Problems in Designing Stable Open-Pit Mine Slopes
Albert E. Long Chief, Reno Mining Research Laboratory, U.S. Deportment of the Interior Bureau of Mines, ' Reno, Nevada.
The general significance and possible effects of the attitude of rock joints and faults, groundwater, over blasting, and the geometry and character of stresses created by previous mining, gravity or tectonic forces on the steepness and stability of open-pit mine slopes are discussed in this paper. lnformation derived from slope stability research studies now m progress reveals that failures of rock s lopes are ~ore often due to an adverse attitude and spacing of bedding joint or fault planes than to gravitationally-induced failures. Hence, it is possible that, at some future date an engineer responsible for designing an open pit may consider and attitudes o~ planar rock structures to be more sigmf1cant econom1cally than the shape and attitude of the orebody to be mined.
Keywords:
Materials, mining, open-pit, Reno, Nevada, rock, slope stability, water table, Pit slopes, Pits, Rock, Rocks, Slopes, Stability, stress
