Brand new education is launched - to ensure good environmental management during exploration

The Drilling Industry Education Center is now launching a completely new education for exploration drilling practitioners. Environmental management and high standard in field work combined with theoretical knowledge about relevant legislation are in focus.

Under our feet, the bedrock can contain metals such as iron and copper that are crucial for the society. We might also find battery metals such as cobalt and graphite, which are necessary in the transition to a sustainable society. To discover and locate these metals, we are dependent of efficient exploration work to map and examine the bedrock. Sometimes, this requires hundreds of meters of drilling in the bedrock. To leave as small footprint as possible, it is important that the exploration work is carried out with as little impact on the environment as possible.

The Drilling Industry Education Center now hopes to ensure this by contributing with a special course Environmental fieldwork. The objective is to increase the knowledge about environmental management and to secure high standard when undertaking field work, by improving safety and minimizing the environmental impact from field work. The course is mainly designed for personnel doing exploration drilling and other exploration field work.

– Exploration is about investigating and gathering information about what is in our bedrock. It is a time-consuming and resource-intensive work that often takes place in remote and inaccessible places. The distance and the inaccessibility to the work places make it important to plan and prepare well so that the work can be carried out as safely, efficiently and with as little environmental impact as possible, says Kerstin Brinnen, Director Legal Affairs and Land Issues at Svemin and part in the project group that developed the course.

– The course covers both information on how to carry out the practical work and of rules that can be actualized during fieldwork, says Kerstin Brinnen.

The course includes, among other things, tips and instructions for field personnel regarding how to protect natural environments, transportations in the terrain and on the handling of drilling water and chemicals as well as restoration and aftercare. The new course has been developed in collaboration with representatives of the industry to be well anchored and practical oriented.

– It is important that exploration drilling takes place in a safe way and with as much knowledge and environmental considerations as possible and hopefully we will come a long way with this new education. Especially since it is digital and can be performed remotely at any time, Kerstin concludes.

The courses provided by the Drilling Industry Education Center are currently only available in Swedish, but the course about environmental fieldwork will most likely be available in English next year.

Check out the education at the Drilling Industry Education Center’s webpage (swe.)

FACTS 

Environmental fieldwork (Yttre Miljö) is developed by Svemin and provides in-depth knowledge of how, above all, exploration drilling can be carried out to affect the environment as little as possible. The course include, among other things, legislation that is relevant to field personnel, transport in terrain, protected natural environments, handling of chemicals in the workplace, handling of drilling water and restoration.

Thanks to the courses being offered via the website, they can be completed at any time and on all platforms. In your mobile, tablet or computer.

In addition to the Environmental fieldwork, the Drilling Industry Education Center provides a course in health and safety for drilling technicians, which is also adapted to field work for exploration drills. Training in core drilling, geology and hydrogeology as well as drilling of water and energy wells is also planned for the range of courses.

The Drilling Industry Education Center (Borrbranschens Utbildningscentrum) is a collaboration between the industry organization for drilling companies (Borrföretagen), the Swedish Drilling Association (Föreningen för Aktiva i Borrbranschen, FAB) and Svemin.

The work has been carried out within the strategic innovation program Swedish Mining Innovation, a joint venture by Vinnova, Formas and the Swedish Energy Agency.