Sonic drilling coupled with on-line-on-mine-analyses: field tests at the Villeveyrac bauxite deposit (Southern France)

The field tests of the SOLSA expert system at the bauxite mine (SODICAPEI-VICAT, South France, 15th to 30th September 2018) aimed to evaluate the workflow and individual instrumental parameters, mechanics of the drill rig, the core scanner (RGB, profilometer, VNIR-SWIR (final with XRF)), the benchtop system XRD-XRF, data architecture, data transfer, software and interaction with the (open-) databases. The focus was on iron oxyhydroxide and clay mineral rich lithologies, that is also present in Ni-laterite profiles. In total 65 m were drilled at two boreholes with a 90-100% core recovery on 52 m (80%). Core scanning recorded 40m/10h. The results on the undestroyed core surface are representative of the core. The XRD-XRF benchtop system is fast (5-7 min/sample) for validating and quantifying analyses on the regions of interest, defined by the core scanner. It will be installed at the drill site for immediate environmental analyses. Data connection was successful from drill to core-scanner. The hyperspectral database is performant for the lithologies present at this bauxite deposits. The sample database is operational based on international standards. Data superposition and fusion, and GUIs are under development.