Approach to management of the Mokau coal resource

The Mokau Coalfield, North Taranaki, New Zealand contains about 73 million tonnes of mineable coal which may be required to fire a 1000 MW thermal power station. Planning for development of the coalfield is at an early stage and current investigations are oriented towards coal resource measurement and infrastructure requirements. The predominantly rural environment of the Mokau Coalfield region will suffer a number of impacts if coal development is to proceed at the proposed scale. Early recognition of these impacts, together with recognition of possible constraints on development, is desirable so that development planning may maximise environmental benefits. Traditionally coal development does not incorporate environmental information until the late feasibility stage of planning. It is however desirable to initiate environmental management planning at an early stage of coal resource development planning. Early inclusion of environmental aspects is possible and an approach to environmentally aware management of the Mokau coal resource is illustrated. The approach relies on development of a materials balance for both mining and use sectors of the development. The materials balance details inputs to the development (i.e. resource requirements) and identifies all outputs as primary product, increased inventory or residuals. A planning framework is described whereby environmental factors are incorporated into mainstream planning at the pre-feasibility stage. A number of potential impacts and constraints are identified in this largely indicative study. Before all impacts and constraints can be identified a more detailed study, using the methods developed here, is warranted

Imaging-guided chest biopsies: techniques and clinical results

Background This article aims to comprehensively describe indications, contraindications, technical aspects, diagnostic accuracy and complications of percutaneous lung biopsy. Methods Imaging-guided biopsy currently represents one of the predominant methods for obtaining tissue specimens in patients with lung nodules; in many cases treatment protocols are based on histological information; thus, biopsy is frequently performed, when technically feasible, or in case other techniques (such as bronchoscopy with lavage) are inconclusive. Results Although a coaxial system is suitable in any case, two categories of needles can be used: fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) and core-needle biopsy (CNB), with the latter demonstrated to have a slightly higher overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. Conclusion Percutaneous lung biopsy is a safe procedure even though a few complications are possible: pneumothorax, pulmonary haemorrhage and haemoptysis are common complications, while air embolism and seeding are rare, but potentially fatal complications