Groundwater numerical modelling for coupled hydrogeological – geochemistry analysis in an open pit mine of the Kalahari Manganese belt

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

2024

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of the Western Cape

Abstract

Groundwater numerical modelling is used more and more in mining environmental applications, where contaminant plume development predictions at different phases of the operations, are required for various environmental applications. One such case is the application of numerical and mass transport modelling of an open pit mine in the Kalahari Manganese belt where a waste rock dump (WRD) is developed, as mining progresses. The numerical model was constructed and run using FEFLOW (DHI-Wasy). FEFLOW is a finite element numerical code, widely used for flow and mass transport modelling. FEFLOW was selected due to its flexibility and enhanced representation of geological and mining elements, enabling a full dynamic transient simulation of flow and mass transport. The historical monitoring data and rainfall (recharge) data were used for steady-state calibrations of the groundwater model.

Description

Keywords

Numerical Modelling, Finite Element Method, Manganese Mining, Contaminant Plume, Mining Environmental Applications

Citation