Thermal Investigation of the Witwatersrand Basin II: Thermophysical Properties of Stratified Rocks

Accurate information on virgin rock temperature (VRT) is fundamental for planning ventilation and refrigeration requirements of deep mines. This has necessitated extensive programmes of data collection in gold mines of the Witwatersrand Basin and a substantial VRT database. The first purpose of this paper is to present an overview of this database and regional VRT patterns. Sufficient geological and geothermal data are available from the Witwatersrand Basin to obtain detailed representations of VRT variations on a local scale through numerical modeling, and the second purpose of this paper is to present results of such a modelling exercise to illustrate its application.