Avaliação do potencial espeleológico na Serra do Gandarela em ambiente 3D, a partir de métodos de geoprocessamento aplicado à segurança e avaliação ambiental de atividades minerárias

Abstract

Among the environmental assessment studies required for the licensing of mining projects, cave assessment studies in the field of speleology have gained increasing importance. Serra do Gandarela, located in the northern portion of the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, in the central region of the state of Minas Gerais, is a geomorphological domain that is the target of constant studies related to the subject, as it has factors of both environmental and mineral interest. A factor that demonstrates the environmental interest is the existence of the Gandarela National Park, which covers a part of the mountain range and has vast geodiversity with hundreds of cavities registered in public domain records by the CECAV. The mining activities in Serra do Gandarela are expressed by the iron mines in the region, in addition to dozens of mining processes existing in the area registered with the ANM outside the mining phase. The coexistence of these factors, mining and the environment, requires careful studies to be carried out in the region in this regard to minimize the environmental impact caused by mining activities. In this sense, the present work intends to present cartographic studies carried out considering the factors mentioned in the 3D geological modeling platform Leapfrog®. The platform, originally developed for geological modeling in the mining area, can be used to integrate all spatial data, so that by overlaying a 3D geological model, it is possible to observe the arrangement of mining structures, cavities, rivers, maps of slope and all other geographic and topographic data of interest. The union of such information in a single model will allow observations to be made in order to support interpretations in environmental assessment studies, in engineering projects and also in projects aiming at the safety of structures, such as mining dams, occurring in the region. The developed model will be made available and at the end of the work vertical profiles of the main regions of interest will be presented, highlighting the observed aspects.