HyLogger

The National Virtual Core Library

The National Virtual Core Library (NVCL) is a collaborative project with AuScope and is the world’s largest online drillcore mineralogical database with over 1.6 million metres of freely accessible drillcore data.

It aims to improve our understanding of the geology of the uppermost 2 km of the continent's crust and provide standardised mineral and image data for reference drillcores. We have an NVCL node at the WB Clarke Geoscience Centre, in Londonderry NSW.

The NVCL project uses the CSIRO-developed HyLogger drillcore scanning system for imaging and acquiring spectral information.

HyLogger

The HyLogger system is an advanced imaging and spectroscopic scanning technology that rapidly measures the mineralogical characteristics in drillcore, chips or hand samples. It uses spectroscopy to detect diagnostic spectral features associated with mineralogy, mineral chemistry and physical properties of geological samples.

This technology enables non-destructive, rapid and statistically robust analysis of rock, ore and alteration minerals that are often difficult or impossible for the human eye to interpret correctly.

In 2009, the HyLogger2 was provided to GSNSW as part of the AuScope NVCL joint project funded by federal and state governments to provide standardised mineral and image data for reference drillcores. The HyLogger2 system combined a high-resolution digital camera with visible-near infrared (VNIR, 380–1,000nm) and short wave-infrared (SWIR, 1,000–2,500 nm) sensors enabling detection of common ore and alteration minerals such as iron oxides, kaolin, mica, smectite, chlorite, epidote, amphibole and sulfate species.

The HyLogger3 update added a thermal-infrared (TIR, 6,000–14,500 nm) sensor to existing HyLogger2 machines. The TIR wavelength measurements can detect common rock-forming minerals (e.g. feldspar, quartz, pyroxene, garnet, olivine, carbonate and phosphate groups), as well several hydroxyl-bearing minerals also measured by the VNIR and SWIR wavelengths.

In late 2024, the world’s first HyLogger4 system was installed at the WB Clarke Geoscience Centre. This delivers continuous spectral coverage over the complete visible to infrared range from 380 nm to 14,500 nm (VNIR-SWIR-MIR-TIR) combined with continuous co-registered high-resolution imagery at 25 µm per pixel. 

The addition of the mid‑infrared (MIR, 2,500–6,000 nm) range enables detection of diagnostic features for a broad suite of minerals, offering validation of interpretations from the other wavelength ranges and improving discrimination between spectrally similar minerals.

Scanning service

Our priority is on internal research and external projects that offer strong scientific or public value, including collaborations and academic work connected to GSNSW and its current projects. Each service requires a level of investment by the client and offers different periods of confidentiality (maximum 6 months).

For all scanning requests related to drillcore, chips and other material including core samples, hand samples or billets, please complete the online request form (DOCX, 73.55 KB). Include a short project outline, timeframe, required work, and purpose for the data. Requests will be prioritised based on instrument availability.

Data access

Published spectral data can be downloaded through:

• MinView, HyLogger drillholes layer – includes a summary drillhole plot, core imagery, downhole 1 m csv group level export, and the TSG datasets.
• Auscope NVCL portal – TSG datasets and core imagery.

Spectra can be viewed with The Spectral Geologist (TSG^™) software that generates digital images, surface profiles and mineralogical interpretations based on the spectral data.

A complete list of NSW’s uploaded drillcore to AuScope and its metadata is available for download.

HyLogger publications are accessible through DIGS. These include reports focusing on key deposits in NSW and how the spectral information can assist in characterising mineral systems to support exploration. The McPhillamys gold study published by AJES  is an example of the practical applications of HyLogger data with petrographic, geochronological and isotopic analysis to refine the alteration and mineralisation sequence in the deposit.

Portable equipment

Several portable instruments are available for validation:

• X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence instruments (pXRF) are used for rapid characterisation of a wide range of geological materials and for validating HyLogger data.

Handheld spectroscopy devices:

• Agilent 4300 FTIR spectrometer
• TerraSpec 4.

For further information 

Email hylogger@dpird.nsw.gov.au