For the last few years, I was always using MapInfo Professional to produce 2D drill hole maps. It worked fine but it is a bit complicated and not handy at all. For doing 3D drill hole viewing and planning, we use LeapFrog and Micromine. Both are great software when came to 3D models and drill hole databases. But now, I want to try the ArcGIS Pro extension called Target. This extension enables ArcGIS Pro to handle the drill hole database, 2D and 3D drill hole viewing. So in this article, I am going to take you through the steps to create a new drill hole database on ArcGIS Pro.
If you are new to both ArcGIS Pro and Target, I hope you find this article useful. I will try to explain every step. Before we go through, if you are planning to integrate a drill hole database onto ArcGIS Pro, you will need Target for ArcGIS Pro. It is not free but you can request a free trial (7 days) before deciding to purchase it.
https://www.seequent.com/products-solutions/geosoft-target/target-for-arcgis-pro/
Now let’s get started
Steps to Create a New Drill Hole Database on ArcGIS Pro
Step 1. Prepare the drill hole data
The Target for ArcGIS Pro supports various data sources. We can import the data from Excel, MS Access, Text files as well as ODBC Connection. Before we can connect the drill hole data file, we need to make sure that we have the following files to build our drill hole database.
- Collar
- Survey
- Interval
The collar file contains the drill hole collar information such as hole name, easting, northing, azimuth, dip, and total depth. The Survey file should contain the drill hole survey data. The Interval file is the data file that has from and to interval information. This can be lithology, geochemical analysis, or any other data.
Below is the example of the basic collar, survey, and interval files.
Collar file
Survey file
Interval file
With all these three basic files, we are good to go. If you are using Microsoft Excel to store the drill hole data, make sure you put all the information into one file. Collar, Survey, and Interval in one file with different sheets. This way we can easily select inside ArcGIS Pro. Before we continue, I would not recommend using MS Excel to store the drillhole database.
Step 2. Import the data to ArcGIS Pro
MS Access is way better than Excel for this kind of data. Now, open ArcGIS Pro and then go to the Target tab. Click the small triangle next to the Drillhole Data button.
Choose where you put the data. In this case, I use Excel format, so I choose Excel or Access Files.
After we choose the source data, we need to choose which sheet contains collar information as well as the survey data. Next, press Run to start the import and make a new drill hole database. Next, we need to check and matching the drillhole database fields.
Click OK when everything is correct. The import process will take some time especially when you have a lot of data in the database. Finally, our drillhole database is now ready
OK so at this point our drillhole database is ready. I will continue making more articles about Target for ArcGIS Pro. I hope you enjoy the article and see you next time.
