Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design

Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design is a comprehensive account of the open pit slope design process. Created as an outcome of the Large Open Pit (LOP) project, an international research and technology transfer project on the stability of rock slopes in open pit mines, this book provides an up-to-date compendium of knowledge of the slope design processes that should be followed and the tools that are available to aid slope design practitioners.This book links innovative mining geomechanics research into the strength of closely jointed rock masses with the most recent advances in numerical modelling, creating more effective ways for predicting the reliability of rock slopes in open pit mines. It sets out the key elements of slope design, the required levels of effort and the acceptance criteria that are needed to satisfy best practice with respect to pit slope investigation, design, implementation and performance monitoring.This book will assist open pit mine slope design practitioners, including engineering geologists, geotechnical engineers, mining engineers and civil engineers and mine managers, in meeting stakeholder requirements for pit slopes that are stable, in regards to safety, ore recovery and financial return, for the required life of the mine.

Dr. Read has over 40 years experience as a practitioner and consultant in the mining industry, with special interests and expertise in rock slope stability. In 1990 Dr Read began his own geotechnical engineering practice. Since then he has specialised in slope stability and open pit mine slope design and investigation tasks in Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Canada, South Africa, and Zambia. From 1994 to 2004 he was Deputy Chief of CSIRO Exploration & Mining and Executive Manager of the Queensland Centre for Advanced Technologies, Brisbane.

Peter Stacey has accumulated over 45 years of international experience in the geotechnical aspects of open pits, including slope design and implementation, as well as project management. He holds a B.Sc. Hons. degree in Geology, a D.I.C. from Imperial College, London, and is a registered engineer in Canada and the UK. After working for the Geological Survey of Sweden and subsequently with the Iron Ore Company of Canada as Supervisor – Geotechnical Engineering, Mr Stacey joined Golder Associates Ltd., based in Vancouver, Canada. During his 29 years with Golder, Mr Stacey worked primarily in the areas of pit slope design and the application of geotechnical engineering to the operational aspects of open pit mines around the world.
In 2003, Mr Stacey formed Stacey Mining Geotechnical Ltd. to concentrate on independent review consulting. In this capacity, he is currently engaged in performing geotechnical reviews for a number of international mining and consulting companies, and is a member of Geotechnical Review Boards for several large open pit operations. In addition, he leads courses in pit slope design and implementation.