Development and validation of a geostatistical model for prediction of acid mine drainage in underground sulphide mines

Work was undertaken to develop, by means of geostatistical modelling, a cor relation between acid mine drainage and the spatial distribution of net neu tralization potential (NNP) values of the geological formations in a polyme tallic sulphide mine. The Stratonion mines, Macedonia, Greece, were used fo r the case study. A three-dimensional stochastic numerical model of the dis tribution of NNP values in the wider mine area was developed. The model pre dicts the location of underground areas that have strong potential for acid drainage generation. The now rate and quality of underground water streams in the mine were monitored for a two-year period and the water quality dat a were used to validate the model. The agreement was found to be very good.