Geology as a science has come a long and thorny path, constantly evolving on the basis of many years of experience of bold and persistent practitioners. From ancient times, they laid the foundation for the craft of mining from the bowels of the earth, gradually exploring new resources and discovering methods for their development. Contemporary geologists have gone far ahead in terms of knowledge and technology. However, with all the current progress, this work still requires considerable mental, physical and financial costs.
Volumetric work package for strategic purposes
Search, discovery and complex technical preparation for the further development of mineral deposits - this is the most capacious description of the whole complex of geological exploration, the complex and multifaceted structure of which makes this area quite closed in relation to those who do not have the slightest specialized knowledge.
The main purpose of exploration is to study methods of exploration andextraction of minerals with the most efficient and cost-effective results. At the same time, the state of the environment is also taken into account - the rules of geological exploration minimize the damage caused to it.
In addition, geological services and organizations often provide related services for the study of subsoil for the construction of various underground structures, carry out engineering and geological study of individual territories in private, prepare places for harmless burial of hazardous industrial waste.
Historical Brief
Search and exploration of minerals (in particular, noble and non-ferrous metals, and later also ferrous) has been carried out by man since ancient times. The earliest and most complete experience in conducting exploration work on the lands of medieval Europe was presented in his writings by the German scientist Georg Agricola.
The first documented exploration in Russia was carried out on the Pechora River in 1491. The most powerful impetus to the development of this industry in domestic practice was given only a couple of centuries later, in 1700. This was facilitated by the publication of the “Order of Mining Affairs” by Peter I. A further bias towards a more scientific basis for Russian geological exploration was laid by Mikhail Lomonosov. In 1882, the first state geological institution in Russia, the Geological Committee, was created. Its employees ten years later, in 1892, managed to create the first geological map of the European part of the country on a scale of 1: 2,520,000.theory of exploration for oil, groundwater, hard rock minerals and placers.
With the onset of the Soviet period, the Geological Survey underwent significant changes. State priorities have shifted more towards oil exploration, as a result of which not only the old oil and gas bearing regions (in particular, the North Caucasus) were expanded, but new deposits were also explored. So, in 1929, geological exploration was deployed in the Volga-Ural region, widely known among the people as the “Second Baku”.
By the beginning of 1941, Soviet geology could boast of quite impressive results: deposits of most known minerals were explored and prepared for exploitation. During the years of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), exploration was sharply transferred to accelerated search and development of areas with the most strategically important resources (in particular, in the Urals, Siberia, Central Asia and the Far East). As a result, the reserves of oil, iron ore, nickel, tin and manganese were significantly replenished. In the post-war years, the exhausted deposits were compensated by intensive exploration of new ones.
In modern Russia, the state emphasis on exploration has shifted more to private investment. However, the budget share also allows building long-term strategic programs for the development of the country's domestic mineral resources. Thus, for the period 2005-2020, receipts from the treasury for geological research are expected in the total amount of 540 billion rubles. Almost half of them will be directedfor the allocation of hydrocarbon exploration.
Stage one - initial training
All stages and stages of exploration work in total add up to three consecutive sets of actions.
Initial - the first stage - includes only geophysical work on the ground with geological surveys of the territory. At the same time, reference wells are often drilled. The entire region under consideration is under close monitoring, including for the possibility of earthquakes and other negative factors for exploration.
The result is a preliminary identification of promising deposits. At the same time, a set of maps of the captured area for various scales and purposes is necessarily created. The state of the surrounding geological environment is also assessed for stability and its possible changes.
Second stage - search for deposits and their evaluation
A deeper and more detailed collection of information on mineral deposits on a scale of a certain territory begins from this stage.
Stage 2 consists of exploratory work on promising areas based on the results of the first stage: identification of specific deposits of minerals, a more accurate assessment of their volumes. A complex of geological, geophysical and geochemical works is being carried out, aerospace materials are being deciphered, boreholes are being constructed (or surface workings are simply being made) for a detailed study of deep rocks. The result is another setgeological maps (at a scale of 1:50000 - 1:100000), geologists receive detailed statistical reports.
At the third stage of geological exploration, the expediency of further exploration of the found deposits is determined. It is on the results obtained that the next stage will depend, during which the extraction of the desired resources begins. Geologists evaluate the economic potential of all found deposits, rejecting all non-valuable accumulations.
No less important is the fact that after this set of works, a feasibility study of the value of the considered deposits is drawn up. And only with positive results, the object is finally transferred for further exploration and operation.
Final (third) stage - development
For the sake of which the painstaking collection of geological information on the discovered deposits is carried out. As in the case of the previous one, the rules of geological exploration divide this stage into two stages.
4 stage (exploration) begins exclusively at assessed deposits (those whose development is recognized as economically viable). The geological structure of the object is specified in detail, the engineering and geological conditions for its further development are assessed, and the technological properties of the minerals located in it are clarified. As a result, all estimated deposits must be technically prepared for further exploitation. It is equally important when exploring a deposit to take into account in detail the resources that fall undercategories A, B, C2 and C1.
Finally, at the fifth stage of exploration work, operational exploration is carried out. It occupies the entire period of development of the deposit, thanks to which specialists get the opportunity to have reliable data on existing deposits (morphology, internal structure and condition of occurrence of minerals).
In search of groundwater
By analogy with the extraction of solid minerals, geological exploration for water is carried out exactly in the same four stages (regional geological survey, a set of prospecting works, appraisal and exploration of the deposit). However, due to the specifics of this resource and the conditions for its formation, mining is carried out with a considerable number of nuances.
In particular, operational water reserves are calculated and approved in completely different units of measurement. They display the volumes of this resource that can be extracted under given conditions per unit of time - m3/day; l/s etc.
Modern instructions for geological exploration distinguishes 4 types of groundwater:
- Drinking and technical - they are used in water supply systems, they irrigate the soil, water pastures.
- Mineral waters with medicinal properties - this type is used in the manufacture of drinks and also for preventive purposes.
- Heat power (including steam-water mixtures are also included in this subspecies) - used forheat supply of industrial, agricultural and civil facilities.
- Industrial water - serves only as a source for the subsequent extraction of valuable substances and components from it (s alts, metals, various chemical trace elements).
High risks of incidents, complications and sometimes catastrophic consequences always force us to be especially reverent in the safety of geological exploration work focused on the search for groundwater. The development of a deposit by an open method can often be accompanied by suffusion, landslides, landslides and collapses. Underground mining can always be associated with sudden water breakthroughs, floaters and floods. In addition to the obvious danger to humans, nearby accumulations of other minerals are also negatively affected - they simply get wet.
Exceptional nuances for oil and gas exploration
The extraction of these resources is divided into two stages. The first, exploratory, is aimed at obtaining data on fossils that fall under categories C1 and C2. At the same time, a geological and economic assessment of the expediency of developing certain deposits is also given. The stage itself is carried out in three successive stages:
- Geological and geophysical work of the regional plan - includes small-scale surveys of the area under study. A qualitative and quantitative assessment of oil and gas bearing prospects in the study area is carried out. Based on this information, priority objects for oil and gas exploration will be predetermined.
- Preparing the basis for deepexploratory drilling - in the agreed order, places for laying exploratory wells are selected. Includes a detailed seismic survey, in some cases also a gravity / electrical survey.
- Exploratory work - during the drilling and testing of exploration wells, the prospects and oil and gas characteristics are also assessed, and the reserves of discovered deposits are calculated. In addition, the geological and geophysical properties of adjacent horizons and layers are being clarified.
Any exploration project also implies the possibility of drilling in already developed fields. This makes it possible to find more deposits at the exploited site, which, for many reasons, could have remained unnoticed during the exploration phase.
The next stage is exploration. It is carried out in order to prepare all found promising gas and oil fields for further development. The structure of the discovered deposits is studied in detail, productive layers are marked, and indicators of condensates, groundwater, pressure and many other parameters are calculated.
The result of the exploration stage is the calculation of oil and gas reserves. On this basis, the economic feasibility of further exploitation of deposits is decided.
Clearless bottom or exploration prospects?
The water areas of the seas and oceans, despite their relative lack of study in our time, are also widely developed. Primarily,the underwater shelf presents quite impressive prospects for the extraction of various mineral s alts (in particular, sea s alt, amber, etc.), oil and gas. All minerals of a similar area are divided into three types:
- Contained in sea water.
- Solid resources that are located at the bottom/bottom layer.
- Fluids (oil and gas, thermal waters) deep in the Earth's continental and oceanic crust.
By location they are classified as:
- Deposits of the near and far shelf.
- Deepwater basin deposits.
At the bottom, offshore exploration for oil and gas production is carried out exclusively by drilling wells. Typically, these resources are located at least 2-3 kilometers deep into the shelf. Given the distance to the deposits, various types of sites are used from where geological exploration will be carried out:
- At a depth of up to 120 meters - pile foundations.
- At a depth of 150-200 meters - floating platforms on the anchor system.
- Hundreds of meters / a couple of kilometers - floating drilling rigs.
Western private business practice
Abroad, exploration of minerals is carried out mainly on the initiative of private firms, leaving behind the needs of the state only systematic geological survey and prospecting work at the regional level. The processes of preparing deposits for their further development begin in the vast majority onlyafter receiving the first positive results from exploration workings (artificially created cavities in the earth's crust, formed as a result of geological exploration).
They, in turn, subject the largest deposits to detailed drilling and stripping, the industrial development of which will require significant financial investments. When carrying out operational exploration, minerals of high categories are increased only in those volumes that are required to ensure current production. The depth at which the work is carried out, in such ordinary cases, does not exceed 2-3 operational horizons (the totality of exploration workings at the same level).
However, for the sake of reliability, it should be noted that such a practice does not at all guarantee insurance against serious miscalculations and errors in the search for minerals. The Western approach to exploration largely comes down to the extraction of information, on the basis of which the discovered deposits will be assessed for their economic feasibility and, if successful, immediately put into operation. In this regard, to identify the fullest possible volume of all types of minerals at the site, as well as to predict the resource for explored reserves, is a rather problematic task.
Sources of funding for exploration in Russia
Russian practice of prospecting for minerals can be carried out both with government support and through private investment. In cases related to state needs, allexploration works are provided in the form of orders. Depending on the direction and volume, contractors receive funds from the appropriate budget level: federal, regional or local.
Before the start of geological exploration in any area at the expense of budgetary funds, the state selects applicants on a competitive basis. The process itself is quite simple:
- Each territory where the state plans to carry out exploration work is put up for a corresponding competition. At the same time, the customer (state person) develops a geological assignment and a starting price for the results of geological exploration expected from the project. It takes into account both the standard production costs and the planned level of profit.
- The winner who proposes the most suitable design option for the most reasonable price, in the prescribed manner, receives a license to work within a given facility.
- During the issuance of a permit, the customer also signs a contract with the winner of the tender for exploration. The period of performance of work is determined either by the results of the competition, or through additional negotiations and agreements with the contractor.
The highlights of the scheme that finances an exploration project at the government level are structured as follows:
- The Ministry of Natural Resources receives annual quarterly allocations from the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and plans their distributionbetween government customers. After that, the Ministry sends the relevant information to the General Directorate of the Federal Treasury.
- The Federal Treasury notifies its respective territorial divisions of approved finances for the customers they serve.
- The Ministry of Natural Resources thus sends the approved amount of finance to the customer, at the same time handing him the "Agreement on the transfer of functions of the state customer" in accordance with the established norms.
- The funds brought to the customer and the contract are the basis for immediate exploration planning.
The Contractor receives payment for exploration work on a quarterly basis (the possibility of paying advances is also provided). And only in the case when the report on the completed geological task fully satisfies the subsequent state examination, is it successfully accepted into the repository of the territorial geological fund and geological exploration is considered completed.
