Drilling Smarter An Australian Innovation That Captures Accurate Core Sample Orientation Even in Vibrating Underground Conditions

An Australian drilling technology company has patented a system for accurately determining the orientation of core samples taken during mineral exploration drilling – solving a long-standing problem caused by the fact that drilling vibration can corrupt orientation measurements taken while drilling is underway. The invention validates that vibration is below an acceptable threshold before recording orientation data, ensuring that the recorded information reliably reflects the true orientation of the core before it is extracted.

The Problem

Core sampling is fundamental to mineral exploration. When a drill bit bores into the earth and extracts a cylindrical core of rock, geologists need to know not just what minerals are present in the core but also the orientation of geological features within it – the angle and direction of rock structures, fractures, veins and mineralisation zones. This orientation data is critical for constructing accurate three-dimensional geological models that inform where to dig, how to design a mine and how to estimate resource quantities.

The challenge is that during drilling, the core rotates and moves before it can be surveyed in its original underground position. By the time the core reaches the surface, any record of how it was oriented underground has been lost – unless specific steps were taken to capture that orientation information at the time of drilling. Tools designed to record core orientation downhole (in the borehole) exist, but they face a fundamental problem: the vibration created by the drilling process itself can disrupt the sensors in the orientation recording device, causing inaccurate readings.

If orientation data is recorded while drilling vibration is at a high level, the resulting measurements may be unreliable – but the driller cannot always know which measurements to trust and which to discard. The result can be systematic errors in geological models, with serious downstream consequences for resource estimation and mine planning.

What This Invention Does

Globaltech’s invention adds a critical validation step to the core orientation recording process. Before recording orientation data, the system determines that vibration from drilling is below a nominated level – a threshold below which the orientation sensor is known to provide accurate, stable readings. Only when vibration is confirmed to be acceptably low does the system record the orientation data.

The system then captures the data using a downhole core orientation recording device and associates that data with a specific timestamp. A user-operated communication device – such as a handheld device used by the driller at the surface – allows the driller to provide an input at a key moment, such as when the core is about to be separated from the underground rock body. The communication device records the time of this input, which is later used in conjunction with the downhole data to determine the orientation of the specific core sample being retrieved.

This combination of vibration validation and timed user input creates a reliable, verifiable record of core orientation that survives the extraction process – giving geologists accurate orientation data for the core samples that are eventually brought to the surface.

Key Features

Vibration-validated recording. Orientation data is only recorded when drilling vibration falls below a defined threshold, eliminating the corrupted measurements that have historically made downhole orientation data unreliable.

Downhole orientation recording device. A specialised instrument records orientation data underground – at the location and time of relevance – before the core is separated from the rock body, capturing the information that cannot be recovered once the core is extracted.

User-input timestamping. A surface communication device records the time of a driller’s input at a defined moment in the extraction process, enabling the orientation data collected downhole to be matched to the specific core sample being retrieved.

Post-retrieval data communication. After retrieval, the downhole recording device communicates with the surface communication device to provide an orientation determination based on the data recorded when vibration was within acceptable limits.

Integrated surveying and orientation system. The patent covers both core orientation and downhole surveying improvements, reflecting the interconnected nature of these functions in modern directional drilling and mineral exploration operations.

Who Is Behind It?

Globaltech Corporation Pty Ltd is an Australian company specialising in downhole drilling instruments and survey technology for the mining and exploration industry. The inventors are Khaled Hejleh, Gordon Stewart, Brett James Wilkinson, Michael Alan Klass and Johan Anwar. This application is a divisional of AU 2022263521. The application is managed by Westmark IP in Joondalup, Western Australia.

Why It Matters

Australia is one of the world’s great mining nations, and the quality of geological models derived from exploration drilling has enormous economic consequences for the industry. Unreliable core orientation data leads to poor geological models, which in turn leads to poor resource estimates, misguided mine designs and potentially uneconomic resource development decisions. The costs of bad data compound at every stage of a mining project.

Globaltech’s innovation addresses this problem at source – by ensuring that the orientation data recorded downhole is only captured when the conditions allow for reliable measurement. For an industry that depends on confident geological interpretation to make billion-dollar investment decisions, the reliability improvements offered by this system have tangible economic value. With IPC classifications covering core orientation (E21B 25/16) and borehole surveying (E21B 47/02), the patent is directly relevant to the exploration drilling technology sector where Australian companies like Globaltech are internationally recognised.

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AU 2026201530 was published in the Australian Official Journal of Patents on 19 March 2026 and is open for public inspection. Patent applications represent inventions that are sought to be protected and do not necessarily reflect commercially available products.

Related Concepts

Core sampling is a foundational technique in mineral exploration, allowing geologists to study the composition and structure of rock formations deep underground. Reliable orientation data for each core is essential for building accurate three-dimensional geological models – the basis for resource estimates and mine design. Vibration-induced measurement errors in downhole instruments have long undermined this data, making validation of measurement conditions a critical step in producing trustworthy exploration results.