Complex Projects. Controlled Delivery
Sand & Gravel Exploration
GeoSonic Drilling provides specialist exploratory drilling for the UK aggregates industry, helping producers investigate, assess and delineate prospective mineral reserves. Our sonic drilling capability is particularly effective across river terrace deposits, alluvium, glacial and glaciofluvial sands and gravels, weakly cemented sandstones and conglomerates.
Under a UK-wide framework agreement with Tarmac, a CRH company, GeoSonic delivered more than three kilometres of exploratory drilling across twelve sites in a single year, with projects extending from Northumberland to Hampshire.
Sonic drilling recovers highly representative samples from sand and gravel deposits, including formations beneath overburden or below the water table. Compared with conventional investigation methods, it provides improved sample quality and clearer identification of strata boundaries, enabling more accurate geological models and better-informed assessment of mineral reserves.
Every project begins with a detailed site walkover to evaluate access and ground conditions, identify water supplies and establish suitable storage and operational areas. This allows the correct support equipment to be selected, from conventional drive-on plant to specialist low-ground-pressure machinery for wet or unstable sites. Borehole positions are surveyed for underground services before drilling begins.
This preparation, combined with GeoSonic’s technical expertise, enables safe mobilisation and consistently high production rates. During a major investigation of glaciofluvial deposits in Staffordshire, GeoSonic completed almost 1,000 metres of drilling at an average rate exceeding 30 metres per day, with boreholes averaging approximately 20 metres deep.
On a separate investigation of shallow river terrace deposits in Cambridgeshire, average production exceeded 50 metres per day. These productivity gains, together with superior sample recovery, can offset the higher unit cost of sonic drilling and deliver strong overall value.
GeoSonic combines representative sampling, responsive site planning and efficient delivery to provide the aggregates industry with reliable subsurface information for future resource development.
