Estimation of the Volume of Debris Material for the Feldspar Mineral Mining in the Baveno Pink Granite Quarry

In the Baveno “Seula” quarry, in North-West of Italy, the mining in the area has three aspects: 1) quarrying the pink granite for the production of ornamental stone blocks; 2) recycling of the debris and of the production scraps from previous mining for the production of cliff’s boulder and smashed inert material; 3) mining the k-feldspar mineral from the mining landfill. In this context, the aim of the geophysical survey was to map the bedrock topography and evaluate the volume of the debris (overburden), which would be used for the processing of feldspar mineral. Secondly, we want roughly to characterize the debris (granulometry) and the quality of the underlying stone. We used the ERT methodology, since we expect a significant resistivity contrast between debris (more conductive due to the presence of water in voids and at the interface with the bedrock) and the compact stone (more resistive). The geophysical survey allowed the identification of different layers, and the top of the granite to be mapped. The excavation operations in some portions of the investigated area reached the bedrock: the electrical resistivity sections clearly show the coincidence between the estimated bedrock location from the ERT results and the real position.