Earthworks Downhole Explorer is a drillhole presentation and investigation product suitable for all forms of downhole data logs, assays and surveys. Data can be presented as tabulated reports, drillhole log sheets, plan and section plots and 3D views. Sample compositing and intersection functions are also provided.

Microsoft^® Windows^® 7, Vista, XP, 2000, ME, 98.

Downhole Explorer comes supplied with a comprehensive set of introductory and advanced tutorials which take you step-by-step through all the important procedures needed to process your data. The user interface is designed for ease of use, with toolbars, tool tips, context help and many features designed to make your work easier and faster. For example, the Downhole Explorer document wizard makes it possible to create projects without initially reading help. This takes even the novice user quickly through all the steps in building a complete project document including data validation, desurveying, plan plots, section plots, log plots and 3D views in just a few minutes.

Multi license packs (MLP) offer substantial discounts for bulk purchases. Licenses can be purchased in quantities of 3 or more. Contact mining@rockware.com for bulk quantity pricing details.

Easy. Just download Downhole Explorer, install and run. The programs will operate in Demo mode i.e. the programs are fully functioned but can only import data files that have been specially branded by us. To learn how to use Downhole Explorer - choose the Take the Tour button displayed on the startup dialog.

Significant educational discounts are offered on all Earthworks products. But before you rush out and buy Downhole Explorer, you should consider structuring your course work around a standard set of branded data files. You can use our tutorials and sample data, or you can ask us to brand a set for you. Consider the advantages: all students can be safely supplied with their own copies of the Downhole Explorer programs (unregistered, running in Demo mode), you pay nothing, and, the university is protected from any potential liability over copyright infringements.

Just about any. Data is accessed through the Earthworks data source drivers, for example SQL tables, spreadsheets, text files - and selected proprietary formats like Datamine binary tables. Downhole Explorer does not impose any particular database on you - you can use whatever corporate standard you have, or may change over to in the future. Assays and logs can be across multiple files. Surveys can be separate or with collar data. There is a distinction between downhole logs (values at a depth such as magnetics) and interval logs (values between a from and to). Downhole Explorer can deal with whatever data you have available. If you've only got collars you can still see where they are and annotate them in a collar plot. If you've no collars or surveys but assays, litho or downhole logs you can still get log plots.

Yes, any 3D data type supported by the Data Source Drivers can be imported and displayed in plan, section and 3D views. Common formats include DXF, AutoCad^® DWG, ArcView^® and Wavefront.

Yes, both metric and imperial scales are fully supported.

Yes, DSD v1.8 includes a DataShed Table driver which allows Downhole Explorer to work with DataShed data selections.

It doesn't store data. Downhole Explorer loads data directly from your chosen source. The DHX document stores the locations and import options for each table and the various view settings applied display the data.

Downhole Explorer purposely does not contain database management functions as these functions are more effectively provided by purpose built database management systems like Microsoft Access, Ingres or Oracle^®. The Exploration Office programs are instead designed to sit above the data management level to add specialist exploration data modeling, display and analysis capabilities to your existing database. There are many advantages to this data model:

• Database functions in professional database management systems will always be more extensive, better supported, more often upgraded and less expensive than the data management functions found in special purpose application programs.
• By using a common database solution for managing all your data, you will make significant savings on the time and cost of training users. Users who are already familiar with the corporate database system need only learn the procedures involved in accessing and processing data tables from within an Earthworks program.
• Because Earthworks programs read data directly from a central database, the data is never duplicated which saves you time, avoids errors in using temporary exchange files, and saves on disk usage.
• When a Downhole Explorer document is opened, all the tables, logs and section views are refreshed from the data source files. This not only saves you time in updating your plots but also ensures that your plots will always display the most recent data. When new holes, assays, surveys or logs are added to the central database tables, these updates are automatically displayed in your log sheets and section plots.
  

Downhole Explorer supports the Microsoft ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity) standard for accessing SQL database tables. ODBC is supported by all major commercial database systems and most spreadsheet programs.

Choose a suitable output driver (e.g. DXF) and export the data to this format.

Downhole Explorer also allows you to create user defined tables. For example you can select any columns from any of the tables and create a new table view. This new table can then be exported using the table driver. So Datamine users, for example, can easily export a desurveyed file directly into a Datamine format.

Typical drillhole data sets are no larger than a few thousand records in size, and this can be handled without problem on a modern PC. An exceptionally large exploration dataset might contain 50,000 records. All data is loaded into RAM, so with very large data sets there are two alternatives: (a) use a data management product like DataShed to filter the selection according to the area of immediate interest and work only on filtered selections, or (b) load the entire database, allocate additional swap space and install additional RAM.

This is probably the most innovative of all the features in Downhole Explorer. Because Downhole Explorer does not duplicate or store data files, any changes made to the source files are automatically reflected in all table, section and log views. The views or plots are updated whenever the document is opened or refreshed. So when you change the collar coordinates of a hole, or add a new hole to the database, you only need to open the DHX document to view the change - the tables are automatically indexed, desurveyed and displayed using the existing format and view settings.

Interval logs (From-To samples) are checked for gaps and overlaps and reported.

The consistency of each table is checked and any missing holes are reported. The program is capable of handling partial hole data, for example holes with collars and surveys present but without downhole sampling can still be displayed as hole traces.

Data conversion rules may be defined for each field in each table. These rules are stored in the document and applied whenever the tables are refreshed from the data sources. In this way changes and additions made to the assays data source are automatically dealt with whenever the document is opened or refreshed.

Downhole Explorer uses two reserved tables for the primary assay and the primary lithological logs. The assay table may contain up to 15 additional elements. The lithology table may contain any number of additional log fields e.g. "color", " mineralogy", "alteration", etc. Additional interval logs (properties defined over a From-To interval) and depth logs (properties defined at a discrete Depth value) may be imported and displayed in table, section and log views. There is essentially no practical restriction to the number or content of tables and fields.

Data can be displayed in table (no scaling), log (downhole scaling) and section (coordinate scaling) views. An extensive array of column formatting styles are provided including text, histogram, graph, dimension and bar in all types of views. Text display options include color, size, font and style. Line display options include color, width and style. Fill display options include solid color, patterns, colored patterns and textures. Legends may be defined to vary the color and style of text, lines and fill using the properties of hole samples.

Coordinate grids, scale bars, title blocks and profile boxes can be inserted onto any plot sheet. These plot items are context sensitive and react automatically to changes in the view settings. For example, when the plot scale is changed, the scale bar and coordinate grid will immediately be updated to reflect the current scale. Title blocks may also contain project fields like "date", "view azimuth", "scale", " company name", "hole inclination" as well as fixed text entries.

Yes, non-drillhole data is imported as 3D Objects and may be displayed with various formatting options in plan, section and 3D views. For example, a topography surface model can be imported and the intersection profile displayed in any section view at any orientation.

Yes, correlation lines and other structural features such as faults may be digitized in the section views. Lithological units etc. may be assigned color fill for easy identification.

Sections may be defined at any position and with any user defined azimuth and dip. The default view direction is always perpendicular to the section plane, but this may also be rotated horizontally and vertically. Any number of section views may be defined in the same document. Each view contains a complete family of sections spanning the entire extents of the data.

A section master may be applied to more than one view allowing the same section to be viewed in many different ways. For example, the section master can be applied to a standard EW section, a plan view and a 3D view. When the section definition is modified in one of these views, e.g. rotated, shifted or widened, the changes are immediately displayed in all views that use the section master.

The main document window may be copied any number of times. Each window is an exact replica of the other. Windows may be tiled or cascaded and different views selected in each. For example, you could display the assays table in one window, a section view in another and a hole log a third window.

Yes, in fact it is possible to select a group of samples in one view and display the selection in all other linked views. This feature is available in all table, section, 3D and log views. In this way it is possible to quickly identify a hole or sample e.g. select an assay record in a table view and locate the sample in section and log views.

The Compositor tool can be used in a variety of ways. You can interactively composite over any user defined hole interval with or without sample end snapping. The Synchronize function on the Compositor tool allows the selected interval to be located and displayed in any table, section or log view. Selected intervals may be saved to an intersections table together with the composited results. Results may include length weighted grades and dominant text values. The composited intersections may be exported for use in drilling reports, geostatistical analyses and geological modeling.