Collection of Drill Cores from Minnesota

The Minnesota drill core repository is managed by the Department of Natural Resources, in relation to a legislated obligation to submit a one-fourth portion of core samples obtained for mineral exploration. These samples become property of the state and are stored in the DNR's drill core library, located in Hibbing. The original drill core library was constructed in 1972. The most recent additions were constructed in 1990, and were subsequently expanded in 1995. Construction presently is underway on an expansion. The existing facility contains nearly 2.3 million feet of core, extracted from 79 Minnesota counties during the period from 1905 to the present.