Origin of the drilling data

Borehole origin

Due to the iron richness of the zone, it has historically been heavily mined. The main operator of the zone is Fortescue Metal Group, which in the 2010’s sold several exploration claims to Murchison Metals ltd, which is the source of this data. The drilling data is open access because the company preferred to leave the core samples to a research organization, the ARRC (Australian Resources Research Center), based in Kensington in Western Australia. This open source data has led to many studies as it allows us to understand the formation of an actively mined area. A large number of statistical models, 2Ds and 3Ds are therefore available.

Murchison Metals Ltd

Murchison Metals is an Australian based iron ore producer. The company has various exploration projects in Australia, its main producing asset is JACK HILLS in Australia and its main exploration property is ROCKLEA in Australia.

Borehole Study

The first study from the drilling was requested by Murchison Metals Ltd. from CSRIO (The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), a government research and publishing body which under the direction of MAARTEN HAEST, published its report in 2011. [HCLG12]

In 2017 and based on this previous study, Francky Fouedjio, E. June Hill & Carsten Laukamp, again for CSRIO, published ; [FHL18]

This study, much more geostatistical, is the one that interests us because it is based on domaining and clustering, results that we will try to obtain via the GeoLime library and the tools developed by Deep Lime.

Hyperspectral analysis

In addition to the geochemical data, hyperspectral analysis was performed on the borehole cores, and these constitute the data set of interest in this statistical study. Hyperspectral imaging is a passive technique that analyzes the light reflected or emitted by an object. While the human eye sees color in mainly 3 bands (RGB), each pixel of a hyperspectral camera contains a spectrum of several hundred wavelengths. The hyperspectral image thus integrates the spatial information of the object with its spectral characteristics. As a result, hyperspectral imaging has become one of the key analytical tools in a wide range of industries because it is non-destructive, non-contact and can measure multiple parameters simultaneously.

Geological samples, such as drill cores, can be rapidly mapped for almost any mineral of commercial interest using hyperspectral imaging. The fusion of SWIR and LWIR spectral imaging is standard for the detection of minerals in the feldspar, silica, calcite, garnet, and olivine groups, as these minerals have their most distinctive and strongest spectral signatures.

Hyperspectral remote sensing of minerals is well developed. Many minerals can be identified from aerial images, and their relationship to the presence of valuable minerals, such as gold and diamonds, is well understood. Currently, progress is being made in understanding the relationship between oil and gas leakage from pipelines and natural wells, and their effects on vegetation and spectral signatures.