Slope failure kinematics

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 73, No. 816, 1980

Z.M. ZAVODNI, Project Mining Engineer C.D. BROADBENT, Manager, Mining Engineering, Engineering Center, Kennecott Minerals Company, Salt Lake City, Utah

Major rock slides in open-pit mines are rare, but they can develop in spite of sophisticated slope engineering design practice. Experience has shown that, except under high seismic load conditions, the serious slope instability condition is almost always accompanied by the gradual development of one or more tension cracks behind the slope crest, allowing for time-displacement monitoring. Continuous surface displacement measurements with attendant prompt analyses are usually adequate for the prediction of slope behaviour.This paper describes efforts that have been made to quantify parameters associated with slide movement, and compares the displacement records of several large-scale open-pit porphyry copper mine slope failures. Two principal failure stages are recognized in the typical slope failure leading to total collapse: (a) REGRESSIVE STAGE, during which the failure will re-stabilize if some disturbance external to the rock and structure is removed; and (b) PROGRESSIVE STAGE, during which the failure will gradually displace at an accelerating rate to the point of total collapse unless active control measures are taken. Over-all displacement records in both failure stages are apparently of simple exponential form, with a definite break occurring at the onset-of-failure point.Certain common empirical relationships are suggested for the large-scale slope failures analyzed in this study. Based on plots of displacement rate vs time prior to collapse, a semi-quantitative empirical relationship is presented for failure collapse prediction. The comparison of historical slide displacement records furnishes the operating engineer with practical guidelines to estimate the characteristics of future large-scale slope failures.

Keywords: Open-pit mining, Slope failures, Kinematics, Rock mechanics, Kennecott Copper Corporation, Pit slopes.