Empress Catherine II Saint-Petersburg Mining University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

Ustiugov D. L., Associate Professor, Candidate of Geologo-Mineralogical Sciences, Ustyugov_DL@pers.spmi.ru
Pospekhov G. B., Associate Professor, Candidate of Geologo-Mineralogical Sciences

Empress Catherine II Saint-Petersburg Mining University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia¹ ; Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, Cuba²
Savon-Vaciano Yu.^1,2, Post-Graduate Student

Empress Catherine II Saint-Petersburg Mining University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia¹ ; University of Ciego de Avila Maximo Gomez Baez, Cuba²
Noa Segura H. L.^1,2, Post-Graduate Student

This study evaluates the groundwater regime in a metal mineral deposit in Cuba, combining statistical analysis, data mining and spatial interpolation of 15 504 historical records in 38 years. Kriging Regression was used (0.091 m prediction error) and bootstrap method to model the variability of the water table in an area of 4 174.55 km² between Ciego de Avila and Camagüey regions. The results reveal flow patterns and recharge/discharge areas, with significant influence of morphometric parameters such as elevation and drainage network. The variability of the groundwater level in the mineral site (10.12–18.49 m) highlights the need for careful water management, especially due to mining pollution.

1. Oluranti Agboola, Damilola E. Babatunde, Ojo Sunday Isaac Fayomi et al. A review on the impact of mining operation: Monitoring, assessment and management. Results in Engineering. 2020. Vol. 8. ID 100181.
2. Chen Z., Yang Y., Zhou L. et al. Ecological restoration in mining areas in the context of the Belt and Road initiative: Capability and challenges. Environmental Impact Assessment Review. 2022. Vol. 95. ID 106767.
3. Murugesan E., Shanmugamoorthy S., Veerasamy S., Velusamy S. Groundwater hydrochemistry and its appropriateness for consumption and irrigation: Geographic and temporal variation: Integrated approach. Urban Climate. 2023. Vol. 49. ID 101482.
4. Hilili J. M., Onuora D. I., Hilili R. U. et al. Ground Water Contamination: Effects and Remedies. Asian Journal of Environment & Ecology. 2021. Vol 14, Iss. 1. pp. 39–58.

5. Minnaar A. Water Pollution and Contamination from Gold Mines: Acid Mine Drainage in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Water, Governance, and Crime Issues. 2020. pp. 193–219. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-44798-4_12
6. Santana C. S., Olivares D. M. M., Silva V. H. C. et al. Assessment of water resources pollution associated with mining activity in a semi-arid region. Journal of Environmental Management. 2020. Vol. 273. ID 111148.
7. Nti E. K., Kranjac-Berisavljevic G., Doke D. A. Assessing the impact of artisanal gold mining on the environmental sustainability of groundwater resource for water security in southwestern Ghana. Environmental Challenges. 2024. Vol. 14. ID 100804.
8. Abdelaal A., Sultan M., Elhebiry M. et al. Integrated studies to identify sitespecific parameters for environmentally benign mining operations: A case study from the Sukari Gold Mine, Egypt. Science of The Total Environment. 2021. Vol. 750. ID 141654.
9. Liu Rui-ping, Xu You-ning, Rui Hui-chao et al. Migration and speciation transformation mechanisms of mercury in undercurrent zones of the Tongguan gold mining area, Shaanxi Loess Plateau and impact on the environment. China Geology. 2021. Vol. 4, No. 2. pp. 311–328.
10. Wang C., Liao F., Wang G. et al. Hydrogeochemical evolution induced by longterm mining activities in a multi-aquifer system in the mining area. Science of The Total Environment. 2023. Vol. 854. ID 158806.
11. Cheremisina O. V., Gorbacheva A. A., Balandinsky D. A. et al. Synergistic effect of a mixture of ethoxyphosphoric esters and sodium oleate in aqueous solutions. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects. 2024. Vol. 685. ID 133314.
12. Barjoee S. S., Rodionov V., Vaziri Sereshk A. M. Noise climate assessment in ceramic industries (Iran) using acoustic indices and its control solutions. Advances in Environmental Technology. 2025. Vol. 11, No. 1. pp. 91–115.
13. Meißner S. The Impact of Metal Mining on Global Water Stress and Regional Carrying Capacities—A GIS-Based Water Impact Assessment. Resources. 2021. Vol. 10, Iss. 12. ID 120.
14. Kazapoe R. W., Amuah E. E. Y., Abdiwali S. A. et al. Relationship between small-scale gold mining activities and water use in Ghana: A review of policy documents aimed at protecting water bodies in mining communities. Environmental Challenges. 2023. Vol. 12. ID 100727.
15. Liu C., Xu J., Zhao J. et al. Copper deposit development potential on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau in China based on the pressure-state-response framework. Scientific Reports. 2025. Vol. 15. ID 4589.
16. Golovina E. I., Grebneva A. V. Management of groundwater resources in transboundary territories (on the example of The Russian Federation and The Republic of Estonia). Journal of Mining Institute. 2021. Vol. 252. pp. 788–800.
17. Semenova T., Martínez Santoyo J. Y. Increasing the Sustainability of the Strategic Development of Oil Producing Companies in Mexico. Resources. 2024. Vol. 13, Iss. 8. ID 108.
18. Georgievsky M. V., Mamaeva M. A. Water Resources of the Russian Part of the Baltic Sea Basin and Their Possible Changes Under Global Warming. Water Resources Quality and Management in Baltic Sea Countries. 2020. pp. 159–208. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-39701-2_9
19. Sinitsa N. V., Prishchepa O. M. Methodological approaches to evaluation of oil and gas potential of pre-Jurassic sediments in the Southern West Siberia. Gornyi Zhurnal. 2024. No. 9. pp. 20–26.
20. Ilyushin Y. V., Nosova V. A. Methodology to Increase the Efficiency of the Mineral Water Extraction Process. Water. 2024. Vol. 16, Iss. 10. ID 1329.
21. Shklyarskiy Y. E., Guerra D. D., Iakovleva E. V., Rassõlkin A. The influence of solar energy on the development of the mining industry in the Republic of Cuba. Journal of Mining Institute. 2021. Vol. 249. pp. 427–440.
22.Toujaguez R., Ono F. B., Martins V. et al. Arsenic bioaccessibility in gold mine tailings of Delita, Cuba. Journal of Hazardous Materials. 2013. Vol. 262. pp. 1004–1013.
23. González H., Ramírez M. The effect of nickel mining and metallurgical activities on the distribution of heavy metals in Levisa Bay, Cuba. Journal of Geochemical Exploration. 1995. Vol. 52, No. 1-2. pp. 183–192.
24. Bruguera N. C., Diaz J. A., Alvarez J. R. et al. Impact of environmental liabilities on the hydrographic network of the mining region of Santa Lucía, Minas de Matahambre, Cuba. Ingeniería Hidráulica y Ambiental. 2022. Vol. 43, No. 1. pp. 63–78.
25. Nistor M. M., Rahardjo H., Satyanaga A. et al. Investigation of groundwater table distribution using borehole piezometer data interpolation: Case study of Singapore. Engineering Geology. 2020. Vol. 271. ID 105590.
26. Sarma R., Singh S. K. A Comparative Study of Data-driven Models for Groundwater Level Forecasting. Water Resour Manage. 2022. Vol. 36. pp. 2741–2756.
27. Júnez-Ferreira H. E., Hernández-Hernández M. A., Herrera G. S. et al. Assessment of changes in regional groundwater levels through spatiotemporal kriging: application to the southern Basin of Mexico aquifer system. Hydrogeology Journal. 2023. Vol. 31. pp. 1405–1423.
28. Ovcharenko L. A., Korotkova E. A. The role of climatic factors in the formation of the flow of the belaya river in the modern period. Bulletin of Higher Educational Institutions. North Caucasus Region. Natural Sciences. 2022. No. 3(215). pp. 62–69.
29. Ashabokov B. A., Fedchenko L. M., Kupovykh G. V. et al. Method for reducing risks in agriculture associated with droughts, taking into account the probability of their occurrence. Bulletin of Higher Educational Institutions. North Caucasus Region. Natural Sciences. 2023. No 3(219). pp. 45–56.
30. Semenova T., Martínez Santoyo J. Y. Economic Strategy for Developing the Oil Industry in Mexico by Incorporating Environmental Factors. Sustainability. 2024. Vol. 16, Iss. 1. ID 36.
31. Movchan I. B., Asyanina V. Yu. Tracing the forecast structural elements while interpretation of remote sensing data within Fresnillo city (Central Mexica). Journal of Mining Institute. 2014. Vol. 207. pp. 195.
32. Yamazaki D., Ikeshima D., Tawatari R. et al. A high-accuracy map of global terrain elevations. Geophysical Research Letters. 2017. Vol. 44, Iss. 11. pp. 5844–5853.
33. Lehner B., Grill G. Global river hydrography and network routing: baseline data and new approaches to study the world’s large river systems. Hydrological Processes. 2013. Vol. 27, Iss. 15. pp. 2171–2186.
34. Ustyugov D. L., Noa Segura H. L., Ryakhovsky M. S. Influence of rainfall infiltration on groundwater recharge in hydrogeological region La Yana, Cuba. Gornyi Zhurnal. 2024. No. 9. pp. 97–102.
35. Singha C., Swain K. C., Pradhan B. et al. Mapping groundwater potential zone in the subarnarekha basin, India, using a novel hybrid multi-criteria approach in Google earth Engine. Heliyon. 2024. Vol. 10, Iss. 2. ID e24308.
36. Pérez R. O., García D. E. Geological map of Cuba, scale 1:100000. Habana, Cuba: Archivo IGP-SGC, 2016.
37. Well and Monitoring Data. IGRAC. Available at: https://ggis.un-igrac.org/catalogue/#/map/56 (accessed: 21.02.2025).
38. Paliz C., Perugachi N., Martínez J. et al. Statistical analysis of rainfall data using robust and bootstrap methods. FIGEMPA: Investigación y Desarrollo. 2021. Vol. 12, No. 2. pp. 52–61.
39. Bello A. M., Cuta J. A., García E. K. Imputation techniques applied in a maximum monthly precipitation data in the central zone of Boyacá. Ingeniería Investigación y Desarrollo. 2019. Vol. 19, No. 1. pp. 64–79.
40. Fisher R. A. On the mathematical foundations of theoretical statistics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 1922. Vol. 222. pp. 309–368.
41. Akaike H. A new look at the statistical model identification. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control. 1974. Vol. 19, No. 6. pp. 716–723.
42. Schwarz G. Estimating the Dimension of a Model. The Annals of Statistics. 1978. Vol. 6, No. 2. pp. 461–464.
43. Asadi A., Adhikari K. Minimizing Errors in the Prediction of Water Levels Using Kriging Technique in Residuals of the Groundwater Model. Water. 2022. Vol. 14, Iss. 3. ID 426.
44. Gusev E. A. Results and prospects of geological mapping of the Arctic shelf of Russia. Journal of Mining Institute. 2022. Vol. 255. pp. 290–298.