Create a Drillhole map in Surfer

Import drillhole data into Surfer to generate a drillhole layer that shows the location, deviation, and path of each hole, core, or well. Once the drillhole layer is created in the 2D map view you can then visualize the drillhole in true 3D along with its data content (e.g. contaminant concentration, mineralization concentration, assay results, geophysical properties, etc.) Drillhole paths, data points and intervals can be displayed and colorized by data values.

Drillhole data requirements

At a minimum, a collars table containing the Hole ID (name), Easting (X), Northing (Y), Elevation, Starting depth, and Ending depth is required to create a drillhole layer.  Survey data, interval data, and point data can also be imported to add detail to the map. 

For additional details about importing drillhole data into Surfer, refer to the Drillhole Map help topic.

How to create a drillhole layer

1. Click the Home | New Map | Specialty | Drillhole command or the Home | Add to Map | Layer | Drillhole command if you're adding the layer to an exiting map.
   The Drillhole Data Import dialog will open.

2. Click the Browse and Add buttons to select each of the drillhole data files (Collars and optional Surveys, Intervals, and Points)

   
   
   

    

3. Click Next. A new Drillhole Data Import dialog will be displayed for each data file where you can associate the imported data columns (Source Fields) with the required layer data (Table Fields).
   
   
   
4. In a Drillhole Data Import dialog to import collars or survey data: 
   1. In the Table Fields section, assign a Source data column to each Name field. 
   2. Use the Units fields to define the units for source data, if desired.
   3. Click the plus button next to any additional data in the Source Fields table to import that data or click the Add All Fields button to add all data.
5. Click Next to display the next data import dialog.
   
   
6. In a Drillhole Data Import dialog to import interval or point data, you must define which data type was imported by selecting either Interval (From/To) Data or Point (Depth) Data. Interval data will usually have rows with Hole ID, From, and To, and point data will have Depth data.
   
   1. In the Table Fields section, assign a Source data column to each Name field. 
   2. Use the Units fields to define the units for source data, if desired.
   3. Click the plus button next to any additional data in the Source Fields table to import that data or click the Add All Fields button to add all data.
7. Click Next. If additional imported data need to be defined, another Drill hole Data Import dialog will appear.
   
   NOTE: If one or more LAS files were selected to import, each LAS file will import data into a collars and a points table into the Collars and Points in the Drillhole Data Import dialog. The Collars tab is similar to the collars table Drillhole Data Import dialog described above and will take data from the well information block and the parameter information block in the LAS file. The Points tab will take data from the curve information block in the LAS file. 

   

   
   
8. After defining all imported data, the final Drillhole Data Import dialog will appear.
    
   Under Drillholes to Display, either click All to use all drillhole data or click Filter to filter the current drillholes to only display a select group of drillholes. Use the five Filter Conditions rows to build a filter using fields in the collars table or write your own expression in the text box. Click the arrow on a Filter Conditions row to view or select a previously used query.
   
   
9. Click Finish to create the drillhole layer.

Additional Resources:

• Surfer Drillhole Maps Training Video
• Surfer Drillhole Manager Tool Tip Video
• View Drillhole layer in 3D view in Surfer