What is CBM water?
To extract methane form coal bed methane (CBM) it is required that large amounts of water are pumped underground so that the water pressure which holds the methane in place in the coal seams gets reduced. The remaining water is called as coal bed methane product water which is very high is salinity and sodium levels that can be bad for plant and soil conditions. What are the current management practices for the disposal of CBM product water?
Water applied to crops or rangefield
Salt Tolerant:
Salt Tolerant Forages
Coal bed methane water is also used for dust control and is also in some cases used by coal mines as well.
Treatment of CBM water:
Salt precipitation is the process in which the water evaporated leaving behind the salt and traps the evaporated water.
The Implication of the New Integration in the Mineral Resources on the CBM/CMM in China
The foreign investors with interests in the CBM/CMM projects in China have to face the challenges from the new Notice on the Further Pushing the Integration of the Mineral Resources Development issued by the twelve authorities on September 28, 2009 (the Notice 2009). CBM/CMM plays an important role in the administration of the operating coal mines. Those foreign investors have successfully obtained the exploration right license from the MLR. - By the end of 2010, the integration must be completed in accordance with the approved integration plan. And the mineral resources administration regime must be established. The CBM exploration right holders, such as the foreign investors, need to open eyes on the coal mines or CBM zones surrounding or adjacent to theirs. The government also reserve the right to withdraw the mineral right (including the exploration right to CBM) granted to the foreign investors.
The question is that how to compensate those integrated CBM exploration right holders, esp. those foreign investors. The foreign investors may also have the opportunity to become the integrating entity with some approvals in coal/CBM industry. The Notice 2009 clarify the mineral zones into exploration zones and mining zones, both of which are further divided into encouraged, restricted and forbidden zones. The exploration right assignment will be in the model of zoning. For the same mining area with grants of more than one exploration rights, those right holders must be integrated into one entity when they start the mining operation. For the foreign CBM investors, the first step is to make sure that their exploration zone will be defined as "one mining zone" and there are no other granted and conflicted exploration rights or mining rights.