Resistivity and induced polarization to support morphological modeling in limestone mining

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the application of geophysical surveys to update the morphological model of a limestone and gneiss deposit of a mining company near the city of Taubaté, Brazil. The research began with a test to verify the accuracy of the geophysical survey method and it was conducted in the same area as a previous drilling campaign with the aim of confirming the possibility of using Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) and induced polarization (IP) methods, in order to obtain the required information for the deposit morphological modeling. As a result, the application of geophysical methods in the study area reduced up to 75% the data collection time and presented similar accuracy levels as conventional exploration methods used for the same research objectives.