Geology and data

Drillhole database

Geological Survey of Victoria's (GSV) drillhole database, also known as the borehole database, is a central store for geological information on holes drilled in Victoria. It's an important resource for mining; extraction and exploration of minerals and petroleum; and assessments of groundwater.

The database holds over 140,000 records in the following categories:

  • petroleum
  • groundwater
  • coal
  • mineral
  • heavy mineral sands
  • extractive industry
  • engineering
  • general.

Reports and data

GSV supplies open-file borehole data as part of the Borehole data collection.

We also offer borehole information via the Geological Survey of Victoria Catalogue and as a map layer in GeoVic.

History of data capture

Before 1980, GSV recorded borehole data on 1 inch:1 mile plans and hard-copy borehole records.

This included:

  • data for water boreholes drilled by both the public and private sectors
  • all boreholes drilled by Minerals and Petroleum Division
  • petroleum wells and some private-sector mineral exploration boreholes.

In areas where drilling was of particularly high density, locations were recorded on these plans as a single point or as occurring within an outlined area.

The parish was traditionally used as the primary classifier for numbering boreholes. Some minor anomalies exist where a borehole and parish boundary may be on one side of a road or the other, or where parish boundaries have been moved.

In 1980, GSV moved the location data to 1:100,000 AMG plans. Several years later, the survey started a program of electronic data collection.

  • Borehole locations were digitised from the 1:100,000 plans with an accuracy of 300m.
  • In areas of high borehole density, where boreholes were plotted on a single point, often only the first and last ten were recorded in the database.
  • Boreholes whose parish was known, but exact location was unknown, were also recorded.
  • Gathering mineral exploration borehole data from open-file exploration reports began in 2001 and is ongoing.
  • Historic data is being captured 20m and 250m which is typically as accurate as the source allows.
  • Assay data has been consistently captured but other downhole data hasn't.

For further information about the borehole database please contact us.

More information

Page last updated: 30 Oct 2026