Abstract
Technical and economic assessment of subsurface rock mass deformation and pore pressure monitoring using a network of wireless devices
Highlights
-;=5:9: Steepening of slopes provides the means to reduce waste extraction and increase ore recovery in open pit mines; it may adversely affect safety by posing a higher risk of slope failure
Steepening of slopes provides the means to reduce waste extraction and increase ore recovery (Stacey, 2009; Calderon and Tapia, 2006; Bye and Bell, 2001; Jefferies, Lorig, and Alvarez, 2008); it may adversely affect operational safety, as steeper slopes are less stable than shallow slopes (Steffen et al, 2008; Mphathiwa and Cawood, 2014)
To manage the risk inherent in steeper slopes, the implementation of a slope monitoring program is recommended, as this provides data to assess the actual performance of the rock mass and of the slopes affected by open pit mining
Summary
In-ground displacement monitoring instruments are less sophisticated, yet they can potentially serve as a predictive tool of slope failures with weeks of advance notice by registering ground movement before it propagates to the surface The following assumptions were made: ® The rock mass was initially fully saturated, meaning that the water table was located at surface level ® Optimized slope designs include a dewatering campaign ® A single instrumentation borehole could house devices to measure both deformation and pore pressure at the same time and, if required, at the same position ® Detailed mine design was not the main focus of this research: ramps, berms, and other structures inside the pit were not included in the design and the analyses were made considering the outline of the pit only. Five different destinations for the extracted material were defined to allow the DeepMine software to
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