Slope stability assessment of an open pit mine using three-dimensional rock mass modeling

Abstract

Rock mass classification systems are commonly used to evaluate the likelihood of instability in mining environments. Most frequently used classification systems are RMR, GSI, and Q-system. These methods are used widespread among geotechnical engineers as one practical way to assess quality of the rock mass. In most of hard rock open pit mines, bench faces with no clear discontinuities present one or two joint sets that may dominate on the failure mechanism. To address this, Slope Mass Rating (SMR), which is a modified version of RMR system of rock mass classification, can be used. The benefit is that SMR takes into consideration the influence of joint orientation on the classification method itself. Hence, the main aim of this paper is: first, to develop a 3-dimensional RMR model of an open pit mine under active operation based on the extensive field mapping carried out, and then produce a SMR surface model that is derived using current topography, modeled RMR values and jointing conditions prevailing in each structural domain. The final goal is to create a SMR susceptibility map of the mine area for the dominant topographic condition and the main structural domains present in the open pit, and to present a methodology that may be easily replicated at any given hard rock open pit mine. The authors emphasize that the use of SMR model is a very helpful tool in evaluating the areas of the mine that are most vulnerable to potential slope instability in different periods of operation of the mine.

Novel methods for quantitative analysis of kinematic stability and slope mass rating in jointed rock slopes with the aid of a new computer application

“…Several works have been done to assess rock slope stability on the basis of slope mass rating (Singh et al 2014(Singh et al , 2015Sarkar et al 2016;Mahanta et al 2016;Siddique et al 2017;Sardana et al 2019). In addition to the application in rock slopes, recently, SMR classification system has also been applied to check stability in open pit mines (Prasetya et al 2015;Zakaria et al 2016;Morales et al 2019) and detect rockfall hazards in mountainous region (Triana and Hermawan 2020;Albarelli et al 2021). When there is such a wide application of the classification system, the ratings should be determined in a more precise way.…”

Utilizing a Geomechanical Classification to Preliminary Analysis of Rock Slope Stability Along Roadway D340- 41.42, Southwest of Turkey: A Case Study

“…In general, the slope stability determination methods depending on the material involved (Sonmez et al, 1998) . However, many authors have applied geostatistics to investigate slope stability assessment in a rock mass (Aksoy, 2008;Harrison and Hudson, 2000;Liu and Chen, 2007;Morales et al, 2019;Pastor et al, 2019;Tomas et al, 2012) qualitative and quantitative methods have been used to detect and predict rock slope stabilities, As is well known, Rock Mass Classification calculated based of RMR, is probably one of the most widely used classifications (Pantelidis, 2009;Romana, 1997) is mainly used and developed to perform slope stability and examine failure of rock cut slopes, but largely accepted, endorsed and used in current paper classification system is slope mass rating (SMR) (Romana, 1985;Romana et al, 2003) specifically designed for calibration of slopes, which basically modified from basic Rock Mass Rating (RMRbasic).…”

Mine Slope Stability Based on Fusion Technology of InSAR Monitoring and Numerical Simulation

“…In order to ensure that open pit mining can be carried out safely and smoothly, the prediction and analysis of the stability of the open slope of the mining site is becoming more and more important. With the rapid development of computer science, numerical simulation analysis has become the main tool to study these kinds of engineering problems [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Software that fuses strength theory and numerical simulation can quickly and effectively simulate changes in slope stresses.…”