Newmont - air core progress, page-6

Aircore is essentially a small RC rig. The drill bit samples from the bottom of the hole as the rods advance, with minimal contamination. In open, drivable country (depending on the target and program objectives), the rig typically drills -60° inclined holes spaced about 100 meters along a fence, with fences spaced 200-400 meters apart. Depending on ground conditions, terrain, and collar spacing, they can achieve 500-1000 meters per day. Some days are productive, while others are spent changing tires between every single drill hole, or halted by weather.The end of hole (EOH) is determined by drill bit refusal to establish a fresh rock sample. Previously, companies would drill to set depths, but now good exploration teams are usually driven by geologists rather than accountants. Newmont, would be seeking a clean, fresh rock samples for multi-element, low detection limit geochemistry to identify pathfinder elements and ratios, as well as for hyperspectral analysis all for porphyry vectoring.