Pathline Simulation of Seepage Flow from a Tailings Dam with MODFLOW & MODPATH - Tutorial

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Due to their extension and climate conditions, Tailings Storage Facilities (TSF) are in interaction with groundwater flow having a dual behaviour of discharge and recharge zones. Long term evaluation of environmental impact from tailings have to consider the potential impact from the leachates into the groundwater flow regime and the impact on water quality on the downstream channels. Numerical modeling is a strong tool for the evaluation of flows and quality on the overall impact zone from tailings dam in current and future conditions.

Simulations on mine closure last for decades, and several remediation techniques as infiltration ponds, pump and test schemes, reactive walls have to be simulated on the long term. This tutorial show the procedure to simulate the particle tracking of seepage flow from tailings and estimate the potential affected stream network. The tutorial also discuss some common problems in the particle tracking simulation. 

Modeling work was done in MODFLOW with Model Muse on steady state conditions over a 5 layer model with 101260 cells. 

 

Video

 

Input data

Download the input data from this link.

Saul Montoya

Saul Montoya es Ingeniero Civil graduado de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú en Lima con estudios de postgrado en Manejo e Ingeniería de Recursos Hídricos (Programa WAREM) de la Universidad de Stuttgart con mención en Ingeniería de Aguas Subterráneas y Hidroinformática.

 

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