Laserfiche WebLink
• (4) A statement of proposed methods of operating, including a description of the surface or <br />underground mining methods, the proposed roads, the size and location of structures and <br />facilities to be built, estimated recovery factors, stripping ratios (if applicable) and number <br />of acres in the Federal lease(s) or permit(s) to be affected; <br />(4a) For in-situ operations - A statement of the proposed method of development that <br />includes: <br />(4a)a) A description detailing the in-situ methodology <br />This section describes AMSO's proposed Conduction, Convection, Reflux (CCRTM) retorting <br />process, which is described briefly below and in more detail in Appendix 4-1. The Pilot Test of <br />this approach is described in general terms in Section (4a)b) and in detail in Appendix 4-2. <br />The methodology is to initially develop the illite-rich mining interval in the lower portion of the <br />Green River Formation below the protected aquifers. Based on existing site information, the <br />mining interval is an approximately 500-ft thick section extending from the base of the nahcolitic <br />oil shale (1850 feet approximate depth) to the base of the Green River Formation (2350 feet <br />approximate depth). Retorts will be contained within the mining interval. Test results obtained <br />in this mining interval are applicable to all oil shale zones, including the water bearing zones <br />above the Dissolution Surface, once an economic method of water management is developed. <br />• A challenge associated with the proposed Illite-Mining-Interval oil-shale strategy is the limited <br />knowledge of illite oil shale properties prior to our exploration activities. As shown in Appendix <br />4-2, characterization of illite oil shale samples indicates that the kerogen quality is similar to that <br />from the carbonate oil shale from higher strata. The fractional conversion of kerogen to oil <br />during Fischer Assay is nearly the same for both carbonate and illite oil shales. The oil retorted <br />from illite oil shale contains slightly more long-chain alkanes (wax) than in typical Mahogany <br />Zone (carbonate) oil shale. <br />More significantly, the geomechanical properties of the illite oil shale are less well known, and <br />there are no easily obtainable samples (e.g., outcrops) of comparable shale to use in large-scale <br />laboratory experiments. Consequently, retort testing begins with a single, inclined heating well <br />experiment to determine the critically important properties of vertical and lateral retort growth <br />and confinement during the heating process. Depending upon the experimental results, we could <br />conduct additional small scale experiments, as needed, or move directly to a larger-scale <br />experiment. The two most important technical issues addressed by the large-scale experiment <br />are (1) measuring the rates and thermal efficiencies for retort growth up to a commercial cross <br />section and (2) validating the method of heat generation for the commercial CCRTM process. <br />0 <br />17