Non-invasive geophysical imaging and facies analysis in mining tailings

Canales, Raul Mollehuara; Kozlovskaya, Elena; Lunkka, Juha-Pekka; Moisio, K.; Pedretti, Daniele

doi:10.1016/j.jappgeo.2021.104402

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Selecting an optimal petrophysical model for tailings is still open to future investigation. Some aspects of the relationship between various physical properties in mine wastes, bulk EC and VWC are still poorly understood, despite recent developments (e.g., 60 , 111 , 154 , 155 ). Future efforts could be devoted to the development of predictive models to assess the relationships between bulk EC and VWC for specific tailings, given their grain size distributions, clay content, mineralogy, ionic content and of the interstitial fluid, for example, following the work of recent studies (e.g., 155 – 160 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The corrected bulk EC values obtained from the inversion are then compared with VWC measurements at the same location. As discussed by 22 , several petrophysical relationships have been successfully applied for mine tailings to link bulk EC and VWC, such as Archie model, generalized Archie’s Law or Waxman-Smits models (e.g., 45 , 60 , 111 , 112 ). In this study, the three petrophysical models have performed equally to link bulk EC and saturation and the simplest model (Archie’s Law) is then selected, despite the small grain size and the presence of sulfide in the tailings ( ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A multiscale accuracy assessment of moisture content predictions using time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography in mine tailings

Dimech,

Isabelle,

Sylvain

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Accurate and large-scale assessment of volumetric water content (VWC) plays a critical role in mining waste monitoring to mitigate potential geotechnical and environmental risks. In recent years, time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (TL-ERT) has emerged as a promising monitoring approach that can be used in combination with traditional invasive and point-measurements techniques to estimate VWC in mine tailings. Moreover, the bulk electrical conductivity (EC) imaged using TL-ERT can be converted into VWC in the field using petrophysical relationships calibrated in the laboratory. This study is the first to assess the scale effect on the accuracy of ERT-predicted VWC in tailings. Simultaneous and co-located monitoring of bulk EC and VWC are carried out in tailings at five different scales, in the laboratory and in the field. The hydrogeophysical datasets are used to calibrate a petrophysical model used to predict VWC from TL-ERT data. Overall, the accuracy of ERT-predicted VWC is $$\pm 0.03~\textrm{m}^3/\textrm{m}^3$$ ± 0.03 m 3 / m 3 , and the petrophysical models determined at sample-scale in the laboratory remain valid at larger scales. Notably, the impact of temperature and pore water EC evolution plays a major role in VWC predictions at the field scale (tenfold reduction of accuracy) and, therefore, must be properly taken into account during the TL-ERT data processing using complementary hydrogeological sensors. Based on these results, we suggest that future studies using TL-ERT to predict VWC in mine tailings could use sample-scale laboratory apparatus similar to the electrical resistivity Tempe cell presented here to calibrate petrophysical models and carefully upscale them to field applications.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multiscale accuracy assessment of moisture content predictions using time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography in mine tailings

Dimech,

Isabelle,

Sylvain

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…2021 ; Mollehuara-Canales et al. 2021 ). In particular for WRPs, the coarse waste rocks have been reported to be more resistive than the compacted layers of fine particles (Anterrieu et al.…”

Section: Emergence Challenges and Perspectives Of Tl-ert For Mining W...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on Applications of Time-Lapse Electrical Resistivity Tomography Over the Last 30 Years : Perspectives for Mining Waste Monitoring

et al. 2022

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Mining operations generate large amounts of wastes which are usually stored into large-scale storage facilities which pose major environmental concerns and must be properly monitored to manage the risk of catastrophic failures and also to control the generation of contaminated mine drainage. In this context, non-invasive monitoring techniques such as time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (TL-ERT) are promising since they provide large-scale subsurface information that complements surface observations (walkover, aerial photogrammetry or remote sensing) and traditional monitoring tools, which often sample a tiny proportion of the mining waste storage facilities. The purposes of this review are as follows: (i) to understand the current state of research on TL-ERT for various applications; (ii) to create a reference library for future research on TL-ERT and geoelectrical monitoring mining waste; and (iii) to identify promising areas of development and future research needs on this issue according to our experience. This review describes the theoretical basis of geoelectrical monitoring and provides an overview of TL-ERT applications and developments over the last 30 years from a database of over 650 case studies, not limited to mining operations (e.g., landslide, permafrost). In particular, the review focuses on the applications of ERT for mining waste characterization and monitoring and a database of 150 case studies is used to identify promising applications for long-term autonomous geoelectrical monitoring of the geotechnical and geochemical stability of mining wastes. Potential challenges that could emerge from a broader adoption of TL-ERT monitoring for mining wastes are discussed. The review also considers recent advances in instrumentation, data acquisition, processing and interpretation for long-term monitoring and draws future research perspectives and promising avenues which could help improve the design and accuracy of future geoelectric monitoring programs in mining wastes.

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“…The imaging of subsurface structures to obtain information on stratigraphic features and structures in geological fields requires the determination of the field of propagation velocities of the seismic waves at each subsurface position. Obtaining this velocity field has been constantly researched in the applied geophysical and represents a crucial part of techniques, such as: seismic tomography (BOZDA G; TRAMPERT; TROMP, 2011;CERQUEIRA;CUNHA, 2016;RAWLINSON et al, 2014), seismic migration (MENKE, 2012), full waveform inversion (DATTA; SEN, 2016;JIN;CAO;YIN, 2020;SAJEVA et al, 2016), ray tracing (HANYGA; SEREDY ŃSKA, 2020), and among others (ELY; MALCOLM; POLIANNIKOV, 2018; MOLLEHUARA-CANALES et al, 2021;STUART;MINKOFF;PEREIRA, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inversion of velocity models using genetic algorithm method with sigmoidal parameterization

Azevedo

Palma

2022

Semina: Ciênc. Ex. Tech.

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A seismic traveltime inversion method is proposed for building smooth velocity models using traveltime observed on irregular surface. Model parameterization in this study is described by a piecewise constant velocity field on a rectangular grid parameterized by sigmodal functions, which is beneficial for the description of irregular surface with high degree of approximation. The velocity field is defined in the rectangular grid which is used for the description of velocity distribution everywhere in the model sigmoidal interpolation. In addition, we use the simple Genetic Algorithm for the inversion procedure. Through this global scope inversion method, we provide high-resolution estimates of the model parameter and ensure that the results obtained are in accordance with the actual data. Our method is validated with synthetic examples of heterogeneous isotropic media and compared to Simulating Annealing. The inverted velocity models and approximate ray paths obtained coincide well with the trajectories simulated using the seismic ray tracing in synthetic heterogeneous isotropic media.

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Non-invasive geophysical imaging and facies analysis in mining tailings

Cited by 9 publications

References 34 publications

A multiscale accuracy assessment of moisture content predictions using time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography in mine tailings

A multiscale accuracy assessment of moisture content predictions using time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography in mine tailings

A Review on Applications of Time-Lapse Electrical Resistivity Tomography Over the Last 30 Years : Perspectives for Mining Waste Monitoring

Inversion of velocity models using genetic algorithm method with sigmoidal parameterization

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