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Oil, Gas & Mining vocabulary · Exploration & Geology

Exploration

Meaning in oil, gas & mining, with examples

/ˌekspləˈreɪʃən/nounCore term

In oil, gas & mining, exploration means: The work of searching for new oil, gas or mineral deposits, using geological mapping, geophysical surveys, sampling and test drilling.

In Turkish: arama, arama çalışmaları

How it is used

Used for the first, high-risk stage of a project: exploration licence, exploration well, exploration budget, exploration geologist. Companies 'carry out' or 'conduct' exploration and talk about exploration success rates.

Example sentences

  1. We are planning two exploration wells in the northern block next year.

  2. Exploration around the old copper mine found a new zone of mineralization.

Common collocations

  • exploration licence
  • exploration well
  • exploration drilling
  • exploration budget
  • carry out exploration
  • seismic surveyA method of mapping rock layers underground by sending sound waves into the earth and recording the echoes that bounce back from different layers.
  • dry holeA well that does not find oil or gas in amounts worth producing. It is usually plugged and abandoned.
  • depositA natural concentration of a mineral, metal, coal, oil or gas in the earth that may be large and rich enough to be worth mining or producing.
  • core sampleA long cylinder of rock cut out by a hollow drill bit and brought to the surface so geologists can study and test the rock as it was underground.
  • feasibility studyA detailed technical and financial study that shows whether a mine or an oil and gas project can be built and run at a profit, used to decide whether to invest.

More terms: Exploration & Geology

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