Lessons from the past
Drilling to
understand
correlations
Professor Wladyslaw Altermann
(UP) and farm owner ‘oom Piet’
with the MDI team.
Last year JSE-listed Master
Drilling set up its equipment
to drill a historical hole on a
farm in Griqualand West in the
Northern Cape, writes geologist
Wernich Olivier.
W
orld-renowned geology
professor, Wladyslaw
Altermann, head of the
department of Geology at the University
of Pretoria, approached Master Drilling
in early 2017 about drilling a core hole
through the Ongeluk lavas, Magkanyene
(glacial rocks) and the Koegas Formation.
According to Altermann, information
on the contact between these formations
in the area is scant and the drilling
would, among other things, increase
understanding of the stratigraphic
correlation of these Transvaal Supergroup
rocks to other lithologies in central South
Africa as well as in other areas such as
Thabazimbi and the eastern Bushveld.
In addition, Altermann explains
that the age (2.5 to 2.2 billion years)
and the understanding of depositional
environments of the rocks in the
area is also inadequate; fresh samples
will allow geologists the opportunity
to better understand the geological
history of these formations.
“This understanding also has an
economic implication, the stratigraphic
correlation will add much needed
knowledge on the mineral bearing potential
of these formations,” says Altermann.
The Makganyene glacial deposits
are the remnants of one of the most
profound climate change events in the
[32] MINING MIRROR JANUARY 2018
Earth’s history, which occurred about
2.4 billion years ago, leading perhaps to
the total glaciation of the earth and its
oceans. The fresh core samples produced
by this project will help scientists to
understand better this climate change
event which was followed by large
lava flows, a significant rise in oxygen
levels in the atmosphere and a dramatic
decline in CO2 levels. This information
could prove invaluable to scientists
studying climate change models today.
According to Professor Altermann, the
fresh core samples will provide greater
accuracy of information than weathered
surface samples; the only information
scientists could use prior to this project.
This project was a first of its kind between
the mining industry and a university in
South Africa. Although there have been
a few other scientific drilling programmes
of similar nature in South Africa, such
as drilling through the Karoo rocks by
the CIMERA center of excellence and
University of Johannesburg, these were
all dependent on international funding.
This was the first multi-million rand
scientific drilling project driven, planned,
funded and executed using exclusively
local expertise through the collaboration
of a South African university and Master
Drilling, with assistance from the
Kumba Iron Ore mine at Kolomela.b