Reliable exploration of the deposit as the first step in the process of forecasting the quality of commercial coal

Abstract

The article presents the basics of the deposit exploration process carried out at Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa, which aims to ensure a rational exploitation of resources while maintaining high product quality. It showcases the problems associated with the small mass of samples coming from the exploration wells, which make determining the key quality parameters of coke impossible and proposes solutions to assess the quality of coals in terms of producing coke with high parameters, as determined by the Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) test, i.e. coke reactivity (CRI) and post-reaction strength (CSR). Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa, in initiating the “Quality Program” in 2018, covering the processes of deposit modeling, production planning and scheduling, and commercial product quality monitoring, set the goal of improving production processes by enabling the control of the production planning process. Such efforts are aimed at enabling the dynamic adjustment of product quality to the changing business environment, particularly at a time of increased decarbonization efforts in the European steel industry. Knowing the quality of deposits is a milestone in the process of predicting the quality of a commercial product. The primary tools for exploration of the deposit are both surface and underground drilling and sampling of seam coal during ongoing access and mining operations. In addition, analysis of qualitative data, i.e. physicochemical parameters, coking parameters and petrographic analysis from previous mining operations is carried out for the purpose of assessing coal quality and its suitability for coking.