Geostatistics

for mining, petroleum, geothermal and environmental applications

The University of Adelaide hosts the leading Geostatistics group in Australia with extensive expertise in geostatistical modelling and prediction in mineral resource, petroleum reservoir, geothermal and environmental applications.

Capabilities
The group has a combined expertise of over 40 years in the modeling and estimation of orebodies, coal deposits and hydrocarbon reservoirs, often in very complex geological settings; the generation of threedimensional orebody models as the basis for optimal mine design and scheduling; establishing resources and reserves together with associated confidence limits; and the quantification of geological and technical risk associated with resource extraction. We have industrial applications in these areas on all continents including the modelling, appraisal and evaluation of many of the worlds major orebodies in Australasia, Europe, Africa, North America and South America. Recent w ork has focused on the characterisation of rock masses for environmental risk analysis and assessment; for mining; and for hot dry rock geothermal energy. Applications include risk assessment for the safe storage of hazardous wastes in underground repositories; prediction of pollutant trajectories in the subsurface of the earth and their likely consequences; assessments of contaminated land; investigations into causes and effects of contamination of the natural environment; the extraction of mineral and hydrocarbon resources; and the modelling of fracture networks for enhanced geothermal systems.

Benefit
For mining operations: geostatistical analysis, modelling and estimation integrated with the mining operation from geological model to reconciliation. For oil and gas operations: optimal reservoir characterization and modelling; calibration and integration of wireline, core and seismic data; optimal estimation of boundary surfaces between geological formations. For geothermal energy: more accurate and practical models of rock fracture thereby enabling more realistic and reliable engineering d esign of enhanced geothermal systems. For environmental applications: quantified risk assessment and, via simulation, assisting in the understanding and perception of risk.

GEOSTATWIN
A geostatistical software package that can be readily tailored to specific applications. The software provides a comprehensive set of core functionalities including data compositing, statistical analysis, orebody and block modelling, variogram analysis, linear and nonlinear geostatistical estimation methods, geostatistical simulation techniques for quantitative and qualitative variables. New algorithms are added to GEOSTATWIN as they become available and we develop customised software for specific applications.

The Mining & Geotechnical Engineering Research Group School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering www.ecms.adelaide.edu.au/civeng/research