The Coalfield Geology Council of NSW provides advice to government, standards for the industry and a forum for the exchange of information, views and ideas. The council provides an opportunity to meet with peers and to influence the directions that research, standards and government requirements take.

Membership

Membership is open to any individual who has an interest in coalfield geology. Members are able to choose their level of engagement with the council, for example, some keep in touch via facebook, others attend quarterly meetings, commicate via email or attend symposia.

Meetings

Meetings are held quarterly at various venues such as mine sites, research facilities and government offices. An opportunity is given at meetings for attendees to raise items of interest for discussion or information. At each meeting an update from NSW Trade & Investment, Division of Resources & Energy is given and a keynote speaker gives a presentation on a current topic.

Workshops

The Coalfields Geology Council of NSW organises and runs one day workshops on various coal geology topics. The one day workshops are presented by academic and/or industry experts and are aimed to help attendees up date skills needed to work as a geoscientist in NSW. Workshops are normally held in the Hunter Valley.

Past workshops have been presented on:

• Coal Quality
• Geophysical Well Log Interpretation and Techniques
• Geotechnical Aspects of Underground and Open Cut Mining
• Seam Gas

Future workshop topics under consideration include:

• Groundwater
• Sampling of Coal for Mining Purposes and Planning a Coal Analysis Program
• Geological Modelling Techniques and Model Validation
• Coal Resource Estimation and Reporting

Symposiums

The Coalfields Geology Council of NSW is the current organiser of the Symposium on the Advances in the Study of the Sydney Basin. Previously the University of Newcastle and the University of Wollongong have organised and run Sydney Basin Sympoia. In 2010 the organisation role was taken on by the council. The symposium organising committee is made up of members from the council.

Other symposia have been organised by the council in the past, such as the 2001 Geological Hazards, 1997 Safety in Mines and 1996 Geology of Longwall Mining.

More information