Underground Mine Dewatering System Below +500 MASL South Ciurug

Abstract

Hydrogeological condition Gold Mining Business Antam Pongkor require dewatering system to prevent flooding at work front. Water pumping in mine dewatering process is one of the major components in terms of electrical power consumption in underground mines which generally use the power supply pump, especially underground gold mines, Gold Mining Business, Antam, Indonesia; who buys from country’s electricity supply. Dewatering system itself consists of submersible pumps and stationary pumps which have various type of flow rate capacity and pump head. Mining design of this underground mine begins at +500 MASL up to +450 MASL elevation through ramp down access. But along with the tunnel development toward lower elevations, the location is constrained by underground springs that could potentially cause flooding. As the depth increase, the distance to pump the water also increases; therefore it is necessary to increase the number of pump unit to adjust with pumps’ minimum flow rate, which affected by its pump head, in order to avoid flooding at mine. As a result of the increasing number of pump unit, then there is an increase of electricity consumption cost for pumping needs at mine. This increase will continue to occur until the mine development reach the targeted elevation according to mine planning, so at this elevation should be planned dewatering system which has more efficient power consumption and has the capacity to manage flooding at mine. This dewatering system will be used until mine closure. This paper will discuss about components of dewatering system in South Ciurug below +500 MASL, pump type, and power consumption of dewatering system in this area.