A HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT OF SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS IN MINING APPLICATIONS

摘要

An example case study of a stability analysis of a heap leach pad and all the potential sources of variability were presented. In addition, a collection of data from several heap leach projects was provided for various geotechnical properties.For the example case presented, despite the range of values used for each parameter, the results of the probabilistic analyses were similar to the simple deterministic factor-of-safety analysis. While this may be true for many other designs, it may not be for many others. Gold, silver and copper heap leach pads are the highest lined-fill structures in the world (Breitenbach 1998) and careful consideration must be given to the actual reliability of the stability design. In short, in spite of significant laboratory testing and field observation, engineering judgment is required to select an appropriate stability analysis method (deterministic or probabilistic) on a case-by-case basis.