Auscope National Virtual Core Library (NVCL)

Draft Operations Plan - Version 1.1 April 2008

Preamble

This draft Operations Plan remains to be refined and ultimately endorsed by the Auscope NVCL Operating Committee comprising representatives of Auscope Pty Ltd, each Geological Survey and the CSIRO. It is expected to support the collective desires of The Chief Government Geologists Conference (CGGC).

This version is pre-the April 2008 Operations Committee Meeting.

Input to this draft plan has come from:

  • Auscope Investment Plan NVCL Working Group during 2006-2007
  • NCRIS and Auscope Guidelines
  • June 2007 meeting in Adelaide of Chief Government Geologists representatives
  • CSIRO Exploration and Mining
  • Numerous individual conversations with representatives of each Survey

What is the Auscope NVCL?

The Auscope NVCL is one of several capabilities of the Federal Government’s NCRIS Earth Science National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme (Evolution of the Australian Continent) administered on the Federal Government’s behalf by the not-for-profit company Auscope Pty Ltd.

The NVCL will install and operate new research infrastructure in each State and Territory Geological Survey to scan and archive mineralogical and image content from each Survey’s drill core library and make this accessible for future research. The goal is foster new knowledge of the composition of selected portions of the top 2 kilometres of the Australian continent.

The NVCL is:

  • an initiative of NCRIS administered by the Federal Dept of …..
  • managed by Auscope Pty Ltd through an Operations Committee
  • is comprised of hardware developed and delivered by CSIRO
  • is implemented by State and Territory Geological Surveys

The NCRIS Infrastructure comprises:

  1. Drill core scanning technology (HyLogging instruments and TSG Software) operational in each State and Territory Geological Survey,
  2. Staff to operate these instruments,
  3. A community accessible “database” of spectral, mineralogical and image characteristics of the scanned cores available to support research

NVCL Project Structure

Operations Committee

This committee will represent each State and Territory Geological Survey, Auscope Pty Ltd and the CSIRO, through its Division of Exploration and Mining.

Survey membership will need to represent core library management functions (where the sensing instruments will operate), the strategic geological needs of each Survey, and information management functions as these pertain to the access to Survey data bases (e.g. GGIC representation).

This committee needs to drawn together as soon as Auscope agreements are signed in early 2008.

Functions are expected to include:

  • Coordinate a commonly accepted strategy for the implementation of the NVCL subject to Auscope objectives
  • Establish an Access subcommittee and take on an Access policy role to address Access issues. Suggested to include existing GGIC members.
  • Establish standard protocols & procedures for infrastructure operations.
  • Devise common implementation plan for data storage & web access
    in collaboration with Auscope-Grid team
  • Contribute to standards in mineralogical nomenclature for db
  • Devise common cost structure and procedures for external scanning
  • Implement knowledge sharing & coordinate training sessions
  • Coordinate NVCL Science Program
  • Liaise with CGGC and GGIC

Meetings

  • Twice yearly face-to-face + phone & video meetings
  • Annual external Auscope-sponsored users conference

Timelines: Major project activities fall into the following tasks:

  1. Agreements– Expected to be complete in March 2008
  2. Construction – Selected sub-systems started in 2007
  3. Delivery – See below
  4. Pre-cursor Program – See below
  5. Training – To coincide with infrastructure delivery
  6. Routine Operations – See below
  7. Maintenance – See below

Construction and Testing

Delivery Schedule

Operations Budget

Auscope fundsprovide for the following:

  • Construction and delivery of a HyLogger-2 series instrument for each of GSWA, PIRSA, NTGS, GSQ, GSNSW, MRT. In fact to of these (for NSWGS and GSWA) will be provided by CSIRO as its in-kind contribution to the project)
  • Upgrade of all these instruments to thermal infrared capability (HyLogger-3 series)
  • Lease of a similar instrument by GSV.
  • Spares inventory valued at ~ $150K
  • Maintenance budget up to ~$150K
  • Partial contribution to the development of the first generation NVCL database and web demonstrator.
  • Management of the overall project.

The Auscope budget does not provide for the following:

  • Routine operation of the infrastructure. This is provided by each State or Territory Geological Survey as its contribution to the national project.
  • Training
  • Operational consumables
  • Maintenance or spares beyond the provisions mentioned above

Survey Staffing

  • Minimum two operations staff as per Auscope agreement
  • Level 2-3 technician for instrument operation
  • Level 4-5 geoscientist for management, selection, processing, interpretation, reporting, etc
  • Assumed so far to be 100% each
  • Need to back each other up
  • Assistance of other core library labour for core movement, etc
  • Training required in instrument operation and interpretation
  • Training costs not covered by Auscope budget

Project Management Staff

  • Custodian, Administrator & Project Manager as per Auscope needs. Manager will be the geoscience champion

Recurrent Operating Cost Items at the Survey Level

  • Staff salaries
  • Staff training
  • Any new core library infrastructure costs, e.g. rollers if not already in place, industrial vacuum cleaner and brushes
  • Computer(s) & disks for processing & raw machine data (level 0 data) storage
  • Liquid Nitrogen - $1200 p.a. (flask provided)
  • Additional TSG-Core License ~$8k
  • TSG-Core annual maintenance (~10-20% of cost)
  • Freight of instrument between core libraries within State
  • Attendance at Auscope NVCL management meetings

Issues

  • Any special containers (two states have expressed interest and CSIRO sees considerable merit in this strategy. A cost of ~$30K each has been estimated from an external quotation if 6 could be built at once.

Instrument Delivery and Housing

  • Transport Box
  • Containers and Mobile Buildings
  • Rollers and Accessories

External Usage

External use of NCRIS infrastructure is permitted and encouraged by the broader research community and may be made available at “reasonable commercial rates”.

Such access is considered secondary to the primary use by the Auscope NVCL participants, but is important to develop as wide as interest in the new geological knowledge expected to come from the project and to foster Australia as a centre of geoscience excellence and a globally-favourable exploration and mining destination.

Use of NVCL Infrastructure needs to be sensitive in establishing its commercial rates to the requirements of competitive neutrality and fair competition with any private sector services operating in or likely to develop in this field. A common and transparent “charge-out rate” across all Surveys needs to be established for external use of the infrastructure.

A major function of the Operations Committee will be the establishment and maintenance of common polices and rates for external usage.

Initial policies are expected to include:

  • External and industry-requested logging (at commonly agreed cost)
  • Results added to the NVCL database immediately - Encouraged
  • Results added to NVCL after embargo period – Permissible – Say after 6 months
  • Results stay entirely private – Not permissible.

User Requirements

A user requirements specification for the infrastructure should be developed to ensure common understanding between the Surveys and the CSIRO manufacturing team. A first draft of this is available for review (put in Appendix).

Logging Strategies and Priorities

Principles

  • Quality results to facilitate research
  • The amount of material demands focus & measurement policies
  • Mere scanning is not the objective
  • Interpreted results (products) and public access to these is the goal

Criteria for Prioritising Scanning

  • Auscope GeoTransects and other Auscope Programs to assist synergy where beneficial
  • NVCL and related researchers
  • Internal Geological Survey programs
  • Background Core Library logging
  • Industry-requested logging (at commonly agreed cost)

–Results added to the NVCL - Permissible

–Results added to NVCL after embargo period - Permissible

–Results stay entirely private – Not permissible

Amounts of core to be scanned

Software

Each HyLogger will be provided with control and operating software and a users manual

The data interpretation engine for the NVCL will be the TSG-Core software developed by CSIRO and available from Ausspec international Pty Ltd. See and

TSG-Core comes in two versions, one data compliant, one not. The database compliant has the working title of TSG-Core Enterprise Edition and has a separate license. TSG-Core EE has the ability to talk to an MS-SQL database using ODBC and development is nearly complete to interface to a POSRES databases using SQLAPI**

TSG EE and its database connections are being entirely developed with CSIRO funds. It is not attractive to immediately develop the ability for TSG EE to talk to multiple databases.

A separate document has been circulated explaining the provision of TSG-Core software from a combination of Auscope funds and Survey funds.

Data Management Options

  • Data Volumes
  • Raw
  • Processed
  • Data back-up
  • NVCL Data Store
  • NVCL Portal
  • Data Delivery

OH& S Considerations

  • Electrical certification
  • Handling liquid nitrogen
  • Core tray handling