COMPUTER-ASSISTED NATIONAL COAL INVENTORY

In 1972, a cooperative program to map and estimate the quantity of Tertiary coal resources in southern Saskatchewan was initiated by the federal and Saskatchewan governments. More than 700 exploratory oreholes in the area. Stratigraphic data and data on each coal seam penetrated in the boreholes, along with technical and location data for each borehole, were stored in a computer data base for convenience of retrieval, modification and manipulation. The emphasis in computer utilization was placed on geological credibility of the results and ease of operation by relatively untrained geological personnel, resulting in extensive use of interactive methods.