How to find and check historical drilling in WAMEX

To check whether a Western Australian target has been drilled before, start with its location and the historical reports covering that ground. WAMEX gives you access to open-file exploration reports and associated files. The useful result is a traceable list of earlier work, with enough detail to compare it against your target.

1. Search the ground, then narrow the reports

Open GeoVIEW’s WAMEX Search. Use a spatial search when you know the location or tenement. Use a textual search when you have a project name, operator, tenement identifier or report A-number. You can combine the two to narrow the results.

If you start from the GeoVIEW toolbar, choose Search → WAMEX Search, then Spatial Search or Textual Search. The official search guide explains the available filters.

Read the abstracts before downloading. Prioritise reports describing drilling within your area, and note their reporting periods. Search previous project or operator names as well as the current name; do not discard an older report simply because its title is unfamiliar.

2. Check the file list, not just the PDF

For a concrete example, open WAMEX report A117895, which covers the Cardinia/Mertondale project near Leonora. Its Document List includes a main report PDF, separate appendix packages and Drilling Data.zip.

This is a file-finding example: the listing confirms that those attachments exist, not that their contents answer a particular target question. Start with the report’s contents page and drilling discussion, then inspect the relevant attachments. Downloading only the main PDF can leave useful tables or plans behind.

Keep the A-number with every downloaded file. Save the report title, reporting period and the page or appendix you use. Link back to the report record so another reader can find the same material.

3. Work out what you actually have

Make a short inventory before trying to plot or compare anything:

• Collars: hole IDs, coordinates, coordinate system and total depths.

• Surveys: dip, azimuth and the depths at which they were measured.

• Assays: hole IDs, from/to depths, analytes, units and any detection-limit notation.

• Plans and sections: scales, coordinate grids and the holes shown.

Mark each item as found, not found or unclear. A collar record can locate reported drilling, but it does not tell you the assay result. Missing assays must remain missing; do not turn them into zero grades.

If you copy a value from a scan, compare it with the original page. Check decimal points, minus signs and characters in hole IDs before joining tables.

4. Check placement before comparing holes

Confirm the datum, projection and zone stated in the source. A local grid needs a documented conversion before you can place it alongside modern coordinates.

Test a known location first. If the old holes do not align, resolve the discrepancy before measuring a step-out or deciding whether a target was missed. Keep the original coordinates alongside any transformed values.

Then compare more than collar positions. Hole depth and direction matter when deciding whether earlier drilling reached the target. A nearby shallow hole may not have tested a deeper interpretation.

5. Compare the evidence in Canetoad

Find the area in Explore and inspect the available reports, government drilling and current company data. Follow the source links when a historical hole matters to your conclusion.

For your own mapped outlines or rasters, follow the Custom Layers guide. Check file compatibility and placement before using an imported layer in the comparison.

The graphics on this page illustrate the interfaces; they are not a plotted reconstruction of A117895.

Finish with a finding someone can check

Record four things:

• Evidence: A-number, file, page and relevant hole IDs.

• Location: how the historical work relates to your target, and whether placement was verified.

• Result: what the retrieved assays or logs actually report.

• Gap: the specific missing information that limits your conclusion.

Distinguish “no drilling found in the reports searched” from “this target has never been drilled”. If expected records are missing, try a broader spatial search and earlier names. The official WAMEX access page also provides a data-request contact.

For the next step—checking a new company result against that history—use our ASX drill-result guide.