Mineralisation & CBM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marios N. Miliorizos University of Glamorgan Alfred Russel Wallace Building Glyn Taf Campus Pontypridd CF37 1DL Wales UK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ mmiliori@glam.ac.uk
Abstract Within the Upper Palaeozoic South Wales Coalfield, mineralisation and fracture porosity are structural components of a seam and are crucial to CBM exploration. In coal from a depth of less than 50 metres, fractures are approximately 0.1 mm in width and have remained open. In parts, metal sulphide mineralisation has destroyed 70% of the fracture porosity. Fracture porosity, connectivity and permeability are enhanced greatly by many fine fractures less than 0.05mm in width. However, at depth and depending especially on orientation similar fine fractures are predominantly closed and 40% of the remaining porosity is destroyed by mineralisation. Opencast coal sites reveal evidence for open systems. 10 Middle Coal Measure seams are investigated and most contain only patchy pyrite and kaolinite mineralisation. These minerals destroy 20 to 40% of the porosity in pockets distributed across the outcrops of coal. Maintenance of an open system was achieved in seams such as the 6 Feet in Llanilid Opencast coal site. Evidence includes: limonitisation of pyrite, indicative of oxidation and hydration methane gas visibly escaping from water covered outcrops of coal

Together width and density are sufficient to maintain an open system to a depth of at least 50 metres. Further investigation of deep coal is required to correlate and quantify: n fracture openness integrated fracture density depth of burial

Historical and mining records of significant methane leakage in deep navigation would leakage further constrain the depth limits of productive fractured systems. A gas flow window is . identifiable after consideration of modern fluid pressures and stress fields.

Both of the observations above suggest oxygenated waters had penetrated the seam to a depth of 50 metres and maintained a hydrostatic pressure high enough to trap hydrocarbon prior to extraction. The structural implications for exploration are namely: a mean openness or width of fractures of 0.07 mm an integrated fracture density of 0.5 fractures per mm

Four examples of SEM plates of mineralisation and fractures in a Middle Coal Measure seam from the southern crop of the South Wales Coalfield. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ M.N.M. 2012