Australian Resources Research Centre Annual Report 2002/2003the installation of the ARRC...

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


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


‘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


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


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


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

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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.

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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


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)



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)



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


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).


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.


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


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 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.


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.


19

Development of Horadiam Mining Equipment

(Remote Ore Extraction System – Automated

Horadiam Stoping) (ROES-AHS)


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.


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.


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.


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)


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,)


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.


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


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.


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.


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.


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.


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


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.


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.


35


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


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


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


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


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.


39

An Innovative Method for Workover Decision Making

System Using Case Based Reasoning



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



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



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.


40

Perth Basin Modelling Project


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



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


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.


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


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


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 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.


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


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),


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


CSIRO Petroleum

Professor Beverley Ronalds

Chief

Ph: + 61 8 6436 8700

Fax: +61 8 6436 8578


Mr Greg Thill

General Manager Business

Development

Ph: + 61 8 6436 8701



Dr Barney Glover

Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor

(R&D)

Ph: + 61 8 266 3045


Head of Department

Department of Exploration

Geophysics

C/- Deirdre Hollingsworth

Ph: + 61 8 9266 3565

Email:

[email protected]

Head of Department

Department of Petroleum

Engineering

Acting Head of Department

Professor Geoff Weir

Ph: +61 8 9266 2037

Email:

[email protected]

Professor John McDonald

Centre of Excellence for

Exploration and Production

Geophysics

Ph: + 61 8 9266 7194

Email:

[email protected]


Landscape Environments and

Mineral Exploration (CRCLEME)

Dennis Gee

Ph: + 61 8 6436 8786


Predictive Mineral Discovery

(pmd*CRC)

Dr Paul Roberts

Ph: + 61 8 6436 8758


Interactive Virtual Environments

Centre (IVEC)

Dr Karen Haines

Acting Director

Ph: + 61 8 6436 8830


Web: www.ivec.org


Sustainable Resource Processing

(CRCSRP)

Dr Mark Neville

Business Manager

Ph: + 61 8 6436 8922


Australian Resources Research Centre Annual Report 2002/2003the installation of the ARRC...

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