The 3D Digital Geological Model of the Latrobe Valley Coal Resource – benefits of building versatile modelsKeynote Address

The 3D Digital Geological Model of the Latrobe Valley Coal Resource captures and safely archives 90 years of knowledge accumulated by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria and other workers that was previously accessible only as paper records. 9,086 bores have been modelled over a total area of 4,916 km2, to include all onshore Gippsland Basin brown coal fields. Roofs and floors have been created for the sixteen thickest brown coal seams and splits off main parent seams. Seventeen coal quality parameters are incorporated into a block model.

The past few years have seen the purpose of the model changing. It is no longer a tool solely used to inform coal development opportunities, but is also used to inform coal mine rehabilitation. This paper highlights the relative strengths of explicit (data driven) versus implicit (significant amount of user input required) modelling based on the spatial coverage/resolution of the data. Also highlighted is the need for greater transparency in the strengths and uncertainties in 3D spatial models.