WorldWide Drilling Resource

Well Development and Gel-Based Drilling Muds Gel-based drilling muds are one of the best innova- tions for the drilling industry. Muds blended with gel-type polymers allow the bentonite drilling muds to form “waterproof” seals very quickly along the freshly drilled borehole. Properly mixed drilling muds will form a thin, flexible, impermeable membrane which greatly limits infiltration of drilling fluids as the drill bit passes through unconsolidated formations. This “gel mud” also allows for fast penetration, while using a minimum amount of water. This mud also allows us to set deep casings and screens in wide open holes, to deep depths. Great, now that we have our casing and screen set where we want them, we need to develop the well and get water to flow into our new well screen. Not so fast! All the properties we wanted of the mud while drilling, we now basically want them to go away and let the water into the well as fast as possible. I have seen drilling professionals set screens in gravel formations capable of hundreds of gallons per minute and also be able to pump the well “dry”, while the gel muds seal the hole. It can be very difficult to break these gels down when they are no longer needed to keep the borehole sealed. Each gel mud manufacturer also sells a “gel dispersant” which will break the gel down and allow water to flow into the borehole. Chlorine is somewhat effective in breaking down gel muds, but is not as effective as products such as Baroid Industrial Drilling Products’ AQUA-CLEAR ® , CETCO ® ’s Super Thin™, Wyo-Ben’s THINZ- IT ® , etc. It is also highly recommended to use a surge block or well development tool to surge the water back and forth through the screen to break the gel and pull it into the well for later removal. There are surge blocks for wells from one to six inches in diameter, and air lifting can also be effective in helping to surge develop the well. Tom Tom Kwader may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com Environmental Monitoring by Thomas Kwader, Ph.D., P.G. Drilling Kimberlite Targets in Botswana Adapted from a Press Release by Pangolin Diamonds Corporation Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Pangolin Diamonds Corporation announced an update from its wholly-owned Motloutse Diamond Project, located about 90 miles east of the Orapa Diamond Mine (the world's largest diamond mine by area) in Botswana. The company conducted a percussion drill program earlier this year, and will announce the results once all the materials submitted to Canadian laboratories has been analyzed. The Motloutse Diamond Project covers the area where the first diamonds in Botswana were recovered in 1959. It also includes the location where De Beers discovered its first diamonds in Botswana in 1962. The kimberlite source(s) of these diamonds have never been located. Earlier this year, the AGA-01 kimberlite target was confirmed on the ground to be associated with a gravity anomaly which coincides with positive kimberlitic indicator minerals. Subangular kimberlite indicator garnets with sculptured surfaces, denot- ing proximity to source, were identified from five soil samples collected directly over the gravity anomaly associated with the AGA-01 aeromagnetic anomaly. Additionally, the company’s Malatswae Diamond Project, where 13 diamonds have been recovered at surface, is sched- uled to be drilled in the second half of 2016. Botswana is the largest diamond pro- ducing country in the world supplying roughly 20% of global rough diamonds production. Editor’s Note: In between our print issues, the WWDR Team prepares an electronic newsletter called -N ws s E e Fla h . Based on readership, this was the most popular -N s E ew Flash article of the month. Ge t in on the action and subscribe today at: www.worldwidedrillingresource.com ) )/, /-.)' ,- )- . , # ( # 2 )- )1 , , ( , $ .) ' / , ( ) - - ( $ , . ) 2 1 && )(-. (.1 . , )' )(-. (. . , .$0 . - /.)' .$ &&2 1$.# .# &)-- )! *)1 , .) *,)0$ " &&)(- )! *, --/,$3 1 . , .) 0 ,2 -#)1 , .)$& . ( -$(% ) ( , .), +/$, 1 ( /-.,2 ,) / . $- )/(.- 0 $& & !), $-.,$ /.),- ( $(-. && ,- 22 OCTOBER 2016 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®