CHEMICAL INFORMATION

It's scary to think that chemicals may find their way into our pristine water system but here is some information on those likely to be used in the drilling that is taking place on Mt 
Vincent. These details are not given in the minutes of the Inglenook CCC meeting (see previous post).  However we note that already there are five new chemicals being used, that were not discussed at the CCC meeting.

SOME NOTES ON DRILLING ADDITIVES FROM CCC MEETING 22 MARCH 2012 

At the previous CCC meeting there had been a request to see the MSD (Material Safety Data) sheets for the chemicals used in the drilling mud. In response we were given a presentation by Jesse Percival (new geologist on Inglenook Project) and were told the MSD sheets are available on the Australian Mud Company Website at http://www.amcmud.com/msds.html and http://www.amcmud.com/asia-pacific-product-data-sheets.html 

The main points of the presentation are below, with my comments/afterthoughts in italics

• Additives are put into the water to increase its viscosity (ie thickness). This allows it to “support” the hole so that the sides don’t collapse, and makes it easier to bring up the discarded material produced by the drilling. 
• The mix of additives will vary according to what kind of strata they are encountering and what stage of the drilling they are at: ie just boring down or actually taking a core sample.
• There was a lot of consultation with Australian Mud Co to get the best additives, in particular trying to use naturally occurring substances and at a high dilution rate ie very low amount, generally less that 1%. However if it is a high volume of drilling mud used, it may still be a significant amount of the additive that is on site, and may enter the environment. We asked several times for an indication of the kind of volume/amount of additive that might be use, but were not given a figure, not even an indicative range. 
• The MSD sheets will be made available to the landholder when drilling takes place. 
• We were told the MSD sheets show dilution rates and give information on proper handling. I have checked the sheets and they do not seem to give the dilution rates on the MSD sheet, so you have to go to the second website which is a product guide. 

Below is the list of additives we were given, with some of the dilution rates. Many of these are used in food products. There may be changes to this list, for example if a better product becomes available. Forgot to ask what the mechanism would be for notification of any changes/additions to this list.

AMC-PAC-R  at 0.02%	CR-650 at 0.05%	Aus Gel
BIO VIS Xtra	XAN BORE at 0.2%	Soda Ash at 0.025%
EP Bit Lube at 0.8-1%	WELL CLEAN at 0.5%
Pool grade Chlorine	BIOCIDE at 0.5%

AMC-PAC-R: Produced from cellulose, the most abundant polymer in nature and a major component in wood and cotton; •Increases water viscosity; •Reduces water loss; •Dilution rate is typically 0.2% 

BIO VIS Xtra: Produced from Guargum, a naturally occurring material and commonly used as a filler in food and weight loss products; •Increases water viscosity; •Dilution rate is 0.2%

EP Bit Lube at 0.8-1%: A blend of biodegradable vegetable oils and emulsifiers; •Improved penetration rates and extends life of the diamond drill bit; •Contains preservatives to extend shelf life. Similar preservatives are used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications; •Dilution is typically 0.8-1%

Pool grade Chlorine: Used to clean up the drill hole and removes wall cake that has formed; 

•Used in a variety of applications including swimming pool disinfection and potable water treatment; •Used in correct concentrations it does not pose an environmental hazard.

CR-650: •Improves core recovery and provides lubrication; •Contains anionic polyacrylamide which is widely used within the agricultural industry as a soil stabiliser; 

•Dilution is 0.05%

XAN BORE: Maximises cuttings transport and hole cleaning; •Contains Xanthan Gum which is derived from a natural substance;•Xanthan Gum is typically found in a variety of common food including commercial salad dressings and ice cream; •Dilution rate is 0.2%

WELL CLEAN: Assists in the clean up of the drill hole; •Also widely used in the food industry; •Dilution rate is typically 0.5%

BIOCIDE: Used for the prevention of bacteria build up in drilling fluids; •Dilution rate is typically 0.5%

Aus Gel: This product is used for hole cleaning, specific applications where permeable sections or poorly consolidated caving formations can be troublesome; •Contains bentonite clay which is a naturally occurring mineral and poses no harm to the environment; •Bentonite has a diverse range of applications including cosmetics, toothpaste, beer and wine.

Soda Ash: Sodium Carbonate; •Used to adjust pH to increase effectiveness of muds; •Used in potable water treatment and used in cleaning products; •Dilution is 0.025%

We were assured that the drilling additives used are generally no different to those used in drilling for water bores for stock and domestic use; that drilling additives are selected according to the drilling conditions, and generally only used when poorly consolidated formations are encountered; and that all waste will be removed from site and appropriately disposed of by a licensed contractor.

Note: At the first drilling site last week, five chemicals different to those given at the CCC presentation were seen. These chemicals  are AMC Universal, Aus plug, Aus-cet Xtra, Water Conditioner, and Gypset 15.