This is the third symposia organised to communicate geological advances to the coal mining industry. Organisers said the symposium was aimed at presenting methods and techniques that will assist in identifying geological hazards that may affect the economics of mining operations. It is also aimed at strategically evaluating coal resources, identifying areas where geologists can and have had an impact on identifying geological structures, and presenting new techniques.

A selection of papers are:

Richard Reveleigh, 3D seismics – Australian experience

Green, Determination of geological features using downhole acoustic logs

Ward, Mineralogical analysis in hazard assessment

Munroe et al, Structural model for Springvale – hazard prediction tool

Sheehan & Thomson, Geological hazards at Newstan colliery past and future

Ken Mills, A method of determining longwall abutment load distributions for roadway and pillar design

A half-day workshop will be held on November 17 by the WH Bryan Mining Geology Research centre. The workshop will cover the technology developed by the centre from its recently completed ACARP project, “Quantification of fault uncertainty and risk management in underground longwall mining”. Professor Roussos Dimitrakopoulos, who recently submitted the final report for this ACARP project, will present the course. See the related overview.

The workshop is intended for coal geologists and engineers interested in an introduction to optimising the layout of longwall mining panels by managing fault risk.

Symposium sponsors include ACARP, GeoGas, Anglo Coal, Reeves Wireline, Valley Longwall Drilling, Mitchell Drilling Contractors, Carbon Consulting International (CCI), McElroy Bryan Geological Services (MBGS), Engineering Computer Services International (ECSI) and NSW Department of Mineral Resources.

Please see Events for further details.