Staying competitive in mining goes beyond striking gold. As Gold Road Resources celebrated the success of their Gruyere Gold Mine in Western Australia’s northeastern Goldfields, their Discovery team was ramping up exploration activity in the surrounding Yamarna project area.

In 2020, Gold Road’s Geological Systems team identified a brewing issue within their expanding exploration program: the uncontrolled and unstructured entry and approval of daily drilling activities.

Brett Hand, Gold Road’s Geological Systems Superintendent, recalls, “The increased exploration drilling activity was requiring considerable effort from site personnel to track and manage. We saw that our existing systems—reliant on manual data entry and paper forms—were struggling to keep pace, inefficient, and prone to error.”

A Bold Move Towards Data Modernisation

The reality was clear: business process inefficiencies across multiple areas—such as inaccurate calculations, questionable data quality, time wasted on numerous untracked individual spreadsheets, and the inability to effectively analyse cost and performance data—would inevitably lead to monetary and operational losses. This drove Gold Road to seek a solution to streamline workflows and empower their geologists with accurate, real-time information.

“We couldn’t afford to let data management become a bottleneck,” Brett explains. He recognised that Gold Road needed more than incremental improvements—it required a complete rethink of how the team managed and valued their data.

With this vision in mind, Brett emphasises, “We needed a solution that would enable us to harness the full potential of our exploration data and make informed decisions that would drive our success.”

Transitioning experienced geologists from trusted spreadsheets and paper forms to digital solutions required a significant mindset shift. “It was important to show the team that embracing technology didn’t mean losing our hands-on approach—it would actually refine it to be smarter and more precise.”

This forward-thinking mindset set the stage for a digital transformation that reshaped Gold Road’s operations and positioned them as a leader in data-driven exploration.

"Digitising our forms has given us far greater visibility of critical information. We no longer have data hidden away, unused."

Brett Hand, Geological Systems Superintendent

Implementing CorePlan: A Three-Phase Transformation

Gold Road’s journey with CorePlan unfolded through a structured, three-phase approach that tackled key areas of improvement:

Phase 1: Automating Plod Entry

The initial phase focused on eliminating the time-consuming task of manual data entry. Previously, Gold Road’s drilling contractors submitted plod PDFs that geologists transcribed—a process that could take up to 20 minutes per plod. With several rigs operating daily, this quickly became a significant drain on resources.

"Manually entering plods was a task nobody wanted," Brett recalls. "The time commitment quickly added up with multiple rigs running."

By collaborating with their drilling contractor, Gold Road enabled real-time plod submission and approval through CorePlan. This change streamlined operations, allowing their geologists to review and validate data instantly.

“It’s saved our team about 5–6 hours per week,” Brett notes. “That’s time they can now devote to high-value work instead of data entry.”

Phase 2: Digitising Forms for Improved Compliance

The second phase addressed the paper-based forms that supported Gold Road’s essential daily operations, including vehicle checks, safety inspections, and environmental monitoring. Previously, field teams recorded these activities manually, creating risks of misplaced data and compliance oversights.

For example, vehicle pre-start checks were logged in notebooks kept in each vehicle, which meant that issues like cracked windscreens could be easily missed. By digitising these forms with CorePlan, Gold Road ensured real-time data submission and centralised storage.

Field teams now complete forms directly on their mobile devices, enhancing data accuracy with immediate submission. “Digitising our forms has given us far greater visibility of critical information,” Brett shares. “We no longer have data hidden away, unused.”

This real-time access has improved compliance and facilitated quicker responses to any issues, ensuring all records are precise and readily accessible while removing the frustration of lost paperwork.

Phase 3: Integrating CorePlan with Existing Systems

In the final phase, Gold Road harnessed CorePlan’s API to integrate it with existing systems, transforming drilling data into a valuable, actionable resource across the organisation.

“API-driven integration was key for us,” Brett explains. “Our goal was to have all systems communicating with each other, and CorePlan enabled us to connect drilling data with other key areas of the business.”

This integration drove significant efficiencies: Gold Road’s real-time dashboards now offer insights into drilling progress, rig utilisation, and safety performance, empowering the team to make proactive decisions. Automated reporting has also saved time while ensuring consistency, especially in the team’s expenditure and ESG reporting.

Additionally, this integration improved cross-departmental collaboration, breaking down silos and providing a clearer, more unified view of the data.

A Future Driven by Advanced Analytics

Gold Road’s digital transformation has streamlined operations and paved the way for more advanced data usage. As their exploration program grows, CorePlan offers the scalability and flexibility needed to meet their evolving demands.

Looking ahead, Brett sees an even more interconnected future, with plans to deepen API integrations to include geophysics and lab systems.

“CorePlan has completely changed how we approach exploration,” says Brett. “The ability to use real-time data to drive the next decisions sets us up for long-term success.”