Specific projects completed in recent months include long term dewatering of a coal seam prior to mining development and geological exploration designed to define and evaluate fault and dyke zones, seam thinning, roof palaeochannels, and other sedimentary and tectonic hazards to mining.

Lucas said it aimed to provide the most comprehensive value-added geological services for in-seam drilling in the Australian coal industry.

“The company’s clear focus is on delivering a superior service by providing more than a hole in the ground,” said Scott Thomson, the company’s technical director. “In the long term we see the industry using our longhole drilling technology to quantitatively evaluate the coal resource prior to commitment to mining.

“We have a program in place to achieve technology improvement in the methodology of directional drilling. This will deliver a marked improvement in the quality and confidence of the planning data provided to the mine from the drilling process.”

Coal seam gas drainage is another service the company hopes to develop. AJ Lucas is currently drilling at the Glencore operation, South Bulga, to lower gas contents to an acceptable mining level. The project requires accurate placement of boreholes and the successful navigation of the drill head through a narrow target horizon of the Whybrow Seam.

Sporadic seam rolls and the presence of a potential drilling hazard in the form of a clay band have made this one of the company’s most challenging assignments. The project was undertaken with a specific budget and time schedule commitment and was close to completion at the time of writing. Although the project objective is gas drainage, geological exploration has been and continues to be an important component of the service offered to the mine.

AJ Lucas is currently participating in Australia Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) projects for soft coal and tight formation drilling (with BHP and CMTE) and in longhole water jet drilling (with CMTE).

In addition, Lucas has begun developing technology for the acquisition of real time geophysical, geological and operational data while drilling, which will provide the coal industry with a new level of certainty in achieving objectives from in-seam drilling projects. “The ability to provide not only high standards of delivery operationally and in OH&S, but to also complement this with geological interpretation and geological data presentation provides an approach unique to AJ Lucas Coal Technologies,” the company said.

Originally published in the March 2001 edition of Australia's Longwalls.