Getting Value from Cuttings from Automated Mineral Analysis
ABSTRACT
Drill cuttings deliver the subsurface geology to the surface during drilling yet their use is rarely optimised. QEMSCAN® allows the mineralogy of the sub surface rocks to be captured automatically in a mineable, digital format. This capability provides an unprecedented amount of reliable, repeatable mineralogical and lithological information. Case examples are presented where mineralogical data have been integrated with other data (eg logs, stratigraphy, petrophysics) from the Gippsland Basin, North West Shelf and Perth Basin, Australia to address issues such as correlation, CO2 geosequestration and fault seal integrity.
RESUMÉ
Joseph Hamilton has BSc and DPhil degrees in geology from London and Oxford Universities. His expertise and experience include geochemistry, isotope geochemistry, mineralogy and sedimentary petrography and their application to risk reduction in petroleum exploration and production. For most of his career he has been engaged in research and teaching at universities (Columbia, New York; Cambridge; Glasgow; Curtin, Perth; University of the West Indies) and CSIRO. From 2004 to 2006 he held the Duprey Chair in Petroleum Geoscience at UWI. Since February 2008 he has been engaged with service companies as providing the technical leadership for development and application of automated mineralogy .
