Water flow through unsaturated mine waste rock in a region of permafrost ...

• Main Author: Neuner, Matthew
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2009
• Subjects: Canada; Diavik Diamond Mine; permafrost
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0052367; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0052367

A field experiment was constructed at the Diavik Diamond Mine in northern Canada to investigate water flow through unsaturated piles of mine waste rock in a region of permafrost. Two test piles 15 m-high were built on collection systems 60 m by 50 m, each consisting of lysimeters and a large impermeable HDPE liner, and instrumentation was installed within the piles to measure moisture content, temperature, and tension head. Upper collection lysimeters were installed near the test piles to investigate infiltration, evaporation, and the effect of the thermal regime in the upper 2 m of the waste rock. Hydrogeological characterization was performed at a range of scales to relate hydraulic properties of the fine-grained matrix to the test piles, of which, roughly half is estimated to be boulders. After the initial 1.5 year of monitoring, under drier than average conditions, net infiltration did not reach a depth of 2 m. Applied rainfall events raised the rainfall to the annual mean at one of the test piles, where ...