Effect of Fracture Permeability on Connectivity of Fracture Networks

T. Molebatsi, S. Galindo Torres, L. Li, D. Bringemeier and X. Wang

Many open pit mines are located in fractured rock systems where water flow paths are complex and difficult to predict. These flow paths are typically controlled by a small subset of fractures that are permeable and interconnected. Most models of flow in fractured rock systems are based on a network of interconnected fractures that are all assumed to be permeable. However this assumption is rarely observed in natural rocks where a significant fraction of the fractures within a connected cluster could be impermeable.