What changed
China has deployed the ZJ50DB/XD70DB, described as the country’s first fully automated drilling rig in the geological sector, raising its maximum deep rock-core drilling capability to 7,000 metres.
The rig was developed by Shandong’s Sixth Geological Brigade with China Geological Equipment Group and entered service in a research project on Sichuan’s Xianshuihe Fault. It can also conduct standardised oil-and-gas drilling to 5,000 metres.
Why it matters
The immediate value is not simply the headline depth. The rig can switch between rapid well construction and wireline coring, allowing researchers to retrieve high-quality samples from deep rock while keeping the operation digitally controlled.
The Xianshuihe project is set at 4,300 metres above sea level on an active fault zone along the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Its planned borehole will reach 2,800 metres, use directional drilling to cut diagonally through key layers, and remain in place for long-term observation. The final hole will be at least 122 millimetres wide.
That turns the borehole into more than a temporary engineering project. Researchers aim to use its core samples and continued measurements to study the fault’s deep structure, composition and physical and chemical properties, supporting earthquake research, regional disaster prevention and major construction projects.
The important caveat is that the rig’s 7,000-metre capability is a technical ceiling, not proof that it has already completed a borehole at that depth. Its significance will depend on what the Xianshuihe project can recover and observe underground.
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