Mining activities are under criticism nowadays due to the excessive production of wastes and tailings during the whole mine life. Apart from the production of tailings and wastes, mining activities are also responsible for air pollution in the form of greenhouse gases. For this reason, efficient resource extraction with responsible environmental stewardship is indire need for more sustainable, green, and smart mining. This research investigates a novel approach based on using industrial drones coupled with GIS, as well as advanced geophysics (ERT) synergistically used for the development of comprehensive surface and subsurface models in a marble site of Minapin area, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. The surface models were used for sustainable optimized preliminary quarry design and planning, while subsurface models were used for CO2 sequestration. High-resolution images with digital elevation models (DEMs), digital surface models (DSMs), digital terrain models (DTMs), geospatial data, Orthophoto, and 3D virtual area models were acquired by industrial drones. Geophysical prospecting techniques, like vertical electrical sounding (VES), were used to locate geological features such as solid bedrock, fractured rock mass, and iron leaching in the deposit. The test results showed that the marble deposit in the study area was intact throughout the deposit with little iron leaching, indicating the sustainable development of quarry for the extraction of dimensional stones, making it a better option for geological CO2 sequestration. The total calculated volume and area using GIS tools were about 99098571.73 m3 and 1674289.3343 m2 and the mass of extractable materials was 377567682.77 tons. The slope of the ramp was 8.2 %, and the haulage road width and length were 6 m and 640 m, respectively. The face angle was kept constant at 90° due hard rock formation. Hence, this research is purely novel in the sense that it extracts material by taking the responsibility of environmental challenges, opening up new avenues for sustainable and green mining.
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Mapping, Modeling and Designing of Marble Quarry Using Integrated Electric Resistivity Tomography and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles with CO2 sequestration potential
Published:
28 May 2024
by MDPI
in The 3rd International Electronic Conference on Processes
session Process Control and Monitoring
Abstract:
Keywords: 3D modelling; Green Mine; Quarry design; CO2 sequestration; UAVs; VES
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