| Summary: | Boliden Aitik mine in northern Sweden is one of the largest copper mines in Europe and the mining operations are planned to continue until reaching a depth of 645 meters. With increasing depth and open surface area, the amount of water managed constantly increases and the large amount of in-pit water has negative implications for mine operations.Due to the planned expansion of the mine, new economically and technically feasible solutions for water handling in the open pit are being studied. This MSc project is part of a larger conceptual study to develop a future water management system for Aitik mine and it is focused in the current situation of water in the open pit and its vincity.The objectives of the study involve the development of a hydrogeological model of the mine by using Leapfrog Geo software. The model needs to show the water table and the distribution of pressures, the characterization of the hydrogeology of the pit and the identification of the dry areas where ANFO explosive could be used instead of the currently applied emulsion potentially leading to a saving of mining costs.The pressures and data regarding the water position collected in the mine, the mapped seepages and the interpretation of the model provide an insight in the hydrogeology of the open pit. The conditions in the mine are characterized by a rock mass of low permeability where the groundwater current occurs under fracture flow conditions and the identified controlling components are the pit geometry, the geology, the presence of recharge sources and the most important parameter, the discontinuities, fractures and joint sets and their attributes.The main problem faced when developing the models was the shortage of information in some areas and the complete absence of data in other zones. Therefore, several recommendations are suggested in order to improve the model and obtain a more accurate and realistic representation of the water table and pressures.Finally, the use of the developed model is adequate in a short-term period due ...
|
|---|