HR: 1330h
AN: H32A-0523    [PDF]
TI: SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF FLOW IN COARSE, UNSATURATED MINING MATERIAL: RESULTS FROM FIELD-SCALE INFILTRATION EXPERIMENTS
AU: * Webb, G G
EM: ggwwebb@yahoo.ca
AF: Graduate Program of Hydrologic Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, University of Nevada, Reno MS 175 LMR 267, Reno, NV 89557 United States
AU: Tyler, S W
EM: tylers@unr.edu
AF: Graduate Program of Hydrologic Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, University of Nevada, Reno MS 175 LMR 267, Reno, NV 89557 United States
AU: van Zyl, D J
EM: dvanzyl@mines.unr.edu
AF: Department of Mining Engineering, Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, Reno, University of Nevada, Reno MS 173 LME 413, Reno, NV 89557 United States
AU: Collord, J
EM: jim_collord@placerdome.com
AF: Cortez Gold Mines, HC 66-1250, Crescent Valley, NV 89821 United States
AB: The spatial distribution of fluid flow during unsaturated conditions within an active gold mining heap-leach facility was studied. Flow and percolate chemistry data was recorded from free-drainage lysimeters. Highly variable flow was observed between lysimeters during steady-state infiltration conditions. The cause of the variability was determined to be more the result of highly spatially variable hydraulic properties than the variable distribution of applied flux to the surface. Using stochastically distributed hydraulic conductivity scaling factors, the variability of flow was reasonably reproduced with numerical simulations (HYDRUS-2D).
DE: 1829 Groundwater hydrology
DE: 1869 Stochastic processes
DE: 1875 Unsaturated zone
DE: 1894 Instruments and techniques
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting