Drill core library at Tonsley carries 130 years of mineral exploration results in South Australia

The South Australian Drill Core Reference Library at Tonsley Innovation District in Adelaide's southern suburbs.
Images courtesy Tonsley Innovation District.

The $32 million South Australia Drill Core Reference Library, opened in 2016 at Tonsley Innovation District in Adelaide's southern suburbs, was part of the technical information support for the state’s mineral search.

Built for the South Australia's government's minerals and energy department, the drill core refernce library had geological samples – equivalent to 7.5 million metres of drill core – from more than 130 years of exploration for minerals and energy in the state, dating back to 1886.

A landmark three-dimensional geophysical model of the whole of South Australia to a depth of 100 kilometres also was available at Holloway Geoscience 3D Theatre in the drill core reference library.

The catalogued samples of drill cores could provide essential clues about the geological history of South Australia as well as indicators for new mineral and energy resource discoveries

A major goal of the library was to refine drilling search targets, aiming to reduce the cost of searching for minerals. Drill core samples were instrumental in major discoveries such as Olympic Dam and the Cooper Basin more than 40 years ago.

Because South Australian minerals were at a deep level, it made drilling individual holes expensive. The drill core library enabled explorers to highlight areas of real potential.

The library also had an extensive data bank of geoscience information, viewing rooms, education areas, an industry workshop as well as South Australia’s fossil collection.