The Van Walt Window Sampling System – leave no trace

September 24, 2014

When thinking about the benefits of our window sampling system I was reminded of the Leave No Trace organisation. What has mineral exploration got to do with an organisation that teaches people of all ages how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly and is the most widely accepted outdoor ethics program used on public lands in the USA? Well it comes down to the principles, education and long-term health of our natural world. In its simplest form, Leave No Trace is about making good decisions to protect the world around and, our window sampling system, is the same as it is a powerful, non-destructive, low disturbance site investigation tool that leaves an area undisturbed (without a trace of having been there) after drilling is completed.

A stretch, I know but dig a bit deeper (metaphorically speaking) and look at the seven principles of the Leave No Trace organisation:

–  Plan Ahead and Prepare

–  Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces

–  Dispose of Waste Properly

–  Leave What You Find

–  Minimize Campfire Impacts

–  Respect Wildlife

–  Be Considerate of Other Visitors

And apply these to good practice when window sampling – and it all makes sense!

Plan Ahead and Prepare


Whether you are window sampling with a percussion drill, soil sampling using an auger or measuring soil moisture with a TDR system, you need to plan ahead. Where are you sampling? What is the soil like? Is the ground stony, peat bog or sandy? How deep am I sampling? Do I want to collect disturbed or undisturbed samples? How many samples do I need? Will I be analysing the samples on site or taking them back to a laboratory? Answer these questions and more and it will help you prepare and arrive on-site with the right equipment for a job.

Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces

Let’s amend/interpret this slightly as: make sure you know what’s on the site, under the site, over the site and beside the site. In other words make sure your drill site is durable because you don’t want to window sample in an area that has electricity cables running just under the surface or where your drilling will affect the foundations of a building, for example.

Dispose of Waste Properly

With the Van Walt Window Sampling System you drill down to the level you require the sample from, up to 10m and collect the sample (undisturbed) in our uniquely designed window-less core sampler for undisturbed samples 100cm long in sleeve. Samples are captured in an undisturbed way for on-site profile evaluation. No waste, no mess and sample can be easily transported from site for further investigations.

Leave What You Find

Our Van Walt percussion window sampling uses laser cut, high entry efficiency samplers in a unique, robust, no maintenance, left hand thread RD32 connection so is ideal for sampling and research in sites with restricted access, where there is the potential for contaminated samples or for exploration of base metals and mineral deposits, like gold and other precious metals. In other words – you only take what you need!

Minimise Campfire Impacts


OK, OK – a difficult one – except – you don’t need a campfire to use our window sampling system so, ergo you won’t leave any impacts!

Respect Wildlife & Be considerate of other visitors

In addition to everything else we’ve said about the benefits of our window sampling system we could add – you, the operator, you’re an environmental scientist, geologist, archaeologist or surveyor – so by default – you love wildlife so, of course you will respect the local wildlife! And, as a professional, you will be considerate of other visitors.

To see for yourself how useful, versatile, powerful and adaptable the Van Walt Window Sampling System is for mineral exploration in difficult to access locations and areas of outstanding natural beauty look at our video here or contact us on sales@vanwalt.com .