Post-mining – Gardanne project

The cessation of mining operations is generally accompanied by a halt in the pumping of mine water, which was put in place to enable miners to work in dry conditions. The resulting flooding of former mining sites creates vast artificial reservoirs of groundwater, but the quality of this water is potentially degraded by the chemical changes that affected the rock and mining residues during operation. In addition to these chemical aspects, there is also a change in underground circulation linked to the very geometry of the operation.

The Post-mining – Gardanne project, funded by a partnership with BRGM, aims to understand and model the chemical and dynamic changes in water from flooded coal mines, focusing on the specific case of the Gardanne mine near Marseille. It forms the basis of Bastien Morin’s thesis (BRGM-UL).