Sondeo con incidencias

A 90-minute, 4-round basic Express simulation for Spanish vocational training (Formacion Profesional), Industrias Extractivas family: module 0847 Sondeos (Tecnico en Excavaciones y Sondeos, Real Decreto 1592/2011).

The learner is a newly qualified driller on her first campaign, running one shift of the core rig of a fictional drilling contractor from a fictional town in Leon, on a mining-exploration campaign over the four quarters of a year.

Eight drilling decisions over four rounds: what is done at the first drop of the mud return, how the thrust and the rotation are set, how the mud is kept, how the trips are made, what is done when the torque rises at depth, what is done about the deviation of the hole, how the core is recovered and recorded and how the campaign is closed.

Scored on metres delivered, rig cost a week, core lost and drilling incidents; three tempting choices come back later, and two critical errors (the stuck string forced beyond the limits of the rig and the rods, the core boxes filled with core from other runs) cap the round. Lesson: reacting to the first sign prevents the stuck string. Training level only. Spanish primary, English parity.

All companies, towns, permits and people are fictional.

An introductory simulation that assumes no prior knowledge of the subject, designed for undergraduate courses. It also works in vocational and high-school programmes and in onboarding sessions.