Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Read ◽  
Peter Stacey
Keyword(s):  
Slope Stability ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Rock Slope ◽  
Rock Slope Stability ◽  
Open Pit ◽  
Financial Return ◽  
Open Pit Mines ◽  
Management Procedures ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Slope Design

Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design is a comprehensive account of the open pit slope design process. Created as an outcome of the Large Open Pit (LOP) project, an international research and technology transfer project on rock slope stability in open pit mines, this book provides an up-to-date compendium of knowledge of the slope design processes that should be followed and the tools that are available to aid slope design practitioners. This book links innovative mining geomechanics research into the strength of closely jointed rock masses with the most recent advances in numerical modelling, creating more effective ways for predicting rock slope stability and reliability in open pit mines. It sets out the key elements of slope design, the required levels of effort and the acceptance criteria that are needed to satisfy best practice with respect to pit slope investigation, design, implementation and performance monitoring. Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design comprises 14 chapters that directly follow the life of mine sequence from project commencement through to closure. It includes: information on gathering all of the field data that is required to create a 3D model of the geotechnical conditions at a mine site; how data is collated and used to design the walls of the open pit; how the design is implemented; up-to-date procedures for wall control and performance assessment, including limits blasting, scaling, slope support and slope monitoring; and how formal risk management procedures can be applied to each stage of the process. This book will assist in meeting stakeholder requirements for pit slopes that are stable, in regards to safety, ore recovery and financial return, for the required life of the mine.

Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design in Weak Rocks

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Mine Planning ◽  
Rock Slope Stability ◽  
Open Pit ◽  
Weak Rock ◽  
Primary Control ◽  
Water Control ◽  
Open Pit Mines ◽  
Weak Rocks ◽  
Slope Design

Weak rocks encountered in open pit mines cover a wide variety of materials, with properties ranging between soil and rock. As such, they can provide a significant challenge for the slope designer. For these materials, the mass strength can be the primary control in the design of the pit slopes, although structures can also play an important role. Because of the typically weak nature of the materials, groundwater and surface water can also have a controlling influence on stability. Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design in Weak Rocks is a companion to Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design, which was published in 2009 and dealt primarily with strong rocks. Both books were commissioned under the Large Open Pit (LOP) project, which is sponsored by major mining companies. These books provide summaries of the current state of practice for the design, implementation and assessment of slopes in open pits, with a view to meeting the requirements of safety, as well as the recovery of anticipated ore reserves. This book, which follows the general cycle of the slope design process for open pits, contains 12 chapters. These chapters were compiled and written by industry experts and contain a large number of case histories. The initial chapters address field data collection, the critical aspects of determining the strength of weak rocks, the role of groundwater in weak rock slope stability and slope design considerations, which can differ somewhat from those applied to strong rock. The subsequent chapters address the principal weak rock types that are encountered in open pit mines, including cemented colluvial sediments, weak sedimentary mudstone rocks, soft coals and chalk, weak limestone, saprolite, soft iron ores and other leached rocks, and hydrothermally altered rocks. A final chapter deals with design implementation aspects, including mine planning, monitoring, surface water control and closure of weak rock slopes. As with the other books in this series, Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design in Weak Rocks provides guidance to practitioners involved in the design and implementation of open pit slopes, particularly geotechnical engineers, mining engineers, geologists and other personnel working at operating mines.

scholarly journals Design and Sensitivity Analysis of Rock Slope Using Monte Carlo Simulation

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 573-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeyemi Emman Aladejare ◽  
Victor Oluwatosin Akeju
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Monte Carlo Simulation ◽  
Monte Carlo ◽  
Slope Stability ◽  
Rock Slope ◽  
Probabilistic Approach ◽  
Rock Slope Stability ◽  
Tension Crack ◽  
Perform Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Slope Design

Abstract A probabilistic approach that is based on Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) was developed in this study to design and perform sensitivity analysis of rock slope. The probabilistic approach uses MCS to perform a series of single objective optimizations for design of rock slope and to perform sensitivity analysis of rock slope stability. The MCS-based approach was used to evaluate the failure probability of a rock slope system and to determine a safe maximum slope height for rock slope design. To achieve this, the performance of different rock properties and rock slope conditions were explicitly considered towards achieving the target reliability index of the rock slope. The approach can achieve multiple rock slope design specifications using different target reliability indexes from a single run of MCS. The proposed probabilistic approach was illustrated through an example of rock slope design to determine feasible designs under different rock slope conditions. Also, sensitivity studies were performed to explore the effects of uncertainties in tension crack depth and water depth in tension crack, and variability in rock unit weight. The results show that the effects of uncertainties and variability on rock slope stability can be significant and should be incorporated during design analysis. Incorporating such uncertainties and variability in rock slope design is achieved with relative ease using the proposed approach.

Footwall Rock Slope Stability Evaluations at Nchanga Open Pit Mine, Zambia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenping Gong ◽  
Victor Mwango Bowa ◽  
Chao Zhao ◽  
Zhan Cheng ◽  
Liang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Slope Stability ◽  
Rock Slope ◽  
Open Pit Mine ◽  
Rock Slope Stability ◽  
Open Pit

Analysis of Rock Slope Stability on the Basis of Limit Equilibrium Method

2013 ◽  
Vol 711 ◽  
pp. 333-337
Author(s):  
Jun Wang ◽  
Hong Guang Ji
Keyword(s):  
Slope Stability ◽  
Rock Slope ◽  
Limit Equilibrium ◽  
Limit Equilibrium Method ◽  
Rock Slope Stability ◽  
Open Pit ◽  
Engineering Practice ◽  
Local Instability ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
Limit Equilibrium Theory

To analyze the rock slope stability of open pit, limit equilibrium theory is used and the safety factor of slope stability is calculated by Geo-slope software. Then, the region where local instability or overall instability may occur is determined. Finally, some optimization plans and appropriate protective measures are suggested, providing a theoretical basis for engineering practice.

The Three-Dimensional (3D) Numerical Stability Analysis of Hyttemalmen Open-Pit

2014 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 609-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Cała ◽  
Michał Kowalski ◽  
Agnieszka Stopkowicz
Keyword(s):  
Rock Mass ◽  
Stability Analysis ◽  
Slope Stability ◽  
Water Table ◽  
Factor Of Safety ◽  
Rock Slope ◽  
Numerical Calculations ◽  
Rock Slope Stability ◽  
Open Pit ◽  
Small Scale

Abstract The purpose of this paper was to perform the 3D numerical calculations allowing slope stability analysis of Hyttemalmen open pit (location Kirkenes, Finnmark Province, Norway). After a ramp rock slide, which took place in December 2010, as well as some other small-scale rock slope stability problems, it proved necessary to perform a serious stability analyses. The Hyttemalmen open pit was designed with a depth up to 100 m, a bench height of 24 m and a ramp width of 10 m. The rock formation in the iron mining district of Kirkenes is called the Bjornevaten Group. This is the most structurally complicated area connected with tectonic process such as folding, faults and metamorphosis. The Bjornevaten Group is a volcano-sedimentary sequence. Rock slope stability depends on the mechanical properties of the rock, hydro-geological conditions, slope topography, joint set systems and seismic activity. However, rock slope stability is mainly connected with joint sets. Joints, or general discontinuities, are regarded as weak planes within rock which have strength reducing consequences with regard to rock strength. Discontinuities within the rock mass lead to very low tensile strength. Several simulations were performed utilising the RocLab (2007) software to estimate the gneiss cohesion for slopes of different height. The RocLab code is dedicated to estimate rock mass strength using the Hoek-Brown failure criterion. Utilising both the GSI index and the Hoek-Brown strength criterion the equivalent Mohr-Coulomb parameters (cohesion and angle of internal friction) can be calculated. The results of 3D numerical calculations (with FLA3D code) show that it is necessary to redesign the slope-bench system in the Hyttemalmen open pit. Changing slope inclination for lower stages is recommended. The minimum factor of safety should be equal 1.3. At the final planned stage of excavation, the factor of safety drops to 1.06 with failure surface ranging through all of the slopes. In the case of a slope angle 70° for lower stages, FS = 1.26, which is not enough to provide slope stability. Another series of calculations were therefore performed taking water table lowering into consideration, which increases the global safety factor. It was finally evaluated, that for a water table level of 72 m the factor of safety equals 1.3, which is enough to assure global open-pit stability.

Assessment of the rock slope stability of Fushun West Open-pit Mine

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Zhang ◽  
Tianhong Yang ◽  
Lianchong Li ◽  
Jianqing Bu ◽  
Tianliang Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Slope Stability ◽  
Rock Slope ◽  
Open Pit Mine ◽  
Rock Slope Stability ◽  
Open Pit
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