CONTENT

1.0 Basic concepts and data acquisition

1.1 Physical properties that affect Ground water

- Hydraulic conductivity
- Transmissivity
- Aquifer
- Aquitard
- Unconfined and Confined aquifer

1.2 Sources of data

- Pre mining
- During operation
- At closure

2.0 Groundwater in Mining

2.1 Open cast working and Ground Water

- Impact of Groundwater on Open Pit slope stability
- Water pressure in tension cracks
- Effective stress
- Seepage in Open Pit
- Slot formulae
- Ground water control measures in Open Pit
- Pit lakes (Site Reclamation)
- The basic situation

2.2 Underground Workings and Ground Water

- Shaft de-watering of surrounding area
- Transient draw down
- Shaft intersection with Joints and Fractures
- Shaft intersection with Underground workings
- Mine closure
- Ground settlement
- Well hydraulics
1.0 Basic concepts and data acquisition
Groundwater plays a major role in the activities of mining. It is important to understand the basic
concepts and data collection before predicting the mine water inflows in various mining
environment. Here are some aspects of the meaning of the word:

 that part of the subsurface water that is in the zone of saturation, including underground
streams

 loosely, all subsurface water as distinct from surface water

 groundwater is located beneath the surface in pore spaces and in the fractures of geologic
formations

The study of the distribution and movement of groundwater is called hydrogeology. Typically
groundwater is thought of as liquid water flowing through shallow aquifers, but technically it can
also include soil water, permafrost, immobile water in very low permeability bedrock, and deep
geothermal water.

Geohydrology and hydrogeology are terms, often used interchangeably, referring to the hydrologic
or flow characteristics of subsurface waters.

A formation of rock or soil is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The
depth at which soil pore spaces become fully saturated with water is called the water table, or
phreatic line. Groundwater is recharged from, and eventually flows to, the surface. Discharge occurs
at springs or seeps.

1.1 Physical Properties That Affect Groundwater

The degree to which a body of rock or sediments will function as a groundwater resource depends
on many properties, some of which are discussed here. Two of the more important physical
properties to consider are porosity and hydraulic conductivity. Transmissivity is another important
concept to understand when considering an aquifer’s overall ability to yield significant groundwater.
Throughout the discussion of these properties, keep in mind that sediment size in alluvial
environments can change significantly over short distances, with a corresponding change in physical
properties. Thus, while these properties are often presented as average values for a large area, one
might encounter different conditions on a more localized level. Determination of these properties
for a given aquifer may be based on lithologic or geophysical observations, laboratory testing, or
aquifer tests with varying degrees of accuracy. The ratio of voids in a rock or sediment to the total
volume of material is referred to as porosity and is a measure of the amount of groundwater that
may be stored in the material. Porosity is usually expressed as a percentage and can be classified as
either primary or secondary. Primary porosity refers to the voids present when the sediment or rock
was initially formed. Secondary porosity refers to voids formed through fracturing or weathering of a
rock or sediment after it was formed. In sediments, porosity is a function of the uniformity of grain
size (sorting) and shape. Finer-grained sediments tend to have a higher porosity than coarser
sediments because the finer-grained sediments generally have greater uniformity of size and
because of the tabular shape and surface chemistry properties of clay particles.

Table 1: Porosity (in percent) of soil and rock types

In crystalline rocks, porosity becomes greater with a higher degree of fracturing or weathering. As
alluvial sediments become consolidated, primary porosity generally decreases due to compaction
and cementation, and secondary porosity may increase as the consolidated rock is subjected to
stresses that cause fracturing. Porosity does not tell the entire story about the availability of
groundwater in the subsurface. The pore spaces must also interconnect and be large enough so that
water can move through the ground to be extracted from a well or discharged to a water body. The
term “effective porosity” refers to the degree of interconnectedness of pore spaces. In finer
sediments, effective porosity may be low due to water that is tightly held in small pores. Effective
porosity is generally very low in crystalline rocks that are not highly fractured or weathered. While
porosity measures the total amount of water that may be contained in void spaces, there are two
related properties that are important to consider: specific yield and specific retention. Specific yield
is the fractional amount of water that would drain freely from rocks or sediments due to gravity and
describes the portion of the groundwater that could actually be available for extraction. The portion
of groundwater that is retained either as a film on grains or in small pore spaces is called specific
retention. Specific yield and specific retention of the aquifer material together equal porosity.
Specific retention increases with decreasinggrain size. Table 1 show that clays, while having among
the highest porosities, make poor sources of groundwater because they yield very little water. Sand
and gravel, having much lower porosity than clay, make excellent sources of groundwater because
of the high specific yield, which allows the groundwater to flow to wells. Rocks such as limestone
and basalt yield significant quantities of groundwater if they are well-weathered and highly
fractured.
Hydraulic Conductivity

Another major property related to understanding water movement in the subsurface is hydraulic
conductivity. Hydraulic conductivity is a measure of a rock or sediment’s ability to transmit water
and is often used interchangeably with the term permeability. The size, shape, and
interconnectedness of pore spaces affect hydraulic conductivity (Driscoll 1986). Hydraulic
conductivity is usually expressed in units of length/time: feet/day, meters/day, or gallons/day/
square-foot. Hydraulic conductivity values in rocks range over many orders of magnitude from a low
permeability unfractured crystalline rock at about 10-8 feet/day to a highly permeable well-sorted
gravel at greater than 104 feet/day (Heath 1983). Clays have low permeability, ranging from about
10-3 to 10-7 feet/day (Heath 1983).

Transmissivity

Transmissivity is a measure of the aquifer’s ability to transmit groundwater through its entire
saturated thickness and relates closely to the potential yield of wells. Transmissivity is defined as the
product of the hydraulic conductivity and the saturated thickness of the aquifer. It is an important
property to understand because a given area could have a high value of hydraulic conductivity but a
small saturated thickness, resulting in limited overall yield of groundwater.

Aquifer

An aquifer is a body of rock or sediment that yields significant amounts of groundwater to wells or
springs. In many definitions, the word “significant” is replaced by “economic.” Of course, either term
is a matter of perspective, which has led to disagreement about what constitutes an aquifer. As
discussed previously, coarse-grained sediments such as sands and gravels deposited in alluvial or
marine environments tend to function as the primary aquifers in California. These alluvial aquifers
are the focus of this report. Other aquifers, such as those found in volcanics, igneous intrusive rocks,
and carbonate rocks are described briefly in the section Groundwater Source Areas.

Aquitard

An aquitard is a body of rock or sediment that is typically capable of storing groundwater but does
not yield it in significant or economic quantities. Fine-grained sediments with low hydraulic
conductivity, such as clays and silts, often function as aquitards. Aquitards are often referred to as
confining layers because they retard the vertical movement of groundwater and under the right
hydrogeologic conditions confine groundwater that is under pressure. Aquitards are capable of
transmitting enough water to allow some flow between adjacent aquifers, and depending on the
magnitude of this transfer of water, may be referred to as leaky aquitards.

Unconfined and Confined Aquifers

In most depositional environments, coarser-grained deposits are interbedded with finer-grained

deposits creating a series of aquifers and aquitards. When a saturated aquifer is bounded on top by
an aquitard (also known as a confining layer), the aquifer is called a confined aquifer (Figure 1).
Under these conditions, the water is under pressure so that it will rise above the top of the aquifer if
the aquitard is penetrated by a well. The elevation to which the water rises is known as the
potentiometric surface. Where an aquifer is not bounded on top by an aquitard, the aquifer is said
to be unconfined. In an unconfined aquifer, the pressure on the top surface of the groundwater is
equal to that of the atmosphere. This surface is known as the water table, so unconfined aquifers
are often referred to as water table aquifers. The arrangement of aquifers and aquitards in the
subsurface is referred to as hydrostratigraphy.

In some confined aquifers groundwater appears to defy gravity, but that is not the case. When a well
penetrates a confined aquifer with a potentiometric surface that is higher than land surface, water
will flow naturally to the surface. This is known as artesian flow, and results from pressure within the
aquifer. The pressure results when the recharge area for the aquifer is at a higher elevation than the
point at which discharge is occurring (Figure 1). The confining layer prevents the groundwater from
returning to the surface until the confining layer is penetrated by a well. Artesian flow will
discontinue as pressure in the aquifer is reduced and the potentiometric surface drops below the
land surface elevation.

Fig 1: Inter-bedded aquifers with confined and unconfined aquifers

1.2 Sources of Data

Pre-Mining

The two primary objectives of characterizing groundwater conditions at a proposed mine are:

 establish background conditions as part of environmental and regulatory compliance studies

 obtain data needed to prepare mine facility designs, operating plans, and closure plan

Much of the data about groundwater at a mine is obtained as part of the basic work undertaken to
locate and characterize the ore body.

The exploration geologist will, generally, have good information about regional and site geology. This
information will have been obtained from national and regional studies and specific investigations
undertaken to confirm the presence and extent of the orebody. We acknowledge that exploration
geologists may not need or obtain the level of detail that is required for a comprehensive mine site
groundwater investigation. In such cases, additional surface and subsurface studies may be needed
to establish site-specific soil and rock stratigraphy and geohydrology.

The mining engineer will obtain considerable data about the soils and rocks at and in the immediate
vicinity of the ore body so that they may design open pits and underground mine workings. The
open pit mining engineer and rock mechanics experts will, as part of slope stability studies,
characterize joints, faults, fractures, and other geological discontinuities. These data are valuable in
understanding where and how groundwater will flow and in deciding how best to control
groundwater flow that may otherwise detrimentally affect mine facilities.

Any groundwater study must be accompanied by a full understanding of regional and site surface
water. Data about climate, including precipitation, temperature, wind, and evaporation is generally
obtainable from national and regional sources. Site-specific studies involving instrumented weather
stations may be needed to augment such sources.

Regional and site topography may be available for aerial surveys. Site-specific work may be needed
to provide the details of topography sufficient to establish surface water flow patterns. There is
seldom sufficient data available about surface water flow quantities at new mine sites. Site-specific
studies involving weirs may have to be installed to measure actual flow quantities.

The information that typical geotechnical engineers and geologists need to undertake groundwater
calculations generally needs to be obtained by the installation of wells and advancing boreholes to
obtain soil and rock samples. The wells, suitably equipped with piezometers will help establish
groundwater levels that may be used to plot groundwater surface contours and predict groundwater
flow patterns.

Pump testing of the wells will help establish the hydraulic conductivity of soil and rock strata.
Laboratory testing of the soil and rock samples may be required to further characterize the hydraulic
conductivity of the various strata that control groundwater flow and its response to mine facilities.

Geochemists will demand water quality characterization. Water samples from the wells will have to
be tested to establish the basic chemistry of groundwater. Similarly samples of soil and rock will
have to be chemically tested to establish the likelihood that they will become a source of
contaminants or conversely be able to attenuate contaminated groundwater seepage.

If the groundwater is to be a source of process water, the chemical engineers, metallurgists, and
process engineers will need to know the chemistry of the groundwater. They will demand that
groundwater samples be tested. These data augment the information used to paint a full picture of
site and regional groundwater characteristics.

During Operation

The primary objectives of collecting and evaluating groundwater data at a mine during operation
include:

 Demonstrate that the groundwater quality continues to be in compliance with permit and
regulatory environmental limits.

 Confirm that mine facilities are performing as planned, remain safe, and that additional
groundwater control components are not needed (or are needed as the case may be.)

During operation, accessing the orebody will confirm, validate, or repudiate initial pre-mining
information relevant to geology and groundwater. The mine groundwater professional should
always be on the alert to obtain new information revealed by actual mining, compare such data to
predictions, and be able and ready to revise plans and procedures to accommodate newly revealed
groundwater conditions.

To the extent that such data are not obtained by the mining engineer and geologist, the mine
groundwater professional may have to arrange for the continued monitoring of groundwater
elevations and quality in wells and at springs and seeps. These data will be used in making decisions
regarding new and extended dewatering facilities, the performance of groundwater protection
facilities at heap leach pads, and the general performance and stability of tailings impoundments
and waste rock dumps.

New data will have to be obtained for the annual surface water and groundwater reports generally
required by regulatory agencies. This responsibility may fall to the mine's environmental staff who
may and probably should include trained groundwater hydrologists and geochemists.

The civil and geotechnical engineers will demand monitoring of groundwater conditions as they
establish the performance of the heap leach pad, the tailings impoundment, and the waste rock
dump. They will want to know the patterns of groundwater flow that indicate or give warning of
unacceptable seepage from the facilities; they will want to know what the water pressures are that
may affect the forces on potential failure planes; and they will need information about constituent
seepage that may result in violation of regulatory standards.

At Closure

The primary objectives of a groundwater monitoring program at a closed mine is to collect data to
demonstrate that the closed site continues to be protective, in accordance with closure plans, of the
environment and human health and safety.
At closure the site will be reclaimed. The pit and/or underground workings may be backfilled.
Surface water swales may be constructed or redirected. Covers may be placed over impoundments
and dumps. Vegetation will be established.

The mining engineers, the mining geologists, and the process engineers will leave. The quiet site will
be left to the environmental engineer and maybe a civil engineer or two. They will be responsible for
collecting surface water and groundwater samples to confirm that predicted post-closure water
quality standards are being met. They may also have to keep an eye on the integrity of covers and
drains and other components that need to be kept intact and working to protect water quality.
2.0 Groundwater in mining
2.1 Opencast workings and groundwater

In this part, we deal with the interaction of open pits and the surrounding groundwater. In theory,
the circular, or near-circular open pit is no more than a large diameter, shallow well, and the
equations we encounter later for shafts may be applicable. Instead we take this as an opportunity to
examine two-dimensional, unconfined flow to a face such as would occur with a relatively long open
pit, and to consider questions about the nature and timing of drawdown, the water pressures that
affect slope stability, and finally what happens when the mining ends, the groundwater table
recovers, and the pit fills with water to form a lake.

Impact of Groundwater on Open Pit Slope Stability

The following are some of the detrimental impacts that groundwater in the rock mass surrounding
an open pit may have.

Water Pressures in Tension Cracks

Tension cracks form at the crest of the slopes of open pits. Groundwater (and possibly surface
water) may enter these cracks and push a mass of potentially unstable rock in towards the open pit.
Even if the groundwater in the tension crack is in itself not sufficient to cause slope failure, these
additional forces may contribute to a reduction of the factor of safety of the slope and hence
potentially unsafe conditions.

In winter, the groundwater in a tension crack or other near-surface joints and fissures may freeze,
expand, and further push rock wedges to the point of failure.

In practice, one may need to include these hazards into a risk assessment of the stability of the pit.

Effective Stress

The water pressure affects the shear resistance along potential failure planes-see Figure 2.

Fig 2:

The water pressure along a potential failure surface reduces the total stress across the plane in
accordance with this equation:
Where:

 s' = the effective stress on the potential failure plane

 s = total stress on a potential failure plane; this is the stress resulting from the weight of the
materials above the failure plane

 u = the water pressure along the failure plane

Now we know that the shear resistance along the failure plane where no water pressure occurs is:

When there is water pressure on the potential failure plane, failure resistance is governed by the
effective stresses, namely:

Where:

 t = the shear strength (resistance) along the potential failure plane

 t' = the effective (operative) shear strength (resistance) along the potential failure plane.

 φ = the angle of friction of the materials along the potential failure plane

In the equations above, tan φ has no units and the units you choose for s are then the units for t. For
example, if s is in lbs/ft2, so too for t.

Clearly t' is less than the t, and hence failure of the potentially unstable mass is more likely to occur.
For this reason much effort is put into controlling and decreasing water pressures in slopes around
open pit mines.

Seepage into the Open Pit

Groundwater that seeps to the face of the open pit may emerge at the face and flow down the
exposed soils and rocks. Such groundwater seepage has to be collected and removed from the pit.
This adds to the cost of safe and effective pit operations.

This water flowing down the exposed face of the pit walls may cause erosion of the soils and rock.
The result is a mess. The aesthetics of the eroded slopes is generally of little concern but the need to
control and remove wet sludge and silt at the low point of the pit is a further expense and
impediment to safe and effective pit operation.
Advanced Dewatering Designing in Open Cast Projects:

Unconfined Aquifer:

Q = {K (H2-h2)} / {0.733 (Log R/r)}

Confined Aquifer:

Q = {T (H-h)} / {0.366 (Log R/r)}

Q=discharge in m3/day

K= permeability in m/day

H= saturated thickness of aquifer in m/day

h= column of water after de-watering

R= radius of influence from pumping test or Schichart Formula

r= radius of equivalent radius well of mine

T= Transmissivity in m2/day

To find r (Equivalent Radii well)

r= √ {(a*b)/ ∏}
a= length of the mine

b= width of the mine

Even worse, the rocks through which and over which seepage occurs may be acid generating, and
the resulting water will have to be collected and treated.

Slot Formulae

Just as we may approximate the flow of groundwater into a shaft or a large open pit using standard
groundwater well formulae, we may approximate seepage into a long open pit mine using the
formulae for flow to slots in the ground. Here are a few examples. Again, it is unlikely any will
precisely replicate conditions at your pit. However we examine them here to expand our
understanding of groundwater flow to open pits, to build up a feel for the range of conditions that
may occur, and to illustrate ways to avoid having to use complex computer codes for everything.

Consider the situation shown in Figure 3.

Fig 3:

For a slot that fully penetrates a pervious stratum overlain by an impervious stratum the following
equation gives the flow quantity per unit length of slot: In the figure, H and h are height, L is length,
D is depth, k is hydraulic conductivity, and Q is quantity. Again, as always, the units of height, length
and depth are feet, meters, centimetres, or whatever length unit is convenient. The units of k, as
always are distance/length per unit time; and hence the units of Q come out as volume per unit
time.

If there is no overlying impermeable stratum the equation is:

And if the so-called artesian-gravity drainage condition of Figure 3 develops, the equation is:

Groundwater Control Measures for Open Pits

If one needs to reduce the water pressures in the slope of your open pits in order to improve the
slope stability or you seek to intercept and control groundwater seepage before it flows out from
the face of the slope you may implement one or more of the measures described below and shown
in accompanying diagrams.
Toe Drains

Horizontal or near-horizontal holes may be drilled from the benches back into the slope. As shown in
Figure 4, if these holes are extended far back enough into the slope they may lower the groundwater
table sufficiently to reduce water pressures to the point of ensuring slope stability. This approach is
much favoured by those charged with stabilizing the rock slopes besides highways.

Fig 4:

The reasons that make toe drain a favourite along remote highways should also endear them to the
mining engineer: namely that, if properly installed, they drain by gravity and require no power and
but minimal upkeep.

Dewatering Wells

If it is not practical to extend the toe drains sufficiently far back into the slope, then you may have to
install one or more lines of dewatering wells as shown in Figure 5. The disadvantage of dewatering
wells is just that: they take much energy to pump and operate. The advantage is that they may be
placed at the optimum locations for slope stability improvement and may be monitored for efficacy:
if the first set to be installed is not sufficient, it is generally easy enough to install more; and as
dewatering proceeds, it may be possible to selectively reduce or even stop pumping from selected
wells.

Fig 5:

Slope Dewatering Galleries

If the geometry of the site and the pit allows it may be most cost-effective to install a dewatering
gallery beneath the slope. If this gallery can lead to a natural discharge point, then a most economic
slope dewatering system may result. To extend the zone of capture of the gallery itself, one may
choose to drill additional drainage holes from the gallery up into the roof rock-see Figure 6.
Fig 6:

Pit Lakes (Site reclamation)

In this part we look at what happens when an open pit mine is closed, the site reclaimed, and a lake
develops in the open pit.

Here are some of the reasons why the mine operator needs to study the phenomenon of pit lakes.

 analyze the effects of alternate storm-water management plans on pit lake formation

 evaluate alternative pit-backfilling scenarios

 establish groundwater flow patterns for use in fate and transport analyses

 understand the effects of the closed mine on site and regional groundwater resources.

The Basic Situation

An open pit excavated into and below the site and regional groundwater table will have been
dewatered during mining by wells, drainage galleries, or simply by ongoing pumping from sumps in
the pit of surface water that flows or groundwater that seeps into the pit. In essence, during mine
operations, the pit will have been kept relatively "dry" as a part of normal, ongoing mining activities.

Once the ore body is worked out, the pit will be reclaimed. In some instances this may involve
backfilling the pit with waste rock from other adjacent pits, or with tailings. In some instances the
pits walls will be re-contoured and vegetated.

In many cases, the pit will simply be left to nature. In those cases where the pit was excavated below
the groundwater table and the dewatering works caused a site and regional lowering of the
groundwater, the groundwater table will rise up again to its pre-mining position and water will
accumulate in the pit. A pit lake will develop. In addition, surface water runoff from surrounding
area will flow to the pit and add to the rise of the pit lake.

A number of equations for predicting ground water inflow into mine voids/ lakes are available in the
literature. However, Marinelli et-al. (2000) has addressed the problem taking into account the effect
of decreased saturated thickness near pit walls, distributed recharge to the water table and upward
flow through the pit bottom.
The open cast mine can be simulated as a large diameter well/sink and the mine inflow is
contributed mainly from the saturated formation lying above the working seam. Thus, the mine
inflow is directly proportional to the aquifer and mine parameters. In the initial stage, the mine
inflow is in proportion to the rate of mine expansion (Ref Fig 7a). With the exposure of low
permeable formations, the inflow becomes significantly small. In due course, due to partial de-
saturation of the aquifer, the inflow reduces and gets stabilized in time.

Fig 7a: Schematic diagram depicting type of aquifers, mine inflow Fig 7b: Schematic diagram aquifer development in opencast mine
and zone of influence in an opencast mine
2.2 Underground workings and groundwater

Firstly, the rate of inflow in to an underground working needs to be quantified for proper de-
watering arrangements and safe working of the mine.

The two widely practised methods are given as below:

Method 1:

Q= KIA
Q=discharge in m3/day

K= permeability in m/day

I= Hydraulic gradient

A= Cross sectional area

Method 2:

This equation gives peak flow at a particular rate of mine expansion

H in T (m2/d) S R U= (S*R) / W (u) Q1= Q2=(2*∏*T*H) Mine inflow

m (4 * ∏ * T) S*R*H in / W(u) in (Q1+Q2) in
m3/min m3/min m3/min

H = Hydraulic head

T = Transmissivity

S= Storativity

R= rate of mine expansion (m2/d)

U and W (u) are well functions. W (u) is to be derived from Wenzel Table.

Q1 = Amount of water flowing from broken aquifer

Q2 = Amount of water flowing from undisturbed aquifer

In this part we discuss the interaction of shafts sunk deep into the earth and hence deep below the
site and regional groundwater table. Generally such shafts will extend primarily through bedrock
(unlike the caisson discussed in a preceding section.) In most instances the hydraulics of the shaft
may be modelled as a well into an equivalent porous medium or series of layered media. Because
this is not a course on well hydraulics, we do not replicate or even consider the vast body of
literature on well hydraulics. Rather we present as much of the topic as is considered necessary to
set out the ideas and provide you with the basic understanding and tools to plan and deal with the
interaction of shafts and groundwater.

Shaft Dewatering Of Surrounding Area

Since the dimension of fractures propagated at the time of main roof fall is unknown the exact mine
inflow is very difficult project. However, considering that all fractures formed and extended upward
meeting the aquifer is equivalent to various radius boreholes the prediction can be made.
Experiences of various observations in mines made reveals that the maximum inflow into a U/G
mine is more or less matches with the predictions made for inflow into a 1.0 m diameter hole and
later the mine inflow reduces to 0.30 m dia borehole inflow predictions.

Transient Drawdown

Over time a shaft may lead to significant dewatering of the surrounding area. In effect, the shaft acts
as a regional sink towards which and into which the groundwater flows. Figure 8 shows the
progression from the initial installation of the shaft through drawdown to a final equilibrium
groundwater table position. This lowered groundwater table will be maintained as long as mining
continues and the miners continue to pump water from the workings to keep them dry.

Fig 8:

Shaft Intersection with Joints and Fractures

A shaft advanced through a rock mass may encounter a joint or fracture through which considerable
quantities of water may move. If this occurs, the localized inflow may be significant. Localized
measures will be needed to intercept and stem the flow of water. Measures include dewatering
wells, grouting, and/or freezing.

In the case shown in Figure 9 it is unlikely the shaft will drain the reservoir. Nevertheless, if local
groundwater were the source of the joint groundwater flow, it is possible that with time the regional
groundwater table would drawdown.
Fig 9:

Shafts and Underground Workings Interaction

On a regional basis, more than one shaft and the associated underground mine workings may be
advanced to tap into a regional ore body- Figure 10. The result may be widespread regional
dewatering and drop of the groundwater table. This is very much the case at the South African
Witwatersrand gold fields where the mines are as deep as 2,000 m.

Fig 10:

Mine Closure

Once the mine closes, pumping from the shaft and underground workings ends. The groundwater
table may now recover as shown in Figure 1. It may take a long time for this to happen-certainly it
will take longer for the water table to recover than it took to draw it down. This is the result of the
constantly reducing head driving groundwater table recovery. We do not need to go into the
mathematics, but do not make rash promises to the community about the time for pre-mine
groundwater conditions to return.

Analytical and mathematical methods are used to determine the inflow in underground workings.
While the analytical methods are relatively easy to apply they cannot be accurately used to
determine the complex inflow systems. Mathematical methods using numerical solutions provide a
much flexible approach to complex groundwater systems in mine environment.

Degree of fracture and fracture interconnections are important factors along with position of water
level adjacent to the mine working in determining the magnitude and time of groundwater inflow
into a mine. Hence the nature of fractures and joints in the aquifer system and structurally weak
water bearing horizons are the major factors responsible for water inflow into the mine. In the initial
stage of mining i.e. the developmental stage, only the aquifers present just above the seam being
mined is disturbed and inflow is contributed only from the disturbed aquifer (Ref Fig: 11a). Further,
with the expansion of the mine and final depillaring, the roof of the mine subsides. This subsidence
is dependent on the height of mined out area, width of an unsupported mine-roof, overburden
thickness, bedrock competency, pillar dimension, hydrology and time. The area of subsidence is
equal to the area of mine collapse plus the area measured by an angle of 35° from the vertical at the
edge of the collapsed area. The vertical component of subsidence decreases with increasing depth
or thickness of overburden and generally does not exceed the height of the mine void. The cracks
and fissures thus developed propagate vertically and connect the overlying layers. The overlying
aquifers thus get connected and inflow is contributed from the aquifer system rather than the single
aquifer as was the case initially (Ref Fig 11b).

Fig 11a: Schematic diagram showing mine inflow & impact during Fig 11b: Schematic diagram showing mine inflow and impact
mine development during caving conditions.

Ground Settlement

The consequences of the drop of the water table may be induced settlement of the surrounding
soils. Depending on the magnitude of such settlement, structures may be affected. Quantification of
the amount of surface settlement is a standard operation in geotechnical engineering and we leave
that calculation to the geotechnical engineers, but it may happen and one should be ready to deal
with it.

Well Hydraulics

We gain further insight into the impact of a shaft sunk into the ground by considering the hydraulics
of wells. A well sunk into the ground is characterized by one or more of the following (Figure 12):

Fig 12:
 The well casing with a diameter of d. The well casing may be considered to be that part of
the well the sides of which are essentially impermeable. i.e. no groundwater seeps
horizontally into the well through this section.

 A well point with a diameter of D (which could be the same as the well casing diameter d).
The well point may be considered to be that part of the well into which groundwater may
seep either horizontally through porous sides and/or vertically upwards through the base of
the well point.

 The geometry of the groundwater table relative to the well point, including most
importantly the height of the permanent or transient groundwater table relative to the zone
of groundwater inflow to the well point.

 The hydraulic conductivity of the layers of soil and/or rock through and into which the well is
sunk. In the simplest case the soil or rock is uniform from the ground surface to the base of
the well. In more complex situations, the well may pass through a number of soil and/or
rock strata of differing hydraulic conductivity.

 The extent to which water that enters the well is pumped out and the extent to which this
affects the surrounding groundwater. Either conditions will be constant, i.e. the rate at
which water is removed from the well is small and not sufficient to cause any significant
lowering (drop) of the surrounding groundwater. Or conditions will be variable until they
reach a new equilibrium, i.e. the quantity of water removed from the well is sufficiently
great to cause the surrounding groundwater table to fall from a high position to a lower
position.