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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1995; v. 82; p. 99-114;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1995.082.01.05
© 1995 Geological Society of London

Exploration and Evaluation Techniques

Newly developed techniques to determine proportions of undersized (friable) coal during prospective site investigations

Ian H. Harris

University of Wales College Cardiff, PO Box 914, Cardiff, CF1 3YE, UK

Site investigations to date have been unable to determine the presence of friable (undersized) coal within areas of extreme tectonic deformation. This is especially important in the northwest of the South Wales coalfield, where most of the coal extracted is for the smokeless fuel domestic market, which requires a consistent grade size. Coal in the proximity of the deformation zone is unlikely to be suitable for its intended market due to its small grain size.

The deformation process and fracture styles which contribute to the development of friable coal are discussed and a remote method utilizing the drilling parameters of speed of advance, thrust and torque is investigated to ascertain its suitability in determining the amount and position of friable coal within a prospective coal site. If areas and volumes of friable coal can be determined before the extraction stage of an opencast coal site, site boundaries can be amended so that they do not contain large volumes of the friable product.