Application of Comprehensive Geophysical Analysis in Hidden Fault Exploration

Abstract

Heap leaching in gold mines is an important mineral-processing method. However, it involves higher requirements of the integrity and stability of the site strata because it can cause great harm to the environment. In particular, hidden faults and fault-zone structures in the site strata are important factors causing pollutant leakage and damage to the environment. Hence, engineering drilling is generally used to identify hidden faults and fault zones to intuitively reveal the underground information in a limited depth range; the disadvantage is the high cost and low efficiency of this method. In this study, comprehensive geophysical exploration methods were adopted to analyze the geophysical characteristics of the hidden faults and fault zones to obtain considerable underground information efficiently to evaluate the exploration site. Methods such as the electrical resistivity tomography, shallow seismic reflection method, magnetic method, and vertical electric sounding method have been used for the heap-leaching site exploration of Alxa Zhula Gold Mine to identify the location, occurrence, and morphological characteristics. Based on borehole and geological data, the possibility of disaster for the defective geological structure in the heap-leaching field of a gold mine was evaluated, and a geological structure model was established in this study. Thus, the results represent an important example of environmental geophysical exploration.