During the transition from open-pit to underground mining in iron ore mines, water inrush is a prominent problem for mine safety and production. In this paper, a comprehensive method that incorporates hydrochemical analysis and numerical simulation is proposed to analyse the characteristics of water inrush during the transition from open-pit to underground mining. The proposed method revealed the migration law of groundwater and analysed the source of mine water inrush in the Yanqianshan iron mine located in Liaoning province, China. The results show that the excavated mine roadway is the primary factor affecting groundwater migration and that the source of the mine water inrush is the groundwater in the aquifer around the mine roadway. Moreover, based on the results of the study, appropriate methods for prevention and treatment of mine water inrush were proposed. This approach provides a novel idea for the assessment of water inrush hazards and will serve as a valuable reference for analogous engineering cases.
Keywords: hazard effects; hydrochemical analysis; iron ore mine; transition from open-pit to underground mining; water inrush characteristics.