ARM geophysicist performing Magnetic Survey
to locate abandoned gas well. |
Magnetic Survey
Client: Confidential Longwall
Mining Company |
A West Virginia longwall mining company turned to ARM’s Geophysics Division when it needed to locate an abandoned gas well in a proposed coal mine panel. Both state and federal mining laws have strict requirements regarding the plugging and proper abandonment of gas wells located within longwall mining panels. Consequently, mining companies often have to spend considerable time and money trying to locate abandoned wells in proposed coal mines. At times it is necessary to excavate extensive areas in hopes of identifying former wells that have not been properly abandoned or mapped.
The particular gas well in West Virginia was reported by an “Old Timer” who remembered that the well was somewhere on a site approximately 900 feet long by 75 feet wide. Excavating such a site would have required time that the mining company did not have. ARM conducted a magnetic survey of the area, processed the field data, and prepared a map within one day of arriving on the site. Based on the survey, a number of ferrous metal objects or targets were excavated, including an old drill rig tower that was buried nearly 10 feet beneath the surface. Knowing that such towers are frequently located near gas wells, further excavation was focused on the area of the tower. The additional excavation unearthed the abandoned gas well under 12 to 15 feet of mine road spoil.
Use of the magnetic survey to locate the well required considerably less time than excavating the entire site. Furthermore, a site wide excavation might not have been conducted sufficiently deep to locate the gas well. A representative of the mining company told ARM that use of the magnetic survey saved the company between half million and one million dollars.
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