In the Urals region in recent decades, dozens of copper mines, which are the most dangerous in terms of environmental impact, have been closed and flooded. In many of them, acid mine waters continue to form, the concentrations of most components in which exceed the permissible values by several orders of magnitude. The formation of the chemical composition of acidic groundwater has a pronounced unsteady character: a sharp increase in the content of all components in the water after flooding and a gradual decline for many years. On Levikha copper mine (Sverdlovsk region) after filling the depression con in 2007, a site of concentrated discharge of groundwater was formed (technogenic reservoir-a failure in the zone of collapse and displacement). The concentrations of many components 10 years after the completion of flooding are higher than during the development. The analysis of regularities of non-stationary character of hydrogeochemical processes is made on the basis of the data of detailed monitoring and extended definitions of groundwater quality indicators. The main source of acidic water with increased mineralization is the collapse zone, within which the process of drainage for several decades formed technogenic sulfuric acid weathering crust enriched with secondary minerals. According to the data of numerical geofiltration modeling, in the hydrodynamic balance the lateral flow coming from the surrounding areas is 60%, its value is manifested in the dilution of the solution, which is formed in the collapse zone. The time of movement of this flow in the area of collapse is 6–8 years, extremely high values of almost all indicators in the man-made reservoir are observed during this period. According to the inverse physical-chemical modeling (program code Visual MINTEQ ver. 3.0 / 3.1 was used) the composition of rocks, as a result of dissolution-deposition of which underground waters in the area of the flooded mine can be formed, is determined. The duration of the process of formation of acidic groundwater is estimated at tens of years.
Computer and physical-chemical modeling of the evolution of a fractal corrosion front