Spotted Quoll is one of two nickel deposits being mined by Western Areas as part of their Forrestania operations. The pit was mined to 120 m depth in 2009-2012, and underground mining is currently at 1 km depth. As a result of being located along a major shear, the upper part of the ore-body is very fractured and wet.
To enable dewatering of Spotted Quoll Pit, Rockwater was engaged to locate, design and supervise the drilling and testing of seven production bores in the hangingwall of the orebody. From 2009, the borefield was operated at 60 L/s, for a total extraction of 4 GL. This resulted in complete dewatering of pit shell within 4 years.
Only a proportion of the dewatering water could be used for mining purposes. The excess water was discharged to underground workings, evaporation ponds, and a network of injection bores, some of which were designed by Rockwater.
Prior to mining, extensive stygofauna and troglofauna surveys were performed by our environmental staff. Several endemic stygofauna species were identified, some of which were described as new species and published.
Rockwater has provided hydrogeological services to the Forrestania nickel operations since 2003. We continue to undertake regulatory reporting and provide advice on dewatering and water supply.
