Time-lapse Geophysical Data from a Stressed Environment

Abstract:

A complication in geophysical monitoring of deep mines is the high-stress dependency of the physical properties of hard rocks. This project is part of a comprehensive, exploration geophysical study in a deep, highly stressed mine located in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Data from in situ monitoring of the mining induced seismicity, conductivity, and stress dependent physical properties have been obtained from two boreholes located in this mine. These borehole are approximately 400 m long with NQ diameters and depths of about 1300 - 1600 m and 1700 - 2000 m. Two borehole logging surveys were performed on both boreholes, October 2013 and July 2015, in order to perform a time-lapse analysis of the geophysical changes in the mine. These multi-parameter surveys include caliper, full waveform sonic, televiewer, chargeability (IP), and resistivity. Multi-electrode array DC/IP borehole and borehole-to-borehole surveys were also conducted in 2014, showing an increase in resistivity only in the 1300 m borehole near the active mining area, possibly due to stress induced closing of fractures. There is only exploration activity near the 1700 m borehole over this time period, and it therefore shows no changes in resistivity. Laboratory experiments have been performed on borehole core samples from each borehole. These experiments have measured the geophysical properties including elastic modulus, bulk modulus, P- and S-wave velocities, and density.