Search Documents

By Rick Steen, Weldon Read, Morrism Tracy T.

Edging for starter sheet blanks used in conventional copper refineries has always been problematic for getting the edging to seal and adhere to the titanium material used for the blank so that copper is prevented from plating under the edging and cause undo problems in getting the copper sheets to separate from the blanks. A method was developed at the Amarillo Copper Refinery utilizing an injection molding process that better adheres the edging material to the titanium that makes the harvesting of starter sheets much easier to the point that robots are now used to strip with and which holds up very well to the unforgiving physical nature of the electroplating process. It is believed that this technology could be successfully utilized for permanent cathodes as well. INTRODUCTION ASARCO LLC (Asarco) was organized in 1899 as the American Smelting and Refining Company. Originally a consolidation of several lead-silver smelting companies, it evolved over the years into an integrated producer of primary non-ferrous metals, including copper, lead and zinc and associated co- products (Marcosson, 1949). Grupo México, S.A.B. de C.V acquired Asarco in 1999. Today, Asarco is a vertically integrated producer of primary refined copper and associated co-products such as gold, silver, molybdenum, selenium and tellurium. Asarco operates three open-pit mines and mills and two solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW) plants all in Arizona plus a copper smelter in Arizona and a copper refinery in Texas. Figure 1 illustrates how the copper metal comes out of the ground at the mine and ends up as a refined product at the refinery. The copper refinery in Texas is known as the Amarillo Copper Refinery (ACR) and is located in Amarillo, Texas. It was built in 1975 to replace 3 other aging refineries and was designed to produce 550,000 tons (500,000 MT) of refined copper per year using conventional starter sheet technology. At the time it was commissioned it was the largest tankhouse in the world at just under 1/2 miles long under one roof.

Jan 1, 2019

By E. S. Moore

To properly understand industrial conditions in Spain it is necessary to consider the early history of the country. Spain is very backward in many lines. They use the sickle for cutting grain, and plows for cultivating the land, which resemble those of Biblical days. In the great mining camp at Bilbao only one steam-shovel is in use, although about two hundred million tons of ore has been produced, and this almost entirely from open cuts. It is the lack of industrial development, such as is found in many other countries, which permits large mining enterprises to be controlled almost entirely by foreign capital, although Spain is such an old country, and which permits mines opened in the days of the Phoenicians to still operate. Such deposits in America would be exhausted in a comparatively few years. The Phoenicians are supposed to have reached Spain about 1100 B.C. and to have worked some of the properties in the Rio Tinto district. The Carthagenians invaded the country about 236 B.C., and they were driven out about 205 B.C. by the Romans. The Romans ruled until 483 A.D., when they were overthrown by the Visigoths. Then, about 711 A.D., the Moors from Africa became prominent and they were finally expelled by the Spaniards in 1492. Spanish power reached its zenith under Phillip II, during the latter half of the 16th century, and since the close of that century the country has lost its prominent place among the nations. There are some evidences of revival in the development of good roads, the construction of a satisfactory network of railways, and the building of magnificent thoroughfares through the capital city, Madrid.

Jan 1, 1927

By David J. Kerr, Robert Mason

"From1927 to1989, the Hornemineproduced53.7 Mt of ore grading 6.1 g/t Au and 2.2% Cu from two large volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits composed primarily of pyrrhotite, pyrite and chalcopyrite. The ore bodies were hosted by a package of chlorite-sericitealtered epiclastic rhyolite tuffs which were deposited in a narrow palaeo-graben located on the flank of a major felsic volcanic centre. M ineralizingfluids percolated upward through the permeable footwall rocks and were further focussed along syn-volcanic, graben-bounding faults. Sulphides were deposited by a process of sub-seafloor replacement of the rhyolite tuffs.Gold-copper-(zinc) mineralization, including ore zones mined between 1985 and 1989 as the REMNOR ore zones, is present throughout the 900 m of felsic volcanic stratigraphy at the Horne. All the deposits were formed by syn-volcanic hydrothermal processes active during felsic volcanism. There is no evidence to indicate that any economic gold mineralization was introduced by a post-volcanic hydrothermal episode.RESUMEDe 1927 a1989, /amineHorneaproduit53.7 Mt de minerai avec une teneur de 6.1 g/t Au et 2.2% Cu provenant de deux grands amas de sulfures massifs volcanogeniques comprenant esentiellement de la pyrrhotite, de la pyrite et de /a chalcopyrite. Ces gites font partie d'une séquence de tufs rhyolitiques epiclastiques chloritises et sericitises qui ont ere déposes dans un paleo-graben étroit situe sur le flanc d' unimportant centre vo/caniquefelsique.Lesfluides mineralises ont circule de bas en haut a travers /es roches perméables sous-jacentes; ils ont été également canalises par les failles syn-volcaniques en bordure du graben. Les sulfures se sont déposes par remplacement des tufs rhyolitiques immédiatement et sous /e plancher océanique.Les zones minéralisées en or et cuivre (±zinc) - y compris celles qui ont ere exploitees au cours de l’opération Remnor (1985-1989) - se retrouvent, sans discontinuité, à travers les roches volcaniques felsiques dont l' epaisseur atteint 900 m. Ces gites se sont formes par le biais d' un processus hydrothermal qui ag issait pendant le volcanisme felsique. II n'y a aucune évidence de minéralisation aurifère d'importance économique qui soit postérieure a l' activité hydrothermale syn-volcanique."

Jan 1, 1990

By Jing Chai

The Cenozoic unconsolidated strata with the thickness of 100 to 240m in the east area of China are composed of clay, sandy clay and hardpan, etc. Numerous shafts of the coal mines in these areas have been damaged to various degrees since 1987, with the main reason for this being the subsidence of the super-thick unconsolidated strata. To prevent the continuing settlement deformation of unconsolidated strata caused by groundwater removal, long-term water injection through multiple boreholes controlled the settlement deformation of unconsolidated strata. A new type of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing system was successfully used for real-time strain monitoring of the unconsolidated strata during water injection at a coal mine in China. A mathematical model for the compression settlement induced strain calculation is proposed which can assist understanding of the effect of water injection on the ground. With the increase in water injection, the unconsolidated strata compressed state was improved by the transition of the stress state from compressive to tensile stress. The wavelength change of fiber Bragg grating sensors corresponded with the trend of the water level in the same strata. Engineering practice indicates that these sensors can normally, safely and reliably survive conditions associated with hydrous unconsolidated strata. The FBG sensing can be used for continuous lifetime monitoring of the system, starting with real-time monitoring during low-pressure water injection process of multi-borehole. The results will give important guidance for water injection and mastering stratum subsidence.

Aug 1, 2013

By T. V. Nethery

Introduction A brief account of the East Malartic fire is essential if this paper is to serve the purpose implied by its title. The fire originated in the timbers of No. 4 shaft at the 10th, or 1,570-foot, level; this was the top or collar of the underground sinking operations. At the time, sinking was in progress and the shaft bottom was 242 feet below the 12th station horizon, or 618 feet 'below the l0th level. Above the l0th level, the shaft was not in use as the surface plant was not yet completed. The shaft crews descended from surface in No. 3 vertical shaft to the l0th level, where they transferred to No. 4 shaft, a distance of 1,450 feet. Of the sixteen shaftmen mucking at the shaft bottom, four were able to reach safety. One shaftman was overcome by fumes midway between the two shafts on the l0th level, while attempting his escape. The remaining eleven men climbed as far as the 11th station and there succumbed to carbon monoxide. No. 4 shaft, inclined at 61 degrees, bad been raised and timbered from the 10th level to surface; this bad been followed by sinking operations below the l0th. Two air hoists had been set up in the footwall of the shaft, 110 feet above the 10th level, and directly behind compartments No. 2 and No. 4. The waste from the shaft bottom was hoisted in 28-cubicfoot buckets on mono rails and dumped over standard shaft sinking doors into waste chutes built into No. 1 and No. 3 compartments. The five-compartment shaft, 7 ft. 8 in. by 34 ft. 6 in. overall size, was heavily timbered. In addition to the standard shaft timbers of 8 in. by 8 in. and 8 in. by 10 in. B.C. fir, the hanging-wall and ends of the shaft were laced with 4-inch spruce lagging. This represented approximately 300 board feet of timber in placee for every foot of shaft. The cause of the fire bas never been determined, despite every effort to do so. The inquest held for those who lost their lives in the fire was an extremely thorough one, but only the location of the origin, and not the cause, was established.

Jan 1, 1950

By Andrzej Luszczkiewicz, Magdalena Duchnowska, KGHM Polska Miedz S. A., Witold Pawlos, Jan Drzymala, Alicja Bakalarz, Przemyslaw B. Kowalczuk

Numerous data in the literature confirm that the chemical composition and consumption of grinding media influence electrochemical properties of flotation suspension as well as effectiveness and selectivity of upgrading processes. During a milling process, attrition of grinding media is observed. Depending on the susceptibility to abrasion, the grinding media influence, to a different extent, the redox potential, pH as well as flotation efficiency. As a result, different upgradeability of sulfide minerals is observed. The paper presents laboratory scale flotation results, obtained for the copper sulfide ore from Polkowice Region of KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. in Poland ground in the presence of forged steel, highchrome iron and stainless steel as the grinding media. The investigated flotation feed contained 36 g/t (ppm) of silver and 1.86 % of copper. Several flotation tests were conducted using fixed amount of frother and a mixture of sodium ethyl and isobutyl xanthates as the collector at three different doses of 75, 100 and 125 g/t. A comparison of the obtained results confirmed that the application of grinding media with different chemical compositions influenced the electrochemical properties of the suspension and recovery of silver and copper in the final concentrate. The highest values of redox potential were observed for the stainless steel as the grinding medium. Moreover, in the presence of this type of grinding media, regardless of the collector dosage, the best silver upgrading was observed. For the forged and high-chrome iron media, the recovery of silver depended on the collector dosage. It is indicated that higher levels of the redox potential, together with smaller amount of iron released from the grinding medium, improve the flotation of the silver-bearing mineral compounds from the copper sulfide ore.

Jan 1, 2016

By M. Uszko

The paper presents the conditions for determining the selection of methods for methane drainage in Polish hard coal mines. Various factors for the evaluation of methane drainage performance are used, including the methane drainage effectiveness ratio. However, as will be discussed there are limitations to the methane drainage ratio approach resulting from the characteristics of the deposits extracted in Kompania Weglowa S.A. coal mines.

Aug 1, 2013

By J. K. Weglo, M. U. Savich

"The measurement and evaluation of the noise emanating from an ST4A scooptram in an underground stope under a simulated work cycle, and under three conditions of after-treatment systems is covered.These include scooptram without muffler or filler (bare engine), an in-line small filter, compared to a larger-filter, and the larger filter with an in-line muffler in series with fume diluter, which were tested under three engine operating conditions-IDLE, wide open throttle (W. 0. T.), and working condition. This is load, short haul and dump operation.The results showed an attenuation of the scooptram at work of 8 to 15 dBA, 16 cm from the exhaust pipe of the machine, to 4.8 dBA at the operator's ear. Recommendations are made to increase the attenuation at the operator 's ear by additional improvement in design of the fume diluter.IntroductionIn current mining operations, the diesel engine provides a safe, efficient and highly mobile source of power. In the major underground mine s in Canada the most common types of diesel equipment are load-haul-dump (LHD) machines and ore trucks. In general, there is a tendency to use high horsepower, diesel LHD machines in mines to achieve maximum productivity. The increased use of diesel-powered equipment in underground mines has shown no cause pressure levels were measured at the exhaust and outlet pipe. Also, while measuring the octave band and A-weighted sound pressure levels, the operator's position was also measured."

Jan 1, 1986

By P. J. Le Roux

"Mining worldwide and definitely in South Africa, is constantly under pressure to reduce its cost structure so as to sustain profitability. In underground gold mines where an open stope mining method is employed, dilution often has a significant effect on the viability of sustaining profits. Target Mine practices Open Stope mining Method and it was found that in some open stopes dilution was in excess of 10%, which has a significant impact on the sustainability of the mine.Dilution in excess of 10% can result in the reduction of the recovered grade from 5,5 to 4,5 grams per ton (g/t). The reduction of 1 g/t in recovered grade results in a potential loss of about ZAR21 Million per month bases on a gold price of ZAR240 000 per kilogram. Based on Life of Mine projections the potential loss of income could be as much as ZAR3,3 Billion. A reduction in dilution would have the opposite effect. There are a number of factors which affect dilution of which falls of ground in open stopes is a major contributor. The falls of ground can be attributed to a number of factors such as beam failure as a result of a larger than normal expected roof area (hydraulic radius too large), poor ground conditions, and poor blasting. The cost of damage to or loss of trackless equipment as a direct result of the falls of ground in open stopes, is very significant. The review of financial figures has indicated that this could be as high as ZAR491 million. This combined with the added cost of transport, hoisting, secondary blasting, milling and plant treatment costs of ZAR293 results in an estimated opportunity loss of ZAR784 million.Currently there is a significant amount of data available in the mining industry which could be effectively used to develop suitable back analysis techniques but to date this has not been used effectively. If dilution can have such an impact on current and future mining ventures then the optimization of back analyses for the prediction of dilution in open stoping could assist significantly in the reduction of dilution in massive open stopes. Rockmass classifications, geotechnical information, blast techniques, blast design, the stress strain environment and hydraulic radius all have an effect on, or play a role in the evaluation of dilution. Each of these factors will be taken into consideration to ultimately determine a measurable or calculated percentage of dilution in massive open stopes.The amount of overbreak in an open stope can be determined by subtracting the planned stope volume in m3 from the actual measured final stope volume in m3, which is obtained from the CMS (cavity monitoring system). This is in turn divided by the planned stope volume in m3 to determine the percentage overbreak. The CMS wireframe is imported into the geological model and its grade re-evaluated. From this the actual percentage dilution for this open stope can be determined. The dilution obtained can result in a major reduction of recovered grade for the open stope, but can also increase the recovered grade. The latter is normally the exception rather than the rule.When analysing data from Target mine the following was achieved:• Using 11 years of data a method of measuring and predicting the percentage dilution in open stoping was developed. This took into account rock mass quality, stress-strain state, and the hangingwall hydraulic radius (size of stope hangingwall exposed).• Implementation of this prediction method resulted in a reduction in falls of ground in open stopes. The benefit of this was a reduction in the damage to mechanised equipment resulting from less falls of ground which had a positive effect on the profit margins of the mine. As a direct result the recovered grade from the open stopes increased due to the reduction in the amount of dilution.• A design criterion, Dilution Stress-Strain Index (DSSI), was developed which allows the user to calculate, with certainty, the stability of the open stope and determine if m"

Jan 1, 2015

By Marc C. Bétournay

A number of successful proof-of-concept projects have been carried out to replace conventional power application, such as diesel and rechargeable batteries, in underground mine vehicles. This has led to the development of the world?s first fuelcell production vehicle, a mine locomotive. A mine loader project has also started and several other projects are planned. These projects are providing the mining industry with the required information to make this technology shift possible. The application of fuelcell power will yield several important benefits such as the elimination of underground diesel emissions, significant reduction in the primary extraction?s sector greenhouse gas emissions and support for a more productive scenario. This article reviews these successes, discusses ongoing and potential projects and presents the technology application benefits that could be possible for mining operations.

May 1, 2003

By Hassan El-Shall, Ayman El-Midany, Patrick Zhang

Bench and pilot scale testing results suggest that significant improvement in dewatering characteristics of fine particles could be obtained by the addition of fibrous materials. Case studies involving flocculation and dewatering of wastes from phosphate, bauxite, and kaolin processing plants are presented in this paper. Several dewatering techniques were investigated, including sedimentation thickening, filtration, centrifugation, dewatering on screens, and seepage-induced dewatering and consolidation. Advantages and limitations of commercial application of some of the developed techniques arc discussed.

Jan 1, 2004

By J. E. Danoczi

ABSTRACT A diamond processing plant is being designed for the Star–Orion South diamond project in central Saskatchewan. Key to the plant is diamond liberation, which occurs in the comminution section and is the process of breaking up kimberlite rock as gently as possible to minimize diamond damage, particularly in larger, high-value diamonds. Kimberlite from the crater area of a volcanic pipe is generally softer than kimberlite from the diatreme zone. Softer kimberlite, comprising the majority of Star– Orion South deposits, can be readily broken up using abrasion and attrition by autogenous grinding mills, the preferred comminution method for minimizing diamond damage.

Jan 1, 2013

By Turgut Yalcin

"In this study, potential benefits of focculant usage were explored in the processing of mill tailings by hydrocyclones. Tests conducted on copper-nickel mill tailings have demonstrated that, under suitable conditions, flocculation could significantly enhance solid-liquid separation in hydrocyclones. For example, at a feed pulp density of approximately 9%, focculant-assisted hydrocyclone produced an underflow with over 98% solids recovery, compared to a recovery of less than 53% with conventional hydrocyclone. However, feed pulp density was found to be a critical factor, and tailings with pulp densities of greater than about 15%required a two-stage hydrocyclone operation where the focculant-assisted hydrocyclone was employed at the second stage to process the overfow of a conventional hydrocyclone.The underflow and overflow products obtained from the focculant-assisted hydrocy-clone may be discharged into tailings dams in the same manner as those produced by gravity thickeners. The focculant-assisted hydrocy-clone would, however, provide a higher throughput."

Jan 1, 1996

By A. B. Walker

The effects of the injection of dry limestone additives into boilers for the sorption of sulphur dioxide have been studied in pilot and full-scale systems. The effects of such injections on boiler mass particulate emissions as well as collectability characteristics of the fly ash and reaction products are presented. Implications of the effects on the design and economics of particulate collectors, in particular electrostatic precipitators, are discussed.

Jan 1, 1971

By H. Wotruba, L. von Ketelhodt, M. Kowalcyk, C. Kleine, M. Robben

Sensor-based sorting is a financially and technically viable technique that is operating with little or no water and relatively little power consumption. Sensor-based sorting has already proven its operational stability at two gold applications in South Africa. Sensor-based sorting cannot only turn waste dumps and diluted mining blocks into reserves. The implementation can also cause a decrease in specific operating costs of mill and mine when for example replacing selective mining by bulk mining methods with subsequent sorting. Successful installations, operational experience, test work data and flow sheet integration from mine-to-mill underline the impact and potential that sensor-based sorting can have on the gold mining and processing industry.

Jan 1, 2011

By Liu Liu

In the recent 10 years the rapid development of Chinese steel industry has attracted the attention of the world. The technological progress of converter steelmaking has played an important role in this process. First of all, slag splashing has been extensively adopted by Chinese steel companies in various sizes of converters from largest to smallest ones, and even including those using special hot metal containing V and Ti. Remarkable metallurgical results have been achieved. Up to now the average converter campaign life has reached nearly 10,000 heats, and the longest exceeds 30,000 heats in three melt shops. Based on this process, the long-life combined-blowing converter steelmaking technology has been developed. Slag splashing has been used to form a gas permeable "slag mushroom" on the top of bottom nozzles to protect the nozzles. In order to keep the effective bottom blowing, furnace bottom thickness control technique has been developed to prevent the furnace bottom growth. It makes the service life of bottom nozzle the same as the converter campaign life (average 10,000 heats and longest > 30,000 heats). The complete combined blowing was ensured through out the furnace campaign. Concentration product [C][0] is in the range of 0.0023 ~ 0.0030%, the T.Fe in the slag is lowered by 4 ~ 6%, and the [0] in steel is decreased by 100 ~ 250 ppm.

Jan 1, 2004

By Y. Héroux, A. Chagnon, M. M. Savard

"Résumé - Le gite de Pb-Zn de Gays River s'accompagne d'anomalies des propriétés de la matière organique (MO) et des assemblages de minéraux d'argile (AMA). L'association entre la minéralisation, la distribution de la réflectance de la MO et des AMA suggère que ces traceurs peuvent servir à I ‘exploration des sulfures de métaux de base dans cette région.A I ‘emplacement du gîte, la réflectance varie considérablement (0,8% à 1,88%), pouvant même afficher une baisse avec I ‘enfouissement, ce qui est interprète comme une altération chimique de la MO. Les valeurs les plus élevées s'accompagnent localement de quelques textures en mosaïque et délimitent une anomalie thermique au centre sud de la région. Parmi les minéraux des argiles identifies, I ‘illite et la chlorite sont terrigènes alors que la smectite, la kaolinite et la corrensite sont authigènes et, à l' instar de I ‘altération de la MO, résultent des nouveaux équilibres chimiques créés suite à la précipitation des sulfures.Abstract - The Gays River Pb-Zn ore deposit is associated with anomalies defmed from the characters of the organic matter (OM) and from the clay minerals assemblages. The relationships between these anomalies and the mineralization at the mine suggest that these parameters can be used as new guides for the exploration for base-metal sulfides in this area.The vitrinite reflectance (RJ shows a wide range of values (0.8% to 1.88%) and exhibits an anomalous suppressive effect with depth of burial at the mine site, suggesting a chemical alteration of the OM. The highest R"" values are associated with mosaic textures and outline a therrnal anomaly at the south-center of the studied area. Among the identified clay minerals, illite and chlorite are terrigenous, whereas smectite, kaolinite and corrensite are authigenous and, like the alteration of the OM, are due to the new chemical equilibria resulting from the precipitation of the sulfides."

Jan 1, 1994

By Håkan Schunnesson, Kirsten Holme

"When mining high grade, narrow ore bodies, the mining method often implies a very detailed knowledge of the ore contacts to avoid unacceptable ore loss and waste rock dilution. During the past decade, the use of microprocessor based drill monitoring equipment has become an accepted technique, even for percussive drilling. On the basis of the recorded drill performance, such as penetration rate, torque pressure, thrust etc., a fast evaluation of the lithological sequence of the ore zone can be made. In order to evaluate the potential of percussive drill monitoring to pro-vide detailed information of the geometry of the ore body, the technique was tested in the Viscaria copper mine in Sweden during 1996.To provide understandable information to the mine geologist, great emphasis was placed on the separation between the drilling response generated by variations in rock conditions from variations caused by the operator and the drill system. Due to the complicated geology in Viscaria, the drilling response presented to the geologists was separated in two independent signals, one representing the hardness of the rock and one representing the in homogeneity(fracturing) of the rock. With those signals a good separation between different rock types in the ore horizon was achieved.The experience from the Viscaria copper mine is that drill monitoring not only can be used to locate contacts between rock types, but also to characterize rock conditions and, often, also to specify the exact rock type present. Because it is possible to get the drill monitoring information very quickly it is a valuable complement to diamond drilling for increasing the specific knowledge of the geology and the ore body."

Jan 1, 1997

By B. D. H. Knights, N. B. du Preez

The recovery of the economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo has allowed for the rapid increase in production of copper from this region, while the increased price of cobalt continues to support the recovery of that country’s economy. This has enabled the modernization of the process technology used, particularly the change from direct electrowinning of copper to solvent extraction-electrowinning. With this change has come a variety of technical challenges in optimizing the recovery of cobalt from these sources. In this paper, we discuss aspects of the flowsheets for the production of cobalt from the ores of the DRC and Zambia, highlighting the technological improvements that have been made. Following this description of the practice, we assess the challenges of further improving the recovery and purity of cobalt from these sources. INTRODUCTION The African Copperbelt (Figure 1) is by far the biggest producer and holds the greatest reserves of cobalt (Sheed, 2015). However, the ores of this great mining region are extracted primarily for their copper content, and cobalt is a by-product. The ratio of copper-to-cobalt is between 6 and 20 to 1, with the ores from the DRC richer in cobalt than those from Zambia. The overall supply of cobalt, shown in Figure 2, is increasing due to an increase in demand for its use as a battery material. Cobalt is used in superalloys, hard metals, pigments, catalysts magnets, tyre adhesives, lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, and wear-resistant coatings, amongst others. Although these generic categories persist, Figure 3 shows how the relative usage of cobalt is changing due to the uptake of electric vehicles in China and Europe. Cobalt is a key element in lithium-ion batteries, and because it is widely anticipated that electric vehicles will be legislatively encouraged, it is anticipated that the demand for cobalt will rise. This anticipated increase in demand resulted in an increase in the price for cobalt, to which suppliers responded over-eagerly, and the price has dropped dramatically in the first few months of 2019, as shown in Figure 4. However, there is a clear cycle of price peaks in cobalt’s history.

Jan 1, 2019

By Su-Ping Peng

Three dimensional (3D) seismic exploration has been carried out since the 1980s in the mining district of China, where it has been playing an indispensable role in the high yield and efficiency of coal mining. Unlike oil exploration, this technique uses high density seismic acquisition technology. In recent years, it has focused on wide azimuth 3D seismic acquisition. Evaluation of geometry moved away from depending on folds, azimuth and offset, toward being based upon a focus-ray beam. Conventionally, coalfield 3D seismic interpretation focused on time domain and was based on kinematics information, which is only suitable for less complex geological conditions. To achieve high-resolution processing for the complex topography and structure in coalfields, data processing shifted from poststack to prestack. The means to improve the accuracy of interpretation for complex geological conditions are 1) integration of multiple attributes and multiple disciplines, 2) combination of seismic and geological data, and 3) comprehensive combination of time domain and depth domain data. With the demand for lithological exploration, high-resolution data processing must also take into account the requirements of preserving amplitude in seismic data. Seismic attributes technology, seismic inversion technology, and dynamic tracking interpretation are key techniques in 3D seismic exploration. They greatly improve interpretation accuracy, produce better results in the goaf space description of the coal-bearing strata and coal seam structure, and effectively reduce exploration costs under complicated geological conditions. Therefore, these techniques will be the primary means employed in the future to deal with coalfield complex structure and lithological exploration.

Aug 1, 2013