Groundwater Recharge Assessment in an Arid, Coastal, Middle Mountain Copper Mining District, Coquimbo Region, North-central Chile

Abstract

Groundwater recharge processes operating in a portion of the western slope of the Chilean Coastal Cordillera (30°S) were assessed. The study takes advantage of the presence of the Cerro Brillador Mine (CBM), currently part of the Universidad de La Serena mining research center. Six factors—slope, solar exposure, drainage density, lineament density, geology and vegetation were characterized in a 12 km × 12 km area around the mine to identify the zones of greatest and least potential for groundwater recharge. The analysis indicates that approximately 66% of the total area presents favorable conditions for recharge. At a more local scale, the work focused on the CBM itself, an experimental facility where structural measurements in the interior and exterior of the mine, monitoring of the water level in the shaft, and sampling of mine water for chemical and isotopic composition were carried out. The chemical analysis highlighted the lack of acid drainage, despite the existence of pyrite (FeS2) and copper-sulfate mineralization in the mine. The isotopic analysis showed that the groundwater has a similar signature to local precipitation. From this information, a simple conceptual model for the hydrogeology is proposed, in which precipitation rapidly recharges the mine along faults and joints with a preferential N-S strike, but is impounded by the Urrutia fault, which facilitates the storage of groundwater in the underground workings by acting as a flow barrier. A simple analysis suggests a recharge rate on the order of 5% of the average annual precipitation for the CBM area.