Geotest Projects Eldorado Gold, Stratoni fault underground, Greece

Project Information

Madem Lakkos hosts the oldest underground lead-zinc carbonate replacement mine in Greece known as Mavres Petres (“black rocks”). The deposit is directly linked to the Stratoni fault and the related fluid infiltration.

Client :Eldorado Gold
Location :Greece
Year launched :2020
Status :Finished
Value :1 M€
Drilled :7,000 meters

Project Description

One (1) underground rig was deployed to drill through the Stratoni fault to further test its prospectivity. Drilling stations were lying in the Mavres Petres mine and drilling exerted very bad geological conditions with cemented hydrothermal breccias and cataclasites related to fault’s movement. The program included both vertical and inclined upward and downward boreholes either from the hanging- or foot-wall of the fault.

Project Challenge

It has been an extremely challenging project that required both the best drilling technique and the best drillers.

Crosscutting fault zone with bad rock conditions
Requirement for best drillers and material

Collapsing borehole
Kaoline-filled joints

RESULTS

The project was successfully executed on time and cores were delivered to Client’s geologists for geological/geotechnical logging and assaying. The results provided new interesting data on the mineralization within and in the surroundings of the fault zone.