SEQUESTRATION

CO₂ Sequestration Updates

Significant progress was made at all three carbon sequestration sites this month, as part of the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium Project, Phase II. The final carbon dioxide (CO₂) injection well and a deep monitor well at the coal site in Wabash County were drilled, cored, logged, and cased this month. Springfield Coal core samples from the new injection well were placed in desorption canisters depending on maceral type. Springfield Coal core from the second well was preserved for use in a display. In June the wells were perforated, coal permeability was measured with water injection pressure transient tests, and the wells were logged with Schlumberger's cased hole resistivity tool. The CO₂ injection is expected to commence in late June. Water and gas samples were also collected from the enhanced coal bed methane pilot.

A groundwater monitoring well was installed at the Archer Daniel Midland plant, Decatur, Illinois. This well will be used in the monitoring, mitigation, and verification (MMV) program for the deep saline reservoir pilot that is part of the U.S. Department of Energy-funded Phase III CO₂ geologic sequestration
... more on carbon sequestration

EVENTS

Spring Geological Science Field Trips Popular with Participants

Approximately 100 people attended the Illinois State Geological Survey spring Geological Science Field Trips on April 25 and May 31, 2008. The field trips highlighted the geology and natural resources of the Horseshoe Lake State Conservation Area and surrounding areas and included six stops within Alexander County.

The first field trip stop was south of Miller City at the base of the Santa Fe Levee. There participants viewed the landscape changes that occurred following the levee breach during the Great Flood of 1993. The second stop was to an Eocene age sand and gravel deposit within Black Powder Hollow, south of Thebes, where a large number of participants collected a variety of agates. The third stop was Rock Springs Hollow, where the Ordovician age Girardeau Limestone is bounded by a number of faults and related fractures that have created a series of small waterfalls. Following lunch at Horseshoe Lake, the participants learned that this oxbow lake formed approximately 6,000 years ago when the Mississippi River changed course, cutting off a large meander. The fourth stop, to the Olive Branch-Sandy Ridge Novaculite Quarry, provided an excellent view of the ancient Ohio River... more on the field trips

HIGHLIGHTS

Annual Review of Illinois Industrial Minerals Completed

Geologists at the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) completed the annual review of Illinois industrial minerals for the Society of Mining Engineers' Mining Engineering magazine and the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Minerals Yearbook. Two extended abstracts were also published in the abstract volume of the 44th Forum on the Geology of Industrial Minerals.

Of the industrial minerals mined or manufactured in Illinois, those that have the highest value include crushed stone, cement, sand and gravel, and industrial sand. Crushed stone and sand and gravel aggregate materials combined continue to account for more than 60% of the value of Illinois' nonfuel industrial minerals. Dolomite, mined from the Silurian and Ordovician carbonates in northern Illinois, accounted for most of the total stone production.

In terms of value, industrial minerals continue to be Illinois' leading mineral resource commodities, totaling $1.22 billion. According to the USGS mineral industry profile, Illinois ranked 16^th among the 50 states in total value of nonfuel mineral production. By value, crushed stone was the state's... more reports