by Ivan Dimitrov, Experienced Drilling Engineer and CEO of HolePlan™ &
Lyubomir Bandrov and Iliyan Venkov, Senior Software Engineers
In exploration diamond drilling, the synergy between office-based engineering and field execution remains a persistent operational challenge. While survey tool technology has advanced rapidly, the software used to manage borehole trajectories and store critical data often remains locked within closed ecosystems or scattered across various sources, leaving project managers struggling with fragmented information.
Solving the digital gap in modern exploration
Essential information, including survey trajectories, lithology logs, and rod configurations, is often fragmented across multiple software ecosystems. Integrating data from diverse hardware providers frequently results in manual migration challenges. This lack of compatibility doesn’t just slow down reporting but also masks the real-time visibility needed to make crucial decisions.
HolePlan™ was engineered to resolve this friction by providing a completely vendor-neutral workspace. Unlike traditional platforms, it acts as a centralized data hub where all stakeholders can integrate data from any provider into a spatially accurate 3D environment.
The software architecture of HolePlan™ makes it a unified platform for drilling intelligence. Beyond simple trajectory tracking, it allows for a comprehensive collection of lithology logs, rod sizes, and accessories for every drilled interval. This ensures total data continuity across the entire borehole lifecycle, providing a single source of truth regardless of which hardware is currently downhole.
A foundation of positional accuracy
and universal capability
To effectively integrate drilling data, it is essential to start with a standardized reference frame. The use of a globally recognized coordinate system like UTM and including automated Grid North correction is crucial. This is a detail that may seem small but is more important than ever. For instance, at a depth of 1500 m (4921 ft), an uncorrected grid north error of just 1.5° can result in 40 m (131 ft) of horizontal displacement. By handling this correction at the architectural level, HolePlan™ ensures that all trajectories remain consistently referenced.
Another key feature of the platform is its support for both metric and imperial units. This makes it adaptable for use anywhere in the world and is a first step to real data sovereignty. The vendor-neutral solution allows all historical survey data from any provider—whether collected with magnetic tools today or high-precision gyros tomorrow—to remain in a unified, accessible format.
From plan to execution: A continuous workflow
Most drilling software treats planning and execution as separate activities. HolePlan™ provides a consolidated engineering framework that connects them into a dynamic continuous workflow. By moving away from static estimation, the platform ensures that the engineering intent is maintained even as geological conditions change. The journey begins with trajectory design, moves through field data capture and extends into real-time deviation analysis and equipment protection, with each phase seamlessly transitioning into the following one.
Intelligent planning
Precision starts with selecting the right trajectory model for the ground conditions at hand:
- Straight hole determines the direct path to the target and establishes the precise rig alignment required to ensure the borehole begins along its correct planned direction.
- Natural deviation integrates empirical build and turn data from sections drilled earlier to generate a pre-aimed path that reflects observed geological trends.
- Directional drilling supports the design of complex deviated trajectories using industry-standard API algorithms, with universal control over hydraulic, mechanical, and wedge-based deviation systems.
In addition, the multi-branch planning capability of HolePlan™ allows engineers to design paths where several branches deviate from a single mother hole while collaborating directly with directional drilling contractors within the same project environment.
Seamless data capture
Once drilling begins, a centralized survey data management panel serves as the primary record for each drilled interval: trajectory measurements, lithology, downhole components, and target definitions in a range of shapes and dimensions. Data can be entered manually or synchronized in bulk through simplified Excel or CSV templates, eliminating the double-handling of information that typically fragments field records.
Meter-by-meter deviation analysis
As survey data accumulates, comparing the actual borehole path against the planned trajectory at every meter becomes crucially important. Continuous path-to-plan analysis lets engineers track if the hole remains within the defined trajectory tolerances and predict how emerging deviations will develop under various scenarios. This transforms reactive decision-making into proactive steering control.
Safety and equipment protection
Downhole failures due to excessive torque or pipe wear are among the most expensive delays in drilling. In recognition of this, the workflow closes with a safety layer that applies rod specifications, CDDA values, and engineering input to the accumulated trajectory data.
HolePlan™ incorporates real-time dogleg severity (DLS) color-coding directly onto the 3D trajectories to highlight intervals of high curvature where fatigue or twist-off risk is elevated. By visually flagging curvature rates, the software provides an instant risk analysis, helping protect both the drill string and the project budget before problems occur underground.
Engineered for remote reality
Exploration drilling often happens in the world’s most challenging environments—regions where digital infrastructure is non-existent, and a stable internet connection is often a luxury. In the context of these harsh field realities, a desktop engine offers a more reliable and field-ready foundation for drilling operations than a cloud-dependent platform. In view of this, HolePlan™ is built on a high-performance desktop engine, designed to operate on field workstations. By processing all 3D visualizations and complex trajectory calculations locally, the software ensures that engineers maintain a continuous, uninterrupted workflow even at the most remote sites.
A platform for the entire value chain
HolePlan™ is designed as a vendor-neutral and data-centric engineering environment, with its utility extending across the industry:
- Resource companies retain centralized ownership of all survey and trajectory data, eliminating the need to migrate records between vendor-specific cloud platforms when survey tool providers change.
- Drilling contractors operate within a structured environment for managing tool compatibility records, lithology logs, rod size intervals, and downhole accessories, improving coordination between field operations and engineering oversight.
- Directional drilling specialists work with established algorithms compatible with all tool types, making optimal steering decisions without software constraints.
- Civil engineering teams apply the same 3D spatial precision to urban projects, pilot holes, and tunneling, operations where subsurface accuracy is critical.
By serving each stakeholder within a unified framework, HolePlan™ supports collaboration without sacrificing data ownership or operational independence.
True accessibility: Enabling every stakeholder
We believe advanced drilling software should be accessible to every participant in the exploration process. Our pricing model is designed to remove traditional cost barriers, enabling independent drillers, field geologists, and global mining organizations alike to adopt modern, high-precision tools without complex licensing. The result is faster adoption, broader collaboration, and measurable operational value across the entire drilling cycle.
Looking ahead
As exploration targets become deeper and more complex, the need for independent, flexible, and precise software tools has never been greater. HolePlan™ isn’t just a new software tool; it is a shift toward a more open, transparent, and safe drilling industry.
The initial release of HolePlan™ establishes its foundation, but the architecture is designed for continuous development. By unifying exploration drilling data into a single, client-controlled platform, HolePlan™ gives engineers something that fragmented systems never could: a complete operational picture, accessible anywhere, controlled by the people who need it most.
For more information: Visit holeplan.com or
Get in touch with Ivan on LinkedIn
