Borecore analysis

Borecore programs

Large diameter coal core programs are complex, require well-trained employees, and the right systems to ensure that the program is processed efficiently and accurately. ALS Coal's in-house training system, LabSkills, ensures the employees are competent. A well-developed laboratory information management system (LIMS) provides sample management tools, barcode scanning, direct data uploads and validation review points throughout each program. Detailed calibration and maintenance schedules ensure equipment is operating optimally. Supporting the process, certified reference material and in-house standard samples are processed with the samples to demonstrate that the systems are in control. Beyond that, ALS borecore laboratories are accredited externally against ISO17025 by NATA (National Association of Testing Authorities) and this accreditation is review periodically.

Core logging facility

Our facility allows clients to forward unlogged core to the exploration laboratory where it is stored in large, refrigerated rooms. When client geologists are available, the core is recovered from the cold–room, logged, photographed, labelled, bagged, and returned to the cold room until work instructions are generated. ALS provides barcoded labels that can be read by the LIMS system. This allows traceability of samples within the cold room and subsequent sample processing. ALS can also supply qualified geologists to perform logging services.

Pre-treatment stage

Understanding the breakage behavior of the coal from mining to the raw coal stockpile, and from the raw coal stockpile to the coal preparation plant is critical for the design of the plant. ALS has duplicate drop shatter units and dry- and wet-tumble units that generate size distribution data through the pre-treatment processing of cores.

Fractionation stage

Our automated sizing screens produce efficient size classes while manual float-sink testing separates various size fractions based on density. For finer size fractions, flotation behavior can be assessed based on various processes including timed, sequential or ultimate flotation performed in various Denver cells, or alternatively through a small-scale Jamison cell. Typically the samples produced through these various fractionation processes are sub-sampled and undergo simple analysis such as Ash %, Total Sulfur %, Crucible Swelling Number, and/or Specific Energy.

Clean coal composite stage

The various fractionated components can be re-combined to generate simulated washed coal products. ALS uses several ways to accomplish this, from simple single density cut-points to more complex recipes that simulate the imperfect separation achieved in a coal preparation plant. The re-combined "clean coal composite" is typically subjected to extensive analytical testing which delivers to the resource company insight on the specifications of the potential products and, by extrapolation, the value of the coal in the market.