Stratigraphic Drilling in the Eucla

The Geological Survey of Western Australia (a Division of the Department of Mines and Petroleum) will undertake a drilling program (Eucla Basin Stratigraphic Drilling Program) designed to sample basement rocks located in remote country on the Nullarbor Plain planned to commence in March 2013.
Seven holes are planned to be drilled in an area of roughly 35, 000 km2 on a combination of pastoral lease and vacant crown land (see table and map attached which detail locations of 6 holes). The easternmost hole is approximately 40 km west of the South Australian border, northwest of Eucla. All drill sites are on flat, open, grassy plain, close to pre-existing tracks.
The Eucla basement stratigraphic drilling program represents a unique opportunity to conduct scientific research on the unexposed older basement rocks that occur below the younger Eucla Basin successions. The research will provide important geological information to the public about this poorly understood region through detailed analysis of high quality diamond drill cores, and will aid the construction of interpreted bedrock geology maps of the basement rocks.