Numerical modeling, groundwater management, and evaluation of optimal water pumping rate in Gohar Zamin Iron Ore Mine (Sirjan-Iran)

Document Type : Research paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. in Mining Engineering, Department of Mining Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran.

2 Associated Professor, Department of Mining Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran.

3 Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran.

10.22034/hydro.2023.49719.1256

Abstract

Increasing the depth of mining leads to placing the level of the mine pit in the area of mineral extraction below the groundwater level. The entry of groundwater into the mining pit increases the costs and also reduces the efficiency and safety level of the work. Gohar Zamin Iron Ore Mine with a reserve of approximately 600 million tons is one of the largest open-pit iron mines in the Middle East in the southwest of Sirjan city, located in Kerman province, which currently has a problem with groundwater entering the mine pit. In this research, MODFLOW software has been used in the complex environment of the Gohr Zamin Iron Ore Mine to model and predict the movement of underground water and the proper management of the drainage process. Due to the heterogeneity of the underground layers, which causes many changes in the hydrodynamic parameters in each place, an innovative Pilot Point network has been used to interpolate the value of the hydrodynamic parameters required by the model. After the calibration and validation of the model, the direction of the groundwater flow in the studied area is from the north side of the pit to the west. The amount of inflow water from the northern part of the pit and the outgoing water from the western part of the pit is about 679 and 1448 cubic meters per day, respectively. In the end, by performing optimization by the model, the position of seven new wells and the optimal pumped flow rate for existing and new wells in a proposed drainage scenario was determined. The prediction results of the model show a decrease in water level by 14 meters in the northern part and 10 meters in the eastern part of the studied area within one month.

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References

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Hydrogeology
Volume 8, Issue 1
Publisher
September 2023
Pages 17-33

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