Core orientation in vertical

holes
 Vertical hole in Portugal

• Ground investigation for mine shaft

• 1250m deep (planned)
• 5m radius
• Drillcon drilling contractor
• Devico
• Directional core drilling
• Core orientation
 Borehole specifications

• Core orientation required in project specifications

• Devico offered the DeviCore system, but mainly
as a ”steering” tool to keep track of borehole
inclination. Core orientation would be possible if
inclination was above -88.5°.
 DeviCore system

• Continuous orientation
• Scratchers marks the core during drilling
• Single point orientation
• The core is marked on surface after drilling
 DeviCore principal

DeviCore 0° tool face aligned with master scratcher/mark

 Drilling equipment

• Atlas Copco Corac N3/50 core barrel

• 3m inner tube with split tubes
• 50mm core
 DeviCore in Corac

• Difficult to accommodate the DeviCore in the split

tubes
• DeviCore takes up 1 meter of the inner tube

• Solution: 1.5m extension behind the inner tube/split

tubes and on the core barrel
 Core orientation

Mark on the inner tube corresponds with DeviCore

 Core orientation cont.

• Drill 3m as normal
• Reduce or remove water
flow
• Instrument reading before
breaking the core
 Core orientation cont.

Mark the core at 0° tool face and pump the split tubes
 Core orientation cont.

Mark the core according to tool face reading (shows up)

 DeviCore results

• Core orientation has worked (surprisingly) well

• Good results achieved even at inclinations down
to -89.3°
• Normal error 0°-10°
• Maximum error about 30°-40°
• All orientation work performed by the drillers
 Understanding the orientation

• Some issues getting the

core loggers to
understand the orientation
• Making the orientation line
from the reference mark
• Vertical hole gives rapid
changes in azimuth which
moves the orientation line
over the rock structures
 Directional core drilling

• High natural deviation

• Soft and fractured rocks
• Dogleg setting of 6!!
• 5 DeviDrill corrections
before 450m