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The article presents an innovative approach for identifying hydraulically well-connected discontinuities, such as faults or fracture zones, responsible for groundwater flow in mining environments. The tracer dilution profile (TDP) method uses a tracer injected into a borehole to measure the evolution of concentration profiles over time. This technique identifies flow zones without applying stress, overcoming scale effects present in other borehole testing methods. It was successfully applied to a mining project in Mexico.

The study explores the use of Tracer Dilution Profiles (TDP) to identify fault interconnections by varying external stress (pumping). Conducted at the Renard Mine (Canada), it revealed that a parallel fault, rather than the SDZ, was the main water-bearing structure. Using TDP, the mine was dewatered in 5 days at only 15% of the initial budget. Water chemistry analysis confirmed the distinction between the two faults. The TDP method proved faster and more effective than conventional tests for optimizing mine dewatering.