Development of a Decision Tool for Selection of Pit Slope Stability Monitoring Instrumentation
Authors: J.-B. C. Varnier, J. A. Cremeens, D. Mellows, S. Eichstadt
Conference: SME Annual Meeting
Date: February 23-26, 2020
ABSTRACT
Pit slope instability can have significant impacts to mining operations, mine economics and safety. Slope stability monitoring can reduce those impacts by providing time for preparation and potentially remediation of slope displacement. Effective selection of slope stability monitoring systems for open pit slopes has been a challenge for mine operators. Challenges are principally due a lack of a consistent approach that can provide instrumentation recommendations for a specific slope and the wide range of available instrumentation that are currently available, from simple inexpensive methods such as visual inspection to more complex and costly methods such radar monitoring. This paper presents a Slope Stability Monitoring decision tool that has been developed to consistently and efficiently select instrumentation across a range of pit slope characteristics. The Slope Stability Monitoring decision tool uses typical slope stability evaluation criteria to assess the risk of slope instability and provides instrumentation recommendations based on the calculated level of risk.
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