The Geological Survey maintains an extensive collection of
drill core at its storage facility in Sandyford. The collection has been
assembled over many years and consists primarily of core drilled by the Geological Survey and core
donated by others, especially the minerals industry. This drill core is a
significant asset not only for the Geological Survey in carrying out its mandate but also serves
as a valuable source for many sectors including academia, the minerals sector
and the geotechnical sector.
The Geological Survey also maintains a facility for core scanning.
A copy of the current core store catalogue (July 2019) is available for download.
The core store is located at:
Carmanhall Road
Sandyford Industrial Estate
Dublin 18
D18 H3A4
Viewing is by appointment only.
Please contact our staff either by phone: +353 (0)1294 1227 or email: gsi.corestore[AT]gsi.ie to arrange a visit.
Access charge €100 (including first 20 boxes). Additional boxes €2 (per box). Additional daily charge of €50 per day after the first.
Due to space constraints only 150 boxes can be viewed in a visit, more boxes can be viewed with a turnaround time of two days. There will be no additional access charge in these cases.
Donated cores may be viewed by the donor within a period of two years after donation at a reduced access charge of €40.
Special rates are available for research projects.
Birr Site
A small collection of core is held at a site near Birr, the contents are available for download.
This site is not staffed, but visits can be arranged if necessary with a long lead time and a maximum of 100 trays per day. Additional trays can be viewed but there will be a two day turnaround. There are no sampling facilities at this site.
Intention to dispose of drill core - 6 June 2019
The core store facility has exceeded its planned capacity and in order for GSI to continue to provide this service we have found it necessary to review our core holdings with a view to disposing of some core. This will allow room for newly drilled core by GSI and new offerings from third parties. GSI contracted SLR Consulting and Dr. Michael Philcox to review the core holdings in Sandyford and to recommend core for disposal. GSI has considered their report and are now moving to implement the findings. The core to be disposed of consists of holes identified as duplicates and are separated into geographical clusters.
Core disposal letter with list of cores identified as duplicates (PDF)
Map showing core disposal locations (PDF)