FROM FIELD DATA TO FRACTURE NETWORK MODELING - AN EXAMPLE INCORPORATING SPATIAL STRUCTURE

This paper describes a technique for processing field data for a fracture network model which accounts for the observed spatial variability. This has been done by generating a network subregion by subregion where the properties of each subregion are predicted through geostatistics. Once the geometry of a particular realization is specified, flow through the network is studied. We develop the method for a two-dimensional analysis based on data from Fanay-Augeres, a uranium mine in France. We plan to extend the analysis to three dimensions and compare the results with in situ test results. In particular, we have focused on the data collected in a long section of a drift where fractures have been mapped and steady state permeability tests have been performed in 10 boreholes.