Geophysical Techniques for Determination of Areas with Increased Water Saturation in Integrated Mine Waste Storage Facility

Abstract

The aim of this study is focused in determination of areas with increased water saturation in the integrated mine waste storage facility (IMWF) in open pit “Khan Krum” gold mine in Southeastern Bulgaria. The integrated mine waste facility (IMWF) is designed to store both dewatered process tailings and waste rock from mining. The concept of the integrated mine waste facility (IMWF) is to place thickened tailings into cells constructed from mine rock. For determination of areas with increased water saturation, is used Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) – geophysical imaging technique widely applied to mineral prospecting, mining exploration and also environmental investigations. Electrical resistivity tomography is commonly used for solving complex tasks related to increasing efficiency in the open mine. In this research electrical resistivity tomography is used to detect and characterize water saturation zones by exploiting resistivity contrasts between dewatered process tailings and waste rock from mining using electrical current.

Keywords

• Geophysics
• Electrical resistivity
• Tomography
• Waste storage

References

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