Natural
Resource
Jaargang 11 - Nummer 1
Never a dull moment
Mining in Space
The Future of the Petroleum Industry
Officeel Orgaan van de Mijnbouwkundige Vereeniging en
Technische Aardwetenschappen
inside Natural Resource
Inside Natural Resource
Editorial................................................................................................................4
Presidential.........................................................................................................4
The Raw Materials............................................................................................5
Mining in Space................................................................................................6
Bestuur Belicht...............................................................................................10
Nieuwe Commissies..................................................................................... 12
The Future of the Petroleum Industry................................................... 14
Canada 2008...................................................................................................19
Mijnbouwtool.................................................................................................20
Stageverslag....................................................................................................22
MV Guilds.........................................................................................................25
The Silence of the Lambs............................................................................ 26
Studeren aan Queens’ University............................................................. 29
MSc Thesis Project: Beatrix Concession................................................. 30
Levensverhaal.................................................................................................32
Fotopagina.......................................................................................................35
Weber Puzzle...................................................................................................36
Solution Weber Puzzle................................................................................. 37
Graduation Subjects..................................................................................... 38
MV Agenda......................................................................................................39
MV Website......................................................................................................39
Colofon..............................................................................................................39
Pagina 6: Mining in Space
Pagina 22: Praktikum Steinsalzbergwerk
Pagina 32: Never a Dull Moment
3
Editorial
Ladies and Gentleman, you are holding the first issue of the
‘Natural Resource’ of the year 2008-2009. Last year the ‘NR’
saw some significant improvement; the magazine was printed
on A4 scale and the pages were full color. Since the ‘NR’ looked
very good the way it did, you will not see radical changes in the
design of this year’s issues.
However, you will recognize NR’s volume 11 by its black-orange
color combination.
It’s not just articles on the many facets of the MV that we plan
to add, one of the other headings we are proud to introduce is
an ‘extreme mining’ heading. In this series we went in search
of mining activities in the harshest conditions and weirdest
spots on the globe, and beyond. This issue we present an article
by Dale S. Boucher from the Northern Centre of Advanced
Technology inc. on mining on other planetary bodies, mining
in space!
Inside you will find some headings you already know, such as
the Weber puzzle, studying abroad/foreign students in Delft,
the mining tool of the month and an interview with a member
of the MV board.
This year we have added a few headings so that a bigger part
of the ‘NR’ is of a fixed theme, which hopefully will make the
magazine more recognizable and of a constant quality.
One of the new headings is about the different guilds of the MV,
in this article the president/head of one of the guilds writes an
article on the activities of the mysterious (or not so mysterious)
guild. We also confront the president with something that keeps
or has kept them busy. This issue we are very proud to present
an article by Ted Brueren, president of the cigar guild “die
Elephanten”’, on the ban on smoking in bars.
As you can see we will change some things, we will keep some
things the old way, but this is in fact easier said than done. This
year we are going to learn how to produce a magazine; how to
approach companies, work with powerful publishing software
and above all to work as a team. We hope you like what you
see in front of you, we will work hard to make the “Natural
Resource” the magazine the members of the MV deserve. ■
Glück Auf!
Robert-Jan Pielkenrood
Presidentieel
Dear Members and Extraordinary members,
It is a great honor to write the first presidential in this new
volume of the Natural Resource. Last year it was successfully
restyled and I am sure the new OmniCo will continue the
improvement.
During the inauguration, the MV finally installed all the new
students as full members. For the older members among us
there was the MSc trip, which introduced all the international
students to some Dutch culture.
During the summer holidays you all probably visited a place
where the weather was a lot better than it was here in Delft,
where the 117th board was preparing a very active end-ofsummer. The kick-off of this ‘extended summer holiday’ was
the welcome week which turned out to be stone good, nice and
totally gold. With black smears on their faces, MV members,
both young and old, took the new students on a tour through
Delft to spice up the student life, whilst loudly singing mining
songs. Barely one week later we were able to welcome no less
than 51 new students to the MV for the introductory excursion.
The bus was only just big enough and the excursion was a great
combination of useful company visits, instructive geology and
lots of fun.
This year, the number of new students and International
Master students to our department have both seen a significant
increase and the MV board has followed suit, returning to its
original composition of 5 members. This year our focus will
be on integration between all the different groups within the
faculty, as well as the performance of the first year students and
the improvement of the identity of both the MV and Applied
Earth Sciences as a whole in our faculty. Furthermore, we are
working on a new MV website and in the near future you will
also be able to enjoy a new collection of MV gadgets! ■
Subsequently, it was time to dress in surf shorts and bikinis for
the change of the board with an ‘Adult Beach Party’ theme. The
following week we installed a fresh new NoCo, who will serve
you with drinks and snacks in our beautiful cafe “Het Noorden”.
The programme was continued by the ‘Inter Facultair Feest’,
a party which is jointly organized, although – naturally – the
dance floor was fully dominated by the MV.
Glück Auf!
4
I wish you a lot of pleasure reading this edition of the Natural
Resource and conclude with a firm and resonant,
Chris den Boer
President der Mijnbouwkundige Vereeniging
The Raw Material
Weddenschap van de maand
Een van de mooie gebruiken in
“Het Noorden” is het opschrijven
van
weddenschappen.
Op
een stuk papier wordt de
weddenschap geschreven en
vervolgens wordt dit ondertekend
door de mensen die de
weddenschap aangaan en een tal
getuigen. ‘De weddenschappen’
worden
bewaard
in
het
weddenschappenboek dat tijdens
de Noordenavond in “Het
Noorden” ligt en de rest van de
week op de bestuurskamer. Voor
elke nieuwe NR zoeken we een
mooie weddenschap uit voor bij
The Raw Material
“When the coal comes from the Rhondda”
What’s that?
The Rhondda is a river in the south east of Wales; it runs
through the Rhondda valley, which was carved out by glaciers
during the last ice age. The Rhondda Valley is a former coal
mining area. The Rhondda valley’s coal mining industry was
at its peak between 1840 and 1925. During this period there
were 16 mining community’s with several male choirs and
rugby clubs. On the left you see how the Rhondda valley is
situated in Wales
Fred de IJsbeer
In de laatste uitgave van de vorige jaargang (nr.4, jaargang 10) stond
een artikel over Fred de IJsbeer. Op dit artikel zijn vele reacties
binnengekomen, dat waarderen we als Omnico. Deze reacties hebben
ertoe geleid, dat er een rectificatie verschijnt. De verschillende
verklaringen kunnen tot verwarring leiden na het lezen
Dhr. Winckers beweert dat de ijsbeer toebehoort aan Professor
Theo Seldenrath, de voorganger van Professor Velzeboer. Hij zou de
ijsbeerhuid hebben verkregen in Spitsbergen tijdens zijn werk bij een
lokale mijn Professor Seldenrath vertelde graag met grote autoriteit
over Fred de Ijsbeer. Een anekdote van Professor Seldenrath: “Polar
Bears are unique mammals, because they possess a penis bone which
allows them to have sex during cold winters and thus keeps them
from going extinct.
Dhr. J.J. de Ruiter geeft aan dat Professor Velzeboer nooit een ijsbeer
heeft geschoten en dat het grootste dier wat hij heeft geschoten een
konijn is in de achtertuin van zijn huis in Cornwall. Verder verteld Hans
dat er 2 beren zijn, eentje is Fred, deze behoorde toe aan Professor van
Nes (afgestudeerd in 1903, gouden erelid van de MV). Volgens Hans
komt Fred uit Spitsbergen, het is niet duidelijk of Professor van Nes
deze beer zelf heeft geschoten. Daarnaast was er een andere ijsbeer
die ook uit Spitsbergen kwam. Deze ijsbeer had echter geen hoofd
meer. De betreffende ijsbeer had Professor Velzeboer van iemand
gekregen voor hij in 1961 naar Delft kwam. Hans deelt ons mede dat
de ijsbeer van Professor Velzeboer is verdwenen en de beer met kop
De mooiste gaten in de aarde
Een van de dingen waar een mijnbouwer heet van wordt,
is het uitzicht op een goed geperforeerde aardkorst. Met
de onderstaande link kom je op een site met de mooiste
gaten op aarde, niet allemaal mijnen, maar zeker wel cool!
Het gat dat je hierboven ziet is in Guatemala City gelegen,
de aarde zakte weg doordat de aarde verzadigd was met
water door een lek in de hoofdriolering. Het gat, dat ook
wel de “Guatemala City Abyss” wordt genoemd was meer
dan honderd meter diep
http://lumq.com/09/the_biggest_earth_holes/
Nederlandse mijnen
Helaas sloot in 1974 de laatste schacht in Nederland en daarmee
verdween een hele cultuur. Project DeMijnen.nl bouwt een site
waarmee het weer wil geven hoe de mijnen waren en hoe de
mijnbouw Zuid-Limburg heeft beïnvloed. Op hun site vind je ook
een fotoarchief met bijna 6000 foto’s
http://www.demijnen.nl
belandde op de kamer van Velzeboer.Daarnaast heeft Fred nooit
boven de deur gehangen, Fred lag altijd op de grond, hij heeft nooit
studenten afgeschrikt maar er zijn wel studenten over gestruikeld. Na
de pensionering van Velzeboer kwam Fred in “Huize de Ruiter” in
Benthuizen terecht. Gezien de sterke uitval mocht Fred niet meer in
huis verblijven en Anneke stond erop dat de ijsbeer het huis verliet en
heeft Hans hem (of haar) aan het Noorden geschonken.
Professor Holtrop beweert dat Fred voor het bureau van Professor
Seldenrath heeft gelegen. Studenten met afspraak mochten nooit
over Fred lopen, dan konden zij direct verdwijnen. Professor van Nes
is volgens Professor Holtrop de eerste bezitter van Fred. Hij was als
mijningenieur verantwoordelijk voor de Grumantbyen mijn, aan de
Isfjord te Spitsbergen. Volgens Holtrop is Fred geboren in de jaren
’20 in het oostelijk gedeelte van Spitsbergen en is hij later afgedwaald
naar Grumantbyen en door een goed schot van Van Nes neergelegd.
Vervolgens heeft Van Nes Fred meegenomen naar de faculteit
Mijnbouwkunde te Delft.. Glück Auf!
5
Mining in Space
Adaptation of Terrestrial Mining Equipment
for use on Planetary Bodies
Dale S. Boucher
Northern Centre for Advanced Technology Inc.
Future space missions to planetary bodies, both manned and
robotic, will require the efficient utilization of in-situ resources
to ensure longevity, success, and adherence to the “faster cheaper
better” mantra now in vogue within various space agencies and
upon which a number of new commercial space ventures are
being developed. In Situ Resources Utilization (ISRU), while
requiring the development of new technologies and methods
for commodity extraction, will still rely upon some method of
mining technology for the harvesting and pre-beneficiation of
the raw materials prior to processing.
The Northern Centre for Advanced Technologies Inc. is
presently engaged in the development and adaptation of
existing mining technologies and methodologies for use extraterrestrially as precursor and enabling technologies for ISRU.
Introduction
The Northern Centre for Advanced Technology Inc. (NORCAT)
is a private, not for profit, corporation located in Sudbury,
Ontario, and operates an underground testing centre in the rim
of the Sudbury Basin, an ancient impact crater. There are more
than 750 registered mines within a 4-hour drive of NORCAT’s
head office. Sudbury has long been considered the world leader
in mining technology and mining technology development.
NORCAT was formed in response to a perceived need to
provide technology development expertise to Small and
Medium Entrepreneurs in the area engaged in mining equipment
manufacture. Recently, there have been an increasing number
of requests from all areas of the globe for assistance in the
development of mining technologies for use in In-Situ Resource
Utilization (ISRU) on planetary bodies. NORCAT’s unique
expertise and position within the mining community offers
space industry an opportunity to shorten the development cycle
for ISRU technologies.
ISRU
In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) refers to the use of raw
materials found at a mission site on a planetary body, such as
landing site, exploration site or supply site. The raw materials
found in such proximity will, in general, provide some form
of commodity for mission architects and would support
the mission in some manner. This could be in the form of
propellant, power, life support material (oxygen and water) or
some other material which would benefit the mission.
The raw materials range from lunar regolith for solar cell direct
deposition in power plant production [10, 11] through Martian
regolith [12, 13] for propellant and water manufacture to water
ice recovery from dormant comets in NEO configurations.
Some of the proposed processes require access to subsurface
zones ranging from 10 metres to more than 4 kilometers in
depth. [1, 6, 9]
6
Photo 1: Animation of Planetary Setting
While there is a growing interest in the technologies required to
process the resources into such commodities [2, 14], much work
still needs to be performed on the technologies for accessing
and harvesting the raw materials.
It is NORCAT’s position that the technology development cycle
for these critical “enabling” technologies could be dramatically
shortened by careful adaptation of existing mining techniques
and equipment. To achieve this end, we have divided existing
technologies into essentially three categories: Subsurface
Access, Rock Removal, and Surface Harvesting (see Figure 1).
The figure is for illustration only, and can be considered a partial
listing with a focus on hard rock technologies and equipment of
immediate interest. Others have generated similar lists, for more
specific tasks and technologies [9]
ISSE
A relatively newer category of equipment development is in the
area of In Situ Support Equipment (ISSE). This category can
include items as diverse as wheel jacks for Martian rovers to road
building and maintenance equipment for Lunar and Martian
habitats and even tunnel boring machines for subsurface habitat
construction. [5]
In this case, the technology development cycle can again be
shortened by appropriate use of existing mining technologies
as base platforms for the development. The underground
environment is harsh and system longevity is critical. Many
specialized pieces of service equipment have been developed
over the years to support the underground mining environment,
such as fueling systems, HVAC, power distribution systems,
explosives handling, portable service vehicles, etc.
NORCAT has only just begun to address the issues of ISSE in
conceptual form and in conjunction with documents such as
MEPAG [5]
Sub-Surface Access
Removal
Diamond drill
Jumbo drill
Raise borer
Top hammer drill
ITH drill
Tri-cone drills
Blind borer
Controlled foam injection
Explosive autoloader
Tunnel borer
Jumbo drill
Rock bolter
Shotcrete/resin applicator
LHD
Locomotive
Figure 1: Mining Equipment Categorization
Terrestrial mining operations are basically brute force driven.
In essence, a mine operator will solve excavation issues via a
sometimes ad hoc increase in mass or power of the equipment
in use. This range of decisions is based primarily upon the
ready availability of resources (power, fuel, labour) and a time
weighted element pertaining to capital cost, ROI, market forces,
and labour rates.
Planetary mining activities must adopt a different approach.
The biggest advantage is the time element. The biggest
disadvantages are the availability of mass, power, and support
resources (maintenance, refueling and other support logistics),
and insertion resources (launch and landing, communications,
etc.).
The Mining Cycle
Terrestrial mining operations have a well defined mining cycle
under which they operate. Although there is some corporate
specific customization, they all follow the same general pattern.
This cycle starts with exploration activities and runs through the
mine development, active mining, mine decommissioning, and
into production, marketing and finally ending with rehabilitation
of the operations site or sites.
The mining cycle can and should be extended to ISRU (In Situ
Resource Utilization) activities such that an ISRU Cycle can be
implemented which should closely correlate with the traditional
mining cycle. Latitude can be extended to allow for differences
in various planetary exploration profiles and available resources,
such as precursor missions, and in place resources like orbiters
Figure 2: Typical Mining Cycle
Harvesting
Scoop
Road grading
Roadbed smoothing
Backhoe
Vibrating lip mucker
Scarifier
LHD
Truck
or landed hardware.
One of the common pieces of hardware used by terrestrial
mining companies for the purpose of surface mining is a
Bucket Wheel Excavator (Photo 2). This is a large (>200 tonne)
machine with a series of excavation buckets arranged on a wheel.
NORCAT, in collaboration with Colorado School of Mines,
explored the scalability of a Bucket Wheel Excavator for the
purpose of potential use in a lunar mining system. In essence,
a small Bucket Wheel Excavator was designed (Muff et al.)
and NORCAT produced a test bed version strictly to examine
power and forces developed during the excavation operation.
The wheel diameter is 15 cm and turns at a maximum of 2 rpm.
NORCAT tested the unit in a lab test bed at STP conditions
with clean “playground” sand as a medium (Photo 4). The
results yielded a maximum excavation rate of approximately
200 kg per hour at a continuous power consumption of just
over 1 Watt. To put this in perspective, it is estimated that a
regolith excavation rate of only 35 kg per hour would need to
be obtained in order to provide sufficient regolith to an oxygen
production facility capable of supporting a small long term
human presence on the moon.
Although it is not proposed that a bucket wheel excavation
technique be used on the moon, it is clear that a large device is
not required to deliver significant amounts of raw product to a
processing facility.
Terrestrial mining systems utilize a suite of machines with
specialized functions ranging from drilling, blasting, and ore
transport, to service and support (ground control, refuel ►
Figure 3: ISRU Cycle
7
vehicles, and infrastructure transport). Mines will optimize
these resources based upon maintenance requirements and
mine planning logistics. Human resources figure prominently in
the overall mine operations and decisions relating to the mine
planning and services.
Mine equipment is largely tele-operated (Extended Line of Site)
or assisted (operator driven with on board intelligent for safety
or machine health). Operators are still required in the control
loop. Finally, production rates and market forces are driving
mining equipment design to larger and larger masses (ex: 60
tonne haulage trucks, 10 yard buckets, 8 inch drill holes, etc.)
Lunar based mining systems may be better served by the
use of Multi Agent Teams (MAT) of mining robots. These
systems operate in a cooperative fashion requiring only high
level operator intervention, such as commands to “dig a hole”.
MAT systems will perform such tasks in cooperation with
each other and can dynamically adapt to changes in operating
scenarios, such as the loss of one or more machines. NORCAT
is working with University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace
Studies (UTIAS) to develop a MAT excavation team requiring
no virtually zero operator intervention and dynamic team
assignments after initial commands.
Digging a hole does not make a mine. Mining is a well
planned operation in logistics. The operation must optimize
Photo 2: Bucket Wheel Excavator
8
and coordinate infrastructure, services, transport, human
interactions, ore body development, exploration and mining
activities (drill, blast, muck). A very large proportion of an
operating mine is devoted to managing the logistics required
to access and extract the ore, then transport it effectively to
the processing facility. Mine planning is used to develop and
implement a viable, effective and dynamic strategy to optimize
the mine operation on a macro scale.
Lunar mining operations, whether underground or surface
based, require a well thought out and effective mine plan. An
excavator system will likely be a trenching action. These trenches
need to be planned out in advance to ensure a minimum of
negative impact upon the extraction process (i.e. an excavator
may fall into or get trapped in a previously formed trench, or,
the high value “ore” may become inaccessible due to poor
placement and sizing of early trenches). Equipment life and
maintenance cycles require repair and refuel facilities or “dead
unit” sidings. Roadways must be designed to ensure stability
and transportability over the life of the mine. Finally, support
and transportation logistics for the mine operation need to be
optimized to ensure efficient and effective utilization of the
selected resources.
Photo 3: Notional Shackleton Lunar South Pole Outpost on Shackleton Crater Rim
References
[1].
in: Proceedings: Concepts and Approaches for the
Robotic Exploration of Mars, July 2000;
[6].
The 3rd Dimension of Planetary Exploration – Deep Sub Surface Drilling, J Blacic et al, AIAA
Space 2000 conference, Sept 2000).
[2].
in: Proceedings: Space Resources Roundtable II,
Nov 2000
[7].
in: CIM Journal Vol. 93 pp 32-34
[3].
MEPAG, R. Greely et al, Dec 12, 2000, Goal IV,
Objective A, Investigation 2, 3, 6, 7, Objective B
Investigation 5
[8].
Core Drilling for Extra-Terrestrial Mining, D
Boucher, E Dupuis, Space Resources Roundtable II,
Nov. 2000, pp 7-9
[4].
in: Proceedings: Canadian Space Exploration
Workshop II, Calgary, October 1999
[5].
in: MEPAG, R. Greely et al, Dec 12, 2000, various
[9].
Results of a Conceptual Systems Analysis of Systems
for a 200 m Deep Sampling of the Martian
Subsurface, J Blacic et al, Space Resources
Roundtable II, Nov 2000, pp 3-5
[10].
Lunar Solar Power System For Energy Prosperity
Within The 21st Century, David R. Criswell,17th
Congress of World Energy Council, Sept. 1998
[11].
The Fabrication of Silicon Solar Cells on the
Moon using In-Situ resources, A. Ignatiev, Space
Resources Roundtable II, Nov. 2000, pp 29
[12].
Plasma Processing of Lunar and Planetary Materials,
R. Currier and J. Blacic, Space Resources Roundtable
II, Nov. 2000, pp11-12
[13].
Continuous processing with Mars Gases, C. Parrish
and P. Jennings, Space Resources Roundtable II,
Nov 2000, pp 41-42
[14].
In: Proceedings of Space 2000: the seventh
International Conference and Exposition on
Engineering, Construction, Operations, and Business
in Space, Feb 2000
[15].
LM 75 Operations and Service Manual, Longyear
Australia Pty Ltd. ■
Photo 4: NORCAT’s Lunar Bucket Wheel Test Bed
9
Bestuur Belicht
Naam: Chris den Boer
Leeftijd: 21
Functie: President
Woonplaats: Delft
Studentenvereniging: DSC
Wat heb je de afgelopen jaren voor de MV
betekend?
In mijn eerste jaar werd ik gegrepen
door de mooie dingen van mijnbouw.
Toen heb ik in de VouwCo
gezeten, wat inhield dat ik de
NR in elkaar moest vouwen, want in die tijd was het
nog een boekje met bladzijdes van een half A4’tje
Daarna heb ik een jaar NoCo gedaan, fantastisch natuurlijk, veel
leuke borrels getapt. In die tijd woonde ik nog tegenover het
Noorden, 1 duik in de gracht en ik was in het Noorden.
Het jaar daarop heb ik OmniCo gedaan, waarbij ik mij vooral
bezig heb gehouden met het fotoshoppen van “Miners in the
Movies” en het indesignen van artikelen. In dat jaar is ook voor
het eerst de nogal mooie Omnidixo ingevoerd.
Daarna heb ik VNC gedaan, dit is een commissie die helpt bij het
lustrum. Wij regelden de praktische dingen van het lustrum.
Waar houd jij je nu de hele dag mee bezig?
Ik kom ’s ochtends om 9 uur aan op de faculteit en neem eerst een
bak koffie, behalve op donderdag, dan kom ik iets later en neem
ik een glas water. Vervolgens check ik de e-mail en de agenda.
Als president doe je steeds verschillende dingen, je zit steeds
met andere mensen om de tafel overleg te plegen. Het is aan mij
de taak om overzicht te houden. Daarnaast houd ik veel contact
met bedrijven en ereleden, vooral voor bedrijfsbezoeken en
sponsoring.
van de MV, maar de tradities willen we wel behouden. Verder
willen we de database van de alumni goed op orde brengen en
de identiteit van de MV verbeteren.
Zijn er nog grote evenementen/gebeurtenissen dit jaar?
Als eerste zal er op 10 november het geothermie-symposium
plaats vinden. In januari is het Barbara-borrel lustrum, alweer 40
mooie jaren wat groots zal worden gevierd. De Noordenexcursie
die ook dit jaar weer op de planning staat, wordt speciaal en
mogelijk meerdaags.
Tenslotte komt er nog een culturele excursie die dit jaar
misschien zelfs over het water zal plaatsvinden.
“Mijn vader was president van de Leidse
Geologische Vereniging”
Hoe hebben je familie/vrienden gereageerd toen zij hoorden dat je de
president van de MV zou worden?
Mijn vader vond het heel leuk, alleen was hij zelf
president van de Leidse Geologische Vereniging….
Mijn moeder zei dat ik niet teveel moest zuipen en mijn
vrienden dachten dat ik een onwijze bal zou worden.
Volgens mijn huisgenoten is mijnbouw een mysterie, maar ze
willen wel heel graag een keer naar het Noorden komen.
Doe je mee met de snorrenwedstrijd?
Nee, jammer genoeg niet. De snorrenwedstrijd valt tijdens de
company visits van petroleum en grondstoffen, dus is het niet
heel erg verstandig om mee te doen. Misschien een andere
keer, bijvoorbeeld bij een “Moustache March” , maar ik moedig
iedereen aan om de snor te laten staan.
Als je een grote leider zou moeten toekennen aan elk bestuurslid, wie en
waarom?
“1 duik in de gracht en ik was in het Noorden”
Matthijs is Fidel Castro, want dat is de man van de sigaren en de
drank. Matthijs is de beheerder, onze rots in de branding.
Waarin wil jij je dit jaar ontplooien?
Stephanie heeft iets weg van Martin Luther King, een
professional die goed nadenkt over zijn standpunt, inhoudelijk
sterk is, zich vasthoudt aan zijn (in dit geval haar) standpunten
en deze op een goede manier weet over te brengen op groepen
mensen.
Ten eerste wil ik meer inzicht krijgen in het organiseren, als je
hier veel mee oefent gaat dit steeds gemakkelijker. Hiernaast
wil ik leren om contact te maken en te houden met mensen en
bedrijven. Tenslotte wil ik leren om de wensen van de studenten
en bedrijven op elkaar te laten aansluiten.
Wat ga jij vernieuwen/veranderen?
Wij hebben nu een man meer in het bestuur, dus vind ik ook dat
wij ambitieus moeten zijn. Op het gebied van onderwijs willen
wij een goede uitstraling verkrijgen, namelijk dat het studeren
voorop staat. Dit willen wij bereiken door de actieve mensen
van de MV als mentor aan te stellen van de eerstejaars. Ook
willen wij het prestatie-uitje promoten en grootser aanpakken.
Hiernaast willen wij aandacht besteden aan het moderner maken
10
Daan is Mahatma Gandhi vanwege zijn geweldige mentale
capaciteit en geheugen. Hij is de koning van de wist-je-datjes
en weet veel te bereiken zonder stennis te trappen, hij doet
namelijk geen vlieg kwaad.
Henk lijkt mij een John F. Kennedy vanwege zijn frisse uitstraling
en enthousiasme. Hij krijgt van veel mensen positieve aandacht
en heeft dezelfde goedheid als Kennedy.
Ik ben de kleinste van het stel, dus waarschijnlijk ben ik Napoleon
of Sarkozy. Dit zijn ook kleine mannen met veel overzicht en
oog voor precisie, uitstraling en presentatie. ■
v.l.n.r. Stephanie, Henk, Chris, Daan en Matthijs
Chris den Boer
Henk van Oeveren
Daan van Berkel
Stephanie Lier
Matthijs Bootsma
President
Secretaris
Penningmeester
Onderwijscommissaris
Beheerder
MV Kamer 01.120
Tel. nr. intern: 86039
11
Nieuwe commissies
2008-2009
OmniCo v.l.n.r.
Daan van Berkel (QQ)
Robert-Jan Pielkenrood (Zn2+)
Laura van Leeuwen (S.O.S.)
Ko Korenromp (t.z.t.)
Ciarán Latooij (t.e.a.b)
Erik van der Putte (EER)
Koen van Toorenenburg (MIA)
OmniCo
“In every NR there are good articles and less good articles, but
each NR by itself is a good periodical”
Bij een nieuwe jaargang van de Natural Resource, jaargang 11,
hoort een nieuw gezicht of nog beter gezegd zeven nieuwe
gezichten. Dit zijn drie tweedejaars en drie derdejaars studenten, samen met een QQ uit het bestuur, die ervoor gaan
zorgen dat het niveau van de NR wordt gehandhaafd en op
zoveel mogelijk punten wordt verbeterd. Daarnaast zullen wij
u rijkelijk voorzien in foto’s van verschillende evenementen via
de website van de “Mijnbouwkundige Vereeniging”.
De OmniCo is het orgaan van de MV wat periodiek publiceert
naar zijn leden en alumni. Er zijn echter meerdere commissies
actief op andere fronten en die willen wij op deze wijze aan u
voorstellen.
Jaarboek Commissie
“You can never understand the true value of something until
you don’t have it anymore”
De 71e redactie van het Jaarboek zal u in mei 2009 verblijden
met een prachtig jaarboek. Wederom zal het Jaarboek in het
teken staan van een actueel thema, waaraan wetenschappelijke
artikelen gerelateerd zullen zijn. Wat het thema dit keer precies
inhoudt, zullen zij bekend maken tijdens hun themapresentatie
in november. Het beleid van deze commissie is op dit moment
één van de best bewaarde geheimen van de vereniging. Om
een tipje van de sluier op te lichten, het nieuwe jaarboek wordt
‘compleet’ en ‘vernieuwend’. Daarnaast zal de inhoud zowel
actueel zijn als dat er oude tradities zullen terugkeren tussen de
blauwe kaften.
12
Noorden Commissarissen (NoCo)
“Never drink faster than your guardian angel can fly”
Dit jaar is aan de commissarissen van sociëteitscafé “Het
Noorden”, met een pul in de hand en een kaal hoofd, de schone taak om het Noorden te verblijden met hun aanwezigheid
op de woensdagavonden. Hugo en Wynze, samen ook wel de
jukebox genoemd, zullen met alle liefde jullie entertainen met
een ongekende kennis van mijnbouwliederen. Verder zullen zij
met veel vrolijkheid en een grote lach de biertjes tappen voor
de afgestudeerden tijdens hun afstudeerborrels of aan één
ieder die een verlangen heeft naar het vloeibare goud.
PromoCo
“No matter how far you have gone on a wrong road, turn back
and join ‘Mijnbouw’”
Het doel van deze commissie is om de naamsbekendheid van
‘Mijnbouw’ bij middelbare scholieren te vergroten. Dit doen
zij door op open dagen, beurzen en de scholen zelf vooraan
te staan om hun woordje te doen over onze prachtige studie.
Dit jaar worden zelfs lessen natuurkunde in het 3e jaar van het
VWO overgenomen. Mochten ze nog niet overtuigd zijn dan
kunnen ze altijd nog meeloopdagen komen doen.
Gemikt wordt op een ongekend aantal van 80 nieuwe studenten over een jaar.
Studenten TA Responsie Orgaan (STARO)
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with
no loss of enthusiasm”
Dit zijn mensen die bezig zijn met één van de eerste drie jaren
van hun studie. Zij spreken namens de studenten over allerlei
zaken op het gebied van onderwijs. Hierbij moet gedacht worden aan inroostering, studiemateriaal en evaluatiegesprekken.
Zonder deze mensen zou er totaal geen feedback zijn vanuit
de studie zelf. Dus heb je problemen, tips of klachten en Dr.
Phil neemt zijn telefoon niet op, klop dan aan bij iemand van
de STARO.
Jaarboek Commissie v.l.n.r.
Els Wijermars
Jan-Douwe Wansink
Andrina Drost
Laurens van der Sluijs
Stephanie Lier (QQ)
NoCo v.l.n.r. bovenste rij:
Anne Thomas Haverkamp
Liselotte den Ouden
Matthijs Bootsma (QQ)
Wynze Meijer
v.l.n.r. onderste rij:
Ernst van Dalen
Ruben Logister
Hugo Lijnema
Machiel van der Linde
PromoCo v.l.n.r.
Marjolein Nell
Richard Hontelez
Henk van Oeveren (QQ)
Wynze Meijer
Robert de Velde Harsenhorst
Staro v.l.n.r
Stephanie Lier (QQ)
Richard Hontelez
Andrina Drost
Els Wijermars
Pieter Groot Bramel
Mathijs Janzen
Jan-Douwe Wansink
13
The future
of the Petroleum industry
by
Prof.mr.ir. Bernard Taverne
always fill any gap and substitute for oil and natural gas in all
their applications and uses, either directly as such or indirectly
through application of coal-to-liquids technology.
The Big Picture
Since the industrial revolution (1750) the world economy and its
technical devices have been dependent for its development and
progress on the utilisation of coal, oil (products) and natural
gas (hereinafter the fossil fuels), as providers of primary energy
(heat, steam, electricity and mechanical power). In addition to
that, oil products are the feedstock for manufacturing bitumen,
lubricants and all kinds of petrochemical products.
As indicated above the world economy and its technical devices
are since the last decades no longer dependent on the fossil fuels
alone. The required primary energy can be and are currently to
a modest extent (12 per cent) supplied by non-carbon energy
sources, such as nuclear fission energy and hydro-electric
power. Also non-carbon energy contributions are made albeit
on a much smaller scale by wind turbines, solar heating power,
photovoltaics and high-temperature geothermal energy. It
should be added here that hopefully in the distant future all of
these carbon and non-carbon energy sources including nuclear
fission energy, will be replaced by a single non-carbon energy
source, namely nuclear fusion energy. In an indirect manner
nuclear fusion energy is already utilised in all cases where solar
radiation in one way or another is applied, in this instance the
fusion reactor in question (the sun) is placed at a safe distance
from the Earth.
In 2007 world consumption of primary energy totalled 11.1
billion toe. The fossil fuels covered 88 percent, of which coal
28.6 percent (3.18 billion toe), natural gas 23.8 percent (2.64
billion toe); and oil 35.7 percent (3.95 billion toe). Non-carbon
energy sources contributed 12 percent of which nuclear power
5.6 percent (0.62 billion toe) and hydro-electric 6.4 percent, i.e.
0.71 billion toe.
In the same year world electricity generation amounted to 19895
TWh. Coal-fired powerplants contributed 40%, gas-fired plants
20%, oil-fired plants 7%, hydropower plants 16% and nuclear
power plants 15%. The contribution of other non-carbon
energy sources such as wind power, solar radiation, wave power
and high temperature geothermal energy is for the moment and
purely statistically speaking negligible.
Considering the size of the reserves of the fossil fuels further
progress of the world economy along the same lines with a
heavy reliance on the fossil fuels would in principle be possible,
provided unrestricted use of coal and its reserves could be
made. Said reserves are ample enough to satisfy a large part
of the energy needs of the world economy for a long time
to come. The currently known reserves of conventional and
heavy oil and those of natural gas (assuming no new discoveries
or additional recoveries from existing fields) are much smaller
but could still make their respective contributions till about the
middle of this century (Note 1) and, if so needed, coal could
14
From the above it could be concluded that only the lifetime
of the petroleum reserves do deserve serious attention, but
that due to the versatility of coal, coal liquids and the potential
of nuclear fission energy, the world economy and its technical
devices could be organised in such a way that for their
functioning petroleum is no longer needed. In other words
when the petroleum resources are depleted the world economy
will not collapse and can still move on.
This preliminary conclusion will not hold. What is wrong is that
using fossil fuels, in particular coal and oil products as fuel in
combustion processes leads to the generation of carbondioxide
(CO2). If emitted into the atmosphere its atmospheric
concentration rises and such elevated concentration causes the
rise of the average surface temperature on Earth. In its turn
such rise will lead to climate change in a negative sense and the
rise of the sea level (Note 2). Fearing these consequences, the
Member States of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) (with exception of the USA) have
committed themselves under the terms of the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol, effective date 16 February 2005, to take all measures
necessary to achieve the CO2-emission-limitation targets set
by said Protocol. To this end the commitment States strive to
curb the consumption of fossil fuels in one way or another,
to look for substitution by non-carbon energy sources and
to promote the research into and development of alternative
road transport fuels, such as biofuels and hydrogen (Note 3).
Also in this context, the merits of equiping power stations and
industrial plants with facilities (CCS facilities) to capture and
store any CO2 that is generated in those plants are world-wide
being investigated. Unfortunately, it has already become clear
that the construction and operations of the aforementioned
CCS facilities involve yet untried techniques which promise not
only to be very costly but also to lower the energy efficiency of
the plant in question.
But before the fossil fuels can be replaced by non-carbon
energy sources in any meaningful way, a large scale expansion
of the latter’s respective capacities need to be realised. Amongst
all the available non-carbon sources only nuclear fission energy
offers a realistic and practical possibility to do this and has the
potential to take over the whole or a large part of the share
of the fossil fuels in supplying primary energy to the various
sectors of the world economy. But it goes further than this. The
electricity generated in nuclear power plants could also replace
fossil fuels that otherwise would be used for space heating and
for powering on-road vehicles. In the end, this would leave only
the petrochemical industry, shipping that can not be powered
by a nuclear reactor (e.g. small-sized ships), aviation and onroad transport, that is beyond the reach of the electric grid,
dependent on fossil fuels.
Unfortunately, nuclear fission energy, that as explained above
is the one and only non-carbon energy source that has the
potential to solve all problems related to CO2-emissions, is still
not generally accepted by Western governments and the general
public in those countries because of concerns regarding the
safety of the operations, proliferation of nuclear weapons and
a satisfactory disposal of radioactive waste. In particular there
is opposition against using the fast breeder reactor because of
the large scale production of plutonium-239 from uranium-238
that is involved and for which the reactor is designed. If as a
result of those concerns the fast breeder reactor could not be
utilised it would drastically limit the size of the usable uranium
reserves since only uranium-235, which makes out only 0.7
percent of the naturally occurring uranium, the rest being made
up of the aforesaid uranium-238, plus any plutonium-239 that
is accidently produced in a conventional reactor would then
count. But there is one more obstacle on the road to a global
acceptance of nuclear fission energy and that is that if full use
is made of its potential it will undermine the position of coal
in the energy market. Governments of coal producing and
exporting countries will thus be confronted with the real and
perhaps economically unacceptable possibility that they have
to shut down their coal mines (excepting those needed for the
production of metallurgical coal).
Nevertheless there is no escaping nuclear energy. Sooner or later
the governments involved (mainly Member States of the OECD
under the leadership of the EU) will have to accept the fact that
all their measures taken to reduce or prevent CO2-emissions
will not work or are exceptionally expensive and harmful for
the economy of their countries. When this moment arrives
these governments have no other option than to expand the
capacity of the nuclear power sector and to start building new
power plants and/or converting existing fuel-fired power plants
beginning obviously with the coal-fired ones. Concurrently
electricity will gradually replace road transport fuels, depending
on the introduction and production of all-electric vehicles which
will presumably not take place before 2015. By that time the
electricity generating capacity of the power plants and the reach
of the electric grid will have to be correspondingly increased.
There is also no escaping nuclear energy for governments of
countries lacking sufficient indigenous fossil fuel resources,
e.g. Western Europe, Japan and many developing countries.
Embracing nuclear fission energy would grant those
governments the political advantage of becoming independent
from foreign energy suppliers.
As far as natural gas is concerned, its use in power stations
and for space heating will perhaps not be affected at all till the
last moment i.e. till its reserves are exhausted, because natural
gas for several reasons is generally accepted as a much more
attractive source of energy compared to coal, oil and even
nuclear fission energy.
Market Outlook
Set off against a world oil production in 2007 of 3.9 billion
tonnes, the world proved oil reserves at end 2007 amounting
to 193.4 billion tonnes, which includes Canadian oil sands,
represent close to 50 years of production at the aforesaid rate.
For natural gas this figure is 60 years. These figures suggest that
there is enough time left to expand nuclear power in such a way
that at the end of that period nuclear power plants have been
substituted for oil- and gas-fired plants and generate enough
additional electricity to power on-road vehicles.
However projections for the demand for oil and natural gas in
the period to 2030 as presented in World Energy Outlook 2007, a
publication of the International Energy Agency (IEA), suggest
that the call on production will surpass the level reached in 2007
and will exceed said rate at least till the end of period under
review.
According to one of the possible Scenarios, the one described
as the Alternative Policy Scenario, the demand/consumption of
oil is projected to grow in the period to 2030 on average ►
15
Country / Region
US
Canada*
Mexico
Total North America
Venezuela
Total S. & Cent. America
Western Europe
Russian Federation
Kazakhstan
Total Eurasia
Iran
Iraq
Kuwait
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Total Middle East
Algeria
Libya
Nigeria
Total Africa
Australia
Indonesia
China
Malaysia
Total Asia Pacific
Total World
EU
OECD
OPEC
Canadian oil sands
Proved reserves and oil sands
Conventional Oil
3.6
4.2
1.7
9.5
12.5
15.9
1.7
10.9
5.3
6.5
19.0
15.5
14.0
3.6
36.3
13.0
102.9
1.5
5.4
4.9
15.6
0.4
0.6
2.1
0.7
5.4
168.6
0.9
11.9
127.6
24.7
193.4
by 0.8 percent per year reaching a level of 4.9 billion tonnes in
that year. This implies that between now and 2030 103 billion
tonnes must have been produced, more than one half of the
currently proved reserves. What is left of the reserves would
allow further production at the level attained in 2030 for another
18 years, i.e. till 2048. This Scenario is inter alia based on the
assumption that some saving and technical innovation will take
place in the road transport sector, but not in a very radical way.
A full scale introduction of the all-electric vehicle is certainly
not taken into account. Nuclear energy is projected to grow at a
modest rate of 1.6 percent confirming the notion that there has
not been enough additional non-carbon electricity projected to
allow for the full scale introduction of the all-electric car. In
contrast, coal is still projected to be the dominant source of
energy closely followed by natural gas. As far as the latter is
concerned the demand for it is projected to grow at a rate of
1.5 percent, reaching 3.5 billion toe in 2030. This implies that
between now and 2030 70 billion toe must have been produced
in that period, which is about 40 percent of the currently proved
reserves. What is left of the reserves allows further production
at the level attained in 2030 for another 30 years, i.e. till 2060.
This Alternative Policy Scenario appears to overestimate the
demand for oil in two respects: firstly it is underestimating the
impact that nuclear energy can make in particular in combination
with the introduction of the all-electric vehicle. In the second
place the elevated level of the international oil price which
is currently hovering around USD (2008) 80 per barrel but
which the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC)
will attempt, if necessary by imposing production restrictions,
to maintain in the USD (2008) 90 – 100 per barrel range, will
put a brake on the growth of the demand regardless whether
or not the all-electric car appears on the scene. However this
may against the background of this in some respects imperfect
Scenario the size of the currently proved reserves of oil as well
16
Natural Gas
5.98
1.63
0.37
7.98
5.15
7.73
4.97
44.65
1.90
7.59
27.80
3.17
1.78
25.6
7.17
6.09
73.21
4.52
1.50
5.30
14.58
2.51
3.00
1.88
2.48
14.46
177.36
2.84
15.77
those of natural gas appear sufficiently robust.
Nevertheless, it needs to be investigated, whether the world
economy can count on more oil and gas than are present in the
currently proved reserves in case for one reason or another the
demand for oil and natural gas will not disappear beyond half
way the century.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey World Petroleum
Assessment 2000 remaining ultimately recoverable reserves
of conventional oil (referred to as light oil) amounted to 322
billion tonnes in 2000, the year of assessment. After correcting
for the volume produced between that year and end 2007, i.e.
28 billion tonnes, the remaining ultimately recoverable reserves
of conventional oil at end 2007 amount to 294 billion tonnes.
Subtracting the proved reserves of conventional oil (excluding
any Canadian oil sands) at end 2007, i.e. 166 billion tonnes,
leaves a volume of 128 billion tonnes which represent US
Geological Survey’s estimate of new discoveries and reserve
growth to be made or realised in the coming years. According
to the projection of the demand up to 2030 103 billion tonnes
must have been produced between 2007 and that year which
lowers the in 2030 remaining ultimately recoverable reserves of
conventional oil to 191 billion tonnes, a volume large enough
to allow producing at the rate projected to be attained in 2030,
i.e. 4.9 billion tonnes, for another 39 years, thus till 2069. But
the oil reserves locked into the Canadian sands must still be
added. These sands are estimated to hold 76 billion tonnes
of recoverable bitumen, by coincidence about twice as big as
the proved reserves of conventional oil of Saudi Arabia. If so
added, total remaining reserves would allow production at the
rate projected to be attained in 2030 till almost the end of this
century (2084).
Likewise, the U.S. Geological Survey World Petroleum
Assessment 2000 puts the in 2000 remaining ultimately
recoverable reserves of natural gas at 283 billion toe. After
correcting for the volume produced between that year and 2007,
i.e. about 18 billion toe, the remaining ultimately recoverable
reserves of natural gas at end 2007 amount to 265 billion toe.
Subtracting the proved reserves at end 2007, i.e. 159 billion toe,
leaves a volume of 106 billion toe which thus represents the
US Geological Survey’s estimate of new discoveries and reserve
growth to be made or realised as the case may be in the coming
years. According to the projected demand about 70 billion toe
must have been produced between 2007 and 2030 which lowers
the in 2030 remaining ultimately recoverable reserves of natural
gas to 195 billion toe, a volume large enough to allow producing
at the rate attained in 2030, i.e. 3.5 billion toe, for another 56
years, thus till 2086. By coincidence as long as the oil reserves
are estimated to last.
is concerned this alternative can be used for powering on-road
vehicles in two ways: either directly in liquid state in substitution
of gasoline or diesel oil or in a gaseous state through the
intermediary of a fuel-cell supplying electricity to an electric
motor. Considering all the technical problems of storage in the
vehicle, transportation and distribution associated with its use
in either state it is most unlikely that the hydrogen option will
ever be pursued. Moreover, as soon as the all-electric vehicle
will be introduced the hydrogen powered car will be history if
it ever was. This prospect in itself should be a strong argument
for not longer pursuing the hydrogen option.
Reference:
Taverne, B.G. Petroleum, Industry and Governments. A Study of the
Involvement of Industry and Governments in the Production and Use
of Petroleum. Second Edition. 2008 Kluwer Law International BV,
The Netherlands ■
The final conclusion regarding the future of petroleum, oil
and natural gas, must be that as far as the demand therefore
is concerned its future is strong and secured for the coming
decades. Current and future reserves will allow production that
can cope with this demand for the coming decades.
Note 1. Size and geographical distribution of the proved reserves
of conventional oil (billion tonnes) and natural gas (trillion
cubic metres) at end 2007
*Canadian proved reserves include an official estimate of 2.8
billion tonnes for oil sands under active development.
Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2008
Note 2. According to the Fourth Assessment Report of Working
Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), published in February 2007, the globally averaged
surface warming (degrees Celsius) and sea level rise (metres) at
the end of the 21st century ranges between 1.1 and 2.9 degrees
and 0.18 and 0.38 metres under a Low Scenario which assumes
atmospheric CO2 concentration to reach 600 p.p.m.v. (0.060
percent by volume) at that time. To put this figure in perspective:
the pre-industrial concentration was 280 p.p.m.v which in the
meantime has increased to 380 p.p.m.v. (2005).
Note 3. Alternative road transport fuels currently used or being
studied are biofuels and hydrogen. Biofuels which are either
bio-ethanol or biodiesel, are produced from corn, wheat, barley,
soybeans, sugar cane (bio-ethanol) or from palmoil (biodiesel).
Their utilisation should not be recommended. In the first place
they are not carbon-neutral which means that the combined
effect of their production (causing deforestation) and use as
fuel in the engine will contribute to the rise of the atmospherical
concentration of CO2. More importantly, their production
causes food prices to rise which is absolutely unacceptable as
long as millions of people are unable to pay these prices and as
a result thereof go hungry or are starving. As far as hydrogen
17
Canada 2008
Foto 1: Kraterpijp in Banff National Park
Zoals ieder jaar wordt vanuit SME-TMS een studiereis
georganiseerd voor de sectie Grondstoffen. Dit jaar was de
bestemming Canada. Negen studenten gingen samen met
Peter Berkhout en Hans de Ruiter, de twee initiatiefnemers
en drijfveren van deze excursie, op vrijdag 4 juli het vliegtuig
in. Eenmaal in Vancouver ontmoetten wij ons contact daar,
Jill Baldwin. Zij is werkneemster bij de Mining Association
of British Colombia (MABC) en heeft een gedeelte van onze
reis georganiseerd. Later tijdens de reis zouden we nog meer
mensen van deze organisatie ontmoeten. Met een jetlag van tien
uur duiken we in de namiddag de eerste kroeg binnen.
Na een dag ronddwalen in de wereldstad Vancouver, die veel
te vroeg begon met een kater, ging de reis van start. In onze
gehuurde van en SUV gingen we op weg naar Vancouver Island.
Helaas geen walvissen gezien op de boottocht daar naar toe, wat
volgens een heleboel Canadezen wel goed mogelijk was. Het zou
een trip van ‘uitersten’ worden. Zo hebben we veel verschillende
typen mijnen gezien, veelal in een ander stadium van de mine
life. De eerste was een groeve, Orca Quarry. Zij produceren
zand en gravel wat gebruikt wordt in de cementindustrie. Lokaal
waren ze er heel trots op dat de helft van de medewerkers
‘natives’ waren. De dag erop hebben we Quinsam Coal, een
ondergrondse room and pillar operatie, bezocht. Hier konden
we echt met onze neus bovenop een roadheading operatie
staan.
Via het Brittannia Mine Museum en een oude basaltmijn die
omgetoverd was tot een park kwamen we in Kamloops terecht.
De volgende ochtend was Highland Valley Copper aan de beurt.
Eén van de grootste koper producenten ter wereld. Dit was
voor sommige mensen de eerste keer dat ze oog in oog stonden
met een immens grote pit. Dit werd dan ook ondersteund door
veel oeh’s en aah’s. Uiteindelijk reden we ook de pit in waar we
het loading-hauling proces nader hebben bekeken en wat uitleg
kregen over drilling & blasting.
Roca MAX Molybdenum project was de volgende mijn die weer
totaal anders was dan de voorgaande mijnen. Zij waren net in de
productiefase beland. Via een adit reden we met een treintje een
stope en pillar operatie binnen. Deze hele mijn is opgezet door
één persoon die jaren geleden als prospector dit stukje land had
opgekocht. Na alweer een hele drukke week was het wel tijd
voor wat ontspanning. Daarom konden we een middagje lekker
raften en de dag erop uitblazen in Banff National Park (foto
1).
Je zou denken, wat voor andere typen mijnen kun je nog meer
bezoeken? Wat dacht je van de Athabasca Oil Sands! Met een
chartervlucht van Shell vlogen we vanuit Calgary hiernaartoe.
Vanuit het vliegtuig hadden we een geniaal overzicht over de
immense open pits die ze daar runnen. Door deze immense
‘kratergaten’ moeten ook immense trucks rijden. Reden genoeg
voor een groepsfoto op een CAT 797B (foto 2).
Via de Elkview Mine, een open pit koolmijn, en het gereclameerde
landschap van de Sullivan mine kwamen we aan bij de smelter van
Teck Cominco in Trail. Voorzien van über-charmant gasmasker
en compleet uitgedost met overall, handschoenen, hardhat
etc. mochten we tussen een stelsel buizen doorkruipen bij een
graadje of 50. Zeer indrukwekkend en petje af voor de mensen
die daar dag in dag uit moeten werken. We hebben overnacht
in Osoyoos wat aan de noordgrens ligt van een woestijngebied
wat zich verder uitstrekt in de VS, zeer mooi plaatsje en nog
beter weer. Alle company visits zaten er nu op. Nadat we zeven
uitgebreide safety-briefings achter de rug hadden, safety first,
hadden we genoeg Canadese mijnen gezien en vlogen we terug
naar Nederland.
Het man-van-de-dag-shirt
Geïnitieerd door dhr. Van Oeveren en te dragen door
de persoon die verantwoordelijk is voor het verslag en
het contact met het bedrijf van de desbetreffende dag.
Elke avond werd in een natte omgeving met een geheim
ritueel het shirt overgedragen aan een nieuw persoon.
Het was een geweldige ervaring om met een kleine groep
mensen bijna drie weken door de Rocky Mountains te reizen.
Het gevoel hebben dat je op vakantie bent en ondertussen meer
leren dan in een kwartaal aan colleges bij elkaar. Mijn dank gaat
uit naar de organisatoren en laten we hopen dat deze excursies
nog lang blijven voortbestaan, zodat heel wat mensen elk jaar
weer een ervaring rijker zijn. ■
Glück Auf
Ko Korenromp
Foto 2: Groepsfoto op een Caterpillar 797B
19
Dear Miners, hold on to your hackles! It’s time
for something a Miner loves more than anything
on this planet; big, destructive machines! To
feed your appetite every new issue introduces
a new big, bad and powerful machine, created
to get rid of rock and debris in order to extract
anything that can be sold! Take down the busty
girls from your walls, because here is another
installment of the only kind of pin-up that matters!
The Discoverer deep
seas Drillship
The fitfh generation of deepwater oil drilling
ships
Specs:
• Length
255 m
Just eleven meters short of R.M.S, Titanics
length
• Width
38 m
Enough for three tennis courts neatly spaced
apart, placed in length
• Maximum Drill Depth
10,668 m
• Maximum Water Depth
3,048 m
• Station Keeping
Dynamic
That’s right, no anchors, even when drilling
rock over a three kilometer water column this
ship is dynamically positioned with GPS equipment
• Main Power
37400 kW
6 main generators; 4 x 7000 kW, 2 x 4700kW,
Which makes it 14 times stronger than a 797B
dumptruck, and 2,8 million times stronger than
the tap at “Het Noorden”
• Thrusters
6
Six 7000hp Aquamasters.
So it will be stirred, not shaken
• Weight:
100000 t
Around 300000 Emperor penguin, 1.8 million
Gentoo penguin (“ezelspinguïn”) or 2.5 million
Chinstrap penguin (“stormbandpinguïn”)
• Mud Reserves
Liquid
Bulk
2,447 cu m
453 cu m
• Accomodation
200
One and two-person cabins, no problem to invite friends over for the night if you own this ship
• Helidecks
1
This one deck, however, is large enough to
land a Sikorsky S-61 or a Chinook 234
Praktikum Steinsalzbergwerk
Ieder jaar wordt in de zomer voor iedere enthousiaste
mijnbouwer de mogelijkheid geboden om een stage te doen bij
een mijnbouwbedrijf. Vorig jaar hebben wij, Mathijs Hooisma en
Richard Hontelez, al een stage afgerond bij de steenkolenmijnen
van DSK. Dit was ons zo goed bevallen, dat we deze zomer
wel weer enige weken ondergronds zouden willen vertoeven.
Hans de Ruiter bood ons de mogelijkheid om aan de slag te
gaan bij Kali und Saltz. Enige weken na het opsturen van onze
sollicitatiebrieven kregen we bericht terug dat we zeer welkom
zouden zijn bij European Salt Company, ESCO, te Rheinberg.
ESCO is een onderdeel van het concern K+S, wat gericht is op
de winning van steenzout.
De steenzoutmijn waar wij aan de slag konden gaan heet
Bergwerk Borth en ligt vlak bij Wesel (van de bekende
burgermeester). In 1906 is men vlak naast de Rijn begonnen
met het graven van twee schachten. Deze lagen twee kilometer
uit elkaar en zouden twee verschillende soorten mijnen gaan
herbergen. De originele bedoeling was dat in de ene mijn zout
gewonnen zou gaan worden en in de andere mijn steenkool, als
energiebron voor de zoutmijn. Al vroeg bleek dat het afgraven
van de schachten niet zo gemakkelijk zou zijn als men dacht.
De schacht die het dichtst bij de Rijn ligt, zou door een zeer
waterrijke Buntzandsteen laag heen moeten. De waterinstroming
was echter zo groot dat het project na enige tijd werd gestopt
en de schacht werd afgesloten. Gelukkig werd er toevallig in
de locatie twee kilometer verderop ook een steenzoutlaag
gevonden. Omdat deze locatie een stuk verwijderd is van de
Rijn, had men hier minder problemen met waterinstroming. Pas
in het jaar 1924 kwam uiteindelijk het eerste zout naar boven.
In tegenstelling tot de steenkoolmijnen zijn de zoutmijnen veel
minder arbeidsintensief. Dit komt doordat er veel machinaal
gedaan kan worden. Van de 300 mensen die er werken, werken
er ongeveer 150 ondergronds voor een productie van twee
miljoen ton zout per jaar.
Na een eerste korte nacht van ongeveer vier uur slaap, stapten
we in de auto voor onze eerste werkdag. Eindelijk konden we
aan de slag. Dit hadden we geweten ook. Na het gebruikelijke
veiligheidsverhaal ving onze eerste seilfahrt aan. Ondergronds
werden we opgehaald door een kleine krachtpatser, rijdend in
een Mercedes. Het werd ons al snel duidelijk hoe deze man zo
22
gespierd kon zijn. Hij was namelijk de grote beunhaas van de
mijn en kreeg alle zware klusjes voor zijn kiezen. En deze man
mochten wij gelukkig een hele week helpen! Zijn dagelijkse
bezigheid bestaat uit het boren en vastdraaien van ankers in het
warmste gedeelte van de mijn. Dit alles bij een temperatuur van
43 graden Celsius kostte ons de nodige zweetdruppels en natte
T-shirts. Doordat dit werk nogal zwaar was, werd er genoeg tijd
besteed aan het nemen van een ruime pauze, die vaak gepaard
ging met een dutje. “Wann der Steiger kommt mit sein helles
licht bei der Nacht,” moesten we zo snel mogelijk zorgen dat
deze mensen dachten dat we hard aan het werk waren. Na een
gezellig babbeltje met ons en een heel zuur gesprek met de
sterke man vertrok de steiger weer in zijn Landrover.
De week die hierop volgde werden we ondergebracht bij de drie
feestbeesten van de mijn. Deze mannen slijten hun dag met het
graven van gangen in het steenzout op een diepte van duizend
meter. Dit werd gedaan met een grote tunnelboormachine,
die ongeveer dertig meter per dag aan gangen graaft. Bij
het graven van een gang komt meer kijken dan het graven
alleen. Zo moeten er ook doeken opgehangen worden zodat
de ventilatie constant blijft en moet er in stroomtoevoer en
Foto 1: Mijngang
zoutafvoer voorzien worden. Ergens midden in de week ging
er aan het begin van de gang iets kapot aan de ventilator. Om
deze te repareren moest de zoutafvoerende lopende band opzij
getrokken worden. Doordat de Duitsers zelfs in het Duits niet
goed met elkaar kunnen communiceren, waren ze vergeten
om deze band weer los te maken. Op het moment dat de band
weer in gebruik werd genomen, zat deze nog steeds vast en
trok zo 300 meter bandconstructie mee. Dit leverde een grote
chaos van bandconstructies op die meters verderop boven op
elkaar geduwd werden. Volgens de steiger richtige Scheisse. Na
een hele dag gewerkt hebben om deze bende op te ruimen,
beloonde de feestbeesten elkaar de volgende dag met een
lekkere versnapering.
Doordat we zo hard werkten en zweetten, waren schone
kleren af en toe wel handig. Omdat de mijn geen fatsoenlijke
wasservice had, namen we onze kleren mee naar ons logeeradres
en deden daar een paar handwasjes. De Duitse boer en boerin
waren ook niet zo goed in communiceren en wisten ons op
donderdagavond te melden dat we voor de komende maandag
een nieuw adres moesten gaan zoeken, omdat de moeder van
de boer in ons verblijf wilde komen logeren. Toen de boer de
volgende dag ons handwasje zag liggen en zag dat we onze
afwas van vijf uur ’s ochtends nog niet gedaan hadden, was het
feest compleet en moesten we van hem zo snel als mogelijk
weg Gelukkig zaten er in de buurt nog een stel andere stoere
mijnbouwers die nog wel twee bedden over hadden voor een
weekje. Zij vertoefden op een industriegebied in Marl bij de
gezellige Willy van Willy’s Freizeit. In dit weekje hebben we via
het plaatselijke VVV-kantoor een nieuw logeeradres voor de
laatste twee weken gevonden.
Na twee weken waren we al zo ingeburgerd, dat de mijnwerkers
ons zelfs al bijnamen begonnen te geven. Onze namen werden
omgedoopt tot “Der Lange” en “Der Ritchie.” Doordat Der
Ritchie net iets beter bij de Duitse mijnwerkers past qua figuur
en doen, kreeg hij de meest relaxte klusjes en mocht Der Lange
alle rotklusjes opknappen. Na al deze klusjes gedaan te hebben,
Foto 3: De Mijn Vanuit de Lucht
werd het tijd voor het relaxtere werk. We mochten toeristje gaan
spelen bij alle ondergrondse afdelingen van de mijn. Iedere dag
met een andere afdeling door de mijn cruisen.
De vijfde en laatste week van ons verblijf werden we
bovengronds ingedeeld. Het was na een dag al te merken dat de
verstandige mensen niet bovengronds te vinden zijn. Een van
de mensen met wie we bovengronds mochten werken was hier
een goed voorbeeld van. Hij was zo lelijk als de nacht, hij had
bijvoorbeeld maar drie boventanden en zijn grote hobby was
het wekelijks bezoeken van vrouwen van lichte zede. Gelukkig
is het werk van de mensen bovengronds ook nog wel nuttig,
want de installatie die daar staat kan zout tot 99,99 procent
zuiver maken voor farmaceutische doeleinden.
Deze stage is ons zeer goed bevallen en heeft ons weer een
andere kijk gegeven op mijnbouw. Het werk bij de zoutmijn is
totaal niet te vergelijken met het werk bij een steenkoolmijn.
Dit komt doordat de zoutmijn een commercieel bedrijf is, in
tegenstelling tot de mijnen van DSK die gesubsidieerd worden
door de overheid. Bij de zoutmijnen werken mensen veel harder
en zijn de controles van de steigers veel strenger, dit alles omdat
het bedrijf simpelweg geld moet verdienen. Al met al is dit zeker
een goede aanrader om meegemaakt te hebben! ■
Mit freunlichem Glückauf!
Richard & Mathijs
Foto 2: Shovel
23
MV Guilds Elephanten
Have you ever wondered what makes the Mijnbouwkundige Vereeniging
stand out from other study associations? Well, obviously it’s the manner
in which Mining students manifest themselves, our beautiful sociëteit-café
‘het Noorden’ and the freshmen’s inauguration, but other study associations may (falsely) claim to equal that. However, there is at least one truly
and undebatably unique feature of the MV which puts it at the same
level as the student fraternities: the Guilds.
This new column will facilitate statements of the different guilds in the
Mijnbouwkundige Vereeniging on applicable subjects. It will not give
detailed descriptions of each guilds members and activities, as this is
The editorial staff of the Natural Resource contacted me a
while ago and wanted to know the opinion of ‘die Elephanten’, the cigar guild of the Mijnbouwkundige Vereeniging
on the new state regulation considering smoking in drinking
establishments. As the President of ‘die Elephanten’ I will be
happy to elaborate on that.
Photo 1: president of ‘die Elephanten’ Ted Brueren
For people who don’t know about ‘die Elephanten’ I will give
a brief explanation. We are a group of gentlemen, students
and alumni, who love to smoke cigars in a quiet surrounding
or of course on a Noordenevening. We try to get together
once a month to start of the Noordenevening with some
good sigars and a nice dinner. Whenever we don’t have a meeting our Cigar box is filled up with the finest ‘Olifant’ cigars
and members are always welcome to take a cigar and have a
smoke.
As you all know since June 2008 smoking is prohibited in all
bars and restaurants, unfortunately this is also the case for our
beautiful sociëteit-café ‘het Noorden’. This means we are officially not allowed to smoke inside the bar during the evening
which gives us a few other options, keeping in mind that
the best way to enjoy as smoke is when one cannot see his
neighbour anymore! . One of them is to go outside and have
a smoke there, but as one of the many traditions of our bar
states we are not allowed to go outside after 22.00 hrs. This
gives us only one hour of pleasure time since the evening only
starts at 21.00 hrs. and the smoke dissipates rather fast. This
24
something for (aspirant) members to find out for themselves. However, it
will give you some insight in the sometimes mysterious and evasive world
of the MV’s guilds.
An obvious choice to kick off this new column is ‘die Elephanten’ guild,
otherwise known as the Cigar guild, as its existence was recently under serious threat. When the Dutch government imposed a ban on smoking in
all public buildings, including drinking establishments, ‘die Elephanten’
were almost exiled from their prime rendezvous ‘het Noorden’. President
of ‘die Elephanten’, Ted Brueren, will explain the agreements made by
the Cigar guild in reaction to the smoking prohibition:
was the reason for ‘die Elephanten’ to rely on our deep rooted
connections within the MV. Everybody knows how much the
average Beheerder loves Cigars! So ‘die Elephanten’ and the
Beheerder came up with an ingenious plan!
All members of ‘die Elephanten’ and only the members of
‘die Elephanten’ are allowed to go down in the highly respected mine below sociëteit-café ‘het Noorden’ and enjoy a nice
cigar. However this is only possible for smoking cigars, so no
cigarettes are allowed! Lastly, the following two niceties are
involved in this plan: the first is that it allows for the complete
enjoyment of the smoking experience by fumigating one’s
neighbour until he is invisible and secondly it gives a wonderful opportunity to blow smoke up your neigbours ass during
the ever so popular conversational challenges for which our
mine is famous.
So next time when you are visiting ‘het Noorden’ and you see
smoke rising from the abysses below and some gentlemen
going behind the bar and down to the basement don’t call
the fire department but give them a wink and hand over some
matches, and if you are a cigar lover like us you might be able
to get a smoke out of it! ■
Glück Auf!
Ted Brueren
President of ‘die Elephanten’
Inside Natural
Miners
in the Movies
Resource
Welcome back to a new year of Miners in the Movies! Last
year this column tried to decide whether movies would be
better if they had more Miners in them. And even though
that question has been answered very clearly last year (I’m
expecting Mining movies to knock the superhero movies
from their top position in the summer of 2009), we were
just having too much fun to cancel this column. To kick
off the new season we had to find an iconic figure. It is
always hard to choose which movie to “Minefy”, as our
younger students don’t know their Butch Cassidys from
their Sundance Kids, while some of our alumni might think
The Matrix is about linear algebra. But this time we were
looking for the kind of character that was so iconic that
it transcended the movie he or she came from. There are
certain movie icons whom everyone knows and recognizes
even if they have never seen the movies they came from.
I am talking about the likes of Darth Vader, King Kong
or Rambo. Ask anyone and they will know who you’re
talking about. And for this installment we have found such
a character: the infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecter from The
Silence of the Lambs, one of the best thrillers ever made.
Karl Heinz Wolf as Dr. Hannibal -the Cannibal- Lecter in
the silence of the lambs
a major motion picture
26
VS.
This scene:
The scene displayed here is crucial for the portrayal of Dr.
Hannibal Lecter. While clearly dangerous he somehow charms
the audience into liking him. But here he reminds viewers as
to why he is so feared, as he attacks and kills his guards in a
most gruesome way, with nothing more than a bored look on
his face.
The Silence of the Lambs
A psychopath known only as Buffalo Bill is
kidnapping and murdering Mining Engineers
across the Midwest. As a trademark he surgically
removes patches of skin from his victims and
leaves a lump of coal in their throats. Later in
the movie we learn that this insane individual
has a compulsive need to become a Miner.
Now of course anyone in his or her right mind
wants to be a Miner, but as you all know so
well, you cannot just change into a Miner; you
are born a Miner. And this madman certainly
isn’t one, just look at the laughingly shallow
pit he has constructed to hold his victims, and
the almost embarrassing use of night-visiongoggles at the end of the movie. No real Miner
would ever need enhanced vision in the dark.
But this murdering wannabe uses the skin he
cuts off the dead Miners to sew a pungel for
himself, thinking that wearing this somewhat
unconventional garment will change him into
a real Miner. Personally, I suspect him to be
a civil engineer, but the movie only hints at
this.
To catch this madman the FBI sends Clarice Starling, a young
intelligent trainee, to the Baltimore state hospital for the
criminally insane to try and get the help of their most feared
inmate, Dr. Hannibal –the cannibal- Lecter, a Mining Engineer.
This man shows what you get when a Miner goes insane;
sophisticated, brilliant and charming, but oh so dangerous. This
man killed and consequently ate numerous business managers
during his murderous career. And now he might be the only one
who can help the FBI to find Buffalo Bill, but his help comes
at a price….. ■
After Dr. Lector has agreed to cooperate with the police to
catch the killer, he is transferred to a lighter prison. During
his transfer to this new prison someone is stupid enough to
leave a häckel lying around, which our Hannibal, displaying an
ability only true Miners have, somehow hides under his tight
white t-shirt. When the guards in his new prison bring him his
food, they first handcuff him to the iron bars for their safety.
But Hannibal picks the lock with his hidden häckel, and then
goes to town with it on his guards, after which he escapes in
an ingenious fashion from his prison. Lesson learned? Never,
never ever, leave a häckel near a psychotic Mining Engineer.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter is played by Karl Heinz Wolf, petrophysicist
and slave to a severe rock-eating addiction which he himself
denies as simply “determining the porosity of the rock”.
Feldspars apparently go very well with a nice Chianti.
Text and photos: Nanne Boogaerdt
Photo enhancement: Sanne van der Plas
27
Studeren aan Queen’s University
een lijst van hardcore mijnbouwvakken gekozen. Uiteindelijk
stonden de volgende vakken op mijn lijst: Underground mining,
Open pit mining, Drilling and blasting, Mine ventilation,
Stability analysis in underground design, Economics for mining
and mineral engineers, Reliability, maintenance and risk analysis,
Underground design project, Advanced explosives technology,
Mine mechanisation and automation.
door Reyer Velema
Volgens het weerbericht is er sneeuw in het vooruitzicht. Canada is op
dit moment op haar mooist, de kleuren van de bomen staan in vuur en
vlam, terwijl een bleek zonnetje de droge najaarslucht nog aangenaam doet
aanvoelen. Ik schrijf dit artikel terwijl ik stage loop in de Creighton mijn
in Sudbury, Ontario. Deze stage is een direct gevolg van een interview
dat ik met het Canadese bedrijf Vale Inco had in de faculteit Mining
Engineering van Queen’s University in Kingston, nu een jaar geleden.
Mijn interesse in Canada begon tijdens een gastcollege van
Charles Pelley voor het vak ‘Mining Engineering II’ dat in Delft
gegeven werd. Tijdens zijn colleges liet Pelley vele slides zien
van Canadeese mijnen en het geweldige landschap. Na enige
discussie bleek dat Charles verbonden was met Queen’s Mining
in Kingston en dat dit een hoogstaande faculteit was. Toen er
bleek dat voor mijn EMC (European Mining Course) jaar alleen
uit Delft al 11 aanmeldingen waren en Hans de Ruiter vroeg of
er geen studenen waren met interesse in andere internationale
programma’s, was de beslissing snel gemaakt: Ik ging naar
Queens’s University in Kingston!
Toen de beslissing eenmaal gemaakt was om twee semesters in
Canada te gaan studeren, konden de voorbereidingen beginnen.
Maarten van Koppen was mij voorgegaan en dankzij zijn tips
werden de studievisa en de aanmelding vanuit Nederland soepel
geregeld. Terwijl in Europa de EMC van start ging, stapte ik in
Amsterdam op het vliegtuig naar Kingston, Ontario.
Na een goede vlucht was de aankomst in Kingston een
aangename verassing. De verhouding man/vrouw onder de
studenten is er een stuk gezonder dan in Delft. De nazomer was
in volle gang en terwijl in Nederland het weer al weer minder
werd, kon ik nog lekker een maand van zomerse temperaturen
genieten. Kingston is een stad aan Lake Ontario en hier werd
dan ook veel gesurft en gezeild.
Behalve genieten van het mooie weer mocht er natuurlijk ook
gestudeerd worden. Tijdens de aanmelding voor Queen’s had
ik een voorlopig vakkenpakket gekozen. Bij aankomst bleek
echter dat ik nog de keuze had om het een en ander te wijzigen
en er voor kon zorgen dat alle vakken in een rooster pasten.
Uiteindelijk heb ik er voor gekozen om 6 vakken te volgen
tijdens het eerste semester en 4 vakken tijdens het tweede
semester. Omdat ik zelf mijn vakken mocht uitzoeken heb ik
28
Het studeren aan Queen’s University was wel wat anders dan
ik gewend was in Delft. Het hele systeem is iets schoolser
ingesteld. Je volgt natuurlijk gewoon je colleges maar naast
de colleges wordt er veel huiswerk opgegeven dat beoordeeld
wordt. Uiteindelijk maakt dit samen met een tussentijdse toets
10 tot 50% van je eindcijfer uit. Voor mij werkte deze strategie
wel want ik werd gedwongen om constant mijn huiswerk te
maken. Het grote nadeel was dat je vanaf week 2 tot de laatste
week van het semester in december behoorlijk druk bent en
weinig tijd over houdt voor andere zaken.
Toch weet de creatieve student altijd wel een avondje te vinden
om een mooi feest te organiseren en de Canadezen waren
hier erg goed in. Tijdens mijn eerste week in Kingston werd
ik bekend gemaakt met het begrip ‘kegger’. Een ‘kegger’ is
een gezellig samenkomen van studenten in een studentenhuis
van een vrijwilliger die zijn of haar huiskamer ter beschikking
aanbiedt. Tijdens deze feesten wordt er een (paar) fust(en) bier
in de kamer gezet en de rest kwam vanzelf. Hoewel het bij de
Canadese wet verboden is, werd er door de mijnbouwers zo’n
4 keer per semester een ‘kegger’ georganiseerd. Voor mij waren
deze feesten naast een welkome ontspanning ook een goede
plek om te integreren met studenten die niet bij me in college
zaten.
Uiteindelijk heb ik de 8 maanden die ik aan Queen’s University
in Kingston heb doorgebracht als zeer positief ervaren. Ik heb
zelf het gevoel dat ik nooit eerder zo productief en gemotiveerd
gestudeerd heb. Dit was niet omdat ik opeens zoveel slimmer
geworden ben, maar omdat de vakken die ik volgde uitdagend
en 100% op de mijnbouw gericht waren. Ik heb op alle vakken
bovengemiddeld gepresteerd en ik denk dat dit aantoont dat de
Delftsche mijnbouwer zich goed kan meten met studenten uit
een land met actieve mijnbouw.
Toen ik vertrok uit Delft begon ik eigenlijk aan een persoonlijk
experiment: Ik wilde wel eens zien hoe het was om mezelf in een
andere omgeving te plaatsen en vanaf ‘square one’ te beginnen.
Nu werk ik in een nikkel/koper mijn met de diepste schacht
op het noordelijk halfrond (7000 feet (red; 2134 m)) en woon
ik in Copper Cliff praktisch naast een smelter met de hoogste
schoorsteen op het noordelijk halfrond (de op één na hoogste
ter wereld). Over anderhalve week vertrek ik naar Nederland en
kan ik terugkijken op een mooie tijd en een fantastisch avontuur
dat ik iedereen van harte kan aanraden. ■
MSc Thesis Project
Beatrix Concession
This article gives an insight of the work of the MSc thesis project of Dirk
Brinkgreve (Resource Engineering Department). The project was carried
out under the authority of DSM in the period from October 2007 until
July 2008. The ultimate report is presented as a confidential feasibility
study, therefore the financial appraisal and conclusions are kept out of
this article.
Introduction
The Beatrix Project re-started in 2006 and can be seen as a
research-collaboration between DSM (DSM Energie) and two
mining orientated universities: Delft University of Technology
and RWTH Aachen. The main objective for DSM in this project
is to assess whether the Beatrix concession, including existing
infrastructure (two shafts), is a liability or an asset. In other
words: try to find out possibilities of re-opening the Beatrix coal
mine and produce thermal/steam coal (for power generation)
or PCI Coal (coking coal for steel making). My study titled:
”Alternative Design Options and Field Selection” was a followup study of three previous studies on the Beatrix Concession
(Figure 1). These three previous studies comprised a complete
mine design based on German design methodologies and a
complete surface design. The economic evaluations in these
studies indicated a fairly high cost. On the belief that a different
mining method would result in a lower Beatrix Coal Cost Price,
the foundation of my project was formed.
Historical background of the Beatrix Mine
In 1955 the Dutch State Mines started development of the
Beatrix coal mine in the Peel region of central Limburg by
sinking two shafts into the Carboniferous. The discovery of
natural gas in the Netherlands, the low world-energy prices and
the rising costs of coal exploration and exploitation, were the
start of the downturn of coal mining in the Netherlands. The
construction of the Beatrix Mine was never completed and
further shaft sinking was suspended in 1962. Both shafts, each
already over 700 meters deep and penetrating approximately
300 meters of coal bearing Carboniferous strata, have been
preserved by then and are flooded with water [Jong, de, 2004].
Figure 2: Free view of the geological model created in Surpac in relation to borehole locations and main topographical
elements (each colour represents a different coal seam)
Geological Model
The first stage of the project was the creation of a geological
model of the Beatrix deposit. New borehole data became
available and over 30 different borehole sets, derived from
different prospecting campaigns within the Peel region, were
digitized. Keeping in mind conventional coal mining methods,
only coal occurrences with a thickness of 50cm or more were
considered. Besides coal thickness (≥50cm), also important coal
quality parameters like Volatile Matter (VM) and ash contents
were incorporated into the database. The final database was
transformed into a geological model by using Gemcom Surpac
(mine design software). In the end 13 major coal seams of
Westphalian A/B age were identified. The coal deposit shows
a dip of 5-10° in SW direction. The less deep deposited coal
seam, “Seam 41/40”, can be found at a depth of 600m below
ground level and contains considerable parts of coal having a
thickness of about 1.5m. The deepest modelled seam, “Seam
17”, has an average thickness of 0.7m and is deposited about
500m below the first seam (Seam 41/40). The first six deposited
seams (Figure 2) represent a coal-in-place volume of about 300
million m3. Considering an annual consumption of 14 million
tons [Heuvel, van den, S., 2007] this amount corresponds with
about 30 years of Dutch coal consumption. The coalification
degree in the Peel region increases from North to South. By
considering only the VM content, one could conclude that
the coal within the Beatrix Concession tends to be of Steam
Coal nature (VM 8-18 wt%). The coal within the Beatrix
Concession is therefore classified as power plant coal. Outside
the concession, towards the North, the VM content increases
and the coal tends to have Coking Coal quality properties (VM
18-30 wt%). Coking Coal has a much higher value compared to
Steam Coal.
Figure 1: Surface infrastructure in proximity
of the Beatrix conxession
30
Beatrix Mining Method
Nowadays throughout the world, two large scale Underground
(U/G) coal mining methods are being applied: Longwall
Mining and Room and Pillar Mining. In 95% of all existing
U/G coal mines one of these methods is in use. Mainly because
of the depth of the Beatrix coal deposit it could be justified
that Longwall Mining is the most appropriate mining method
to extract that coal. Comparison of geological conditions,
productivity rates, economical motives and safety data of coal
mines throughout the world, proved that British coal mines (UK
Coal) can be the most beneficial for benchmark purposes for
the design of the Beatrix Mine. The most conspicuous design
characteristic of British coal mines is the application of pillars
between extraction panels. Unfortunately significant amounts
of coal are left behind when forming these protective pillars.
In the end these pillars are essential to obtain a high productive
coal mine. Due to these pillars, entry roadways only have to
be used once. Therefore entry roadways have a relatively short
life time compared to, for instance, entries in German coal
mines. This results in relatively cheap roadway development and
maintenance costs. The development speed of these roadways is
also enhanced by the application of rectangular profiles instead
of arch-shaped roadways. When designing a new Beatrix mine,
retreat mode Longwall Mining based on British methodologies
can be the most favourable method for haulage, ventilation and
safety considerations.
some 6.000 ton per employee per year. The LOM is kept at 21
years; 5 years of pre-production development and 16 years of
full production accounts for a total Clean Coal Product of 32
Mt. This amount has to be extracted from two levels, formed
by 4 different coal seams. The mine lay-out of the first level is
shown in Figure 3. ■
References
BRINKGREVE, D., 2008. DSM Beatrix Concession, Feasibility of
Underground Coal Mining. Study IV: Alternative Design Options and
Field Selection. Thesis (MSc). Delft University of Technology.
– Confidential –
HEUVEL, van den, S. AND JONG, de, J., 2007. Putting Coal
to the Test: Is Coal Fired Generation Clean, Competitive and Secure?
Clingendael international energy programme – briefing papers.
JONG, de, J., 2004. Coal Mining in the Netherlands – The Need
for a Proper Assessment. Geologica Belgica, 7 (3-4), p.231-243.
KIMPE, W.F.M., 1973. The geology of the Carboniferous in the
coal field Beatrix in Central Limburg, the Netherlands and in
adjacent German area. Verhandelingen Kon. Ned. Geol. Mijnbouwk.
Gen. Volume 29, p.19-36.
Beatrix Mine Design
Due to the mining method, the coal extraction boundaries have
been fixed by subsidence sensitive areas in the North (Figure
2: safety zones) and by geological boundaries (faults) in the
other three directions. As discussed before, Beatrix mine design
is benchmarked on existing UK Coal mines. The following
characteristics were determined before detailed mine design
was started:
• One Longwall unit, Retreating Longwall system using
a Plow for extraction
• Multiple Seam Mining, based on a Life-of-Mine
(LOM) of about 20 years
• Highest possible output (reasonable and realistic)
• Roadway development by Continuous Miners
Yearly coal output is constrained by the shaft hoisting capacity
of 900 ton/hr (primary bottleneck). This results in an average
Run-of-Mine (ROM) of 3.4 Mt, which after processing (coal
washing) results in an annual production of 2.0 Mt Clean Steam
Coal. The mine is operating ‘24/7’, having 330 employees (5
crews) on the payroll, resulting in an average productivity of
Figure 3: Figure 2: Beatrix first level (Seam 41/40 &
Seam 32), panel and roadway placements
31
Never a dull moment
Name: Frederik Rijkens
Born: 4 Jan 1958, Groningen
Education: Athenaeum-B, Christelijk
Lyceum Zeist,
TU Delft Mijnbouw
(1976-1983)
MV: Lustrum commissie
en redactie 50e Jaarboek
Unocal;
•Netherlands, engineer,
Terminal; Manager
•Thailand, Bangkok,
Sr. Reservoir Engineer
Elf;
•Petroland, The Hague,
Petroleum Architect
•Paris, Petroleum Architect
•Petroleum Nigeria,
Manager Obite Gas Project
Elf/Total; •USA, Houston,
Manager Canyon
Express Project
Total;
•Paris
Affaires Nouvelles (Bus.Devt),
•Nigeria, General Manager
Usan FPSO Development
(1983-1990)
(1990-1993)
(1993-1995)
(1995-1996)
(1996-1999)
(1999-2003)
(2003-2005)
(2005-2006)
As a 17 year old schoolboy, I was trying to figure-out what
university and subject to choose. I wanted an education towards
a job that involved working with people and technology, with
some adventure, outdoors activities and seeing the world. So I
became a Mijnbouwer.
Delft
The MV and “student associations” offered lots of opportunities
for friendship, fun and personal development, which is what I
needed. The first year mathematics classes however were difficult.
I failed a key exam two or three times so I visited the Dean at
Mijnbouw, who told me that some students were simply not
cut-out to become an engineer. This made me angry and more
determined, which is of course what he intended. In April of
the second year I finally scored this first-year Math exam. After
that, it was easier to find a good balance between studying and
other activities. With my friends in the editorial team for the
50th MV yearbook we managed to collect about 80,000 guilders
from sponsors and advertisers. That was an amazing amount of
money at the time and allowed us to present a great yearbook.
The following year I joined the MV Lustrum Committee,
another enjoyable experience. Unfortunately, several of the
friends from those days have already passed away.
Career
One evening in Het Noorden in 1982 two guys from Unocal
were paying for beers and looking for staff. Unocal was a new
operator in The Netherlands, starting-up the Helm, Helder
and Hoorn fields. I accepted a summer job, which involved
using an Olivetti keyboard with dial-up connection to Los
Angeles mainframe computer to run economics for the pipeline
32
tariff negotiations. This was before we had PC’s. Unocal
Netherlands was a young, dynamic and fun company to work
for, so I accepted a job to start upon my graduation in 1983.
Those were wild years, the oilprice was $35/Bbl and the dollar
was more nearly 3.50 guilders, an exchange rate of Euro 1,50
per $ instead of the inverse as we see today. Of course a few
years later the oilprice would collapse to below $10/Bbl in order
to recover and reach about $150/Bbl in 2008.
In the early 1980’s I witnessed the abandonment by NAM of
the Wassenaar oilfield. Having worked as a student for NAM
on other fields in the West Netherlands, I thought that a lot of
opportunities could still exist in the field. I regretted not being
in a position to take-over the field and extract more oil. Years
later, that would change.
Thailand
In 1990, we were moved to Unocal Thailand. In the meantime,
in 1986, I had gotten married to Ineke and our two boys were
born. They were 3 years old and two months respectively when
we moved to Thailand, our first expatriation and an adventure.
We found a nice old villa to live in, just off Sukhumvit Road.
I took diving lessons with a friend, which resulted in many
diving trips with friends and often with the families. There
was an active SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) section
in Thailand, for which I served as Chairman, as I did for the
Dutch association (Nederlandse Vereniging).
With Unocal the young engineers were “thrown in the pool
from the deep end”, and if you managed to swim you were
allowed to take on more responsibilities and many different
assignments to get a broad experience. However, the company
was shrinking at the time and I did not see many opportunities.
After deliberation with the CEO (=my wife Ineke) we decided
to look for another opportunity. A month after our twin girls
were born in Thailand, in November of 1992, I quit Unocal to
join Elf in The Netherlands as Petroleum Architect. We had
arrived in Thailand as a young family with almost no furniture
and without any money. When we left three years later, we had
expanded the family to four children, had rosewood furniture
built to order and had been able to save a bit of money.
Photo 1: Our Half of the House in Nigeria
Back in The Hague, The Netherlands
Adjusting to life back home was more difficult than we thought.
Of course we went back to a non-expat lower standard of
living, and were not able to move back into our house at the
Frankenslag which was rented out. With Elf I worked as
Petroleum Architect, responsible for the K6 compression and
the New Operating Mode project to run the offshore platforms
from an onshore control room. I needed to learn French but
got confused and found myself speaking Thai when I tried to
speak French. I discovered that the official French language
is not what the French speak. For a car the word used is not a
“Voiture”, but a “Bagnolle”. A thing is called a “Schmielblick”
or “Truc”. But of course you learn it after sufficient exposure.
We had moved to a different place every time we had babies,
but with four kids the family was big enough. So in 1995 we
thought we would not move for a while and we bought a 34 ft
sailing yacht. This of course triggered another move.
Paris
In November of 1995 I moved to Paris, again as Petroleum
Architect for the preparation of the Amenam offshore oil
development in Nigeria. I arrived in Paris on the eve of “La
Grande Greve”, a major strike that paralyzed transportation
and life in Paris for about a month. I managed to find a flight
back to Holland to pick-up my old BMW motorcycle, which I
drove back to Paris through the snow, but at least I had wheels
again. It was admirable how the French colleagues coped with
the strikes and managed to get to the office regardless.
The family stayed in The Hague until the end of the school
term, so until that time I travelled back three weekends a month,
Ineke and the kids came to Paris one weekend a month.
Nigeria
End 1996, I was given the task of manager for the Nigerian
Obite Gas Project, for the development of a gas field in
between a number of villages, construction of a gas processing
plant and revamp of the old oil facilities at Obagi. We moved
to Nigeria in 1997, to the Elf compound in Port Harcourt. For
the children the village was like Center Parks with a pool, soccer
field, climbing wall, judo club, air conditioned sports centre and
cinema. The French school in the village however was difficult;
our children were the only non-native French speakers.
Conditions in Nigeria can be very difficult, even more for the
Nigerians than for expatriates.
It seems that the more difficult the conditions, the better
friendships develop. We have good memories of the evenings
and weekends spent with friends. The Nigerians seem to survive
through their resourcefulness and great sense of humour.
The Obite project site had community issues to deal with, as well
as security issues. The local communities consider themselves
the rich owners of the oilfields, however the oil revenues go
to the central Government and not very little returns to the
communities. We have built schools, roads and water supply
systems and finally also electric power for the villages. Of
course problems remained, such as blockages by communities,
Djudju (voodoo) evoked on the site so that nobody dared
Photo 2 and 3: At the Palace of King Eze Egi in Nigeria
entering, labour issues and looting. The project was successful,
but I never mastered the art of Djudju.
USA
In 1999 we moved to Houston. Elf had discovered a “small”
gas field in 2200 m of waterdepth in the Gulf of Mexico. BP
and Marathon each had also made a small discovery nearby.
My job was to negotiate a joint development with BP and
Marathon, and to become operator. This was successful and I
found myself in the position of Project Manager for the Canyon
Express project, the deepest subsea development at the time.
Professionally and for the family, those were some of the best
years for us.
Back to Paris
I had enjoyed the negotiations for Canyon Express and wanted
more of it, so I requested my next assignment in business
development. The VP in charge accepted so in January of 2003
I moved back to Paris. The family stayed in Houston till the
end of school term, which gave me time to find a lovely old
farmhouse in a village West of Paris. The children attended
their best school ever: the American School of Paris in ►
33
Photo 4: Kids in the Pool in Our House in Houston.
Photo 5 (right): Daughter Stephanie Playing Baseball.
Saint Cloud.
In the meantime our boat, which served as summer residence,
had become too small for our four growing children and we
found an old 50 footer to replace it.
The next two years saw many visits to Iran, Oman, Australia
and Japan, evaluation of opportunities and negotiations, but no
deals signed. Then, finally, in the third year we signed three
deals. My favourite was Total’s entry in the 12 TCF and 600
MMBbls Ichthys discovery on the Australian NW Shelf, owned
by Inpex of Japan. This signalled Total’s return to Australia.
Early 2005, Total offered me the position of General Manager
for the $5Billion Usan FPSO project offshore Nigeria. This
was an exciting project, one of the largest in Total and I was
one of the youngest in charge of such project. Age is a relative
thing. Then, end-2005, I received a call that would change our
lives again.
Project Director with Delta Hydrocarbons, a new adventure
and back to The Netherlands
The call was from a friend with Worldwide Worker, a company
created by Mijnbouwer Jan-Willem Scholten who unfortunately
has deceased since. He put me in contact with Walter van de
Vijver, former CEO of Shell E&P worldwide, and Maarten
Scholten, former director with Schlumberger. They were starting
Delta with the plan to obtain $1Billion of investor funding
for the design, financing and management of incremental
production projects in mature fields and development of
dormant discoveries. It was exciting but to leave a good
company like Total was a difficult and risky decision. With my
own CEO I went to London for a few days to think it over, and
decided to accept the invitation from Walter and Maarten.
Photo 6: Our House in France
34
In Jan 2006 I resigned from total, in 2007 Delta obtained
$1.1Billion of investor commitment, which allowed the
recruitment to a total of 20 staff and 15 contracted employees.
With this we were able to obtain assets in four countries and we
continue the search for more.
For the family we have found a house in “het Gooi”, within
cycling distance from the International School in Hilversum for
the youngest three. The eldest son is a student in Maastricht.
In closing
The oil and gas E&P business is an amazing global high-tech
industry. For success it requires people of many nationalities
with a wide range of experience and skills to work together as a
team, and huge investments.
My involvement with this industry has enriched the life of my
family. We have never had a dull moment. ■
35
Weber Puzzle
Solution to the LOST SOUL puzzle
The Beestenmarkt is a nice location surrounded by bars and little restaurants.
Our lost soul is standing at the corner of the Beestenmarkt and the Burgwal. If it
wouldn’t be so dark you would see the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk behind his head
as in this beautiful drawing of Charles Kemper from the book “Delft”. ■
36
Weber puzzel traditie!
De oplossing kan
ingeleverd worden op
de bestuurskamer.
De winnaar ontvangt
een krat bier.
THE CITY LABYRINTH
During the Cultural Excursion in April we first had to find the Youth Hostel in
Liege and next pick up some students at the station who had to join later because of
examinations. This puzzle was inspired by this memorable trip which took about an hour.
Imagine that you, as organiser of the next Cultural Excursion, have to repeat the above
exercise in this imaginary modern city. The main avenues have 2-way traffic but you are
not allowed to turn left. All other streets are one-way. Very unrealistically there is only
one street temporary blocked by road repairs. Indicate the shortest route from the Youth
Hostel to the station without violating the traffic rules. ■
37
Graduation Subjects
16 mei 2008
Silvia van de Kruijs: “Investigation of the effect of asphaltene precipitation on the wettability on carbonates and sandstones in a
CO2/heavy oil system under reservoir conditions”
26 mei 2008
Chris van Wijngaarden: “Including multiples in focusing operator estimation”
27 juni 2008
Aiske Rijnks: “Suitability of homogenization for upscaling of reactive diffusive flow in porous media: A step towards understanding
drinking water Arsenic remediation processes in Bangladesh”.
9 juli 2008
Nur Pelin Binay: “Integration of Subsea Research Observatories and Petroleum Production Systems”
11 juli 2008
M. Mahmoodi Nick: “Investigation of immiscible foam for EOR (Bulk and porous media experiments)”
25 juli 2008
Maria Gaya Florez: “Verification and Implementation of MAXIMIZE drill-in fluid simulation tool”
25 juli 2008
Rik van der Linden: “ The impact of 4D seismics on the accuracy of history matched reservoir model predictions using the
ensemble Kalman filter’
25 juli 2008
A.Prahladsingh: “Developing a reliable method to experimentally determine the viscosity of heavy oil”
25 augustus 2008
Hans Reichwein: “Reservoir Potential of the Ten Boer Claystone Member (ROCLT) in the Southern Permian Basin”
26 augustus 2008
Dolf van Duinen: “Stratigraphic reconstruction of the Early Oxfordian turbidites in the Fram field, offshore Norway”
26 augustus 2008
German Alonso Gonzalez Uribe: “Seismic Morphology of the Gjallar Ridge in the Vøring Basin, offshore Norway”
26 augustus 2008
Tigor Hamonangan: “Analysis of Geological Uncertainties Impacting Flow Behaviour by using Analogues - A case study of a
fluvial reservoir”
27 augustus 2008
Peter Smits: “Construction of an integrated reservoir model using the Moerkapelle field for geothermal development of the Delft
sandstone”
29 augustus 2008
Araz Mahdad: “Wave modes at the interface of a fluid and a poroelastic solid. Detection with combined particle-motion and
pressure measurements”
29 augustus 2008
Gerlof Visser: “Modeling of the methane and CO2 gas hydrate formation: Equilibrium and kinetics”
29 augustus 2008
Andrew Sitorus: “Characterization of Reservoir Potential of the Cretaceous Chalk in the Southern North Sea of the Netherlands
Sector for CO2 Sequestration “
1 september 2008
Klaas Peter van der Wielen: “Recovery of lithium from china clay waste at Trelavour Downs”
5 september 2008
Niels Hoogerheide: “Automated History Matching of Combustion Tube Experiments Using the Ensemble Kalman Filter”
11 september 2008
William Munsterman: “The use of data integration techniques for a better prediction of heterogeneities in the subsurface applied
during site investigation for highway construction projects on soft soils”
16 september 2008
Nurbol Nupilov: “Static and Dynamic reservoir modelling of multi-storey fluvio-deltaic reservoir (South Mangyshlak Basin,
Kazakhstan)”
18 september 2008
Kornelius Boersma: “The Amenability of the Platreef to Sensor based Ore Sorting”
19 september 2008
Dirk Brinkgreve: DSM Beatrix Concession: Pre-feasibility of Underground Mining-“Alternative Design Options and Field
Selections”
26 september 2008
Bart Hogeweg: “Investigation on the applicability of mining technology in rock dredging”
29 september2008
Frederike Weijmans: “Separating diamonds from gangue minerals using magnetic density separation”
3 oktober 2008
Maarten van Koppen: ” Estimation of the Risk for Mine Induced Seismicity in Large Scale Mining in the Garpenberg Mine”
38
MV Agenda
4
7
13
3
12
17
2
november
november
november
december
december
december
januari
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Zwemmersgilde inauguratie
Barbaraborrel
Sjaarschuitje
Sinterklaas in het Noorden
Barbaraborrel
Senaat in het Noorden
Barbaraborrel 8e lustrum: 40 jaar MV geschiedenis
MV Website
Het bestuur werkt aan een vernieuwde website. Heeft u ideeën en/of tips voor de website en/of voor de speciale buitengewone
ledenpagina? Stuur deze dan naar [email protected]
Het adres van de website is nog steeds mv.tudelft.nl
The MV board is working on a renewed website. If you have ideas and/or suggestions for the website and/or for the special extraordinary members page please send them to [email protected]
The webadres is still mv.tudelft.nl ■
Colofon
De Natural Resource is een uitgave van de Mijnbouwkundige
Vereeniging, studievereniging van de opleiding Technische
Aardwetenschappen. Het periodiek wordt vier keer per
jaar uitgebracht en kosteloos verzonden naar alle leden van
de Mijnbouwkundige Vereeniging. Tevens worden er 100
exemplaren ter promotie aangeboden. Het merendeel hiervan
zal naar middelbare scholen in Nederland en naar relaties
worden verzonden.
Redactie
Robert-Jan Pielkenrood
Ko Korenromp
Koen van Toorenenburg
Ciarán Latooij
Laura van Leeuwen
Erik van der Putte
Daan van Berkel (QQ)
Colofon
Stevinweg 1
2628 CN Delft
E-mail: [email protected]
tel. +31 (0)15-2786039
Design
Shell, VMS, The Hague
Druk
Drukkerij Weissenbach B.V., Sneek
Oplage
1600
Redactiesecretariaat
E-mail: [email protected]
39

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