Application of Geostatistical Inversion in Thin Coal Prediction

The thickness of coal in Shuguang Coal Mine is mostly thin. The resolution of conventional seismic data inversion technique used to predict thin coal in mining areas is limited and far lower than the needs of coal mining. The geostatistical inversion technique based on MCMC algorithm is introduced to predict the thickness of thin coal in Shuguang Coal Mine. The prediction results are compared with the conventional interpretation results, and the existing drilling data is used to verify those results. It is found that the resolution of the prediction results can reach about 1 m. The prediction errors of the thickness of the coal and dirt band are controlled within 0.5 m and 0.1 m, respectively. It effectively solves the problem of thin coal’s thickness prediction in Shuguang Coal Mine.