company valuable time and money, as
well as providing peace of mind that
the models are reliable and credible.
According to both Turvey and Hanna,
validation is the most important step
in the whole mining process. When
working with a data set, nearly 80%
of the time focuses on validation, but
it is a necessary step to pull the whole
drilling progamme results together.
Once the data is verified, the graphics
capability of Minex are used to ensure
everything matches up.
“Minex provides fast, accurate
analysis of exploration data,
minimising redundant exploration
boreholes and maximising value for
exploration budgets, highlighting
target areas quickly during the early
stages of exploration,” said Turvey.
Without Minex, geologists would
spend countless hours of manual
labour verifying data and building
the model. The Minex driven coal
analysis enables the company to
gauge the quality of the coal. It offers
Cokal the ability to check its data at
any time, and quickly correct it and
the resulting model. As correlation is
extremely important to the
exploration process, the software
enables Cokal to examine the
boreholes side-by-side with the
geophysics to help unravel the
geology and fully understand their
deposit. The loading and viewing of
the downhole geophysics with the
borehole seam data allows Cokal to
accurately and efficiently interpret
coal seam correlation.
Inceased savings and
confidence
Incorporating Minex into its
greenfield exploration programme
helped Cokal decide where and how
deep to drill, saving approximately
AUS$200 000. Without this, the
company would have spent weeks,
even months, drilling before being
able to gauge an accurate picture of
the coal geology. It allows the
company to better plan its exploration
drill targets and eliminates wasted
funds that would otherwise be spent
on drilling boreholes unnecessarily in
barren coal zones.
In addition, Minex reduces the
time and manual labour for drawing
guides, creating sections and building
models, so one person can enter all of
the information into the software and
build the sections and models – a
valuable personnel cost savings for
Cokal. “I used to do the work
manually and it would take nine man
months to work up a year’s worth of
drilling,” said Hanna. “With Minex, it
takes about two weeks and three
quarters of the two weeks is data
validation. Once you’ve validated the
data, everything else just falls into
place.”
The biggest savings to the
company, however, is the confidence
they receive knowing that its JORC
report is correct: that the information
is accurate and that it has not misled
the market. “Minex is easy to use with
features that allow the integration of
borehole data, seam correlations and
resource modelling, while being
easily audited by storing the datasets
in a single database,” noted Turvey.
Accountable regulatory
compliance
In today’s challenging economic
environment, Cokal is very aware of
the need for accurate reporting in
accordance with regulatory
compliance. Minex provides a fully
auditable and accurate database. By
having all of the data in one central
repository, it is easy to create correct
and thorough reporting models that
enable Cokal to fulfil the requirements
of a publicly listed company. The
software provides full access,
allowing Cokal to report to the many
different regulatory authorities easily
with accurate data, showing what has
been accomplished. To adhere to
compliance regulations, Cokal has its
annual reports checked
independently. Minex provided the
tools for these technical auditors to
quickly review and check the data. In
a matter of days, the reviewers were
satisfied with the data, as it met JORC
requirements.
Next steps
As Cokal progresses into detail in-fill
drilling for the mine development
stage of BBM, it will use Minex to
upgrade the resources to measured
and indicated JORC categories for
mine planning purposes. The
company plans to look at both
opencast and underground mining
and will use the mining software to
calculate the recoverable reserves
throughout drilling. As it moves into
the mining phase, engineers will use
Minex to determine what is
economically extractable with tools
like Minex‘s Scheduling and Pit
optimisation. The company is also
looking to engage the dump
Scheduling and Haulage Planning
module to minimise waste removal
costs. The all-in-one solution of Minex
is a central business component for
Cokal – the company looks forward to
adding new modules to its existing
software as it moves from advanced
exploration into the construction and
mine planning phase.
Surface elevation map of Cokal's BBM deposit via GEOVIA Minex.
44
|
World Coal
|
December 2015
