Gretchen K. Hoffman

USE OF DATABASES IN CHARACTERIZATION AT MINE SITES 1

Mining companies and their consultants generate large amounts of data at mine sites today. One of the most effective tools to enter, store, report, and utilize these data are by relational databases. The New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources has developed a database, the Mine Rock Pile database, to incorporate the characterization of mine rock piles for potential acid-mine drainage and rock pile stability. This database is being applied to an investigation at Molycorps Questa mine in New Mexico. There are six main tables in the database: Samples, Drillholes, Test pits, Analytical data, Photographs and Bibliography, with more than 100 supporting tables. The data to be incorporated in this database includes locational data, climatic data, mineralogy, chemical analyses, geologic data on drill holes and test pits, historical and recent photographs, and other data. Existing data as well as newly collected data will be incorporated into the database. The purposes of this database are 1) to provide easy access to computerized data that will aid in the physical, mineralogical, chemical, and geotechnical characterization of the mine rock piles and 2) to create links to other databases at the mine and at NMBGMR. Forms allow for standard collection and input of data in the field and laboratory. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are incorporated throughout the database to insure acceptable quality of sample collection and laboratory procedures. Once the data are entered into the database with locations, the data can easily be converted to GIS format for displaying on maps. The data can be imported into spreadsheets and used in most commercial software for data manipulation and interpretation.

Demonstrated reserve base for coal in New Mexico. Final report

The new demonstrated reserve base estimate of coal for the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, is 11.28 billion short tons. This compares with 4.429 billion short tons in the Energy Information Administration`s demonstrated reserve base of coal as of January 1, 1992 for all of New Mexico and 2.806 billion short tons for the San Juan Basin. The new estimate includes revised resource calculations in the San Juan Basin, in San Juan, McKinley, Sandoval, Rio Arriba, Bernalillo and Cibola counties, but does not include the Raton Basin and smaller fields in New Mexico. These estimated {open_quotes}remaining{close_quotes} coal resource quantities, however, include significant adjustments for depletion due to past mining, and adjustments for accessibility and recoverability.