• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.189-195
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• 2007

Pirquitas mine was Bolivian type deposits, which Tertiary quartz andesites caused various epithermal quartz veins and deposited minerals of Sn and Ag in it. Main mineral was cassiterite and necessaries were pyrite, arsenopyrite, pynhotite, Probable ore reserve and daily production are 200 million tons and 5 thousand tons, respectively, and both of exploration and pit development are being carried simultaneously, but in near future open pit works can be done. This mine is owned by the Canadian company of "Silver Standard Resources" and it is located on $S22^{\circ}30'25.0",\;66^{\circ}15'22.5"$, 4086m S.L. In view of infrastructure, geological environment and scale of ore reserves it is high potential area for domestic mining companies to participate share ownership.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.503-512
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• 2020

Mining activities focus on the production of mineral resources for energy generation and raw material requirements worldwide and it is a known fact that shallow reserves become scarce. For this reason, exploration of new resources proceeds consistently to meet the increasing energy and raw material demand of industrial activities. Rock mechanics has a vital role in underground mining and surface mining. Devices and instruments used in laboratory testing to determine rock mechanics related parameters might have limited sensing capability of the failure behavior. However, methodologies such as, thermal cameras, digital speckle correlation method and acoustic emission might enable to investigate the initial crack formation in detail. Regarding this, in this study, thermographic analysis was performed to analyze the failure behaviors of different types of rock specimens during uniaxial compressive strength experiments. The energy dissipation profiles of different types of rocks were characterized by the temperature difference recorded with an infrared thermal camera during experiments. The temperature increase at the failure moment was detected as 4.45℃ and 9.58℃ for andesite and gneiss-schist specimens, respectively. Higher temperature increase was observed with respect to higher UCS value. Besides, a temperature decreases of about 0.5-0.6℃ was recorded during the experiments of the marble specimens. The temperature change on the specimen is related to release of radiation energy. As a result of the porosity tests, it was observed that increase in the porosity rate from 5.65% to 20.97% can be associated to higher radiation energy released, from 12.68 kJ to 297.18 kJ.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.323-329
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• 2010

Three deconvolution methods were applied to stacked seismic data obtained to investigate gas-hydrates in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea: (1) minimum-phase spiking deconvolution, (2) minimum-phase spiking deconvolution using an averaged wavelet from all traces, and (3) deterministic deconvolution using a wavelet with phases computed from well-logs. We analyzed the resolving property of these methods for lithological boundaries. The first deconvolution method increases temporal resolution but decreases lateral continuity. The second method shows, in an overall sense, similar results to the spiking deconvolution using a minimum phase wavelet for each trace; however, it results in a more consistent and continuous bottom-simulating reflector (BSR) and better resolved sub-BSR reflectors. The results from the third method reveal more detailed internal structures of debris-flow deposits and increased continuity of reflectors; in addition, the seafloor reflection and the BSR appear to have changed to a zero-phase waveform. These properties help more precisely estimate the distribution and reserves of gas hydrates in the exploration area by improving analysis of facies and amplitude of the BSR.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.359-373
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• 2013

Shale is considered as a source rock for conventional oil and gas exploration and development because shale is fine-grained detrital sedimentary rock which can preserve the organic matter better. Shale has a good sealing capacity for the petroleum trap due to its low permeability. Commercial recoveries of gas from shale in the North America based on the development of technologies of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing reveal that shale also function as a effective reservoir rock. Geochemical techniques to evaluate generation potential of the hydrocarbons from organic matter in the source rocks can be applied for the exploration of the shale gas resources. To evaluate shale gas resources, it is important to understand various geochemical processes and shale characteristics controlling generation, storage and estimation of shale gas reserves. In this paper, the generation mechanism of the oil and gas from organic matter is reviewed, and geochemical techniques which can be applied for the evaluation and characterization of shale gas are introduced.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.193-204
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• 1999

Particle crushing is an important and essential factor in interpreting the strength and deformation properties of granular materials in the case of geotechnical problems related to soil crushability. As a recent field problem, the exploitation of offshore oil reserves in tropical and sub-tropical coastal shelf areas has shown that the behaviour of soils containing carbonates is markedly different from predominantly silica sands. In this study, as a first step in making a mechanical framework of granular materials incorporating the soil crushability, single particle fragmentation tests were carried out on four different types of sands in order to clarify the characteristics of the single particle fragmentation strength as related to soil crushability. The single particle strength was considered with the influence of the particle shapes, the amount of mineral components and the particle sizes. The soil particle strength corresponding $D_{50}$ of soil distribution curve has shown the lower value, the more the carbonate component and the more angular the particle shape.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.350-361
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• 2008

Canada's oil sands contain one of the largest reserves of oil in the world. According to recent estimates, there are nearly 180 billion barrels of oil in the Canadian oil sands trapped in a complex mixture of sand, water and clay. More than 40 companies have been currently operating or developing oil sands facilities since the first production in 1967. The process of oil sands upgrading is similar with down stream refinery, but the corrosion environment in upgrading refinery is often more severe than in the refinery because of high chlorides, mineral contents, carbonic acid, heavy viscosity and fouling, higher naphthenic acid [$NA-R(CH_{2})nCOOH$], and greater sulfur contents. Naphthenic acid corrosion (NAC) which is one of the most critical corrosion issues in up & downstream refinery plants was observed for the first time in 1920's in refinery distillation processes of Rumania, Azerbaizan (Baku), Venezuela, and California. As a first API report, the 11th annual meeting stated sources and mechanism of NAC in early 1930's. API has been developing the risk base standards, such as API RP580, 571, and Publication 581 which are based on the worst NAC damage in the world since 2000. Nevertheless not only the NAC phenomena and control in Canadian sands oil process are not much widely known but also there are still no engineering guidances for the Canadian sands oil in API standards. This paper will give NAC phenomina and materials selection guidance against NA environment in Canadian oil sands upgrading processes.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2012

One of the world's top resource-rich countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has ample reserves of cobalt, iron ore, copper and diamond in particular. Importing most of major mineral resources, the Republic of Korea has examined-together with the Congo government since 2008-the possibility of a project where it supports port construction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and acquires useful minerals such as zinc, cobalt and copper in exchange through slag reprocessing in the local city of Lubumbashi. This study conducted feasibility analysis on the slag reprocessing project in Lubumbashi, Congo and found that the project's payback period stands at 6.7 years, net present value(NPV) at 34 million dollars and internal rate of return(IRR) at 17.4%. According to sensitivity analysis that takes into account uncertainties concerning taxation, fixed cost, operational cost and resource prices, the NPV of the project ranges from -24.8 million dollars to 92.7 million dollars.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.543-553
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• 2023

The current status of domestic a agalmatolite mines in South Korea was investigated with a view to establishing a stable supply of agalmatolite and managing its demand. Most mined agalmatolite deposits were formed through hydrothermal alteration of Mesozoic volcanic rocks. The physical characteristics of pyrophyllite, the main constituent mineral of agalmatolite, are as follows: specific gravity 2.65~2.90, hardness 1~2, density 1.60~1.80 g/cm³, refractoriness ≥29, and color white, gray, grayish white, grayish green, yellow, or yellowish green. Among the chemical components of domestic agalmatolite, SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ contents are respectively 58.2~67.2 and 23.1~28.8 wt.% for pyrophyllite, 49.2~72.6 and 16.5~31.0 wt.% for pyrophyllite + dickite, 45.1 and 23.3 wt.% for pyrophyllite + illite, 43.1~82.3 and 11.4~35.8 wt.% for illite, and 37.6~69.0 and 19.6~35.3 wt.% for dickite. Domestic agalmatolite mines are concentrated mainly in the southwest and southeast of the Korean Peninsula, with some occurring in the northeast. Twenty-one mines currently produce agalmatolite in South Korea, with reserves in the order of Jeonnam (45.6%) > Chungbuk (30.8%) > Gyeongnam (13.0%) > Gangwon (4.8%), and Gyeongbuk (4.8%). The top 10 agalmatolite-producing mines are in the order of the Central Resources Mine (37.9%) > Wando Mine (25.6%) > Naju Ceramic Mine (13.4%) > Cheongseok-Sajiwon Mine (5.4%) > Gyeongju Mine (5.0%) > Baekam Mine (5.0%) > Minkyung-Nohwado Mine (3.3%) > Bugok Mine (2.3%) > Jinhae Pylphin Mine (2.2%) > Bohae Mine. Agalmatolite has low thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, thermal deformation, and expansion coefficients, low bulk density, high heat and corrosion resistance, and high sterilization and insecticidal efficiency. Accordingly, it is used in fields such as refractory, ceramic, cement additive, sterilization, and insecticide manufacturing and in filling materials. Its scope of use is expanding to high-tech industries, such as water treatment ceramic membranes, diesel exhaust gas-reduction ceramic filters, glass fibers, and LCD panels.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.125-132
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• 2015

The water saturation ($S_w$), which is very important to estimate hydrocarbon reserves in the reservoir, has been determined from resistivity index (RI) by using the Archie's formula. However, in many cases, it has been reported that n is not constant for a given formation and it could be varied with water saturation. In addition, it frequently happens that the line obtained by linear regression analysis on log-log scale does not pass through the origin. In order to overcome these drawbacks, we suggested a modified Archie's formula, which can handle almost all the RI vs. $S_w$ cross-plots whether the trend is straight or curved and whether it passes through the origin or not. We also demonstrated that how to determine conductivity exponent ${\mu}$, critical water saturation $S_c$, and saturation distribution factor b in the laboratory to use the modified Archie's formula. Since the modified Archie's formula takes into account pore structure, pore water distribution, and wettability of reservoir such as clean sandstone and carbonate rocks, it might improve field applicability.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.163-170
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• 2006

The shortage of proven hydrocarbon reserves has resulted in exploration progressing from the offshore into progressively deeper water of the continental shelf. Despite the success of seismic acquisition at ever greater depths, there are marine geological terrenes in which the interpretation of seismic data is difficult, such regions dominated by scattering or high reflectivity that is characteristic of carbonate reefs, volcanic cover and submarine permafrost. A marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) method has recently been applied to the oil and gas exploration thanks to its high-resistivity characteristics of the hydrocarbon. In particular, this method produces better results in terms of sensitivity under the deep water environment rather than the shallow water. Only in the last five years has the relevance of CSEM been recognized by oil companies who now use it to help them make exploration drilling decisions. Initial results are most promising and several contractors now offer magnetotelluric and CSEM services.