Mineral Exploration - stock photo

A diamond drilling rig extracting drillcore to evaluate the economics of developing a potential gold mine deep in the Borneo jungle of Indonesia. The drilling rig was dragged by a bulldozer along recently created forest tracks to test a gold target location identified by geological mapping and sampling. The drillcore is collected in boxes and samples of the drillcore are sent to a laboratory for geochemical analysis. If the analytical results indicate economic concentrations of gold, further drilling is undertaken in an attempt to measure the quantity of gold contained in the substrata. Exploration and mining activities on Borneo island are at the forefront of environmental issues with respect to preservation of this equatorial jungle.