australian resources research centre annual report 2002/2003the installation of the arrc...
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Australian ResourcesResearch Centre
Annual Report2002/2003
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Collaborative Research in Support of
The Australian Minerals Industry . . . . . . . . . . 10
CSIRO Exploration and Mining . . . . . . . . . . 10
Cooperative Research Centre for
Landscape Environments and
Mineral Exploration (CRC LEME) . . . . . . . . 10
Research Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The Development of a Laterite
Geochemical Map of the Western
Yilgarn Craton (Pilot Project) . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Regolith Expression of Australian
Ore Systems (Thematic Volume) . . . . . . . . . . 12
Regolith Landscape Evolution
Across Australia (Thematic Volume) . . . . . . . 13
Mapping the Regolith in 3D
(Thematic Volume) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Development of Procedures for
Objective Logging of the Regolith . . . . . . . . 13
pmd*CRC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Research Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
CRC Project M1 Software Framework . . . . . 14
CRC Projects F2 and M2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
CRC Projects M3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
CRC Project I4 Isa Copper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Outokumpu Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Stawell Numerical Modelling
Program – Stawell Gold Mine. . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Other CSIRO Exploration and Mining
Research Highlights in 2002–03 . . . . . . . . 16
Simulation Systems Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
XMML and GML Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
FracSIS Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Spectral Mine Sight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Ni-Cu-PGE Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Development of Horadiam Mining
Equipment (Remote Ore Extraction
System – Automated Horadiam
Stoping) (ROES-AHS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Application of Hyperspectral Remote
Sensing Data to Provide Indicators
of Mine-site Rehabilitation and Prediction
of Site Closure Progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Deriving Quantitative Dust
Measurements From Airborne
Hyperspectral Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Collaborative Research in Support of The
Australian Petroleum Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
CSIRO Petroleum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Research Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
‘Green Muds’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Argon Geo- and Thermo-chronology . . . . . . 23
Pressure and Fluid Dynamic Study
of the Southern North Sea Basin . . . . . . . . . 23
The Development of Seismic Applications
Western Australian Conditions for
the Minerals and Petroleum Industries . . . . . 24
Analogue Reservoir Modelling (ARM). . . . . . 24
Predicting Abnormal Geopressure
Using Seismic Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
FrOG (From Oil to Groundwater) . . . . . . . . . 25
Integrated Fault Seal Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Hard-To-Drill-Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Carbon Dioxide Sequestration . . . . . . . . . . . 27
GEODISC Geophysical Monitoring. . . . . . . . 28
Hydrocarbon Prospectivity in the East
Papuan Basin PNG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
GEODISC Risk Framework Report . . . . . . . . 28
CIPS (Calcite In-situ Precipitation System) . . 29
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Other CSIRO Petroleum Research
Highlights in 2002–03 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
The Juniper Decision Process. . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Cuttings Integrity Tests and Petrophysical/
Chemical Property Measurements on
Macedon Mudstone and Muderong
Shale Sidewall Cores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Laboratory Hydraulic Fracture
Experiments to Measure Fracture
Growth in Acrylic Blocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Petroleum Reservoir Seals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Timor Sea Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Post-Drilling Review of Extended
Reach Wells in Bayu-Undan Field . . . . . . . . . 30
Genesis Completions Module . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Controls on Abundance of Oil
Inclusions in Petroleum Reservoir Rocks . . . . 32
Timing of Oil Accumulation by
Combining CSIRO’s and CREGU’s
Exclusive ROI and PIT Fluid Inclusion
Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Wellbore Stability in Fractured Formations . . 33
Alternative Water Activity
Reductants for ‘Green Muds’ . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Optimising Cutter Geometry of Drill Bit . . . . 33
Wellbore Stability in
Ceuta-Tomoporo Shale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
SHALESTAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Sand Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Rock Mechanics Laboratory . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Evaluation of Spotting Fluid Performance . . 35
Development of Novel Starch
Products for High Temperature Drilling . . . . 35
Vegetable Oil-based Dielectric Fluid
for Power and Distribution Transformers . . . 35
Curtin University of Technology –
Collaborative Research Supporting the
Resources and Petroluem Industries . . . . . . . 36
Department of Exploration Geophysics . . . 36
Research Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Relationships of Regolith and
Eucalyptus Globulus Tree Survival . . . . . . . . 36
Finding Sub-surface Manganese. . . . . . . . . . 37
Physical Modelling of Attaka
Oil Field, Balikpapan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Seismic Response to Pressure
and Temperature Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Theoretical and Experimental Study
of Elastic Properties of Porous Media
permeated by Aligned Fractures . . . . . . . . . 38
Department of Petroleum
Engineering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Research Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Knowledge Management for Drilling
Within Gas Hydrate Environments
Applying Fuzzy Inference Systems . . . . . . . . 38
An Innovative Method for
Workover Decision Making System
Using Case Based Reasoning . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Challenges While Drilling Extended
Reach Wells (ERW): Wellbore Stability,
Hole Cleaning and Hydraulics . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Formulating Appropriate Decision
and Risk Analysis Combinations for
Petroleum Investments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Perth Basin Modelling Project . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Collaborative Facilities, Providing
Infrastructure for Industry Research . . . . . . 40
Core Flooding Rig:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Pressure Chamber: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Other Curtin Research Highlights in
2002–03 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Numerical Modelling of Seismic
Reflectivity of Turbidite Sequences. . . . . . . . 40
The Effect of Seismic Anisotropy on
Amplitude-based Reservoir
Characterisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Partnering For The Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Interactive Virtual Environments
Centre (IVEC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Research Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Sonification of Seismic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
CRC for Sustainable Resource Processing . . 41
CRC for Greenhouse Gas Technologies . . . . 42
PETRONAS Research Collaboration
Agreement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Global Mineral Research Alliance (GMRA) . . 43
The Western Australian Energy
Research Alliance (WA ERA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Earth Science Consortium of
Western Australia (ESCWA), Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
The ARRC Petrophysics Laboratory . . . . . . . 44
Visitors and Use of ARRC Facilities . . . . . . . . 46
Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Research Support, Human Resources . . . . . . 50
Occupational Health and Safety and
the Environment (OHS&E) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
CSIRO Petroleum Number of Employees . . . 50
CSIRO Exploration and Mining
Number of Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Curtin University of Employees
and Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Awards, Achievements and Community . . . . 51
CSIRO Health, Safety and Environment
Achievement Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation
Commission Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
CSIRO Centenary Medals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Outstanding Young Research Fellow . . . . . . 51
Stilwell Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Otto Trustdet Medal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Best Petroleum Geophysics Paper . . . . . . . . 51
Researcher of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
CSIRO Post-Doctoral Fellow. . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Federal President of ASEG and
Chairman of the Australian Geoscience
Council (AGC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
First Vice President of SEG
(Society of Exploration Geophysicists) . . . . . 52
ARRC Community Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Karawara Community Project . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Young Achievement Australia. . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Schools Information Program . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Technology Precinct –
E – Learning Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
ARRC Advisory Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
ARRC Major Clients / Partners. . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Contact Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
TABLE OF CONTENTS
4
FOREWORD
Developed in conjunction with the petroleum and
mining industries and jointly funded by CSIRO,
Curtin University of Technology and the Western
Australian Government – the ARRC has been
instrumental in facilitating a number of significant
collaborative projects involving these partners and
others throughout 2002–03.
Housing more than 200 researchers and support
staff, the ARRC facility continues to build a critical
mass of experts, and provides enhanced research
infrastructure. It is stimulating greater collaboration
– between institutions and across disciplines – to
solve significant industry problems.
Our thanks go to Australia’s oil and gas and mineral
resources companies that are strongly supporting
the initiatives of the ARRC.
This document outlines some of the research
successes, achievements and results that the ARRC
facility has generated in the 2002 – 03 financial year.
One significant highlight of the year was CSIRO’s
signing of a second five-year collaborative research
arrangement with PETRONAS Research and
Scientific Services Sdn Bhd (PRSS), a research and
development unit of Malaysia’s international oil and
gas company PETRONAS.
This research collaboration involves several CSIRO
divisions and will expand the previous research
collaboration into new areas such as Advanced
Materials, Alternative Energy and Clean Fuel
Technologies.
Other key initiatives, facilitated through ARRC this
year, have included the Global Mining Research
Alliance (GMRA), the Western Australian Energy
Research Alliance (WA ERA), the establishment of
the CRC for Sustainable Resources Processing (with
the headquarters now housed at the ARRC facility),
the installation of a new Petrophysics laboratory and
the signing of the Earth Science Consortium of
Western Australia (ESCWA) Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU).
The GMRA has been formed by four of the world’s
premier mining related research and development
organisations – CANMET-MMSL (Canada), CSIR
Miningtek (South Africa), CSIRO Exploration and
Mining (Australia), and NIOSH, USA. This powerful
combination aims to become the supplier of choice
for research solutions and knowledge in the
international mining and resource industry.
The WA ERA – the first alliance of its kind in the
State – was formed with the signing of an
agreement between the University of Western
Australia (UWA), CSIRO Petroleum and Curtin
University of Technology. This new alliance is
developing premium technology-based solutions for
the global energy sector.
The new Sustainable Resource Processing CRC –
created this year with $18.8m in Federal funding – is
now part of ARRC. This CRC seeks ways of
eliminating waste and emissions from the minerals
processing cycle and aims to harness the proven
research and development talent in Australia’s
During its second year the Australian Resources Research Centre (ARRC)has clearly demonstrated its value as a catalyst for enhanced research anddevelopment collaboration in support of the WA and Australia’s petroleumand minerals resources sector.
5
6
FOREWORD
world-class research centres. It creates – for the first
time – a multi-disciplinary team covering the value
chain from mine site to industrial minerals and
metals.
Both CSIRO Petroleum and Curtin’s Department of
Exploration Geophysics are members of the new
CRC for Greenhouse Gas Technologies.
ARRC’s equipment was significantly enhanced this
year by the addition of a new Core Flooding Rig
installed in Curtin’s Department of Petroleum
Engineering, which is able to operate at the
elevated temperatures and pressures found in
reservoirs. Also able to operate at reservoir
temperatures and pressures is a Pressure Chamber
built in the Department of Exploration Geophysics’
Physical Modelling Laboratory. This equipment will
allow the seismic monitoring of fluids as they are
injected into modeled rock formations.
The facilities will be further expanded this year with
the installation of the ARRC Petrophysics
Laboratory, creating an overall research facility
unique in the SE Asian region.
The Petrophysics Lab will provide high quality,
calibrated measurements of rock physical properties
of value to a wide range of projects in petroleum
exploration, formation evaluation and production. It
will complement the existing Nuclear Magnetic
Resonance Laboratory, Rock Mechanics Laboratory,
X-ray Computed Tomography facility, Electron Beam
Laboratory already at ARRC.
The recent signing of the Earth Science Consortium
of Western Australia (ESCWA) Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) has brought together the
CSIRO Divisions of Petroleum, and Exploration and
Mining, Curtin University of Technology, the WA
Museum and UWA to ensure Western Australia
maintains strong, viable capabilities in earth science
education and research. ESCWA will provide a
vehicle for future co-operation and collaboration
that will enhance the contribution of geosciences to
the State’s economy, primarily through the minerals
and petroleum industries.
The ARRC facility is demonstrating that Australian
scientists, efficiently working together, can offer the
global resources and energy industries competitive,
world-class research and development outcomes.
The outcomes outlined herein demonstrate that
ARRC is successfully progressing its mission to
provide a fruitful environment for collaborative
research initiatives generating innovative, practical
and valuable outcomes for industry.
Professor Beverley Ronalds
Chief, CSIRO Petroleum
Representatives of the West
Australian Energy Research
Alliance (WAERA) from Curtin
University of Technology, the
University of Western Australia,
and CSIRO Petroleum
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Housing a key concentration of Australia’s leading energy, minerals andresources scientists and research organisations – under the one roof – atthe ARRC complex has continued to generate significant practical benefitsand collaborative research outcomes this year.
8
It is the utilisation and application of these research
outcomes through the transfer of concepts, skills
and technologies that is critical to the success of the
R&D programs conduced at ARRC. As is described
in this report technology transfer occurs through a
wide range of activities including product
commercialisation, industry workshops, training and
education programs and scientific and trade
publications.
ARRC was purpose built to house CSIRO’s
Petroleum and Exploration and Mining Divisions,
along with Curtin University of Technology's
Departments of Exploration Geophysics and
Petroleum Engineering, plus State Centres of
Excellence in Petroleum Research, Petroleum
Geology and Exploration and Production
Geophysics.
The philosophy of co-locating scientists in related
disciplines, enabling them to share facilities,
expertise and energy on collaborative projects, has
proven to be well founded and has already
generated significant benefits.
The joint accommodation means that Curtin
researchers and CSIRO Petroleum and Exploration
and Mining scientists are collaborating on a greater
number of projects, particularly through the CRC for
Landscape Environments and Mineral Exploration
(CRC LEME).
Joint appointments, such as that of Curtin’s
Professor Boris Gurevich have flourished because of
the ARRC co-location. As this Report shows, jointly
funded projects have enabled such experts of high
professional standing to be efficiently involved for
the benefit of all.
Working within the ARRC facility CSIRO group
leaders and Curtin University of Technology
scientists work together as integrated research
teams.
Curtin and CSIRO staff have not only benefited
enormously from greater space and better facilities
by moving to ARRC, but have enjoyed new
collaborative opportunities.
Honours students now have greatly enhanced
interaction with experienced scientists, especially in
Petroleum Geology, Petroleum Geophysics and the
Office of the Department for Conservation and
Land Management (CALM) adjacent to the ARRC
facility.
Regular joint Curtin/CSIRO seminars are run,
enhancing the sharing of knowledge and utilising
the purpose built auditorium facilities and workshop
rooms, so students now get extra opportunities to
interact with visiting dignitaries and international
experts in their fields.
9
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Federal Executive of the Australian Society for
Exploration Geophysicists (ASEG) – the field’s
leading professional society – regularly holds its
meetings in the ARRC complex, bringing together a
wider audience outside geophysics and other
people within the Bentley complex. A series of
seminars was organised by the Associate Members
Committee of the Association of Mining and
Exploration Companies (Inc) (AMEC). The first in
the series of these seminars was conducted jointly
between AMEC and ARRC earlier in the year.
CSIRO’s ongoing solid commitment to ARRC was
further demonstrated through the appointment and
location of the new Chief of CSIRO Petroleum
Professor Beverley Ronalds, headquartered in Perth.
Professor Beverley Ronalds, the former founding
Director and Woodside Chair with the University of
Western Australia’s School of Oil and Gas
Engineering, started in her new position in May this
year. Professor Ronalds brings extensive industry
experience to her new role and has worked with
companies such as Kvaerner Earl and Wright, Ove
Arup, and Hardcastle and Richards. Her career
experience covers the design, fabrication,
installation and operations support for fixed and
floating platforms in the Australian North West
Shelf, the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
ARRC has continued to consolidate its position
throughout 2002–2003 through the number of new
alliance initiatives and the addition of new research
groups and facilities into the Centre. With the
research and development activities continuing to
grow, external earnings now represent in excess of
45% of total funding.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN MINERALS INDUSTRY
Collaborative Research and development conducted at ARRC in support of theAustralian minerals industry is primarily focussed on improving the probabilityof exploration success through the development of innovative technologies andtechniques. This work involves staff and students from both CSIRO Explorationand Mining and Curtin University of Technology.
10
CSIRO EXPLORATION AND MINING (CSIRO EM)
CSIRO Exploration and Mining is the largest
supplier of strategic research and development to
the Australian minerals industry. The Division works
with industry to identify opportunities and deliver
solutions through outstanding science and
engineering. CSIRO Exploration and Mining
incorporates a wide range of research capabilities in
the fields of geoinformatics, geophysics,
geochemistry, geology and mine engineering.
The Division’s research spans the full spectrum of
exploration and mining activities from primary
exploration through to minesite rehabilitation and
mine safety. CSIRO Exploration and Mining has
more than 230 staff nationally, focusing on research
aimed at:
• developing techniques to improve exploration
success
• increasing mining productivity and safety
• addressing environmental and social impacts of
mining.
Much of the Division’s work at ARRC is undertaken
as part of the research programs of the Cooperative
Research Centres for Landscape Environments and
Mineral Exploration (CRCLEME) Predictive Mineral
Discovery (pmd*CRC).
Work conducted outside of the two CRC’s is
directed towards:
• hyperspectral remote sensing as a tool for
exploration and environmental monitoring
• ore forming processes associated with
Ni/Cu/PGE deposits.
Cooperative Research Centre for LandscapeEnvironments and Mineral Exploration (CRC LEME)
(Australian National University, Curtin University of
Technology, University of Adelaide, CSIRO
Exploration and Mining and CSIRO Land and Water,
Geoscience Australia, Minerals Council of Australia,
NSW Department of Mineral Resources and Primary
Industry and Resources South Australia).
The mission of the CRC LEME is to develop a
greater understanding of Australia's terrain when
applied to mineral exploration and environmental
management.
CRC LEME’s research seeks to develop more
effective exploration tools for detecting world-class
ore bodies and to better understand the
environment to develop crucial natural resource
management strategies, such as combating salinity
problems.
Research priorities include improving understanding
of the formation and characterisation of the regolith
– the layer at the Earth's surface that is the result of
weathering, erosion and various deposits such as
weathered rocks, soils and sediments. CRC LEME
researchers focus on regolith processes and
landscape evolution, making exploration
geochemistry work through cover, using regolith
knowledge to enhance prospectivity in geological
regions and developing geophysical techniques to
interpret regolith architecture. Similar techniques
are also being applied to define environmental
problems, especially those due to salinity.
12
Research Highlights
The Development of a Laterite Geochemical Map of
the Western Yilgarn Craton (Pilot Project)
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, Geological Services
of Western Australia through CRC LEME)
Regional geochemical reconnaissance maps could
substantially boost mineral exploration by
delineating previously unrecognised prospective
terrain and expediting the reconnaissance stage of
mineral exploration. Mineral exploration companies
see such geochemical information as an essential
component of public geoscience information,
although it is not available in many parts of
Australia. The proposal to develop a laterite
geochemical map of the Western Yilgarn Craton has
been developed in response to this need, based on
extensive research and practical application in
Western Australia.
This is the first stage of a larger project, aimed at
establishing a geochemical atlas for the Yilgarn
Craton to identify major geochemical trends and
provinces that could assist exploration. It is
considered highly likely that the interpretation of
the distribution of more than 50 elements (many of
which are ore-related) will assist in the discovery of
new mineralised systems, particularly in the
southwestern and northwestern parts, and areas of
cover within and adjacent to the Craton. The
geochemical atlas may help outline an entirely new
mineral district with major multi million ounce gold
deposits such as the Golden Mile, or large base
metal deposits similar to the Canadian Kidd Creek
copper-zinc ore body, with an in-ground value of
more than AUD$30 billion. A more conservative
estimate is that the geochemical atlas would
contribute either directly or indirectly to the
discovery of, perhaps, a 1-2 million ounce gold
deposit, or an additional 250,000 ounces of gold (or
its equivalent in another commodity) in the Yilgarn
region per year. Based on additional annual
production of 50,000 ounces, such a find would
generate a projected export growth of $25 million
per year, or about a one per cent increase in
Western Australia’s’s gold exports.
The geochemical map will also generate substantial
savings for companies on initial greenfields
exploration costs, particularly significant for small
and medium size explorers. The map would
expedite area selection and evaluation by reducing
the need for reconnaissance surface sampling and
drilling. The annual potential saving could be in the
order of $1.0 – 2.5 million, or one – three per cent
of Western Australia’s’s 2001 greenfields exploration
costs.
Regolith Expression of Australian Ore Systems
(Thematic Volume)
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, CRC LEME partners
and numerous industry collaborators)
The geochemical expression of bedrock
mineralisation in the regolith is affected by
geological, geomorphological and environmental
conditions unique for every deposit. Nevertheless
many similarities in dispersion characteristics may be
present, over extensive regions and can be
summarised as conceptual dispersion, process and
exploration models. These models can be used to
anticipate the surface expression of mineralisation,
to assist the design of effective exploration
programs and to evaluate the significance of
anomalies. The aim of this project is to compile and
publish a monograph – updating and expanding
previous compilations – summarising the
characteristic expression of bedrock ore systems in
the Australian regolith. This monograph will be a
comprehensive and inexpensive reference on the
geochemical expression of ore systems in the
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN MINERALS INDUSTRY
13
Australian regolith. It will be a major compilation of
case histories of geochemical signatures for a range
of ore deposits and commodities in different
regolith settings and regions. The publication will
include conceptual models for different areas of
Australia and recommendations on appropriate
exploration procedures. As each case history is
completed, it is being pre-published on the CRC
LEME website at
www.crcleme.org.au/Pubs/RegExpOre/html.
Regolith Landscape Evolution across Australia
(Thematic Volume)
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, CRC LEME partners
and numerous industry collaborators)
The Australian regolith is the product of ages of
weathering, erosion, deposition and physical and
chemical transformation. This regolith and
landscape evolution poses several problems for the
effective application of geochemical and
geophysical exploration procedures. The solutions
require a sound understanding of the history of the
land surface and past and present processes that
have led to its development. This project seeks to
provide a framework of regolith-landscape evolution
across Australia and show its relevance to mineral
exploration and environmental issues. The
objectives of this project have been achieved by
regolith-landform studies in several significant
exploration regions of Australia, including the
Yilgarn, Gawler, Curnamona, Broken Hill, Mt Isa,
Charters Towers-north Drummond, Tanami, Eastern
Queensland and Lachlan Fold Belt regions. The
project will produce a volume of regolith-landscape
evolution across Australia, to help guide industry in
exploration. It will provide greater essential
knowledge of the history of landscapes through
dating, geological integration of regolith-landform
evolution and sediments stratigraphy, and
knowledge of the processes involved.
Mapping the Regolith in 3D (Thematic Volume)
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, CRC LEME partners
and numerous industry collaborators)
This project provides a framework for 3D regolith-
landform mapping, presents examples of the use of
3D and 4D regolith landform information, and has
value in relation to mineral exploration and
environmental management. This is a companion to
the Thematic Volumes, to be produced by
Geoscience Australia, a Core Partner in CRC LEME.
3D mapping of the regolith is a relatively new
advance, relying not only on geophysical data but
also on digital visualisation methods. This volume
will bring together several examples of the value of
3D regolith mapping.
Development of Procedures for Objective
Logging of the Regolith
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, Curtin University of
Technology through CRC LEME)
Regolith interpretative skills are only gathered with
experience. Manual logging is slow, subjective,
difficult to repeat accurately, and expensive. New,
non-invasive spectroscopic techniques have
provided potential to identify regolith components
from their mineralogy and physical properties. This
project aims to develop a practical instrumental
interpretation tool (or tools) for logging regolith
materials returned as core, drill chips, or pulps. The
intent is to provide exploration geologists, mining
engineers, geomorphologists and environmental
scientists with a meaningful, objective analysis of
regolith materials to aid geological, geophysical,
geotechnical and geochemical interpretation. A key
part of the project is to develop automated
procedures that permit the rapid differentiation of
regolith materials by exploiting contrasts in their
mineralogical and petrophysical characteristics.
Speed, repeatability and objectivity in interpretation
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN MINERALS INDUSTRY
14
are critical, with the aim to present the results in a
form that can be exploited by non-specialists. The
derived technology will aid the definition of 3D and
4D models of regolith and landscape with
consequence for exploration and environmental
applications.
The project’s first phase – carried out this year – was
to investigate and identify key mineralogical and
physical characteristics of the regolith that need to
be measured. This was greatly advanced by the
acquisition of a Reflectance Spectrometer
purchased with the aid of funds from the Western
Australian State Government, granted to CSIRO and
Curtin University of Technology through CRC LEME.
Collaboration between CRC LEME partners and
CSIRO will advance the second phase that involves
developing practical methods for measuring these
characteristics.
Predictive Mineral Discovery CooperativeResearch Centre (pmd*CRC)
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, AMIRA
International, Geoscience Australia, James Cook
University, Monash University, University of
Melbourne and UWA)
The pmd*CRC was conceived by industry, in
partnership with the geological research community,
to focus research on issues that are of critical
importance to ore discovery. It seeks to generate a
fundamental shift in exploration practice and cost-
effectiveness through a vastly improved
understanding of mineralising processes and a four
dimensional understanding of the evolution of the
geology of mineralising terrains.
The pmd*CRC’s long-term objectives are to
contribute to the resolution of the key areas of
uncertainty in current models for the formation of
major economic mineral deposit types within
mineralised terrains that have a high exploration
priority. Researchers are building 3D and 4D images
and histories of well-known mineralised systems.
They are seeking to create a computational
environment to simulate the 4D evolution of mineral
systems to help predict the location and quality of
superior ore deposits. The pmd*CRC is working to
transfer these concepts, skills and technologies into
the mineral exploration industry to assure its long-
term competitive advantage.
Research highlights
CRC Project M1 Software Framework
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining through pmd*CRC)
The objective of this project is to build a software
environment for numerical modelling of earth
processes, which will enable rapid assessment of
exploration targeting problems in the time frames
experienced in normal mineral exploration
programs. The first critical phase of this work was
the re-engineering of an earlier prototype software
development (3DMACS) which enabled coupling of
two modelling codes – FLAC and FastFlo – into the
distributed software environment planned for the
CRC. It was completed on time at the end of June
2003. Historically, the application of the team’s
numerical modelling technologies to mineral
exploration has been slow relative to the
exploration decision-making cycle. Developments in
this project allied with the team’s evolving
experience in the application of has led to
significantly faster results so that results are now
being incorporated into the exploration work flow
for the first time (e.g. at Stawell – see below).
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN MINERALS INDUSTRY
15
CRC Projects F2 and M2
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, James Cook
University through pmd*CRC)
These projects aim to expand our capabilities in the
numerical modelling of earth processes involved in
the formation of large high value ore bodies. The
specific issues under investigation are fracturing and
fluid flow, magmatic processes, reactive transport
chemical modelling and multi-scaling. Significant
progress has been made on the first three issues
during the year including:
The introduction of advective heat transport in
FLAC, which has permitted the modelling of
convective behaviour in 2D, and 3D which is a
significant step forward in the understanding of fluid
flow in fractures as well as fluid flow systems
developing around cooling magmatic bodies,
developing fast numerically stable reactive transport
solutions with FastFlo and modelling the process of
intrusion with the particle code PFC.
CRC Projects M3
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining,
UWA through pmd*CRC)
This project acts as an interface between the
internal "world" of modelling and software
development and the external "world" of education
and practical modelling for industry. This project has
progressed quite well in the past year with
highlights being:
• conclusion of a joint modelling project with the
Changsha Institute of Geotectonics on the Shui-
Kou-Shan mining district in Hunan Province in
China,
• excellent progress on a modelling project with
Placer Dome on the Wallaby gold deposit in the
Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia,
• the first phase of developing a numerical
modelling library containing results of past
modelling projects and numerical modelling
course materials
• development and delivery of a well received two
day modelling course for MSc students and
industry as part of the University of Western
Australia’s MSc program.
CRC Project I4 Isa Copper
(XStrata, Monash University, James Cook University,
CSIRO Exploration and Mining through pmd*CRC)
This project aims to develop a predictive
understanding of the formation of copper
mineralisation at Mt Isa. Significant advances in this
understanding were achieved during the year due in
part to mechanical modelling undertaken at ARRC.
Outokumpu Project
(Outokumpu, Geological Survey of Finland, CSIRO
Exploration and Mining through pmd*CRC)
This project aims to develop a predictive
understanding of the formation of base metal
mineralisation in the Outokumpu ore district in
Finland through the application of numerical
simulation of the geological processes involved in
ore formation. Significant advances in this
understanding were achieved by the CSIRO
Exploration and Mining team, so much so that
Outokumpu awarded the research team led by
Alison Ord the Otto Trustedt Medal (see Awards,
Achievements and Community, page 51). They won
the award for their contributions to understanding
the Outokumpu mineralising system in Finland,
particularly for improving the understanding of
copper, zinc, cobalt, nickel and gold mineralisation
in the company’s mining area.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN MINERALS INDUSTRY
16
Predictive Discovery of Mount Isa-style Iron Sulphide
Cu-mineralisation’ pmd*CRC Project I4
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, James Cook
University Townsville and Monash University through
pmd*CRC)
Within the last financial year the Project team have
used the IVEC 3D visualisation facility a number of
times to visualise three-dimensional geological
models constructed in GOCAD. Proper visualisation
of these models has proven to be a keystone in the
understanding of the relation between geochemical
datasets and the complex geometry and structure
of orogenic hydrothermal mineralisation systems
such as Mount Isa. The IVEC facility has provided
the advantage of almost intuitively being able to
understand the spatial distribution of data and
structures. It is also a considerable advantage to
have an in-house facility here in Western Australia
rather than having to use similar set-ups on the east
coast.
Stawell numerical modelling program –
Stawell Gold Mine
(MPI Mines, Melbourne University, CSIRO
Exploration and Mining through pmd*CRC)
This new numerical and fluid flow modelling
approach – applied to the mineral belt in western
Victoria containing that State’s biggest gold mine –-
has the potential to highlight as yet undiscovered
and ‘blind’ ore bodies hundreds of metres
underground. Mainly because of the expense of
gold exploration ‘under cover’, no goldfields have
been discovered in western Victoria since the early
1900s. This project was the first time researchers
had taken the outline of geologic units directly from
software used by mine geologists, to build realistic
meshes for new numerical models. Results from the
research are now being applied directly to
exploration decisions including the targeting of drill
holes by the MPI exploration team.
OTHER CSIRO EXPLORATION AND MININGRESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS IN 2002 – 03:
Simulation Systems
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, CSIRO
Land and Water)
* This is a State funded ARRC project
This project has three sub-components:
1. Numerical modelling capacity for generating a
predictive understanding of geochemical
anomaly formation in the regolith.
2. Computational solutions for the generation of
3D images of the probability of ore occurring in
a particular prospective area.
3. Complex System Science solutions particularly in
understanding the development of predictable
patterns in ore distribution.
Significant progress has been made in the first two
sub-components in the past year:
Firstly a small working group consisting of two
regolith geochemists and a reactive transport
modeller from CSIRO Exploration and Mining and a
hydrological modeller from CSIRO Land and Water
worked together to develop several Yilgarn-based
scenarios and to commence a program of reactive
transport modelling of gold dissolution and
precipitation in the regolith. The potential for this
type of application, if successful, is enormous as it
presents an opportunity to revolutionise the way
that geochemical sampling strategies and anomaly
assessments are developed by a numerically based
process-driven understanding of regolith geology.
Secondly, the Computational Geoscience research
group at ARRC takes the results of numerical
modelling experiments and applies them to
complex 3D geometries. The underlying idea is that
a process-driven prediction of the likelihood of ore
formation derived from numerical modelling can be
translated into a spatial depiction of the probability
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN MINERALS INDUSTRY
17
of a target ore body in 3D space. The first step in
developing such a capability is an efficient method
for undertaking queries in 3DGIS. While this is a
focus of current research around the world,
application to the results of numerical modelling
experiments is a new frontier. Therefore following
the evaluation and purchase of a geometry library,
some prototype software has been successfully
developed to enable a sample 3DGIS query (in this
case identifying the favourability of a simple
structural configuration) to be mapped through a
complex 3D geometry. Further research aimed at
extending this capability possibly through the use of
AI agents to evaluate numerical model runs will
hopefully lead to a multi-client sponsored research
program in 2004.
XMML and GML Research
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, Minerals and
Energy Institute of WA (MERIWA), Open GIS
Consortium, ISO, Geoscience Australia, State
Geological Surveys, various company sponsors)
This research has led to the development of an XML
language for the Exploration and Mining industry
known as XMML (eXploration and Mining Markup
Language) through various sponsored projects
(notably the MERIWA XMML project) as well as an
increasingly strong collaboration with the Open GIS
Consortium and the International Standards
Organisation. This research forms a critical
component of the software developments being
undertaken by the Computational Geoscience
research group as the distributed software design
philosophy being employed in the pmd*CRC (see
CRC Project M1 below) and FracSIS projects is
completely dependent on the availability of XMML.
FracSIS Project
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, Fractal
Technologies)
This project is a core component in CSIRO
Exploration and Mining’s Glass Earth project and is
providing significantly enhanced capabilities to
CSIRO for visualising 3D geology and numerical
modelling outputs via enhancements to Fractal
Technologies software products. The project is on
time and budget for completion in October 2003.
Spectral Mine Sight
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, Robe River,
Hamersley Iron and BHPB)
* This is a State funded ARRC project
This project is developing user-friendly systems for
the mineralogical mapping of mine faces for more
efficient and accurate deposit delineation and ore
grade characterisation. The aim is to improve
recovery of resources, and minimise drilling. This
research is developing systems for the mapping of
minerals and changes in their chemistry on a spatial
scale appropriate to the mine environment. It will
also improve safety for geologists by providing
mineralogical information from a distance, avoiding
the need for any close contact with the mine face.
The mine-imaging concept is a logical response to
the industry need for automatic and objective tools
for sustainable and future mining practices.
In addition to improved ore grade models, other
benefits of the Spectral Mine Imaging technique
include: improved understanding of mine design
and geotechnical issues; improved understanding of
ore forming processes and safety (away from the
high walls). It will also help to enhance deposit
delineation and ore grade characterisation as well as
improve recovery. Better deposit delineation will
also potentially lengthen the life a mine and has
obvious impact on preserving regional employment
levels.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN MINERALS INDUSTRY
18
The Analytical Spectral Device (ASD) spectrometer
based prototype face mapping system has so far
been trialled in five Western Australian iron ore
mines (Mt Newman – BHP-B; Marandoo, Tom Price
and Brockman 2 – Hamersley Iron and West Angelas
– Robe River). Other mines (including Yandi –
Hamersley Iron; Mesa G – Robe River and Iron Duke
– OneSteel) will be mapped in the next year.
Beneficiaries of this research include mining
companies such as Hamersley Iron, Robe River, BHP
Billiton, Anglo-American, KCGM and Western
Mining Corporation. The iron ore, gold, talc and
nickel industries will benefit from Spectral Mine
Imaging.
Ni-Cu-PGE Group
The Ni-Cu-PGE Group is a commodity-focussed
multi-disciplinary research group. The group has
worked to develop a detailed knowledge of the
geological processes, which produce the world’s
quality Ni/Cu/PGE ore deposits and their host
environments. To identify diagnostic criteria and
procedures that will enable these environments to
be recognised, and their contained orebodies to be
located, delineated, evaluated, and exploited
efficiently.
The primary focus of the Group has historically been
on exploration concepts for deposits of magmatic
origin, viz Extrusive Komatiite-Associated Sulfide
Ni/Cu/PGE Nickel Deposits and Intrusive Gabbroic-
Associated Ni/Cu/PGE Sulfide Deposits.
The Group’s past research program has benefited
the discovery, delineation and evaluation of most
recent greenfields sulfide nickel projects in Western
Australia. Its work has provided exploration models,
which have been directly responsible for the
discovery in Western Australia of ore bodies worth
at least US$7.0 billion over the past 12 years.
Having worked with 26 organisations (one on one)
in the past 12 years, the Group’s research is
characterised by repeat endorsements, with four
major companies renewing collaborative research
alliances for more than four years.
The CSIRO Ni/Cu/PGE Group has been
collaborating with the Geological Survey of Finland
(GTK) on a project which is mapping and
characterising features of Proterozoic subaerial and
shallow marine komatiites in Lapland, and searching
for any evidence of nickel sulfide ore-forming
processes in these rocks. The results of this
research will form the basis of another discriminator
for prospective and unprospective komatiites in
Australia.
One potentially effective area selection tool for
exploration for Intrusive Ni/Cu/PGE sulfide deposits
is to identify Ni, Cu, and, importantly, PGE-
depletion signatures as indicators that the lavas
have lost these metals to sulfide ore deposits. The
Group collaborating with GTK, is undertaking
careful sampling and analysis of lavas and their
intrusive equivalents in Central Finland. The
outcome from this project will be a strategy to
prioritise prospectivity of regions throughout
Australia for intrusive Ni/Cu/PGE deposits.
Ms Sarah Dowling is a senior scientist on both of
the CSIRO/GTK research projects, undertaking both
the fieldwork in Finland, and laboratory-based
petrological studies in Australia. During the course
of her petrographic work Sarah identified ancient 2
billion year old micro-organisms (cyano
bacteria/geyserites) in basaltic samples from both
projects. This is a very significant discovery, proving
beyond doubt a subaerial/shallow water hot spring
environment for emplacement of the lavas.
The Group’s programs have also changed the
paradigms of exploration for Archaean nickel
deposits, through effective technology transfer,
international research collaboration and the
continued success of a fully subscribed annual nickel
workshop for the international community.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN MINERALS INDUSTRY
19
Development of Horadiam Mining Equipment
(Remote Ore Extraction System – Automated
Horadiam Stoping) (ROES-AHS)
* This is a State funded ARRC project
The project focussed on two areas of research:
commercial development and physical R&D.
Commercial development has proceeded ahead of
plan. Australian Mining Consultants (AMC) did
formal independent analysis of the Australian
Mining industry. This was a systematic analysis of all
of the ore bodies known to AMC to calculate the
value to existing mining operations. The expected
improvement to the operating margin was
calculated for each operation. Very positive results
were achieved.
Additionally, the macro economic benefits to the
Australian economy and rates of return on the cost
of R&D were calculated by the Centre for
International Economics.
Physical research progressed well following the
employment of further staff. Basic drilling
equipment and a research facility were designed
and constructed and drilling research has begun to
address the issue of reliable and non-intervention
remote controlled drilling. The initial focus was for
prevention of drill binding (stuck drill bit).
Experimental work has been conducted towards
minimising the risk of "stuck drills". This work
continues and will ultimately lead to improved drill
control.
Application of Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Data to
Provide Indicators of Mine-site Rehabilitation and
Prediction of Site Closure Progress
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining and Robe River
Mining Pty Ltd)
An innovative project operating under the Robe
River Mining/CSIRO Alliance Agreement is
examining quantitative relationships between a five-
year sequence of hyperspectral remote sensing data
and the physical and chemical properties of native
vegetation communities rehabilitating minesites at
the Pannawonica iron ore operations in the western
Pilbara of Western Australia. In addition, vegetation
indices derived from the hyperspectral data are
being examined to identify ecological trends in
response to seasonal dynamics impacting on the
region. The objective of this project is to determine
the potential of hyperspectral remote sensing for
measuring and monitoring mine-site rehabilitation
and predicting progress towards mine-site closure
criteria. Understanding and measuring the
relationship between hyperspectral data and
chlorophyll- and cellulose-dominated vegetation
complexes on the mined benches underpins the
research. A key outcome is to develop a technique
acceptable for long-term monitoring of rehabilitated
mine-sites, thereby bypassing the conventional
labour-intensive, ground-based approaches to
monitoring.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN MINERALS INDUSTRY
20
Deriving Quantitative Dust Measurements From
Airborne Hyperspectral Data
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, BHP Billiton Port
Hedland)
Dust derived from mining and handling of ore has
been identified as a major concern for the mining
industry in Australia and may be critical to the future
viability of some resource industries. The port
handling facilities at BHP Billiton, Port Hedland,
handles one of the largest tonnages of bulk
materials in Australia. Sixty two million tonnes per
annum (Mtpa) was handled in 1999 and it has full
capacity in excess of 70 Mtpa. The harbour,
constructed after dredging 21.4 million cubic metres
of material, is surrounded by a series of mangrove-
lined tidal creeks. Mangroves play a key role in
providing nursery grounds for marine species as well
as protecting the dredged harbour from erosion and
sedimentation during cyclonic events.
BHP Billiton is required to perform routine
monitoring of the dust levels on the mangroves as
part of their environmental management practice.
Environmental practitioners at BHP Billiton have
found that traditional dust monitoring is usually an
expensive and labour-intensive exercise. In some
instances data are gathered and interpreted by
different individuals and therefore may be
subjective. Spatial coverage and integrity can also
be an issue especially when field access is limited.
Consequently, they have identified a need for
operational techniques that can accurately derive
measurements of iron ore dust on mangroves on a
routine basis. Researchers at CEM are helping BHP
Billiton develop techniques for deriving quantitative
measurements of iron ore dust quantity on
mangroves from airborne hyperspectral systems.
The results from the project showed that it is
possible to use airborne hyperspectral systems as a
monitoring tool. The final research stages are now
underway to ensure that accurate and repeatable
environmental monitoring data can be obtained for
operational usage. Environmental practitioners at
BHP Billiton hope to change their current
monitoring requirements and adopt the innovative
method developed through this work for future
routine monitoring.
The use of airborne hyperspectral sensors for dust
monitoring purposes is not exclusively for iron ore
dust. In fact, it is possible to develop additional
algorithms to measure other anthropogenic dust
that have diagnostic spectral features and the
technique may be used for monitoring dust on
vegetation and infrastructure. Furthermore, such
information can be captured non-invasively spatially-
comprehensive, an important consideration for
fragile and inaccessible environments such
mangrove swamps.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN MINERALS INDUSTRY
Oil and gas research undertaken through the ARRC facility is focusing onimproving oil exploration performance while also preparing Australia andthe region for the transition to future new energy sources. As productionof liquid transport fuels begin to decline in Australia, ARRC researchersare developing technologies, which will enable the use of Australia’s richgas reserves and the conversion of gas to liquid fuels. A longer-termobjective is to develop the new technologies needed to allow Australia toenter the hydrogen age in the future.
21
CSIRO Petroleum, through the leveraging of the
ARRC facility, is working hand in hand with industry
and other research organisations to ensure that
research priorities are aligned to meet industry
demands. Having the co-location of scientists,
researchers and visiting industry technical personnel
within the ARRC facility enables collaborative teams
to be formed to effectively resolve contemporary
issues.
CSIRO PETROLEUM
CSIRO Petroleum is a significant provider of
research, technology and associated services within
the global petroleum industry, employing about 150
staff operating across three sites, Perth, Sydney and
Melbourne.
The Division has core capabilities in the
Geosciences, Geo-engineering and Gas Process
Engineering. It has considerable expertise in the
area of exploration and production, having also
expanded its research effort into gas, gas
processing and clean fuels, to reflect the changing
priorities and the evolution of the oil and gas
industry.
CSIRO Petroleum develops and applies knowledge
in a range of science and engineering fields to
reduce costs, increase new discovery rates and
improve the percentage recovery of known
resources in the oil and gas industry. This is done by
applying world best practice and developing
strategic relationships within the Australian
Petroleum CRC and other national and international
peer groups, service and operating companies. The
Division’s research outcomes are applied within the
petroleum, energy, mining and mineral processing
sectors.
The Division has expanded globally through
research collaborations from South-East Asia
(PETRONAS), China, to Europe (TNO) and North
and South America (Alberta Research Council,
Petrobras).
Research Highlights
‘Green Muds’
(CSIRO Petroleum, CSIRO Molecular Science,
Halliburton Baroid)
Oil wells traditionally use oil-based and synthetic
fluids – that can pollute the ocean – to help prevent
wellbores from collapsing, to cool and lubricate
drills and to keep out extraneous material.
Collapsed and sidetracked oil wellbores, lost tools
and abandoned wells currently cost the global oil
and gas industry $2 billion annually. This
collaborative research has developed new
environmentally friendly, water-based drilling fluids –
or ‘green muds’ – now in the process of being
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
23
patented globally. This new generation of drilling
fluids is efficient, low-cost, water-based and
hydrocarbon-free. The ‘green muds’ formulations
are being commercialised by Halliburton Baroid as
the BarOmegaTM (Osmotic Membrane Efficiency
Generating Aqueous) drilling fluid system. Fields
trials are being discussed with oil companies that
have wells in the South China Sea. Companies in
Australia, Malaysia, Brunei, United Arab Emirates,
China and Japan have also expressed interest.
Argon Geo- and Thermochronology
(CSIRO Petroleum and Centre of Excellence in Mass
Spectrometry, Curtin University of Technology)
The CSIRO Petroleum K-Ar facility is part of the
Western Australian Argon Isotope Facility (WAAIF)
within the John de Laeter Centre of Mass
Spectrometry at Curtin University of Technology.
The WAAIF was established in 2001 to provide
state-of-the-art K-Ar and Ar-Ar laser dating of rocks
and minerals to research and industry in Western
Australia and worldwide. It recently obtained a joint
Curtin University of Technology Small Linkage Grant
to establish a vacuum encapsulation station for
40Ar-39Ar dating of clays and fine-grained samples.
This will be the first facility of its type in Australia
and the southern hemisphere.
Petroleum companies are making use of the facility
to evaluate thermal histories of sedimentary basins
using authigenic illite and K-feldspars. The K-Ar
facility was involved in a detailed K-Ar syn-kinematic
illite dating study of two recently exposed fault lines
beneath the construction site of the new $320
million Lucas Heights replacement nuclear reactor in
Sydney. Further studies focusing on determining the
timing of low temperature brittle deformation zones
have resulted to a new service product. Commercial
clients involve oil, mining and service companies
from within Australia and around the world. Projects
focus for example on dating of authigenic illite to
constrain timing of hydrocarbon charging histories
for reservoir quality estimation and stratigraphic
time markers such as basalts, bentonite and
glaucony within Australia and around the world
(including North Sea, India, Indonesia, China, Chile,
Africa).
Pressure and Fluid Dynamic Study of the Southern
North Sea Basin
(CSIRO Petroleum, TNO – NITG Netherlands, Clyde
Petroleum Exploratie B.V, Total FINA ELF, Gaz de
France, Winterhall and NAM)
Accurate knowledge of the present-day regional
distribution of pore pressures is important for safe
and economic drilling, for evaluating prospectivity
and for determining field development strategies.
This project uses the CSIRO developed
PressureQC™ quality control methodology to
reduce exploration and production risks and to
interpret the petroleum system. This methodology –
first applied on Western Australia’s North West Shelf
for the Australian petroleum industry – is now
helping with the analysis of oil and gas reserves in
the North Sea and to locate new fields. The Project
is collating appropriate data from about 500 wells in
the Southern North Sea Basin gathered by energy
companies over the past 40 years. It is developing
what will be the North Sea’s first integrated quality-
controlled pressure and hydrodynamics database of
formation pressures and other data needed for
correct pressure interpretations, such as
temperatures and formation water chemistry.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
24
The Development of Seismic Applications for Western
Australian Conditions for the Minerals and Petroleum
Industries
(CSIRO Petroleum, Baker-Atlas (Houston), BP
(Houston), Chinese Academy of Science Institute of
Ultrasonics, Instituto Nazionale Oceanografia e di
Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS), APCRC, GEODISC,
ChevronTexaco)
* This is a State funded ARRC project
In order to test geophysical ideas and concepts,
advanced techniques are needed to simulate the
electromagnetic and seismic response of the
subsurface, especially as a means to validate
laboratory derived measurements. It is important that
these techniques address detail scale and complexity.
This requires computing resources that are not
economically available in the current service industry.
This project consists of two components, which
develop the modeling techniques to model the
physical response of a complex subsurface and will
provide tools to assist understanding laboratory
response and the physical behaviour of complex
subsurface conditions. The project consists of a
seismic component and an electromagnetic
component. The seismic component led by Dr
Xiuming Wang has developed leading edge codes
that can simulate seismic response in three
dimensional, fully anisotropic environment, poroelastic
and viscoelastic environments. It has established new
techniques for handling traction free surfaces.
The electromagnetic modeling project is led by Dr
Bension Zinger, a world-leading expert in modeling
electromagnetic response and through-casing
resistivity technology. Baker-Atlas engaged the
project group to develop an extension to a 3D
modeling capability built under CRCAMET to provide
a means to forward model the response of the
Baker–Atlas electromagnetic downhole system. This
modeling capability is being used to predict reservoir
and aquifer electric response when CO2 is injected.
Analogue Reservoir Modelling (ARM)
(CSIRO Petroleum, Curtin University of Technology
Department of Petroleum Engineering, UWA COFS,
Woodside Energy Ltd and ChevronTexaco,)
* This is a State funded ARRC project
The ARM project aims to establish methodologies
to physically model reservoir processes suitably
scaled to the laboratory since not all processes can
be simulated numerically. The project expertise was
derived from and interacts with Curtin University of
Technology Exploration Geophysics physical
modeling capability. The ARM project was initiated
when the group established controlled methods for
building synthetic sandstones from the CIPS calcite
precipitation process (developed in CSIRO
Exploration and Mining) with precisely controlled
properties such as porosity, permeability and frame
strength. The project also developed the application
of dimensional analysis to precisely scale fluid
properties such as viscosity and velocity flow rates
to simulate different flow regimes. The project
leverages on similar interests within the University of
Western Australia for collaborative work.
ChevronTexaco (San Ramone) were keen to support
a project to model multiple sub-seismic scale
meandering channels within turbidites and their
influence on their seismic response. This has large
dollar impact in identifying productive channels
from seismic in deep water plays. Woodside have
also agreed to fund this project. The project has
built a scaled model of a simplified system carved
from Perspex, and the channel properties have been
modeled with CIPS derived sandstone. Fluids are
flushed through these systems, and snapshot
seismic surveys are carried out at different
frequencies. The model response will be examined
through seismic processing and predicted by a
reservoir model run in a complementary project
within the Petroleum Engineering department at
Curtin University of Technology.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
25
Predicting Abnormal Geopressure Using Seismic Data
(CSIRO Petroleum, Curtin University of Technology,
industrial sponsors Schlumberger, ChevronTexaco
and BHP Billiton, APCRC)
Overpressure is a drilling hazard which if not
predicted, can lead to curtailment of drilling or
potentially lead to loss of wells with consequent
unplanned costs of $5M to $30M. This project has
been a 5-year research program into the processes
of overpressure generation with reference to
overpressure conditions in the Carnarvon Basin. This
research program has investigated overpressure
from an empirical basis on field data, a laboratory-
based component that has recreated various
overpressure conditions and a theoretical basis to
relate the observations to the physical processes.
This approach has been reasonably unique,
compared with traditionally field based empirical
methods. These new methods have the potential to
be a major advance and contribution to current
prediction methodologies globally.
The research program has recently made a
significant breakthrough in defining direct
relationships between seismic trace attributes and
differential stress which is a significant advance on
existing global methods of velocity-effective stress
predictive techniques. This has led to a patented
workflow incorporating neural net techniques that
train and predict a quantitative measure of
overpressure and map this onto the seismic cube.
This has generated considerable global interest and
will impact predictive techniques and workflows
within the global exploration community.
FrOG (From Oil to Groundwater)
(CSIRO Petroleum, CSIRO Land and Water)
A quarter of the world gets its water from
groundwater – now often called ‘blue gold’ – and
global consumption is doubling every 20 years, yet
so little is known about the deeper parts of this
resource. FrOG is investigating whether the data,
techniques and knowledge accumulated by
petroleum and mining companies can help us find
more underground water and better understand the
resources more than 100 metres below the earth’s
surface. Exploring deeper groundwater resources is
expensive and thus data is very costly to acquire.
Valuable data, techniques and knowledge may,
however, already be available from petroleum and
mining companies. They have exploration datasets
and have developed techniques during their
evaluations of prospective basins and tenements.
CSIRO is investigating if systematic integration of
these datasets offers an efficient and cost-effective
methodology for groundwater exploration.
Integrated Fault Seal Analysis
(CSIRO Petroleum)
Fault Seal research at CSIRO Petroleum has a
competitively high profile with industry and its
academic peers. The focus of the research is to
predict top and fault seal integrity to enable
industry to reduce seal breach risk both post and
pre-drill directly and through integration with multi-
disciplinary datasets and disciplines such as
hydrodynamics, charge history, stress field analysis,
geomechanical and petrophysical measurements,
and conventional fault seal analysis. The demand for
fault and top seal integrity research continues to be
high and challenging. Fault bounded hydrocarbon
traps represent a common entrapment type within
Australian and overseas basins. Sealing faults often
compartmentalise formations, which can result in
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
27
overpressures. Effective fault seal prediction is
required to properly risk this key element within a
petroleum systems framework. Existing approaches
rely heavily on empirical methods such as shale
gouge ratio that are calibrated on non-Australian
systems and are often difficult to apply in a non-
calibrated setting. These methods also fail to
address reactivation processes that are common in
the collisional tectonic settings of the North West
Shelf. Evidence for market demand can be seen in
the strong involvement of the global upstream
petroleum industry to the hydrodynamics industry
consortium, the APCRC seals consortium, CO2 CRC
and growing levels of external income from direct
company projects and multi-client type products
such as PressureQCTM, PressurePlotTM, PressureDB
and the Timor Sea GIS database.
Hard-To-Drill-Rocks
(CSIRO Petroleum, Diamant Drilling Systems,
Belgium, PETRONAS Carigali, Malaysia, PDVSA
Intevep, Venezuela, PETROBAS, Brasil, University of
Minnesota, Department of Rock Mechanics)
The vibration of an oil well’s drillstring can hamper the
rate of drilling and even cause complete drillstring
failure. Extending previous Russian research, this
project is developing a model to indicate favourable
revolutional drillstring speeds to minimise vibrations
and to improve the rate of penetration. CSIRO was
approached by several international companies –
including Baker Hughes Inteq and Smith International
– to carry out this project. For oil companies, the
practical benefits will be a software package, which
can be used before and after drilling, and on site
during drilling to tune drillstring rpm’s to maximise
the rate of penetration. No such software currently
exists. If successful, this project is expected to yield
improved rates of penetration of up to 10 per cent,
equivalent to one drilling day, thus significantly
decreasing drilling costs.
Carbon Dioxide Sequestration
(CSIRO Petroleum, Geoscience Australia, Curtin
University of Technology Department of Petroleum
Engineering, The National Centre for Petroleum
Geology and Geophysics, APCRC, GEODISC and
the University of New South Wales.)
Geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) will be
an important component of Australia’s efforts to
meet greenhouse gas emission targets. Geological
sequestration of CO2 involves the capture and
storage of the gas deep underground in geological
reservoirs like unminable coal beds, depleted oil or
gas fields or deep salty aquifers. This collaborative
project has led to increased confidence in the
identification of possible sites for long-term
geological storage of CO2 to reduce pollution and
mitigate the Greenhouse Effect. It has led to
significant advances in the understanding of the
behaviour of CO2 in deep saline formations, in
particular that containment of buoyant CO2 is only
necessary until it dissolves. This may be only a few
thousand years, greatly increasing the capacity and
availability of suitable storage sites in Australia. The
project provides new knowledge which is available
to help inform government policy and to assist
business.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
28
GEODISC Geophysical Monitoring
(CSIRO, Curtin University of Technology Department
of Exploration Geophysics, LBNL California,
GEODISC, ChevronTexaco, BHP Billiton, Woodside
Energy Ltd, Shell)
When CO2 is stored into aquifers or reservoirs in an
Enhanced Oil Recovery operation, there must be an
understanding of the monitoring techniques to
establish that the CO2 is contained as is expected
and the subsurface geochemical containment and
capture processes are working. This project is
developing the technologies to address this
geophysical monitoring of CO2 storage. Its
techniques and analysis were essentially high order
applications of the modeling tools to specific
scenarios. The reports just completed have mapped
the physical responses of potential storage sites.
This analysis will be critical for designing the
monitoring program when a specific site has been
chosen, and to take it forward into the CRC for
Sustainable Resource Processing.
Hydrocarbon Prospectivity in the
East Papuan Basin PNG
(CSIRO Petroleum, InterOil)
This multi-disciplinary CSIRO study – involving
laboratory analysis and field work – has helped
Canadian company InterOil make what has the
potential to be the first significant hydrocarbon
discovery in Papua New Guinea’s eastern Papuan
basin (northwest of Port Moresby) in 44 years.
Supported by the CSIRO study results, InterOil
discovered oil shows through 135m of Tertiary
limestones in the Moose-1 ST1 well, which is being
tested as a potentially viable new commercial
resource. The CSIRO work – commissioned in mid
2001 – has been critical to this result, consolidating
substantial evidence for a petroleum system in
InterOil’s exploration Licenses. The CSIRO research
focused on evaluation of the hydrocarbon
prospectivity of InterOil’s exploration acreage. It
incorporated a range of projects involving 10 CSIRO
investigators in a number of disciplines, examining
reservoir quality and sedimentology, organic
geochemistry and petrology, geochronology and
regional basin history. This work forms an important
component of the strategic research interests of
CSIRO Petroleum, building on 10 years of research
in PNG. The multidisciplinary approach is providing
unique insights into petroleum system evolution
throughout the Papuan Basin, directly impacting on
models driving current exploration in this region. It
is also relevant to petroleum system analysis across
the northwest Australian margin, and to the
continuing development of CSIRO exploration and
appraisal technologies.
GEODISC Risk Framework Report
(APCRC and industry supporters, CSIRO Petroleum,
CSIRO Atmospheric Research)
This research is developing a comprehensive risk
management framework for CO2 Injection projects
being considered under the Australian Petroleum
CRC GEODISC program. It has triggered potential
for new thinking in the structuring of environmental
evidence and its public presentation for complex
projects. It proposes a new framework on how to
achieve public acceptance of CO2 sequestration by
adopting a transparent risk and uncertainty process.
If adopted, the research may enhance social
acceptance and the implementation speed of
underground CO2 environmental management.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
29
CIPS (Calcite In-situ Precipitation System)
(CSIRO Exploration and Mining, CSIRO Petroleum,
ChevronTexaco, Woodside Energy Ltd)
This research has produced artificial rocks – known
as CIPS (Calcite In-situ Precipitation System) – that
have many potential applications including
improving the foundations for offshore oil platforms,
strengthening pit wall stability in open cut mining,
and even helping the restoration of historical
buildings. The scientists have also uncovered – for
the first time – the potential of the CIPS rocks to be
used for a range of geophysical research
applications. CIPS rocks can be fabricated with
systematic, controllable and reproducible variations
in a single parameter, while keeping all other
parameters constant. They have been shown to
reproduce the acoustic and geomechanical
response observed in natural sandstones, and the
experimental capability necessary to validate
theoretical and numerical modelling predictions of
geophysical properties. This project is unique in
being able to simulate rock properties realistically,
and establish a means to model in-situ reservoir
properties in a meaningful and productive way. It
has the potential to re-establish the benefits of
physical modeling as a laboratory based technique
as an adjunct to numerical simulation. This has been
recognised by the ChevronTexaco San Ramone
Research laboratories and Woodside, plus other
leading institutions, potentially leading to further
fruitful research collaborations.
OTHER CSIRO PETROLEUM RESEARCHHIGHLIGHTS IN 2002–2003:
The Juniper Decision Process
(Woodside Energy Ltd, CSIRO, University of Bristol)
A pilot trial has confirmed the commercialisation
potential of this research and generated a much
better understanding of this unique new uncertainty
management process. This was the first time that
CSIRO had deployed the research results in an
industrial context. An engineering consultancy
company has shown interest and wishes to evaluate
the process with a client.
Cuttings Integrity Tests and Petrophysical/Chemical
Property Measurements on Macedon Mudstone and
Muderong Shale Sidewall Cores
(Woodside Energy Ltd, CSIRO Petroleum,
Baker Hughes, INTEQ)
This project is focused on the determination of the
chemical stability of Macedon mudstone and
Muderong shale to site multilateral junctions in the
development of three fields in the North West Shelf.
The suitability to use the formations to site
multilateral junctions depends on their ability to
remain stable during the period of multilateral
construction and producing life of the wells.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
30
Laboratory Hydraulic Fracture Experiments to
Measure Fracture Growth in Acrylic blocks.
(CSIRO Petroleum, Schlumberger Houston,
University of Minnesota)
This Project is seeking to provide an improved 3D
model of fracture growth leading to better fracture
analysis and improved design capabilities for
industry. Schlumberger Houston is seeking to obtain
data on hydraulic fracture growth for comparison to
their new 3D numerical fracture model to verify its
calculations. This will lead to better use of resources
and improved recovery of oil and gas. The project
feeds into an industry research effort that is leading
edge. The economic benefits are expected to be
several million for Schlumberger and savings up to
$5 million industry wide.
Evidence for Oil Migration from Measurements using
Oil Migration Intervals Technology
(CSIRO Petroleum, Geoscience Australia, Woodside
Energy Ltd)
This research is seeking to detect oil migration
pathways in routine evaluation of exploration oil
wells. There is no current robust method to detect
whether oil has migrated through rocks, which
would be a useful indicator of the presence of oil.
Petroleum Reservoir Seals
(CSIRO Petroleum, Australian Petroleum CRC)
This project has developed new approaches to
identify, quantify and mitigate risks associated with
the integrity of the rocks and structures that provide
the seals to naturally occurring oil and gas
reservoirs. It has developed new methods for
evaluating stress history and has made a major
contribution to the Australian Seals Atlas. Partners
in the funding consortium to lower risk and increase
exploration success have used these tools and
methods developed.
Timor Sea Database
(CSIRO Petroleum)
This research has produced an internally consistent,
quality controlled, searchable database of fluid
inclusion datasets from more than 70 Timor Sea
exploration wells incorporated within a custom built
GIS front-end. The data are routinely used by oil
and gas companies to lower risks associated with
migration and retention of hydrocarbons, leading to
an increase in exploration success. The project has
provided improved data delivery and visualisation
capability, with better ability to compare results
against conventional datasets.
Post-Drilling Review of Extended Reach Wells in
Bayu-Undan Field
(ConocoPhillips Australia, CSIRO Petroleum, Baker
Hughes INTEQ)
Major wellbore instability-related problems
experienced in some of the extended reach Bayu-
Undan wells resulted in loss of downhole tools,
sidetracks and abandonment of the wells prior to
reaching target. This project’s aim is to evaluate
drilling experience of the extended reach wells to
ensure that the construction of future wells
encounter minimum wellbore instability-related
problems. The study has provided
recommendations, which contributed to the
successful drilling and casing of troublesome
formations in some of the extended reach wells.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
32
Genesis Completions Module
[CSIRO Petroleum; PETROBRAS (Brazil);
ANADARKO (USA), PUC University (Brazil); Curtin
University of Technology Department of Petroleum
Engineering]
This is an on-going project developing additional
modules for the sophisticated software tool –
GENESIS – for the management of quality, learning
and risks of completions and workover in oil drilling
operations. GENESIS allows users on the rig and in
the office to control and manage drilling and
completion and workover performance, time and
costs. In combination with time versus depth
information, cost can be analysed in any desired
detail. The cost of operations and non-productive
time can be determined. This module will facilitate
the retrieval and analysis of historical information for
the automatic evaluation of risk in new drilling and
completions projects. It allows quick and precise
time and cost estimates, with associated risks. The
tool’s benefits to users include better knowledge
retention and retrieval, faster learning, more
accurate risk estimation (time and costs), less data
entry, and greater reliability. No other product in
the market allows for reliable risk evaluation based
on historical data. Unlike its competitors, this
Genesis module enables the Enter Data Once and
Report by Exception concepts. Having such precise
and accessible information for planning and
managing completions and workover operations will
save up to an estimated $2 million per year for
companies that use it.
Controls on Abundance of Oil Inclusions in
Petroleum Reservoir Rocks
(CSIRO Petroleum)
Most exploration wells fail to find producible oil, so
it is vital to extract the maximum information about
the oil migration history in wells to make informed
decisions about spending. This research seeks to
provide greater certainty in interpretation of low
Grains Containing Oil Inclusions values in samples.
Oil fields in the Dampier Basin were selected and all
rock and fluid properties related to trapping of oil
inclusions in minerals are being acquired and
analysed.
Timing of Oil Accumulation by Combining CSIRO’s
and CREGU’s Exclusive ROI and PIT Fluid Inclusion
Technologies
[CSIRO Petroleum, Centre Reserche Energie
Geologie Uranium (Nancy, France)]
In evaluating a prospect for oil rather than gas, the
timing of hydrocarbon accumulation is vital. This
project’s purpose is to determine the timing of oil
accumulation and provide greater detail about the
resistivity of irreducible water in reservoirs. It will
provide field data to ground truth simulation
models used by oil exploration companies. Oil fields
in the Papuan Basin were selected and samples are
being acquired for laboratory measurement. CSIRO
and CREGU have each developed exclusive and
complementary technologies, this is the first time
these are being integrated to extract more detailed
information about the oil accumulation history of
reservoirs
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
33
Wellbore Stability in Fractured Formations
[CSIRO Petroleum, Itasca Consulting Group, Inc.
(USA)]
With the industry moving into more challenging and
hazardous environments, research has been
undertaken to expand CSIRO wellbore stability
technology to drilling in naturally fractured
formations. The research has shown the very
significant impact of mud infiltration into the
fractures, including reduction of fracture strength
and increase in fracture lubrication, and the
importance of adequately plugging the fractures to
maintain stability. The research provides a sound
theoretical basis for the instability processes
observed in fractured reservoirs and rock masses
near fault zones. It has demonstrated that increasing
mud weight and using oil-based mud may not
necessarily improve wellbore stability.
Alternative Water Activity Reductants for
‘Green Muds’
[CSIRO Petroleum, Halliburton Baroid (USA)]
Onshore drilling operations in some parts of the
world prohibit the use of chloride-based
compounds in drilling fluids. Chloride-based water
activity reductants, e.g., sodium chloride and
potassium chloride, are commonly used in water-
based muds including the ‘green muds’ which are
being commercialised by Halliburton Baroid as the
BarOmegaTM (Osmotic Membrane Efficiency
Generating Aqueous) drilling fluid system. In order
to enable the usage of the mud system for onshore
drilling operations worldwide, research has been
undertaken which successfully identified and
demonstrated the suitability of seven non-chloride-
based water activity reductants for use with the
mud system.
Optimising Cutter Geometry of Drill Bit
[Diamant Drilling Services (Belgium), CSIRO
Petroleum, University of Minnesota (USA) and
Faculte Polytechnique de Mons (Belgium)]
Shales represent about 75% of the rocks (in terms of
linear footage) encountered while drilling petroleum
wells. Significant rate of penetration can be
achieved when drilling shales (up to 60 metre/hour)
with minor wear on the cutters even after a few
thousand metres of drilling. At the same time, poor
penetration rate (of order of 1 metre/hour) is often
reported when drilling in shales. The poor
performance in drilling hard low permeability
formations appears to be due to the very large
specific energy required to cut the rocks
encountered at great depths. As part of a research
project, a novel instrumented cutting device, which
is specially designed to operate inside an
autonomous triaxial cell, has been developed. The
research has verified that dilatant suppression by
certain cutter geometries can reduce the specific
energy in drilling low permeability formations. A
collaborative project to optimise cutter geometry is
currently being conducted which utilises the
developed technology. The project has the potential
to customise cutter geometry for drilling in low
permeability formations.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
34
Wellbore Stability in Ceuta-Tomoporo Shale
[CSIRO Petroleum, PDVSA INTEVEP (Venezuela),
Baker Hughes INTEQ (USA)]
Major wellbore instability-related problems
experienced in some of the high angle wells drilled
in Ceuta-Tomoporo shale in Lake Maracaibo,
Venezuela resulted in loss of downhole tools,
sidetracks and abandonment of the wells prior to
reaching target. The aim of this project, conducted
in collaboration with PDVSA INTEVEP, is to develop
design tools to provide a practical means for
optimising drilling fluid design to maintain stability
of the high angle wells. In addition to evaluating
drilling experience of the high angle wells,
determining in-situ stresses and formation
properties, and conducting time-dependent
wellbore stability analyses, a comprehensive rock
mechanics and drilling fluid-shale interaction testing
program was also undertaken.
SHALESTAB
[CSIRO Petroleum, PDVSA INTEVEP (Venezuela)]
Wellbore instability occurs when the support
provided by drilling fluids on wellbore walls is
inadequate to counteract the in-situ stresses. The
instability, which may lead to stuck pipe, hole
collapse and sidetracking/suspension of wells,
usually occurs in shales that represent approximately
75% of the rocks (in terms of linear footage)
encountered while drilling petroleum wells. Drilling
in shales requires the consideration of key drilling
fluid-shale interaction mechanisms including the
wellbore destabilising mud pressure penetration
into the shale pores, which can be counteracted, by
the chemical potential mechanism. Other key
mechanisms include swelling/hydrational stress and
thermal heating/cooling. As part of the PDVSA
Shale Stability Project, a state-of-the-art numerical
code, SHALESTAB, for analysing complex time-
dependent wellbore stability in shales was
developed. The code couples six time-dependent
processes that control stability of wells drilled in
shales which enables optimisation of drilling fluid
design for drilling troublesome shale formations
subjected to complex interaction of the various
processes.
Sand Production
[CSIRO Petroleum, Woodside Energy Ltd, Sarawak
Shell Bhd (Malaysia), PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd
(Malaysia)]
With majority of the world’s oil and gas reserves
being contained in weakly/poorly consolidated
reservoirs, sand production has been a major
problem for the industry worldwide. Unnecessary
downhole sand control not only increases well cost
but also impairs well productivity. On the other
hand, influx of large amount of sands into wells, due
to lack of sand control, results in damage to
downhole and surface production equipment and
can sometimes be a major safety risk. This project
seeks to develop a better understanding of sand
production mechanisms and processes, and to
improve sand production prediction tools. Key
achievements in the past year include development
of a new sand production prediction model for gas
wells which was highlighted in the SPE Journal of
Petroleum Technology (March, 2003), and
commissioning of a sand production rig which
simulates sand production processes and the
associated system for real-time observation of sand
production. Several sand production prediction
studies were also undertaken for major national and
international oil and gas companies in North West
Shelf and South China Sea.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
35
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THEAUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
Rock Mechanics Laboratory
[CSIRO Petroleum, Woodside Energy Ltd, Santos
Ltd, Newfield Exploration Australia Ltd, PETRONAS
Carigali Sdn Bhd (Malaysia)]
Rock mechanical testing is the only direct way to
acquire rock mechanical properties of reservoir
rocks. The world class Rock Mechanics Laboratory at
ARRC continued to provide key supports to
Divisional strategic research projects in wellbore
stability and sand. In addition, a number of technical
service projects were undertaken in collaboration
with oil and gas companies for projects related to
wellbore stability, sand and solid production
prediction, and reservoir compaction.
Evaluation of Spotting Fluid Performance
[CSIRO Petroleum, University of Western Australia,
Halliburton Baroid]
A test facility and laboratory technique has been
developed to assess the performance of different
spotting fluids to free stuck pipes. The facility is
being used for an undergraduate project to assess
the performance of one in-house developed and
two industry supplied spotting fluids to correlate
the mudcake debonding characteristics with the
chemistry of the spotting fluids.
Development of Novel Starch Products for High
Temperature Drilling
[CSIRO Petroleum, CSIRO Manufacturing and
Infrastructure Technology]
A joint research project is being conducted to
develop starch products with high thermal stability
for drilling applications. The preliminary study shows
that some of the novel starch products have fluid
loss characteristics similar to the currently used
modified starches. The novel starches developed by
reactive extrusion process are significantly cheaper
that the starches produced by gelatinisation
process. Modification of the starch is currently being
undertaken to increase the thermal stability of the
products.
Vegetable Oil-based Dielectric Fluid for Power and
Distribution Transformers
[CSIRO Petroleum, Curtin University of Technology]
This ARC funded project aims to develop
biodegradable vegetable oil-based dielectric fluid
for power and distribution transformers. Several
seed-based highly biodegradable oils and suitable
sources of additives have been identified and
characterised. The preliminary study indicates that
high quality and readily biodegradable dielectric
fluid can be developed from seed-based oils
through chemical modification and addition of
suitable additives to the base oils.
CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY – COLLABORATIVE RESEARCHSUPPORTING THE RESOURCES AND PETROLEUM INDUSTRIES
ARRC was purpose built to house Curtin's Departments of ExplorationGeophysics and Petroleum Engineering plus State Centres of Excellencein Petroleum Research, Petroleum Geology and Exploration andProduction Geophysics – alongside CSIRO’s Petroleum and Explorationand Mining Divisions.
36
DEPARTMENT OF EXPLORATION GEOPHYSICS
Reputed to be the only one of its type in the world
Curtin’s Department of Exploration Geophysics – is
part of Curtin’s School of Resource Science and
Technology. The Department provides an
undergraduate course in Exploration Geophysics
(BSc), with specialisation options in the Honours
(fourth) year in mineral, petroleum and groundwater
geophysics, plus postgraduate, MSc and PhD
courses. Currently the Department is unique in
Australia because it participates in three
Commonwealth Cooperative Research Centres
(CRC’s): the Australian Petroleum CRC (APCRC),
CRC LEME, and the CRC for Mining Technology and
Equipment (CMTE).
In 1998, the Western Australian Government
designated the Department as a Centre of
Excellence for Exploration and Production
Geophysics (CEEPG). The Centre forms the research
arm of the Department. Its brief is to 'apply new
ideas for identifying and extracting increased
quantities of ore and hydrocarbons from known
locations'. The aim is to increase expertise in
production geophysics, by adapting techniques in
exploration geophysics.
Research Highlights
Relationships of Regolith and Eucalyptus Globulus
Tree Survival
(CRC LEME, Curtin University of Technology, CALM)
In Western Australia’s South West, revegetation is
being used to tackle salinity and rising water-table
problems, for carbon dioxide sinks and as a source
of bio-energy. There is an increasing need for
revegetation of farmland to restore hydrological
balances but some sites have had difficulties in
maintaining consistent plantation growth. Effective
site evaluation is important to determine
sustainability and profitability. This environmental
project is carrying out a geophysical investigation of
tree plantation areas between Collie and Boyup
Brook, in Western Australia’s Blackwood Catchment,
to test whether trees planted in thinner soils have
less chance of surviving droughts. Soil depth is a
factor that has been linked to tree survival.
Geophysical methods are readily used to effectively
define the soil – regolith profile for mineral
exploration. They may also provide an economical
and efficient method of site evaluation for
revegetation. The project aim is to demonstrate the
value of carrying out geophysical investigation
before planting, to find the most optimal growth
areas. The project is using geological and
geophysical information over a designated
plantation area to identify correlations between the
regolith profiles and the tree growth. Data will be
acquired during field surveys, using mineralogical
analysis of samples and using pre-existing
information gathered.
37
Finding Sub-surface Manganese
(Curtin University of Technology Department of
Exploration Geophysics, CRC LEME, Pilbara
Manganese Pty Ltd)
Conventional technologies, using gravity methods,
can only identify manganese ore bodies close to the
surface, and often miss deposits below 20 metres,
where signal noise becomes disruptive. This project
is developing novel methods of finding manganese
ore below the regolith, both by using innovative
geophysical techniques, particularly through
developing airborne Electro Magnetic (EM) systems,
and by using innovative data processing strategies.
Reprocessing and editing of existing gravity survey
data, along with careful analysis of the topography,
led to the identification of more subtle gravity
features, and contributed to the recent, blind
discovery of the Camp East deposit at Woodie
Woodie. The Hoist EM system, being developed by
Newmont Australia Ltd and GPX Services, has also
been further refined and tested at Woodie Woodie,
as a step towards commercialisation of the
technology. Conductivity depth inversions (CDI's)
that show manganese ore and other conductive
geological features have been produced to help
identify a number of high priority targets, and have
improved the success rate of target drilling. One of
the Hoist EM discoveries sits below 30 metres of
Permian cover and contains a manganese resource
of more than 1.5 million tonnes. This blind discovery
would not have been identified using conventional
EM technologies. Induced polarisation methods are
also being trialled as a means of identifying and
delineating potential ore bodies that do not have an
electromagnetic response.
Physical Modelling of Attaka oil field, Balikpapan
(Curtin University of Technology Department of
Exploration Geophysics, CSIRO Petroleum, Unocal
Balikpapan)
This project is helping to better understand the
geological development of the Attaka oil field, in
the Makassa Straits off Indonesia. This has led to the
modification of seismic interpretation data, to
ensure more correct target drilling. The improved
insight the project has provided into oil occurrences
has allowed Unocal – which drills about three wells
each year – to save estimated $10 million per well
by using the research outcomes. Only previously
done at great cost by London University, this ARRC
project has demonstrated Australian expertise by
being able to apply both extension and
compression to a sand box model of a reservoir,
using simpler equipment and with the potential to
develop technology further.
Seismic Response to Pressure and Temperature
Changes
(Curtin University of Technology Department of
Exploration Geophysics, Core Laboratories)
This ongoing research involves the simulation of oil
or gas field conditions in the lab – including time
lapse 3-D monitoring of production – to better
understand fluid movement during production. It
also seeks to provide improved imaging of
reservoirs during changing oil and gas conditions.
The aim is to enable improved hydrocarbon
recovery from existing fields, potentially generating
millions of dollars more for users of the technology.
This project is also helping to understand how
seismic reflection data changes with variations in
pressure and temperature. Core Laboratories is
expected to benefit by combining seismic reflection
data with core data obtained from wells and will
CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY – COLLABORATIVE RESEARCHSUPPORTING THE RESOURCES AND PETROLEUM INDUSTRIES
38
market the capability once it is fully operational. The
CRC for Greenhouse Gas Technologies will also use
it to physically model CO2 injection into saline
aquifers. JCOAL (Tokyo) is funding a review of its
application for CO2 injection into coal seams.
Theoretical and Experimental Study of Elastic
Properties of Porous Media permeated by Aligned
Fractures
(Curtin University of Technology, University of New
South Wales, CSIRO Petroleum, Free University of
Berlin)
The ability to estimate reservoir fluid properties
from seismic data is one of the central issues in
petroleum exploration. This Australian Research
Council project is working to develop a theoretical
model for the elastic properties of fractured porous
reservoir rocks, taking into account the wave-
induced fluid flow between pores and fractures.
Currently there exists neither an adequate
theoretical model, nor methodology, for the remote
detection and characterisation of fractured zones in
a fluid-saturated porous rock. While many
sedimentary rocks are not only porous but also
fractured, only now an understanding is emerging
that fractures and pores must be considered
together, as wave-induced fluid flow between
fractures and pores is important. Once developed
and implemented, the model of elastic properties of
fractured porous rocks will enable the quantitative
interpretation of seismic data in presence of
fractures, benefiting oil and gas exploration and
production monitoring in fractured hydrocarbon
reservoirs.
DEPARTMENT OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERING
Established in July 1999, Curtin’s Department of
Petroleum Engineering offers a unique blend of
academic excellence and industrial expertise and is
committed to rapid technology transfer to the oil
and gas industry. The department is also working
with UWA under the Western Australian Petroleum
Research Centre (WAPRC) collaborative agreement,
which is committed to carrying out high quality
research of value to the State’s Oil and Gas industry.
Research Highlights
The Department of Petroleum Engineering has been
involved in a number of collaborative projects
throughout 2002–2003 including; Analogue
Reservoir Modelling (ARM), Genesis. These projects
have been highlighted earlier in the report.
Knowledge Management for Drilling Within Gas
Hydrate Environments Applying Fuzzy Inference
Systems
(Curtin University of Technology Department of
Petroleum Engineering, CSIRO Petroleum)
Currently the potential dangers when drilling within
hydrate prone environments has not been properly
assessed, thus potential knowledge gaps are
present. To date, the existing knowledge about gas
hydrate behaviour while drilling is distributed as
individual experience of field engineers, in
databases, or end of well reports etc. This project
aims to develop a methodology to electronically
capture, verify and reason with gas hydrate based
knowledge, and applying this knowledge to assist in
drilling through hydrates by identifying potential
knowledge gaps and areas of high uncertainty.
CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY – COLLABORATIVE RESEARCHSUPPORTING THE RESOURCES AND PETROLEUM INDUSTRIES
39
An Innovative Method for Workover Decision Making
System Using Case Based Reasoning
(Curtin University of Technology Department of
Petroleum Engineering, CSIRO Petroleum)
Working over existing wells to increase productivity
and improve production performance is an
important issue in the petroleum industry. In order
to determine the most effective approach to a well
workover, companies are looking for enhanced
methods to be able to support their decision-
making processes. It is proposed to develop an
"expert system" for decision-making or project
optimisation of well workovers. An expert system
uses human knowledge captured in a computer
program to solve problems. The objective is to
develop a prototype model for the evaluation of
workover opportunities applying case-based
reasoning. The workover decision will consider
criteria for technical success and for economic
valuation, but also take into account uncertainties,
and will evaluate options using available and
required information.
Challenges While Drilling Extended Reach Wells
(ERW): Wellbore Stability, Hole Cleaning and
Hydraulics
(Curtin University of Technology Department of
Petroleum Engineering, CSIRO Petroleum)
Stuck pipe is one of the most frequent drilling
problems and responds for over 35% of overall
drilling problems worldwide, and costs the industry
large sums of money. This problem needs to be
mitigated, especially in light of the increasing
number of Extended Reach Wells (ERW) being
drilled, where the chances of stuck pipe occurring
dramatically increases. Currently, the analytical
models developed are not able to fully represent
the various mechanisms behind stuck-pipe. They
treat each source of occurrence as isolated, and as
such the knowledge between various models is not
integrated. The objective of the study is to develop
a decision support tool that will integrate the
variables affecting the target problem into a
knowledge-based structure. Available data,
analytical and heuristic knowledge will be combined
using artificial intelligence techniques aiming the
diagnosis and control of the most critical
mechanisms of stuck pipe.
Formulating Appropriate Decision and Risk Analysis
Combinations for Petroleum Investments
(Curtin University of Technology Department of
Petroleum Engineering, CSIRO Petroleum)
Many oil and gas companies have under-performed
in earning forecasted economic returns that were
the basis for their investment decisions and it is
widely believed that classical decision and risk
analysis (D&RA) techniques have become
inadequate for the complex oil and gas decision
system. A detailed review is required of various
existing and evolving traditional and strategic risk
analysis models, and identifying possible interfaces
between them in order to combine them into
relevant hybrid models. CSIRO Petroleum’s
JUNIPER risk analysis software will be specifically
investigated to evaluate the possibility of effectively
combining it with the traditional D&RA models.
Output will be compared to other D&RA
combinations from the study.
CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY – COLLABORATIVE RESEARCHSUPPORTING THE RESOURCES AND PETROLEUM INDUSTRIES
40
Perth Basin Modelling Project
(Curtin University of Technology Department of
Petroleum Engineering, Water and Rivers
Commission (W&RC) (WA State Government), Roxar
Pty Ltd Asia Pacific)
The aim of this project is to apply high-tech
modelling software and techniques from the
petroleum industry to the aquifer systems in the
Perth Basin. With water restrictions in place and
issues surrounding the future of Perth’s water supply
it is important that there is a good understanding of
Perth’s underground water resources. The project
will provide the Water and Rivers Commission (WA
State Government) with access to technologies,
which will improve their ability to model and
understanding this important resource. CSIRO
Petroleum is becoming involved in the project as it
matures.
OTHER CURTIN UNIVERSITY OFTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS IN2002 – 03:
Numerical Modelling of Seismic Reflectivity of
Turbidite Sequences
(Curtin University of Technology Department of
Petroleum Engineering, CSIRO Petroleum)
This project investigates the seismic response of
turbiditic sequences.
The Effect of Seismic Anisotropy on Amplitude-based
Reservoir Characterisation
(Curtin University of Technology, CSIRO Petroleum,
Woodside Energy Ltd)
This collaborative research project seeks to
understand the degree to which seismic anisotropy
of shales and hydrocarbon reservoirs affects the
quality of seismic imaging and interpretation in
oil/gas fields of the North-West Shelf (NWS)
Australia. It is also examining the cost – benefit ratio
of isotropic versus anisotropic seismic technology, in
relation to quantifying seismic data.
Collaborative Facilities, Providing Infrastructure for
Industry Research
Core Flooding Rig:
The research wing of Curtin University of
Technology’s Department of Petroleum Engineering
has taken delivery of a state-of-the-art core flooding
rig, purpose built in France, and unique in the
southern hemisphere. Able to operate at the
elevated pressures and temperatures encountered
in actual reservoirs, the rig will allow more accurate
studies of complex subsurface fluid flow
phenomenon. This equipment will be used to
promote collaborative research with CSIRO, industry
and UWA. It has been purchased with State funding
through the WAPRC plus matching funds from
Curtin University of Technology.
Pressure Chamber:
A uniquely designed pressure chamber – now
subject to a provisional patent through Curtin
University of Technology – has been installed in the
Physical Modelling Lab at the Curtin Department of
Exploration Geophysics. This chamber allows
ultrasonic measurements to be made during the
injection or extraction of quantities of air and other
fluids into large blocks. It simulates the conditions
of oil and gas reservoir production and stimulation,
and allows 3-D visualisation of fluid movement while
it happens. Fluid movement can be monitored
during variations in reservoir conditions. The
Department, Core Laboratories, and the State
Government helped fund the chamber.
CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY – COLLABORATIVE RESEARCHSUPPORTING THE RESOURCES AND PETROLEUM INDUSTRIES
PARTNERING FOR THE FUTURE
ARRC has proven itself to be a valuable catalyst for collaborative venturesdue to its superb premises and state-of-the-art facilities. It is becomingthe nexus of important initiatives, bringing together the diverseorganisations and expertise under its roof. This co-location is generating arange of practical and effective collaborative ventures.
41
Some current examples include:
INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTSCENTRE (IVEC)
(CSIRO, Curtin University of Technology, UWA and
Central TAFE)
The ARRC node of the Western Australian Virtual
Environments Centre (IVEC) supports the
computational and advanced visualisation needs of
CSIRO Exploration and Mining, CSIRO Petroleum
and Curtin University of Technology. IVEC is a
member of the Australian Partnership for Advanced
Computing (APAC).
Research Highlights
An example of research being conducted
through IVEC is:
Sonification of Seismic Data
(Australian Petroleum CRC (APCRC), Jumbo Vision
International Ltd, IVEC, Curtin University of
Technology Department of Exploration Geophysics)
Clearly interpreting complex seismic data from
petroleum reservoirs can make the difference
between discovering new oil fields and drilling a dry
hole. This landmark project, which investigates the
use of aural representation of seismic data for
complex seismic interpretation, has the potential to
save petroleum exploration companies millions of
dollars. It has developed new methods for improved
seismic interpretation, and provided insights into
the complexities of the use sonic data for
interpreting shapes. The sound system software
being developed also has potential use in other
commercial applications.
CRC for Sustainable Resource Processing
(Curtin University of Technology's Divisions of
Resources and Environment, and Engineering,
Science and Computing, CSIRO Exploration and
Mining, the University of Queensland, University of
Sydney, Central TAFE WA and ANSTO)
This CRC, headquartered in the ARRC facility,
harnesses the proven talent in Australia’s world-class
centres of excellence. It creates, for the first time, a
multi-disciplinary, innovative team covering the
value chain from mine site to industrial minerals and
metals. Its mission is to find technological solutions
for eliminating waste and emissions in the minerals
cycle, while also enhancing business performance
and meeting community expectations. Key themes
will be the effective use of resources and materials
efficiency, minimising energy consumption and
greenhouse gas emissions, reducing process waste
and enhancing co-product values, reducing water
consumption and impacts, and improving the
control of minor elements and toxic dispersion.
This industry-driven CRC will find economically
viable ways of eliminating waste and emissions by
lifting the eco-efficiency of existing operations,
capturing regional synergies in resource processing
areas and streamlining complex metallurgical supply
chains. It will develop technologies for capturing
value from the sector’s high volume waste streams,
controlling toxic dispersion, and providing step
improvements in the most energy and waste
intensive processes.
42
PARTNERING FOR THE FUTURE
Diverse industry leadership comes from
participation by Alcoa, Rio Tinto, Xstrata, Newmont,
WMC, One Steel, Rocla, Delta EMD, Ausmelt, Tesla,
URS, Hatch, Gladstone Area Industry Network, the
Kwinana Industry Council, the Minerals Council of
Australia and the NSW Minerals Council, with others
still to join. The Minerals Council of Australia is the
formal link between the CRC and the International
Council for Minerals and Metals.
The research partnership provides access to the
skills of the CSIRO Pyrometallurgy Group, The Julius
Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, and AJ Parker
CRC for Hydrometallurgy, Sustainable Minerals
Institute, Centre of Excellence in Cleaner
Production, and the Centre for Risk, Environment
and Systems Technology and Analysis. The
participation of the TAFE WA further strengthens
the education capabilities of the CRC.
The Western Australian Government supports the
CRC through its Centres of Excellence Program. The
participation of Environment Australia reflects an
emerging partnership with government at the
federal level. AMIRA International will play an
important role in project management and
marketing the initiative around the world.
CRC for Greenhouse Gas Technologies
(CSIRO, Curtin University of Technology, Monash
University, The University of Adelaide, University of
New South Wales, Australian Coal Association
Research Program, Department of Industry and
Resources, WA, Primary Industries and Resources,
SA, Geoscience Australia, Rio Tinto, Stanwell
Corporation, URS, Cansyd Australia, BHP Billiton,
ChevronTexaco, Shell, Woodside Energy Ltd)
Growing from the existing APCRC, the CRC for
Greenhouse Gas Technologies will develop
innovative and cost effective technologies to
capture carbon dioxide (CO2) and store it
underground, and identify geological sites suitable
for injecting the gas into the subsurface, offering
industry new options for reducing CO2 emissions.
The Centre will directly contribute to the
Government’s objective of decreasing greenhouse
gas emissions and maintaining Australia’s economic
growth.
The Centre will carry out a demonstration project to
store up to one million tonnes of CO2 and develop
ways to use the gas to improve petroleum
production or to produce useful minerals. The CRC
for Greenhouse Gas Technologies will also
undertake a regional initiative to examine how a
range of industries can work together using
geological sequestration, to jointly decrease their
emissions.
Centre scientists will work closely with some of the
world’s leading research laboratories in the USA,
Canada, Japan, Britain and The Netherlands.
43
PARTNERING FOR THE FUTURE
PETRONAS Research Collaboration Agreement
(PRSS, University Teknologi PETRONAS, CSIRO
Petroleum, CSIRO Molecular Science, CSIRO Energy
Technology and CSIRO Manufacturing and
Infrastructure Technology)
This agreement consolidates a strong collaborative
relationship with one of the world’s major national
oil companies, PETRONAS, which is very active both
in Malaysia and overseas. In Malaysia, it opens up
opportunities to all the Production Sharing
Contractors.
The new agreement continues and expands the
exploitation of both organisations’ combined
strengths in the fields of petroleum exploration and
production, alternative energies and advanced
materials technologies. It builds on the previous
PRSS-CSIRO collaboration, which has been one of
the PRSS’s most successful technological alliances in
terms of number of projects, deliveries, impact,
publications and interactions between the two
organisations.
Both PRSS and CSIRO have access to each
organisation’s expertise in conducting collaborative
research and development and providing technical
services in areas such as:
• Wellbore stability, sand production and rock
mechanics testing
• Palm oil-based mud
• Advanced composite
• Fuel cell
• Hydrogen economy
• Demulsification technologies for
Malaysian crude oil
Global Mineral Research Alliance (GMRA)
[CANMET-MMSL (Canada), CSIR Miningtek
(South Africa), CSIRO Exploration and Mining
(Australia) and NIOSH (USA)]
Four of the world’s premier mining-related research
and development organisations have created the
GMRA to pool the world’s best research expertise
and laboratory facilities.
The GMRA undertakes collaborative research
designed to benefit the industry in technologies
associated with mineral exploration and resource
management, extractive technologies, ground
control, occupational health and safety and the
environment. It will help deal with some of the
world’s most complex and demanding scientific,
engineering and technical challenges currently
posed by the global mining industry, as it attempts
to cost-effectively meet resource needs in an
environmentally sustainable manner while improving
the safety and health of its workers.
The Western Australian Energy
Research Alliance (WA ERA)
(CSIRO Petroleum, Curtin University of
Technology and UWA)
This landmark alliance is strongly supported by
major oil and gas companies. It will enhance the
premium research and development expertise
already offered through ARRC and further
consolidates Western Australia’s international oil
and gas research and development capability. The
WA ERA will enable the sharing of knowledge, skills
and facilities for the more efficient delivery of
solutions to industry in areas such as sub-surface
technology, drilling and wells, energy facilities and
energy science. This resulting concentration of
expertise is intended to create a world-class energy
research capability.
The alliance is expected to gain international
recognition due to the synergies of combining each
partner’s expert staff and the sharing of major
44
infrastructure such as laboratory equipment and
software.
Through it the international oil and gas industry will
be able to access world leading research and
development services at significantly lower cost due
to Australia’s generally favourable exchange rates,
compared to Europe and the United States.
In Western Australia, the alliance will provide
enhanced support for the energy industry, facilitate
the export of intellectual property to the
international community and increase opportunities
for oil and gas undergraduate and postgraduate
students.
Earth Science Consortium of Western Australia
(ESCWA) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
(CSIRO Petroleum, CSIRO Exploration and Mining,
Curtin University of Technology, WA Museum and
UWA)
The geosciences in Western Australia have been
long recognised for their strong collaboration in
research. The intention of the new consortium is to
continue, extend and formalise existing cooperation
in order to exploit the diverse objectives and
expertise of the collaborating institutions in
teaching and research.
More formal cooperation and coordination will
ensure geosciences continue their major
contribution to sustainability and growth of the
State’s economy. It is also a goal to establish Perth
as a world leader in geoscience education, training
and research and to create new opportunities
through access to potentially large markets in East,
South East and South Asia and Africa.
The ARRC Petrophysics Laboratory
(CSIRO Petroleum, Curtin University of Technology)
* This is a State funded ARRC project
This new facility will provide high quality, calibrated
measurements of rock physical properties to
support a wide range of projects in Petroleum
Exploration, Formation Evaluation and Production.
The Lab’s equipment and capabilities extend to
fault rocks, top-seals, shales and other non-reservoir
lithologies. This is a significant departure from the
usual focus only on understanding saturation and
flow properties in the producing intervals. The new
capabilities will reduce the cost and turn-around
time of projects that currently rely on outsourcing.
Some of the unique capabilities – such as ultra low
permeability measurements, and advanced electrical
properties – cannot be performed elsewhere within
Australia. The lab’s systems are modular and
reconfigurable, with various options for upgrades,
so the capital investment is future-proofed.
The new Lab will initially be used in two broad
research themes:
(1) The Role of Clays in Reservoir Evaluation and
Performance prediction: To be developed with
Curtin Petroleum Engineering, this theme hinges
on petrophysics, petrography and formation
evaluation. Attention will be paid to the problem
of estimating clay type and percentage for use
in Fault Seal analysis.
(2) Digital Core Technology: This involves three-
dimensional reconstruction of pore space and
micro scale process simulation in digital rocks,
together with colleagues from CSIRO in Perth
and Melbourne, Curtin Geophysics, and ANU.
This theme combines petrophysics, petrography,
mathematical physics and rock physics.
The new equipment will expand and complement
the existing and projected ARRC infrastructure,
which includes the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Laboratory, Rock Mechanics Laboratory, and the X-
ray Computed Tomography facility. With the new
equipment in place, Western Australia will have a
state-of-art research laboratory facility unique in
Australia and the SE Asian region to carry out new
and integrated research to support the petroleum
and mining industry, the government agencies as
well as Western Australian universities.
PARTNERING FOR THE FUTURE
VISITORS AND USE OF ARRC FACILITIES
The ARRC premises and facilities were used, and visited, by numerousinternational, State and Federal Government, industry members andprofessional bodies during 2002–03.
46
Some key visitors and ARRC facilities users included:
WA Government
Governor of Western Australia
Department of Agriculture
Department of Conservation and Land Management
Department of Industry and Resources
Department of Education and Training
Federal Government
Department of CeNTIE (Launch)
Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources
Invest Australia
ARRC’s facilities were used by a number of professional and industry organisations for special events,
seminars and conferences, including:
Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Assoc. Ltd
Australian Innovation Festival
Curtin University of Technology, Electronic Arts Show
Earth Science Week
Iron Ore Workshop 2002
National Science Week
Petroleum Club of Western Australia
Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)
Schools Information Program WA
47
VISITORS AND USE OF ARRC FACILITIES
Other organisations, international representatives and community groups to visit ARRC, or utilise the
facilities this year, included:
A J Parker Centre
AGIA
AMEC
AMIRA
Anglo Gold
APCRC
Association of Mining and Exploration
Companies (Inc) (AMEC)
Austmine
Australia Post
Australian Ambassador Designate to Brazil
Australian Geoscience Information
Association (AGIA)
Australian Society of Exploration
Geophysicists – WA
BHP
Brazilian Ambassador–Designate
Central TAFE
Centre for Global Metallogeny
ChevronTexaco
Chinese Communist Party Representatives
Chinese National Gold Corporation
GEODISC (Gippsland)
Geological Survey of Western Australia
GeoReference Online Ltd
Geoscience Australia
Industry Education Management Group
Kent Street Senior High School
Laverton Research
Nevada
Petrobras
PETRONAS
Placer (Granny Smith) Pty Ltd
Placerdome
RISC
Schlumberger
Society of Petroleum Engineers
University of Technology Petronas
University of Western Australia
US Consul General
US Embassy Delegate
Western Mining Resources
Woodside Energy Ltd
FINANCE
48
Total 2002–03 investment in research and support services at ARRC by CSIRO and Curtin University of
Technology is summarised as follows:
EXPENDITURE STAFF ($’000) OPERATIONS AND TOTAL
SUPPORT ($’000)
CSIRO 8,326 11,270 19,596
Curtin 2,106 1,855 3,960
Total 10,432 11,765 23,556
FUNDING INSTITUTIONAL* ($’000) EXTERNAL ($’000) TOTAL
CSIRO 11,467 8,544 19,596
Curtin 1,374 2,111 3,485
Total 11,481 10,240 21,721
*Direct Government funding to CSIRO and Curtin University of Technology
RESEARCH SUPPORT, HUMAN RESOUCES
50
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ANDTHE ENVIRONMENT (OHS&E)
The management of Occupational Health, Safety
and the Environment (OHS&E) at ARRC is achieved
via a coordinated, integrated approach by the
Divisions of Exploration and Mining, Petroleum and
Curtin University of Technology.
Significant achievements in OHS&E included the
Division of Exploration and Mining winning the
inaugural CSIRO OHS Achievement Award in 2002
for its Field Safety Procedures.
Providing a safe workplace for staff, visitors and
students is achieved via:
• The continual review and implementation of
OHS&E procedures by the ARRC site OHS&E
Committee, with representatives from both
CSIRO Divisions and Curtin University of
Technology, including OHS&E staff, science
representatives, site Facility Manager and Senior
Management.
• Ongoing reviewing of the OHS&E impacts of
project work, plant and equipment and site
security
• Provision of training to Emergency Response
staff equipping them to confidently manage an
emergency scenario should one occur.
• All new staff, visitors and students undergo an
OHS&E induction
• CSIRO has professional OHS&E staff based at
ARRC to provide OHS&E advice and assistance
and they work closely with Curtin University of
Technology OHS&E staff to ensure the safety of
all ARRC staff, visitors and students.
CSIRO PETROLEUM NUMBER OFEMPLOYEES
Fault Seals 13
Fluid History of Petroleum Reservoirs 7
Drilling Fluids and Wellbore Mechanics 12
Decision Systems 5
Predictive Geoscience 2
Geophysics 9
Drilling and Completions 14
Marketing and Business Development 6
Research Support / Infrastructure
ARRC 14
Petroleum 4
Chief of Division 1
87
CSIRO EXPLORATION AND MININGNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
Regolith and Environmental Geoscience 22
Ni-Cu-PGE 5
Electron Beam Laboratory/Sample Preparation 6
Computational Geoscience 22
Mineral Mapping Technologies 4
IVEC 1
CRC LEME Headquarters 5
Visual Resources Unit 2
CSIRO Corporate 4
Executive 1
Administration 1
Total 73
CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGYNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AND STUDENTS
Staff 21
Undergraduate Students 40
Postgraduate Students 22
Total 83
AWARDS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND COMMUNITY
51
CSIRO HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
These were introduced for the first time this year. –
CSIRO Exploration and Mining teams won both the
OHS and Environment Awards.
SAFETY, REHABILITATION ANDCOMPENSATION COMMISSION AWARDS
CSIRO Exploration and Mining was nominated for
the annual Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation
Commission Awards in the – Workplace Safety
Innovation Solutions Award – category. The core of
the submission was the Field Safety Initiative built
around the StarTrack system for safer work in
remote parts of Australia
CENTENARY MEDALS
Bruce Hobbs (CSIRO Exploration and Mining) for
services to Australian society and science.
Ray Smith (CSIRO Exploration and Mining) for
services to Australian society in geology.
Bruce Robinson (CSIRO Exploration and Mining)
for services to the promotion and advancement of
cycling as an effective mode of transport.
Beverley Ronalds (CSIRO Petroleum), for services
to Australian society in civil engineering.
OUTSTANDING YOUNG RESEARCH FELLOW
CSIRO senior researcher Dr Xiuming Wang was
awarded Outstanding Young Research Fellow of
CAS (Chinese Academy of Science) from 2003 to
2006. This is one of only 30 such awards made in
China. He will work collaboratively as a Fellow of
the Geoacoustic Laboratory and as such will host
several Chinese Post Doctoral visits on projects at
ARRC.
Xiuming was also awarded a visiting scholar grant at
the Abdus Salam International Centre for
Theoretical Physics in Italy. He received $25,000
collaboration grant from the DEST Innovation
Australia Program (IAP) on the basis of this activity.
STILWELL AWARD
Ravi Anand (CRC LEME Program Leader) and Mark
Paine (CRC LEME PhD Student – Curtin Univeristy
of Technology)
Stilwell Award from the Geological Society of
Australia for the best paper in the Australian Journal
of Earth Sciences in 2002. The award will be
presented at the 17th AGC to be held in Hobart,
February 2004.
OTTO TRUSTDET MEDAL
The Computational Geoscience team with CSIRO
Exploration and Mining was awarded the Otto
Trustedt medal for helping further define the
Finland mining operations of global metals and
technology company Outokumpu. Led by CSIRO
Chief Research Scientist Alison Ord, the CSIRO EM
team included Dr Yanhua Zhang, responsible for
deformation-fluid flow-thermal modeling, and Dr
Peter Alt-Epping, responsible for modeling
geochemical-thermal-fluid flows. This was only the
seventh such award presented by Outokumpu since
the award was instigated in the 1980's. The award
stemmed from a Project between GEOMEX (a joint
venture, between Outokumpu and GTK, the
Geological Survey of Finland) and CSIRO.
BEST PETROLEUM GEOPHYSICS PAPER
A paper – related to the Australian Research Council
Discovery Project: ‘Theoretical and experimental
study of elastic properties of porous media
permeated by aligned fractures’ – presented at the
16th Annual Meeting of the Australian Society of
Exploration Geophysicists, won the Best Petroleum
Geophysics Paper Award. Authored by Professor
Boris Gurevich of Curtin University of Technology
RESEARCHER OF THE YEAR
Professor Boris Gurevich has been awarded
Researcher of the Year 2002 by the Division of
Resources and Environment of Curtin University of
Technology.
52
AWARDS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND COMMUNITY
CSIRO POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW
Dr Radim Ciz was the recipient of the prestigious
CSIRO Post-Doctoral appointment to carry out work
on Lattice-Boltzmann Statistics and complex science
issues related to geophysical rock properties in the
Petroleum sector. He was previously at Charles
University, Prague.
FEDERAL PRESIDENT OF ASEG ANDCHAIRMAN OF THE AUSTRALIANGEOSCIENCE COUNCIL (AGC)
Dr Kevin Dodds CSIRO Petroleum was elected
Federal President of ASEG and Chairman of the
Australian Geoscience Council (AGC) and is also
Regional Coordinator SEG Global Geophysics
Committee.
ARRC COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
Karawara Community Project
ARRC continues to be a major sponsor of the Karawara
Community Project’s ‘Go Kart Program’ offered to local
‘at risk’ and underprivileged children. This Program –
fully funded by CSIRO and Curtin University of
Technology – seeks to improve the children’s self-worth
by teaching them increased problem solving and social
skills such as communication and teamwork, driver
safety and cart maintenance.
Young Achievement Australia
For the second consecutive year, ARRC is helping
fund the Young Achievement Australian Business Skills
Program. A team of advisors is also being provided to
mentor participants from Penrhos College through
the set-up and operation of their own small business.
Students work through a structured 24-week program
to form their own company, raise capital and develop
a product to manufacture and sell. Many of the
Penrhos team are also working to gain a Certificate II
in Small Business Management.
Schools Information Program
The Schools Information Program – run by the
Petroleum Club of WA and the Australian Petroleum
Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) –
helps students learn more about the energy industry,
through excursions for Year 10 science classes to
various research organisations and companies
involved in petroleum. ARRC has hosted more than
300 students during the last twelve months.
Technology Precinct – E – Learning Community
Scientific staff at ARRC have helped establish a
foundation eLearning community in Technology
Precinct at Bentley, Western Australia. The
community uses computer technology to foster
communication at work, at home or at school,
around areas of common interests or concerns. The
project helps students access workplaces and gives
employers a convenient window into the classroom,
without either leaving their desks.
COMMITTEES
53
ARRC ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The role of the ARRC Advisory Committee is to provide focus and direction for ARRC activity thus ensuring
maximum benefit to Western Australian industry, research organisations and the community. Additionally it
oversees the research plans for the Centre and reviews the activities of the Centre against objectives
annually. The ARRC Advisory Committee meets twice a year and comprises of representatives from
institutions, government agencies and industry.
Membership for 2002/03:
Mr. Lee Ranford (Chair) A/Executive Director, DMPR***
Dr Bruce Hobbs* Deputy Chief Executive, CSIRO
Mr. Jeffrey Gresham General Manager – Exploration, Homestake Gold
Mr. Rob Male Principal Development Engineer, Woodside Energy Ltd
Prof. Michael Barber* Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research), UWA
Prof. Colin MacCleod Acting Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) UWA
Prof. Paul Rossiter* Deputy Vice Chancellor (R&D),
Curtin University of Technology
Dr Barney Glover Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor (R&D),
Curtin University of Technology
Mr. Geoff Suttie Counsellor, DMPR***
Dr John Barker Team Leader, DoIT**
Dr Steve Harvey Deputy Chief, CSIRO Exploration and Mining (Observer)
Mr. Roy Chapman (Observer) DOIR****
* Dr Bruce Hobbs left CSIRO in early 2003
* Professor Michael Barber left UWA in late 2002; Professor Colin MacCleod took up his
position on the Committee
* Professor Paul Rossiter left Curtin University in mid 2003; Dr Barney Glover took up his
position on the Committee
** State Department of Industry and Technology
*** State Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources
**** State Department of Industry and Resources
ARRC MAJOR CLIENTS / PARTNERS
54
AAPG Foundation
AGIP Australia Limited
Alberta Research Council
AMIRA
Anaconda Nickel Ltd
Anglo American Exploration(Australia) Pty Ltd
Anglo gold Australia Limited
Apache Energy Limited
Attaka CFT, Unocal Indonesia Co.
AUSIndustry
Australian Society of Exploration
Geophysicists Research
Foundation
BHP Billiton Iron Ore
BHP Billiton Petroleum
Boral Energy Resources Ltd
BP
CGG Australia Pty Ltd
Chevron Texaco
Chris DBF
Codelco
Conoco
Consolidated Minerals – Pilbara
Manganese
Coparex
CRC Program (DISR)
De Beers Australia Exploration
Ltd
Encom
ER Mapper
Esso
Exxon Mobil
Falconbridge Nouvelle
Caladonie Sas
Fractal Graphics
Fractal Technologies
Fugro Survey Pty Ltd
Geosoft
Geotech
GeoTrack International
Giant Reef Mining
Halliburton Baroid Product
Service Line
Hamersley Iron
Heron Resources
Inpex
Japan Australia LNG (MIMI)
Pty Ltd
Japan National Oil Corporation
JCOAL – Japan Coal Energy
Centre
Kevron Pty Ltd
Landmark Graphics Corporation
Lemigas
M.I.M. Exploration Pty. Ltd.
Magellan Petroleum Australia
Limited
Metal Mining Agency of Japan
Metals Quest Australia Limited
Minerals and Energy Research
Institute of WA (MERIWA)
Nippon
Noble Drilling
Norsk Hydro AS
Oil Search Limited
OMV Australia
OneSteel
Origin Energy Resources Limited
Pacific Power
PanCanadian Petroleum Limited
Paradigm Geophysical Corp
Paris University VII
PDVSA
Petrobel
Petrobras
PETRONAS
PGS Australia Pty Ltd
Phillips Oil Company Australia
Placer Dome Asia Pacific Limited
Premier Oil
Rio Tinot Exploration Pty, Limited
Robe River Mining
Roger Townend and Associates
Santos Limited
Saskatchewan Research Council
Schlumberger
Shell
South Pacific Chevron Company
Southern Geoscience Consultants
Pty Ltd
Sphere Investments Limited
Sumitomo Metal Mining
Sydney Gas
Tanami Gold ML
Tap Oil
Texaco Australia Pty Ltd
Thales GeoSolutions
Tiwest
TNO
Veritas DGC Australia Pty Ltd
Water and Rivers Commission
WesternGeco
WMC Resources Ltd
Woodside Energy Ltd
CONTACT DETAILS
55
Australian Resources Research
Centre (ARRC)
26 Dick Perry Ave
Technology Park
Kensington
Perth, WA 6151
Australia
PO Box 1130
Bentley WA 6102
Australia
Ph: + 61 8 6436 8500
Fax: + 61 8 6436 8555
Web: www.arrc.net.au
Anne-Marie Cook
ARRC Centre Management
Ph: + 61 8 6436 8511
Email: [email protected]
ARRC Public Relations Office
Ph: + 61 8 6436 8707
CSIRO Exploration and Mining
Dr Steve Harvey
Deputy Chief
Ph: + 61 8 6436 8610
Email: [email protected]
CSIRO Petroleum
Professor Beverley Ronalds
Chief
Ph: + 61 8 6436 8700
Fax: +61 8 6436 8578
Email: [email protected]
Mr Greg Thill
General Manager Business
Development
Ph: + 61 8 6436 8701
Email: [email protected]
Curtin University of Technology
Dr Barney Glover
Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor
(R&D)
Ph: + 61 8 266 3045
Email: [email protected]
Head of Department
Department of Exploration
Geophysics
C/- Deirdre Hollingsworth
Ph: + 61 8 9266 3565
Email:
Head of Department
Department of Petroleum
Engineering
Acting Head of Department
Professor Geoff Weir
Ph: +61 8 9266 2037
Email:
Professor John McDonald
Centre of Excellence for
Exploration and Production
Geophysics
Ph: + 61 8 9266 7194
Email:
Cooperative Research Centre for
Landscape Environments and
Mineral Exploration (CRCLEME)
Dennis Gee
Ph: + 61 8 6436 8786
Email: [email protected]
Predictive Mineral Discovery
(pmd*CRC)
Dr Paul Roberts
Ph: + 61 8 6436 8758
Email: [email protected]
Interactive Virtual Environments
Centre (IVEC)
Dr Karen Haines
Acting Director
Ph: + 61 8 6436 8830
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.ivec.org
Cooperative Research Centre for
Sustainable Resource Processing
(CRCSRP)
Dr Mark Neville
Business Manager
Ph: + 61 8 6436 8922
Email: [email protected]