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Geostatistics-block-based characterization of heterogeneous rock mass and its application on ultimate pit limit optimization: a case study

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Abstract

For an open-pit mine, the slope must remain stable throughout the life of mining operation, and it follows that an optimized ultimate pit limit (UPL) should have the slope stability commensurate with economic benefit. In the Shuguang gold and copper mine, a geostatistics-block-based method is used to characterize the heterogeneous mechanical properties of rock mass. Then, the detailed slope stability analyses for four possible slope configuration designs using heterogenous mechanical parameter block model are performed to determine the steepest safe slope angle, and the steepest safe slope angle is next used for the UPL optimization. Compared with the original UPL assuming the rock mass is homogeneous in the same lithology, the slope angle for the optimized UPL has an average 1° to 6° increase, and the optimized UPL can bring 15.84 million tons of ore and reduce 20.83 million tons of waste rock. The result indicated that the application of geostatistics can make practical use of geotechnical information to improve slope stability, and slope configurations, and thereby optimize the UPL and so bring economic benefit.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Professor Peijun Guo and Dylan Liu from McMaster University for their help in English writing. We also would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that helped improve this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0801602 and 2017YFC1503101), the National Science Foundation of China (U1903216 and U1710253), and the China Scholarship Council (201806080101).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Rock Instability and Seismicity Research, School of Resources and Civil Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China

    Feiyue Liu, Tianhong Yang, Wenxue Deng & Jinduo Li

  2. State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

    Jingren Zhou

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  1. Feiyue Liu
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  2. Tianhong Yang
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Correspondence to Tianhong Yang.

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Liu, F., Yang, T., Deng, W. et al. Geostatistics-block-based characterization of heterogeneous rock mass and its application on ultimate pit limit optimization: a case study. Bull Eng Geol Environ 80, 1683–1700 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-02023-2

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