Imaging bauxite layers using the high-resolution seismic reflection method

Abstract

The seismic method is able to produce highly accurate images of the Earth’s subsurface. Having such detail is not only an important factor in mining, but also in civil engineering. Bauxite exploration attracts both government and industrialists to invest in it because of the high percentage of aluminum present. The economic importance of extracting aluminum from bauxite encouraged us to take this challenge; to image bauxite layers by using a high-resolution seismic reflection method at Al Qassim, Saudi Arabia. Since the subsurface structure of the area is complex, this high-resolution reflection method was carried out along a 2D line with geophone and source interval, with settings at 5 m. The result for the seismic section shows that the depth and thickness of the bauxite layer varied between 20 to 34 m, and 3 to 7 m respectively. In addition, the bauxite layer was sandwiched between clay layers. In order to achieve an even more precise depth than presented by seismic section alone, we tied the drilled wells to the seismic data and we accomplished a well match with an approximation error of 1-2 m, which may have been caused by the upper clay layer or by very shallow loose subsurface material. The seismic method thus applied shows the ability to detect significant details within the near surface of the earth, and is considered more cost- effective than only drilled wells.