Plateau Exploration
- SECTOR: Exploration
- LOCATION: Mayo, Yukon
- DATE: 2018
- EQUIPMENT: Hydracore 2000 (2)
Geotech Exploration was awarded a heli-portable exploration program located near Mayo, Yukon in May of 2018 with Newmont Mining Corporation. The program consisted of 7500 meters with a heli-portable set-up and was completed on budget and a month earlier than timeline expectations. Most of the equipment on the program had to be separated into loads small enough to fit inside a float plane with the larger components transported by helicopter.
Two Hydracore 2000 drills and a total of 14 crew were deployed to complete the drilling at various sites over the 20-kilometer area of the project. Historic drilling production on the program was 40-meters per day in challenging ground conditions and limited water access to the drill sites. Geotech in its first year on the program was able to double the production rates to up to almost 80-meters per day.
CHALLENGES
- Water logistics requiring staged water pumps running up to 10,000 ft in some areas
- High elevation drilling with risk of weather and being stranded at the drill
- Remote location with minimal access
ACHIEVEMENTS
- The program was also one month ahead of the planned schedule.
- NQ2 tooling was utilized to achieve maximum core recovery and a larger sample
- Doubled production averages
- Completed close to 1600 additional meters because of production increases.