Concepts of Pit Design

• Optimum pit design plays a major role in all stages of

the life of an open pit: at the feasibility study stage
when there is a need to produce a whole-of-life pit
design; at the operating phase when pits need to be
developed to respond to changes in metal prices, costs,
ore reserves, and wall slopes; and towards the end of a
mine’s life where the final pit design may allow the
economic termination of a project. At all stages there
is a need for constant monitoring of the optimum pit,
to facilitate the best long-term, medium-term and
short-term mine planning and subsequent exploitation
of the reserve.
• The open pit mine production scheduling problem
can be defined as specifying the sequence in which
“blocks” should be removed from the mine in
order to maximise the total discounted profit from
the mine subject to a variety of physical and
economic constraints. Typically, the constraints
relate to: the mining extraction sequence; mining,
milling and refining capacities; grades of mill feed
and concentrates; and various operational
requirements such as minimum pit bottom width.
• Three stripping ratios which can be defined:
• Overall Stripping Ratio
• Incremental (Instantaneous) Stripping Ratio
• Break-even or maximum Stripping Ratio

Break-even or maximum Stripping Ratio = (Revenue

per tonne of ore –Cost of production of mineral per
tonne of ore excluding stripping cost of OB)/
Stripping cost per unit volume of OB
• Revenue per tonne of ore= Selling price of
mineral per kg x grade x recovery

• Overall recovery= mining recovery in %x

milling recovery %x refinery recovery %

• 0.95x0.95x0.99= 0.89
• Overall stripping ratio is the ratio of the total
tonnage of waste divided by the total tonnage of
ore contained in the final pit
• Incremental stripping ratio (or instantaneous
stripping ratio)is the ratio of waste tonnage to ore
tonnage as a result of expanding the pit by a unit
volume (ISR)
• Break-even stripping ratio is the ratio of waste
tonnage to ore tonnage where the cost of the
waste removal exactly equals the value of the
mineral (BESR or SRmax)
• SRo and ISR are physical ratios
• BESR is an economic ratio
• BESR will change depending on grades, costs
and revenues
• Revenue per tonne of ore depends on grade of
ore, its selling price and recovery percentage
per tonne of ore processing
 Why UPS is important ?
1) For delineating line on the original ground to show ultimate boundary of mine/

2)
quarry.

3) Safety with slope

4) Percentage Extraction
Limiting ground Damage & in turn, controlling Environmental damage ( for EIA

5)
).

6) Controlling cost

7)
8)
IBM made it mandatory
Locating Processing Plant & Loading Sites.
Locating other surface infrastructures
e.g. , Mine Box –cut
Mine Office, Stores, Maintenance sheds
Explosive Magazine
Waste Dump yard
Electrical Sub-station All w.r.t. Contours ( Topography of the area).
 Factors affecting UPL
1. Geological Conditions
(i) Dimension & Shape of Ore body
(ii) Quality distribution of ore, Cut-off grade etc.
(iii) Geological disturbances- fold, faults & joints pattern of
rock
2. Shape & area of Lease boundary
3. Surface features:-
( i) Topography
(ii) Water logged areas- ponds, lakes, rivers, natural drains
etc.
(iii) Rails/ Transmission line/ Other Civil structures/ pre-
existing mine/ Farm lands/ forest & slope of ground etc.
4. Productivity & life of lease /mine deposit
5. Safety in Mines- Pit slope stability & proposed haul road
designs , Box-cut location etc.
 Methods of developing UPL
For any method adopted, following basic sub- process steps are required:

•
•
Surveying of the lease area .

•
Bore Hole ( BH) Drilling & its details.

•
Quality analysis of Cores /Chips from BH.

•
BH Data logging
Preparation of Geological Map superimposed with Surface features &
Water Danger Plan.
 Data usage &
Preparing UPL Plan
Manual
Data Manual
Manual
Compilatio Plotting
Method for n
Semi CAD/
UPL Plan Manual CAM
Computer
zed SURPAC
Software
MINTECH
 Basic Norms to be
considered
The UPL Plan forms an essential part of Mine Closure
Plan to be submitted to IBM & DMG office of concerned
state as per Legislation for Mining Lease Grant / Project
Expansion etc. It must commensurate with concept of
Sustainable Development Framework (SDF) for Mine
development as promulgated by Indian Bureau of Mines,
Nagpur. SDF is nothing but advancement of concept for
co-existence of ENVIRONMENT with MINING
OPERATION having onus on Mineral Conservation with of
course, economic mining.
Technical / Legal Norms/ Parameters to be adhered to

1. UPL to be well within Lease Boundary only leaving aside 7.5 M 0f

boundary strip inside
2. Ultimate Pit Design to be made in such a way that existing Mining Pit
provides access to adjacent lessees.
3. Box-cut or top of any other access to Mine should be such that:-
(i) Its RL should be 5 mtrs. above HFL ( highest recorded over 40 yrs.
time period).
(ii) Located on Barren Land ( i.e. not on the ore body upto cut off Grade
or even subgrade ore).
(iii) Advancement of Mine Faces should cater the Qualitative need of
the ROM Feed to Crusher/ Processing Plant keeping consideration for
maximization of Mining Life.
(iv) Distance from water logged area min. 60 mtrs.
(vii) Distance from civil structures / OH lines / rails etc. Min. 45 Mtrs.
.
 Factors affecting UPL
contd….
4. Barrier between 2 adjacent Mines: min. 15 mtrs.=7.5 Mtrs.
on each side x2.
5. Surface features:-
(i) Historical Monuments : at least 2 kms. Away from
crusher/ processing plant
(ii) Villages : at least 1 km away from pit limit boundary.
Reason: Blasting- Limit of PPV for any civil structure.
(iii) Agriculture lands : No waste dump wash/ Plant slimes
should flow through such field.
6. Forest area: At least 7.5 Mtrs. barrier.
7. Flora & Fauna Considerations- elephant Corridor in
Kudremukh caused closure of project.
Manual Method for preparing UPL Plan.

1) Draw the lease plan with reference to DGPS (Differential Global Positioning
System) survey of all the points on Line of lease boundary as per the coordinates
defined in lease deed. It is now mandatory as per guidelines of IBM . For this
purpose, reference has to be made from any nearest Triangulation point of

2)
national survey grid fixed by SURVEY OF INDIA ( also mandatory as per DGMS
guide line).
Delineate the lease boundary in field accurately with the help of Total Station.

3)
Mark each point with fixed pillars of Cement work as per dimension specified in
legislation.
Superimposition of the lease boundary survey points on digitized
cadastral maps on a scale of 1:3960 ( or say 1:4000); Super -imposition of the
surveyed mining lease boundary points on satellite imagery of Topography of

4)
area; Integration of the geo-referenced and digitized cadastral maps on the
satellite imagery followed by geo-referencing of the land features on these maps.
Also, Surface Plan to be prepared separately with Water Danger Plan which in
turn, needs to be superimposed with lease plan & Geological Plan ( including
necessarily BH Plan) .
 Manual method contd….
(6) In Borehole data available strictly within lease area, the ore of highest assay
value is marked.
(7) By following Area of Influence Method, Horizontal Slice/ section plan is more
common to be prepared at the interval of bench height planned instead of
vertical slices as the former gives avg. assay value at benches by taking mid
sections.
(8) Highest grade ore quantity is calculated with its depth at different regular
(preferably vertical) interval.
(9) The processes (6),(7) & (8)are repeated for mid grade ore.
(10) The processes (6),(7) & (8)are repeated for low grade ore also but in the
adjacent zones of High & medium grade ore.
(11) Production Target is planned considering desired average quality of ROM to
be prepared based upon key parameters ( including Cut-off grade as imposed
by IBM or Coal controller) & accordingly bench height is fixed. Usually SAFEST
Pit slope angle allowed by DGMS is 45O but it also varies on width of largest
machineries to ply on haul roads/ bench floors causing further shallowing of pit
slope angle.
(12) ROM feed schedule is prepared specifying average ROM quality range &
percentage of quantity for blending above 3- qualities of ore from different
benches.
• the following basic steps involved in determining
pit limits remain the same:
• 1. A slice is selected.
• 2. The contained value is compared with the costs.
• 3. If the net value is positive, the pit can be
expanded. If negative, the pit contracts.
• 4. The final pit position is where the net value of
the slice is zero.
• ISR = BESR
Floating Cone Method
• Most of the optimum pit limits methods use the economical
block models to determine the pit limits. The methodology is
searching for a combination of blocks with the maximum
economical value at current economical and technical
condition.

This method, which was first described by Carlson, Erickson,

O’Brain and Pana (1966), works on an economical block
model of the deposit .

It is most common & preferred Method. In addition, mining

operational constraints on various slopes can be applied to
this method perfectly.

Different updated versions are FCM-II, FCM-II modified & FCM –

III.
Floating Cone Method
This process starts from the uppermost level
and moves downward searching for positive
blocks.

2) For each positive (ore) block, this method

involves constructing a cone with sides
oriented parallel to the pit slope angle not >
45O, and then determining the value of the
cone by summing the values of blocks
enclosed within it. If the value of the cone is
positive, all blocks within the cone are mined.
The process continues until no positive cones
remain in the block model.
Floating Cone Method