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March Technical Talk

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BCGS March Technical Talk – Tuesday March 18th, 2014

Speaker: Sarah Devriese, PhD Student, UBC

Title: Using Electromagnetic Methods to Image SAGD Steam Chambers

Date/Time: Tuesday March 18th, 2014 at 4:30pm.

Location: Room 451, 409 Granville St (UK Building at Granville and Hastings), Vancouver

Abstract:

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) is an enhanced oil recovery method, used to produce bitumen from oil sands. The success of this technique is dependent upon the propagation of steam throughout the bitumen layer. However, heterogeneity in the reservoir rock can cause the steam to not always propagate as desired. Monitoring the location and growth of steam chambers provides vital information about the production efforts and has traditionally been done using 4D seismic. While successful in many cases, it may be limited by low sensitivity to changes in fluid content, saturation, and porosity. Alternatively, electrical conductivity is significantly affected by the injection of steam into a bitumen layer. Thus electromagnetic (EM) surveys have greater potential in imaging the steam floods while providing higher resolution compared to traditional 2D DC resistivity surveys. The design of an EM survey for monitoring SAGD is crucial in achieving the highest possible resolution at a minimal cost. This talk will introduce a practical methodology for survey design that addresses location and geometry of electromagnetic transmitters. The technique is applied to a synthetic model that emulates the Athabasca oil sands environment and the results are compared to inversions of 2D ERT data. Two-dimensional inversions of the ERT data produce a low quality image with artifacts but the image is improved by carrying out a 3D inversion. However, a superior image is obtained by working with a modest number of transmitters and inverting multiple-frequency EM data in 3D. The results provide optimism for the potential of using 3D EM for imaging subsurface steam chambers.

POST-TALK: Attendees are encouraged to grab refreshments together at Moose’s Downunder afterwards

KEGS/BCGS Roundup Breakfast Registration Info

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KEGS/BCGS Roundup Breakfast – TUESDAY, JANUARY 28th 2014

Location: White Spot Restaurant, 1616 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, B.C.

Time: 7:30am

Speaker: Peter Kowalczk, P.Geo, CEO & Director , Ocean Floor Geophysics Inc.

Topic: Non-military geophysics, ships and subsea vehicles and the search for minerals in the deep ocean

Registration: Required in advance by January 22nd 2014.  Online at My KEGS or via the registration form (link below) and emailed to: mickiallen@marac.com

 KEGS_2014_BCGS_Breakfast_Form

Abstract:

Exploration for Submarine Massive Sulfide (SMS) deposits has evolved into a regular process of regional ship-borne work followed by more localized mapping and resource evaluation campaigns using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) over favourable areas.  There is an established body of operating skills that is now moving from specialized niches in the military, salvage and academic environment into routine application on commercial mineral exploration cruises.  Exploration no longer depends upon the opportunistic mapping of deposits found during research cruises but is instead a systematic and cost effective process using a package of established best practices. Robotic geophysical systems are central to the exploration process at all stages. 

The challenge going forward is to rapidly assess the tonnage potential and grade of a deposit   A number of trial mining systems have been built and are presently being tested. 

Ongoing work by national organizations and by private venture mining companies has a relatively low profile, but is ongoing and moving steadily towards the development of operating mines.

BCGS Annual Symposium Schedule

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Please see below for the final speaker line-up & schedule for this week’s symposium.

DATE: Tuesday November 26th                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

LOCATION: St John’s College, UBC – Social Lounge (2111 Lower Mall)

Time Speaker Topic
8:00 – 8:30 Coffee&Tea Registration
8:30 – 8:40 Opening remarks  
8:40 – 9:10 Ken Witherly Porphyry Copper
9:10-9:40 Nathan Hayward Geophysical investigations and tectonic reconstruction of IOCG occurrences: Great Bear magmatic zone, NT
9:40 – 10:10 Mika McKinnon Science in Fiction: the role of science consultants in the film industry
10:10- 10:30 Break  
10:30 – 11:00 Sean Walker Sensitivity vs Resolution in Geophysical Inversion
11:00 – 11:30 Magdel Combrinck Developing an efficient modelling and data presentation strategy for ATDEM system choice and survey design
11:30 – 12:00 John McGaughey Virtual Geo-Teams – The challenges of building multidisciplinary exploration teams outside large companies
12:00 – 12:15 Discussion  
12:15- 1:15 Lunch  
1:15 – 1:45 Thomas Wade Recent AEM case study examples using a Full Waveform time-domain system for hydrogeology and mineral exploration
1:45 – 2:15 Greg Hodges MULTIPULSETM EM: Increasing the Sensitivity of Airborne TDEM
2:15-2:45 Dave Hildes ELF – a new ground EM system
2:45 – 3:00 Break  
3:00 – 3:30 Casey Vandenberg Open source GIS software and its applicability to geophysics
3:30 – 4:00 Vicki Thomson Unmanned Airborne System Opportunities for Volume Determination of Coal Stockpiles
4:00 – 4:30 Discussion  
4:30 – 5:30 Social Hour at Mahoney’s & Sons

 

BCGS Annual Symposium Announcement

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The BCGS plans to once again host its annual symposium and is seeking presenters/discussion leaders for this event. This year’s symposium will be aimed towards stimulating discussion. To this end there is no official theme but rather a series of topics. Each topic will have “talks” that can range in length from 5 – 30min in length with discussion time in between. We have come up with some potential topics that we feel may be of interest however all submissions are welcome. If you are interested in presenting or leading a discussion please send an email to info@bcgsonline.org including a brief description/abstract of your talk and amount of time you request. We will announce the program and registration details at a later date.

Potential Topics:

  • Physical Properties
  • Selecting the most suitable geophysical system/method
  • Optimizing survey design
  • Tools/Tips of the Trade

DATE: Tuesday November 26th

LOCATION: St John’s College, UBC

REGISTRATION DETAILS: To be announced

October Discussion Meeting

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At last month’s talk, the lack of industry wide safety standards & guidelines for ground electrical survey operations was brought up and the progress made to date by the Australian Ground Geophysical Surveys Safety Association (GGSSA) discussed. Interest was expressed amongst the attendees to discuss this further including the possibility of generating some sort of Canadian involvement in these efforts. Dennis Woods of Discovery Int’l Geophysics has volunteered to lead a discussion session to explore this topic this month.

DISCUSSION LEADER: Dennis Woods, Discovery Int’l Geophysics Inc.

TOPIC: Safety and Ground Geophysical Surveying in Exploration

DATE: Thursday October 17th at 4:30pm LOCATION: Room 451, 409 Granville (UK Building at Granville and Hastings)

POST-MEETING: Attendees are encouraged to grab a pint together at Moose’s Downunder afterwards