ASTM International Manual 11 provides guidelines on the drilling, sampling and analysis of coal and can be modified as necessary to fit your specific needs.  For example, you can use it to prepare your own field manual to standardize exploration activities.

Manual on Drilling, Sampling, and Analysis of Coal emphasizes that adequate planning is the critical key to executing a successful drilling and coring program, and provides a wealth of factors and useful suggestions to consider helping ensure the process will achieve the expected goals. 

Chapters in Manual 11 cover:  drilling equipment; geophysical logging; description of coal and rocks; sampling of coal cores; laboratory analysis of coal and rock drill core samples; and evaluation of core data.  For those who use ASTM D 5192, Standard Practice for Collection of Coal Samples from Core, the manual can serve as a reference document, as D 5192 is included in the Appendix. 

Copies of Manual 11:  Manual on Drilling, Sampling, and Analysis of Coal (ISBN:  978-0-8031-1464-7; stock #MNL11) are available for $55 from ASTM Customer Service (phone: 610/832-9585; fax: 610/832-9555; https://www.astm.org/contact/) or online at www.astm.org.

Release #7663