Groundwater supply to the mining industry in the WA Goldfields

Summary

This report presents the results of the second stage of a project into the groundwater resources of the Kalgoorlie region.

This second stage was co-ordinated as Project P321A by the Australian Mineral Industries Research Association (AMIRA) and funded by MERIWA.

Previous work, carried out in Stage 1 of this project demonstrated that groundwater use in the Eastern Goldfields significantly exceeded the natural rate of groundwater recharge, and that the groundwater resources were effectively being mined.

Given this understanding, it was recognised that the rates of aquifer storage depletion were less than expected at current rates of groundwater extraction.

This led to the question addressed in this report as to the role of induced recharge to the paleochannel aquifers from low permeability, saturated formations that bound the producing aquifers under pumping stress.

Keywords: groundwater, Eastern Goldfields