statewide spatial datasets - [GDA1994], to find the Company Drillhole and Surface Geochemistry Database.
Additionally, two downhole flat assay tables are available:
- A summary table with one row containing max ppm for 160+ analytes for each hole.
- A table with one row containing max ppm for 160+ analytes for every measurement down each drillhole and for surface geochemistry a table with one row containing the max ppm for 180+ analytes for each surface sample.
Scripts were run on the original database to harmonise the company analyte names to the matched standard analyte names, and to recalculate assay values in the company-supplied units of measure as ppm. Locations are in Lat/Long GDA1994.
