Outburst Research

The two books published by Dr. Ripu Lama (1995) and Dr. Lama and Dr. Jakob Bodziony (1996) are outstanding collections of literature, observations and original work in the field of gas outburst research and management. They provide a very solid base for further effort and developments; but they also serve to indicate that the problem is one of extreme complexity for which no ‘silver bullet’ solution is likely to be found. Since 1996, research has continued in several locations in Australia and overseas, generally stimulated by outburst events, or the perceived risk of occurrence in new areas or as mines go deeper. This short presentation includes a bibliography of various publications in the recent outburst research literature (Appendix 1). These publications indicate that some good progress has recently been made both in Australia and elsewhere in developing a better understanding of outburst mechanisms, and in the author’s own experience, in developing quantitative models of those mechanisms. It is hoped that the bibliography provides a reasonably up-to- date introduction for the enquiring reader. It does not cover gas drainage, alleviation and outburst management. More comprehensive information can be found in the reference lists of the catalogued papers, for example in the ACARP report by Wold and Choi (1999) which contains a detailed assessment of research on modelling of outburst mechanisms. The main body of this presentation comprises an overview of a research project that CSIRO Petroleum has recently commenced with support by ACARP. The project represents an attempt to provide a practical advance for the assessment of safe mining criteria for outburst prone conditions.