
I read an interesting article in the Mining Magazine May 2015 edition called “Top 10 Technologies”. One of the new technologies that jumped out at me is the capability to directionally drill open pit dewatering wells. This is an oil field technology from Schlumberger Water Services that was going to be applied to mining.
One of my past roles was engineering for the Diavik diamond mine in northern Canada. The granitic rock mass was geotechnically very competent with a limited amount of jointing and fracturing.
Groundwater seepage from a partly permafrost pit wall could create a host of operational problems in winter. Most of the groundwater flows were predicted to be along a few main structures or along single open joints.
Generally these structures were near vertical, which created a problem when trying to intercept them with vertically drilled pumping wells. Either you hit one or you didn’t.
The use of directional drilling of pumping wells is a great innovation
Can you explain a bit more about what your engineering roles were while working in Diavik. And how directional drilling was involved and the procedure of it.
With Diavik, I was part of the original design team in 1997 to 2000 and my role was geotechnical, hydrogeology, and eventually mine planning. I learned about the directional well drilling technique in 2015, many years after I left Diavik. However such drilling may have been a useful tool to intercept the near vertical water bearing structures. This blog has a bit more info. http://kuchling.com/59-hydrogeology-at-diavik-its-complicated/