Open pit-mining

Open pit-mining is an excavation or cut made at the surface of the ground for the purpose of
extracting ore and which is open to the surface for the duration of the mines life. This form of
mining is differed from extractive method that required tunneling into the earth. Open-pit
mines are used when deposits of commercially useful minerals are found near the surface or
are covered by a relatively thin layer of sand, cinder or gravel. In this mining project, the
dominant materials making up the top layer of the area are mostly silts and clays with quick
draining properties while the bottom layer is mostly sand. Therefore, open-pit excavation
methods are suitable to use in the mining activities rather than tunneling.













Figure 1: open pit

A bench may be defined as a ledge that forms a single level of operation above which
mineral or waste minerals are mined back to a bench face. The mineral or the waste minerals
are removed in successive layers, each of which is a bench. Several benches are may be in
operation simultaneously in different parts or at different elevations on the open-pit mine.

In this mining project, there are 3 open-pits that have been appointed which 1 dredge
pit and 2 dry-pits. Dry-pit excavated within the active channel on dry, intermittent or
ephemeral stream beds with conventional bulldozers, scrapers and loaders. Whereas, the
dredge-pit involves excavation of a pit in the active channels below the surface water or below
the alluvial ground water table, required the use of dredger or hydraulic excavator to extract
minerals from below the water surface.






Slope stability will be affected by groundwater and slope gradient, but the groundwater
is more affecting the stability. Basically, the slope is less stable if the greater the slope gradient
(steeper slope) and more groundwater present.
Effects of groundwater
Frictional resistance to sliding in dry sand is developed as the product of the coefficient of
friction and the normal force acting on the surface of the failure plane. The individual soil
particles are interlocked or jammed together by the weight of the soil. The greater the force
that causes the interlocking of soil particles, the greater the ability to resist the shear force that
that caused by the down slope component of the soil weight. As the groundwater rises in the
soil, the water reduced the normal force because of the buoyant force exerted on each soil
grain as it becomes submerged. The uplift force of the groundwater reduced the interlocking force
on the soil particle, which reduced the frictional resistance to sliding.

Recommendation
To prevent the slope from failure, the groundwater level must be below the toe of the slope.
The percentage of moisture content must always be monitored from time to time to avoid it
from reaching the liquid limit which can cause slope to fail.
Increasing of water level can be prevented by reducing water accumulation in the ground.
This can be done by installing good drainage system.