Open pit slope monitoring for less affluent operations

Are you a geotechnical engineer working on a less affluent open pit mine?? Do you look on in envy at the bigger and / or more profitable operations that can afford to purchase terrestrial radar, InSAR data, robotic total stations and integrated monitoring platforms?? It is often the case that the examples of slope monitoring provided in conference proceedings and books showcase the latest technology being used at some of most well-equipped mines in the world, but what to do if you keep getting knocked back at each round of budget planning due to insufficient money being available?? Do we wait for a disaster to happen that will focus management minds on the importance of slope stability, or do we be proactive and influence what is under our control and work out how best to motivate for the tools we require?

I would suggest that this is the experience of most mining operations around the world. Here are some of my thoughts of how this can be managed by the geotechnical engineer; it is unlikely to be exhaustive and others will have their own ideas, so I would also be interested in your thoughts and experiences of this situation.

1.?????? Work with the surveyors.? The surveyors need to be your friends and you must work together with them to set up a simple prism monitoring system using a manually operated instrument.? It can be difficult because the surveyors are often extremely busy with operational duties and will not have the resources to assist with setting up prism monitoring infrastructure.? But they will enjoy the technical challenge of designing the system.? Set up a project charter so that responsibilities and milestone completion dates are agreed upon in advance and get sign off from Mining / Technical Services management so that they can assist with providing resources for the project.

2.????? Keep the team and management informed.? Make sure your team and management are aware of your project and the progress being made.? This can often be a single slide in a weekly PowerPoint presentation that is used in management meetings.? Your manager can provide regular updates on progress to the General Manager and the rest of the management team.? Perhaps you can also attend from time to time to present your project and progress.? It will:

a.????? put a bit of pressure on you and the surveyors to get the job completed,

b.????? highlight any roadblocks holding up the project that could be solved with help from members of the management team.

3.????? Keep the team and management informed (2).? Make sure to continue informing the team and management of the progress of monitoring even after the infrastructure has been set up and commissioned.? What are the readings, what are they telling us, are there any gaps in data, and why?? It is important to keep slope monitoring in the eye of management.? It is almost inevitable that the survey team will struggle to keep on top of taking prism measurements; the management team will be informed of this through your communications and are more likely to provide further budget for both the geotechnical and the survey team to make improvements.

4.????? Incorporate other inexpensive methods such as crack meters, training, and formalised inspections.? Crack meters can be installed across tension cracks and easily checked daily during inspections by the geotechnical engineers.? Take regular comparative photographs of the pit slopes from set locations to identify changes over time.? Work with the mine training department and add geotechnical modules to the training schedule for mining staff including topics such as geotechnical hazard identification and safety requirements when working under pit slopes.

5.????? Engage with operations staff in the field and discuss geotechnical hazards and observe for adherence to the training in the field.? Building a good rapport and opening up dialogue with the wider team who are spending most of the shift in the pit will lead to improved reporting of geotechnical hazards and often the best ideas for managing mining risk will come from the field operatives.

To summarise, in geotechnical engineering as with all careers, it is important to engage with management and operational staff so that they know who you are and what your role is.? That way you are more likely to get the support you require to achieve your goals.? You never know, they might even leave that robotic total station or radar in the budget next time you ask.?

Stay safe.