Log evaluation of sub-bituminous coals in Magallanes, Chile

In coal exploration a drilling program is normally used for coal inquest through core analysis, with a high cost and operating time. However, in many cases, there is poor cores recovery due to operating procedures and/or formation conditions which leads to the determination of parameters non-representative of the coal seam. The cost and operating time can be minimized through the use of logs which also represent a continuous and in situ sampling. In the case of sub-bituminous coals, the analysis through logs is more complex due to the high content of clay, which masks the presence of water. This paper describes the analysis of sub-bituminous coals in Magallanes-Chile. The main coal seam components are: coal, clay, secondary quartz and water. An interpretation system using the density log, gamma ray, sonic and microlog, based on rho/sub B/-GR and rho/sub B/--Δ/sub T/ cross plots, permits to know the weight percentages of the following elements: total carbon, ash, moisture, which form the main local coal parameters. Empirical relationships permit us to obtain also the heating value and an estimate strength index to elastic-dynamic forces. The results obtained agree within 3 percent with the Laboratory cores analysis. The method is processed through a sequence of simple computer programs for IBM-360