The SRK UK hydrogeology team undertook a groundwater investigation as part of a wider feasibility study to support the development of the Al Khabra phosphate deposit, located in the Sirhan-Turayf region of Saudi Arabia.
The primary aim of the hydrogeological study was to locate and design a water supply well field capable of providing a secure long-term supply of groundwater for the life of the project.
SRK hydrogeologists initially sought to identify the target aquifers and relevant drill locations, alongside conducting an on the ground hydrocensus survey to identify existing users and assess potential impacts to regional water supply.
This was followed by drilling supervision, lithological and geophysical logging and hydrogeological testing of the target sandstone aquifer, which is referred to as the Tawil Formation in KSA.
With the information collected during the field program and knowledge gained from the development of a conceptual hydrogeological model, it was possible to construct and calibrate a numerical groundwater model using the Modflow code. The model was regional in scale and covered much of NW Saudi Arabia, an approximate area of 70,000 km2.
Analysis of the numerical groundwater model aided SRK hydrogeologists to produce a final location and layout design of a large water supply well field.
