ABSTRACT
In the solution mining industry, there has been a long debate whether brine (cavern fluids) can fracture a salt formation with high leakage rates, especially under slow pressure build-up rates. The alternative is leakage via elevated permeation levels via intragranular microfissures. In this way leak-off rates are still an (exponential) function of cavern pressure. A limited test in a German (Etzel) cavern was inconclusive on the mechanism of leak-off. See Brouard (2019) for a summary on leakage tests and incidents.
