Application of computer programs to some coal quality modeling at Sin Pun Deposit, Changwat Nakhon Si Thammarat and Saba Yoi Deposit, Changwat Songkhla

Abstract

Data from a total of 1,811 coal-bearing drill holes from the Sin Pun deposit (SP) and of 581 holes from the Saba Yoi deposit (SB), southern Thailand were carefully selected for analysis using 5 computer software programs. The currently available lithological data together with qualified analytical results (i.e.ash content, moisture content, calorific value, sulphur content, and density) were then sorted, formatted, stacked, processed, and rearranged into database files (with 19 entries) using the VULCAN (version 3.2) and FoxPro (plus, version 2.6) programs. The preexisting unformatted information particularly the analytical results from Sin Pun and Saba Yoi (56 and 48 drill holes respectively), were transferred successively into the VULCAN program. The variogram analysis, forming the essential part of this current research, was subsequently applied using the Geo_EAS software program in order to set up the quantified and qualified parameters with vector scales for model construction. The variogram analysis indicates that results from both SP and SB coal deposits mostly fit well with the spherical model with minority of nugget-effect, gaussian and linear models. The results from the analysis in conjunction with the trend of mutually relevant/inter-related information was interpreted to follow the attitude of major coal seam (or along depositional strikes). The deviation in trends and the distribution of unorientated and unrelated represented by coal physical characteristics and partly by sampling and analytical procedures. Tire geostatistical parameters resulted from spherical model synthesis were then used for coal-quality estimation. The kriging method was finally utilized through the SURFER program (version 32), and as a result, model applied to further geological investigation, drilling exploration, and mine-planning procedures can be delineated.