DEWATERING A DIAMOND MINE
The Russian mining company Severalmaz holds the licence to operate one the of the world’s biggest diamond mines – the Lomonosov Diamond Mine in the Arkhangelsk Oblast. The mine’s raw diamond reserves are estimated at 220 million carats. Lomonosov became famous on 21 September 2017, when a 28,65-carat pink diamond was found there.
Lomonosov diamond mine
The area where it was discovered is part of the Karelian Craton, a large bedrock mass from the Archean Eon. Russian companies mine for diamonds in the eastern part of this region, Finnish companies in the west. The thing that makes the Lomonosov mine so special is that it contains many coloured diamonds, including pink, violet, green, yellow and brown. It also holds a large amount of high-quality colourless diamonds. This composition is unusual because it is estimated that normally only one out of every 10᾽000 mined diamonds is coloured.
Open-pit diamond mining
In any case, the Severalmaz mining company has to bore wells to prevent the open-pit mine from flooding. The groundwater level and temperature are constantly monitored to ensure reliable dewatering. During winter, temperatures can fall as low as -37 °С. This harsh environment presents extreme challenges for the measuring instruments used.
Bore wells for dewatering
Monitoring 200 meters underground
Severalmaz pumps groundwater out of the open-pit mine through several wells drilled on the perimeter. Between 2013 and 2015, the company installed KELLER Pressure DCX-16 data loggers at all 45 dewatering wells.
Data collectors with a small diameter
The DCX-16 is an autonomous, battery-powered data collector in a stainless steel housing with a very small diameter of only 16 mm. The logger can take pressure and temperature readings over long periods of time. The software it comes with makes it possible to set measuring intervals. In addition, the recorded data can be presented in the form of a graph or else converted into water level figures. The client chose this solution because the product can be used in a wet standpipe 200 – 300 metres underground and also has a very low error band. Thanks to their small diameter, DCX-16 level sensors can also be used at locations where every millimetre of space counts.
