I MINI: I'IANNING

Inlro(lr~ctioo
1. I 1 'I'llc mealling of ore
1 1 . 2 Some in~portanldefin~tiuns
Minc developlnent phases
A n initial data collrction chcck!ist
I'hc planning phase
I.4. I Introduction
1 . 4 2 The conlent of an intermediate valu;tlion report
1.4.3 T h e content of' tlle feasibility report
Planning costs
Accuracy of estimates
6 . I 'Tonnage and grade
1.6.2 Pcrforrrrance
Fuhllrhcd by 1.6.3 Costs
A.A. B;tIken~a.I?O.llox1675.3000BR Rotterdam. Nctherlandr(I:ax: +3l. I0.4135'>47) 16.4 Price and revenue
A A.BaIXe~naPuhlishcrs, Old Purl Road. Brookfield,VT05036, USA (hx: 802276.3837) Fe.~ ~.' s 't h' i l ~study
l y preparation
I b r ihc haadhound edition Critical path representation
Coruplete rcl of two volun,fs: ISHN W 5410 1733 Mine reclamation
Vdume l:lSBN905410IXI 4 1.9.1 Introduction
V,llumc 2: ISBN905410 1822
1.9.2 Multiple-use management
Ibr the student paperedition 9 . 3 Reclamation plan purpose
Conlpletc scloflwo volumes: ISBN905410 183 0 1.9.4 Reclamation plan content
Vdurne 1:lSBN9054101849
Volunle 2: ISBN905410 I857 1.9.5 Rcclalnalion standards
1.9.6 Sttrlace and ground water management
01995 A.A.Balkemu. Rotterdas, 9 7 Mine waste management
Printed in the Netherlands
9 8 Tailings and slime ponds
 " .
1.10.3 l'hc cnvironrnental planning lean1
I . I I A satnplc list of prr~jectpermits and ;q~provnls
!
i
3.5.1 Introiluctim
3.5.2 I'niccd~~rcs
176
176
Kelkrenccs R5.3 (:onslructi~~nof a cross-sectioi~ 178
I
3.5.4 (::~lcrhtion of tonnage and average grade lix ;r pit I 86
3.6 Melllod of vertical scctious (grttde contonrs) 196
2 MINING; RIWI'NUES AND COSTS
3.7 The incll~orlo l horizontal sections 205
2.1 l n l r ~ ~ d u c t i o ~ ~ 1 . 7 1 Introiluction 205
2.2 liconomic concepts including cash llow I 3.7.2 'T~~iatiglcs 206
2.2. I l:ulurc worth

I
3.7.3 I'olygolls 210
2.2.2 Present value 3.8 I%lockn,nilcls 214
2.2.3 Present value of a series of uniform contrihotims :1.X.I lntroiluction 214
2.2.4 Payback period 1 3.82 Rulc-of-ncarest points 217
2.2.5 Rate of return on an investment
2.2.6 Cash llow (CF)
2.2.7 iliscountaf cash llow (DCI')
I 3.9
3.8.3 Constant distance weighting tecliniqncs
Statistical h i s lor grade assignment
3 S i m e slatistics on the orchody
218
223
225
2 2 . 8 Discounlcd c;~sliflow rate of return (lX:I:l<Ol<) I 3 . 2 R;tngc of sample influence 229
2.2.9 Cash flaws, I X I ; and DCFROK including i1eprcci;ttion 3.03 lllnslralive cxan~ple 210
2.2.10 Depletion
2.2.1 1 Cash flows, including depletion
2.3 listimating rcvenoes
2.3.1 Curtent mincral prices
i 3 . 4 Ikscribing variograms hy mathematical modcls
3.9.5 Qumli(icalion 01' a de!wsit through variogranis
3.10 Kriging
310.1 introduction
235
237
238
238
2.3.2 1-tistorical price data 3.10.2 Concept developnient 239
2.3.3 Trend analysis ! 3.101 Kriging example 242
2.3.4 P:cononietric nlodeis 3.10.4 Exa~nplcof estimation for a level 246
2.3.5 Net smelter return 310.5 Block kriging 247
2.3.6 Price-cost relationships ! 3.IO.6 Conlmon problems associated with the use of the kriging technique 248
2.4 Estimating costs 3.10.7 Conrparison of results using several techniques 248
2.4.1 Types of costs Relcrences 248
2.4.2 Costs from actual operations
2.4.3 liscalation of older costs
4 GEOMGI'RICAL. CONSIDERATIONS 252
2.4.4 The original O'Hara cost estimator
2.4.5 The updated O'Hara cost estimator 4.1 introduction
2.4.6 Detailed cost calculatiot~s 4.2 Basic bench geometry
2.4.7 Quick-and-dirty mining cost estin~ates 4.3 On: access
2.4.8 Current equipment, supplies and labor costs 4.4 l'he pit expansion process
References 4.4.1 introduction
4.4.2 Frontal cuts
4.4.3 Drive-hy cuts
3 OKEBODY DESCRIPTION
4.4.4 I'arallel cuts
3. I Introduction 4.4.5 Minimum requircd operating roo111 for pxallel cuts
3.2 Mine maps 4.4.6 Cut sequencing
 4.5 Pit slope geumclry
4.6 l h a l pit slope angles
4.6.1 Intloiluction
4.h.2 Geomech;~nicalbackground
4.6.3 Hmar failure
4.6.4 Circular lailure 5.7.3 Two approacl~esto tree mnstruction
4.6.5 Stability of curved wall sections 5.7.4 'I'llc arbitr;~rytree approach (Appro;~cl~I)
4.66 Slope stability d a b presentation 5.7.5 ' I ' k all root connection ;ipproach (Appnfi~ch2)
4.6.7 Slope analysis example 5.7.6 'l'l~ctree 'cuiting' process
4.6.8 Economic aspects of linal slope angles I 5.7.7 A tr~orccolnplicated example
4.7 Plan rcprcsentation of hcnch geometry 5.8 ('o~npritcrassisted i ~ ~ e l l ~ o d s
4.8 Addition of a n ~ a d 5.X.I 'I'lw KI'L opcwpit generator
4.8.1 lntroiluctior~ 5.8.2 C:o~rlputcrassisted pit design Imscd upon section\
4.8.2 Design of a spiral road - inside the w;~ll I<cl:rcnccs
4.8.3 Design of a spiral ramp - outside t l ~ cwall
4.8.4 ifesign of a switchb;~ck
4.8.5 The volume represented by a road
4.') Road construction 6 .IIntm~luctioo
4.9.1 Inlroduction 6.2 Some basic 111inclife - plant size cmcepts
4J9.2 Road section design 6.3 'L~ylor'smine life mle
49.3 Straight segment design i 6 . Scqucncing by nested pits
4.9.4 Curve design 6.5 C;tsll llow calc~dittions
49.5 Conver~tionalparallel berm design 6.6 Mine and mill plant sizing
4.9.6 Median b e m ~design 6.6.1 Orc reserves supporting the plant size rlecisio~~
4.9.7 Haulage ro;~dgradients 6.6.2 increnterital financial ;~nalysisprinciples
4.9.8 l'ractical road building and mainte:~ancetips I h . ( d Plant sizing example
4.10 Stripping ratios 6.7 Lanes algoritlm
4.1 I Geometric sequencing 6.7.1 Introduction
4.12 Surn~nary 6.7.2 Modcl definition
Referer~ces 6.7.3 T l ~ ebasic equations
!
6.7.4 An illustrative exa~i~plc
5 rw LIMITS 6.7.5 (:utoff grade for maximum profit
6.7.6 Net present value maximization
5.1 Introduction 6.8 Material destination considerations
5.2 fiend methods I 6.8.1 introduction
5.2.1 The basic concept 6.8.2 The leach dump alternative
5.2.2 The net value calculation 6.8.3 T l ~ estockpile alternative
5.2.3 Location of pit limits - pit bottom in waste 6.9 f'rodnction scheduling
5.2.4 Location of pit limits -pit bottom in ore
I 6.9.1 Introduction
5.2.5 Location of pit limits - one side plus pit bottom in ore 6.9.2 Phase scheduling
5.2.6 Radial sections 6.9.3 Block sequencing using set dynamic programn~ing
5.2.7 Generating a final pit outline 6.9.4 Some scheduling examples
5.2.8 Destinations for in-pit materials 6.10 Pus11 back design
5.3 Economic block models I 6.10.1 Introduction
5.4 The floating cone technique 6.10.2 'She basic manual steps
5.5 The Lcrchs-Grossmann 2-D algorithm 6.10.3 Marwal push back design example
 6.10.4 l'ilne period plans
6.10.5 Equipment llcet requircnicnts
6.10.6 Other planning ctrnsidcmtions

Index 63 1

'l'llis hook is ahout cngi~~ccring. It is about rnioc engineering. It is ahout the planning
iind dcsig~iCIS olicn pits. It is 1101 a handbook, nor ;I cookbirok. but sather intended
as :i tcxthook kir t l ~ epresent and hopefully future generations <if mining engineers. It
co~~tains old tirings and new things. Although it is writtcn [irim;uily Sor student engineers,
thcrc arc scctions of potential interest to long term practitioners. The emphasis is on
principles and approaches. Numerous examples have been inclndccl to help ease the pain
;lnd i~lcrcasethe joy of the learning process. We liope that the existence of this text will
a a o u q c imd s~ieedtile entry 01 young I I I ~ I Iand wcmen into tlle proSessi~nof mine
cnginccsing. We believe, as lras so eloquently been scared hy one uf the most farnous
niini~~g cilgincers, llcrbert Hoover (1909). that
7i) r/w ~trgi,werfirllrihe work ofcreuring Jrorrr the d r j b o ~ ~ eof.wir~~ri/ic/rrcr
s ihe living
hndy of irtdrrslry. 11 ir he who.se Lircllecr and direcrion bring 111 ilze world the coinfiw1.s
m d rrecessiiies of duily need. Urilike the doctor, his is rrol rlre n~rrxtrrrrr .stnrsgle to
suve the w e d . Urilike the soldier, desrrucrion is nor his prime firncriurr. Unlike rhe
Inivyer. yrr~~rre1.s
me nor his daily bread. fi~gineerirl~ ir rhe [m,f~srion oJ cr~rrionund
qfcomirucrio,~,q/'.srimulurion of /hronmi effim and accorrrpli.s/rr~zenr.
Mining engineering lills a special niche within the special engineering profession. lo
;In ;igc of increasing specialization, mining still requires both hreadtli and depth. The
opportunities of rlealing with that which the earth h3s to offer 3s opptrsetl to our wishes
and ticsires presents exciting cl~allengesexperienced hy few others. The future engi-
nccr requires a sound imaginative, technical base while maintaining the optimism and
enthusiasm of the prospector. An unusual con~bination,yes indeed.
'The bouk is divided into two parts (volumes). Volume I consists of six chapters in
wliicb the basic planning and design principles are presented:
- Chapter 1. Mine planning.

- Clrapter 2. Mining revenues and costs.

- Chapter 3. Orebody description.

- Chapter 4. Geometrical considerations.

- Cltapler 5. Pit limits.
- Cbapter 6 . Production planning.
The ratiolralc in this presentation is t o guide the student through the typical steps involved
in an open pit mine design project. It is quite typical for the mining engineering student
 to irave one or 111o11:C~ISIOIIC design courses SI; par( o f l~is/lrcruwlcrgl-;aluatc c:rlccn I%r hccn uscd since v;wious deglee.: o f editing, abstracting and renrrange~nenl118s heen
;I capskrnc open pit ~ r l i l l cdesign crrurse, tlre initial data w w l d consist 111 lhc location, 11ecess;try l o nr;tkc tllese cuntrihotions c01110rn1will1 llle OVC~IIII style illld thrust Of fhe
lq~ogr:tplricm p , m d drillhole d11ta for ;I minewl prospcct. 'l'llc lin;~l[~r<!jectrcpixt worllrl tcxt. We I u v e 11o1tricd to stay within one set o f units. This is, for h c t t a or w ~ ~ r s cstill
,
contain a lirst stage design and lina~rcialev;d~sation. ;I bilingual (1Inglish ;mi1 S1) mining wurld and the reader is expected to lx ;hlc to makc

C l ~ n p f c rI presctrls ;I dctailal outline of the type and lcvcl o f iohr~n;rtioc~ w l r i c l ~ir~ight tlrc necessary tr;~nslntion.'TIE symbols used are consistent witlrin m y given c h q ~ t e r ,hut
Ix included i n valuation studies o f various types ;mI how i t is prcscntctl. I n ~ m l c rto not nccess;nily between c l q ~ t e r s l'llere
. w i l l be rnist;tkcs, nnfkrln:itcly, and some parts
recognize ore, one IILIS~ have a good idea oftlre costs and r e v c ~ ~ ~i lncvsd v c d in a prqjcct. pcr11;rp~cokland s110uld lhnve hccn hcttcr done. We w i l l look iorw;lrd to receiving your
'l'l~csc,:IS well as hzsic economic concepls. m prcsental i n Clrapter 2. COIIS~~IIC~~VC criticis111.

(:h:ipler 3 deals with various tccl~oiqucsand procedures which ;~rcused i n prcsenti~rg I n closing, tlrc clrsllengc o f producing the ~ ~ r i n c rproducts
al d e m m l c d by the world's
;~ndcxte~rdingd r i l l hole inhnnation, therehy providing a Ihrcc dirncnsio~ulrepresew ~ ~ q x ~ l athroughout
tim~ the ccnturics llus heen k~rgelytna hy
t;~tio:r o f tlrc 111incra1iz;~lioninvolved. Ilecause o f cquip~ncnllic~~itations, constraints,
c q x ~ b i l i l i c s;rnd gmuod sl;rhility consider;ltilrlts, c ~ ~ t ; l i rgcornelries
l n1~1sthe d c v e l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ t l
(i)r cx1r;tctiog Ihc ore. These arc described in (:b;~ptcr 4.
lJy c m i h i n i n g ect~~ro~nics,geometries and ore disl~ihution.one ;11rives at an cstirnation
n f the rrm reserves. 'l'hesc procedures are dcscrihctl ill C:lr;~l~lcr5. Tlrcse lcservcs arc to
be inincd over ;I period o f years c d l c d tlre mine life. l'hc sequence in whiclr they arc
extracted is of inrport;tt~cc to the linal result. Sequencing principles are presented i n 'SIK open pits cre;~tetli n the extraction process have reached garg;rntuan proportions, as
(:b;lptcr 6. To complete the cvaluatioo one would apply tlie different 1ina11ci;d concepts i1lostr;ttcrl h y Kennccott's Dingham Canyon M i n e shown i n the cover photo. This, the
presented in Chapter 2. w n ~ l d ' slargest irr;rn-nradc excavation (Kennecotr, 1992), is one 11;iIf mile deep, stretches
I t is one thing to learn the principles and often quite ~ ~ n r r l h ctor learn to apply them newly 2'1;. ~ n i l c sfrom one side to tlre other at the top and covers morc than 1900 acres.
to the solution o f actual problems. Today much o f thc ;~ctoalcalculatiorr involved i n More than 5 hillion tons o f material have heen rernovcd since open-pit operations began
111~ ilcsig~ro f an open pit mine is done b y computer. A nr~nlbcro f good programs are ill 1906.
connncrcially ;nail;~ble to assist the practici~rgengineer. A l t l ~ o u g linkndcd ~ to hc user- I)ocs thc concept "bigger is better' continue to apply') W l ~ a lies
t ahead? What is the
friendly, ilnnny. hours o f training w e generally required hefore tllcy can be efkctively better idea? Conventional wisdom may not soffice. We need future mine engineers w h o
used 7'lcsc 11ours arc unti~rtunatclynot available i n today's tight ~miversityscl~cdulcs. :toe thinkers and doers. We nced future mining engineers who, i n the words o f D o n
'IIr nva-come this, two professional computer pn~grao~s, CSMine ;~odV;~rioC. havc bccn Quixote, h:we the ability m d willingness
specilic:~lly developed willr the ~ ~ n i v e r s i undcrgraduate
ty lewning covimntnent i n mind.
'I'hese programs, their related tutorials and user n~anuals,togetlrer with a data set for the
CSMine property, arc the subject of Volume 2. The six chapters involved are:
Clrapter 7. Introduction.
- Chapter 8. The CSMine propeny description.

- Chapter 9. The CSMinc tutorial.

- Chapter 10. The CSMinc user's guide.

-- Chapter II.V z i o C tutorial and user's guide.

- Chapter 12. VarioC reference manual.

Through studying the CSMine property data set the st~~derrt shoold very ~UICKIY nevelop
a good understanding o f hoth the theory and practice o l opcn pit mine planning and
design. W i t h this as a basis the advanced concepts presented i n professional journals In this case, we hope our 'star', that of capturing the principles o f open pit mine planning
and highly speci;rlized textlreference books should he much nlore easily understood. and design i n as co~npleteand readable form as possible has heen, i n fact, reachable. If
Tlrc authors have tried to provide the names o f some interesting papers i n the reference so, perhapflhe journey into future mining b y our new engineers should he somewhat
section included at the end o f each chapter. eased and the speed increasd.
I t is very diflicult to be 'expert' i n all phases of opcn pit mine planning and design.
One option would have been for the authors to simply irrclude those m a s o f active
personal involvcmcnt. The other option, and that which was chosen here, was to draw
l m v i l y upon the experience and writings o f others as contained i n a few, key references.
A concerted effort has been made to clearly identify the msin sources from which
these included materials have heen extracted. Quotation marks have not, i n general.
.1.11c ~ r u t l ~ wh sw e heen involved in various aspects of the mining education business, from
sludetrt to prolessor, for many years. There are very few textt~ooksli-oln wlrich to te;~ch
and inxn wlricl~to 1e;un. This book is intended to fill in a small way a gap which few
other engineering fields have. Appreciation is extended to tlrose students at thc Colorado
School of Mines, the University of Utah and the University of Lolei who have llad to
struggle through and grin-and-hear the different drafts of the text and programs. 'Slreir
constrr~ctivecriticism ; ~ n dparticipation in the teaching/leaming process has certainly
lead 10 a t~etterfinal product.
Kim McCarter, John Crawford, Don Gentry, Kadri Dagdclcn and Matt llrebar spent
a considcrahle anrount of time reviewing and co~ntnentingon various sections.
Wiley Engineering, Clare Dunning, Johnny Blizzard, Bruce Norquist, T i m Anlbyanto,
and Andrew liostrulid assisted in the prodiiction of the drawings. Terry 1,ec supplied
extla m;tlcrial for the planning section.
Torn (louzens generously provided some of t l ~ cmore important data contained in the
book.
lngerrrar Marklund, Gunuiu Almgren and Rudolf Kvapil extcnded encouragement and
very valued moral and financial support during the preparation of this volume.
'l'hc authors also acknowledge, the many mining companies and mining professionals
who, over the years, have taken the time and trouble to explain in a form understandahle
to others the way that they do their jobs. Through their efforts the necessary huilding
stones for future growth and development are supplied.
We are p;~rticularly grateful to the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration
(SME) and the Northwest Mining Association for pernlission to use materi;~lscontained
in their p~blication.~.
An extra special 'thank you' is extended to Mrs. Sharon Dunning for the many, many
hours spent helping to weave together the various bits and pieces into a coherent and
presentable package.
1:inally. the senior author would like to offer heartfelt thanks to his wife, Claudia and
family mernbcrs Andrew, Ann-Mari, Inger, BjBm and Ian-Erik for trying to understand
the mcaning of 'the hook' and graciously accepting the missed times together.
Mine planning- 9

1.1.1 7 1 1 rn~mit~,q
~ of ore
Onc ol tlx lint things discussed in an Introduction to Mining course and one which
students most commit to memory is the definition of 'ore'. One of the more common
delinitions (USDM, 1967) is given below:
Ore: A ~netnllikronsmineral, or an aggregate of melalliferous minerals, more or less
mixed with gangue w l ~ i i cfrom the standpoint of the miner can be mined at ;I profit or,
from the standpoint of a metallurgist can he treated at a profit.
I'his standard delinition is consistent with the custom of dividing mineral deposils
into two gmups: n~ctallic(ore) and non-metallic. Over t l ~ cyears, the usage of the word
'ore' has heen expanded by many to iiicludc oon-mctallics as well. The definition of
ore suggested by Banfield (1972) would appear to be more in kecping with the general
present day usage.
Ore: A natural aggregate of one or more solid minerals which can be mined, or from
which one or more mineral products can he extracted, at a profit.
In this book the following, somewhat simplified, definition will be used:
Ore: A natural aggregation of one or more solid minerals that can be mined, processed
and sold at a profit.
Although definitions are imponant to know, it is even more impowant to know what
they mean. To prevent the reader from simply transfening this delinition directly lo
memory without being first processed by the brain, the 'meaning' of ore will be expanded
upon.
The kcy concept is 'extraction leading to a profit'. For engineers, profits can be
expressed in sirr~plcequation form as
Profits = Revenues - Costs (1.1)
The revenue portion of the equation can be written as
Revenues = Materials sold (units) x Price/unit (1.2)
The costs can he similarly expressed as
Costs = Material sold (units) x Cost/unit (1.3)
Conihining the equ;~tio~~s
yields O n 1:chruary 24, 1991, the report, 'A Guide for Reporting Explolation loforti~;~lion, Re-
sources and Reserves' prepared by Working Party No. 79 - 'Ore Reserves Definition'
r i t s M ; r i I ( i t ) x (lce/iiit Cost/unit) (1.4)
111' Ihc Sociay n l Mining. Mc~:dlurgyand Exploration (SMII), was dclivercd lo the SME
As has Ileen the c ; since ~ tlie early 1'lrocnici:rn tfialcrs. the ~rrimxalsused 11y modcrn Roanl of Directors (SME, 1991). 'This report was subsequently puhlislicd for discos-
r l !.<uile fron! dcpouiln scaueic~d:~rnu!xl $!I? glob!:. 'l'l~cp r i c ~I . P C C ~ Y C ~is~ m r ) r ~i t ~ l sion. 111 this section, IIIC LD~fitiition~'
and 'Report Tcrrninology' portirrtra of tlicir report
more l~cingset hy world wide supply and dc~natid.l'l~ns,the pricc compo~~cnt i n the (SMI:, 1991) are includeti. The interested rcader is enmur;tged to c(~tisulttlrc givcn
cquatiot~is largely determined hy others. Wl~crcIhe initling coginccr can and does reference SIX tlic dctailed guidelines. The definitions presented are tied closcly to the
enter is in doing salrretliing ahmt rlrc unit cosls. Altliorigl~the dcvclopment of ricw scquential relationship between exploration information, resources and reservcs shown
Icclin~ll~~gy at your pnlpcrly is o w answer, new lccl~nnlogyc;rsily md quickly spreads in Figure I .I.
around Ihc world and soon all operations Irave tl~c'rrcw' tcclinology. Ilcncc lo reniain With an increase in geological knowledge, the exploration information may hecome
pr01it;thlc over t l ~ clong term, tlic mining cnginccr inilsl contino;rlly ex;~mincand ;~sscss snflicieot to calculate a resource. When cconoinic infonnatioo increases it m y he pos-
sir~arterarid hcltcr site specilic ways for reducing costs ;I[ the operalion. 'This is done sible to convcrt a portion of the rcsouree to a reserve. 'lhc double arrows between
lhroi~gli;i bellci i~ndcrslandingof t l ~ cdcp~~sit itsclf :lnd the ~ O ~ I I S I ~ C Ceniployed
~ I ~ ~ I ~ orUCS reserves and resoorccs in I'igurc 1.1 indicate that changes due to any iiumber of lectors
crnploy;d>le i t r the cxlr:rction p c c s s . Cost c:~olainrrrc~~t/~~i.~l~tcliorr
lbro~~glr eflicieot, safe niay cause material to move from one category to another
:knd cnvi~o~lt~~cnt;~lly rcspmsivc mining practices is seiious husincss today and will he
cvcll lllorc import;!lll ill the lillllre with incrcasillg lrlilling depths ;lnd evcr illole stringent D~Jinitiotl.~
rcgolatio~is.A failure to keep up is reflected quite simply hy the prolit equation ;IS
fi~,rploro~io,r ir{~,r?nutio,t. Infor~nationthat rcsults from ;~ctivitiesdesigned to locate
ecrrnomic dcposits and to estahlisli the sizc, co~nposition,sh;ipc and g~:ide of these
'l'lris, rteedless to say, is onfavor;~blcfor all concerned (thc employees, the company, deposits. Exploration ~iiell~otls include geological, geochemical, and geophysical surveys,
and tlrc country or mtion). For tllc mining engineer (stodco~or practicing) reading this drill iiolcs, trial pits and surface undcrground openings.
bouk, the pcrsonal mcaning of urc is
f?,~.sorm.e.A concentration of naturally occurring solid, liquid or g;iscous material in or
on the Exth's crust in such form and amount that economic extraction of a cotrrmodity
'flic use of the matheni;~tical equivalence symbol simply s;tys that 'orc' is eqi~ivalent from the concentration is currently or potentially feasible. Location, grade, quality, a t d
to 'prolits' wl~ichis cqnivalent to 'johs'. Hcncc one i~l:portantrncaning of 'ore' to us
ill tlic nii~ieralsbosincss is jobs. I'rohahly this simple prat:ticnl delitiition is more casily
renictnbcred than those offered earlier. Tlic relnaiiider ol'tlie hook is intended to provide
the cnginccr with tools to perform even better in an inc~easinglycompetitive world.

The exploration, devclopmcnt, and production stages of a mineral dcposit (Ranfield

"k llavard, 1975) arc dclined as:
1:xploration: The search for a mineral deposit (prospecting) and the subsequent inves-
I - I
Resources IRercrverI
tigation of any deposit found until an orehody, if s11c11exists, has hecn established.
Devclopmcnt: Work done on a mineral deposit, after exploration has disclosed ore in Inferred
I
stlflicient quantity and quality to justify extraction, in onler to make the ore available
for mining. J-
l n d l c a t e d -Probable
Production: The mining of ores. and as required, the suhscquent processing into prod-
ucts ready for marketing.
I
It is essential that the vluious terms used to describe the nature, size and tenor of the ~ e a i u r e t~---t
d Proven
deposit he very carefully selected and then uscd within the limits of well recognized
and accepted definitions.
Over the years a number of attempts have been madc to provide a set of univer- Figurc 1.1. The relationship between
sally ;zccptcd definitions for the iiiost important terms. Thesc definitions have evolved exploration infannslios. rcrources
somewhat as the technology uscd to invcstigate and evaluate orebodies has changed. and rcscrves (SMII. I Y Y I ) .
quXItily arc knnwn 01. cstilllaletl fro111specific gc~hgicalcvidencc. 'Ib rellecl varying I . I<xploration inforrnatiorr. 'l'crms such :is 'deposit' or 'mineralization' are appmpriatc
dcgrecs of geolrlgical ccrtainly. iesanrces can be suhdividcd i n t o ~ncasorcd,indicated, Ihr rclmrting cxplomtion ilrf~~rnlatilln. l t i i n s such ;IS 'ore,' 'rcservc.' uld other terms
aud inferred that iir~plythat C C O I I ~ I I I ~extraction
C or pmdi~~tion hiis heen t C ~ ~ ~ ~ n s l l i sho~rld
i l e d . tn,)t he
- Measured. Quantity is computed from diwensions rcvcalcil in outcrops. trenches, used.
workings or drill holes; grade andlor quality ;KC coniputed from the result i ~ detailed f
smlpii~ig.i h e sites for inspection, sampling :~nd~nensuremenlarc spaced so closely and
Ilrc geological character is so wcll delined that size, shiipc, depth and mineral content (a) Measured resource:
01' the rcsuolrc are wcll established. (b) Indicated resource;
Indicated. lju;mtity ;1nd grade aod111rquality arc coorpotcd l n ~ minformation similar (c) Inferrcd resource.
lo that used for n~e;~si~red resources, but the sites for irrs()ection, santpling, and measure- 'She term 'resource' is rccommcnded over the ternrs 'mineral resnurce, idcntilicd re-
ments arc fartlrcr zipart or are otllcrwise less adeq~~ately sp;iccd. 'L'lre degree of assurance, source' and 'in situ reso~~rce.''R~ISOII~CC'
as delincd herein i~rcludes'identilicd resource.'
altl~oughlower than that for mcnsured resources, is high enough to assu~i~e geological but cxcludcs 'undiscovered resource' of the United States Bureau of Mines (1JSIIM) iind
continuity hctwecn points of observation. llnitcd States Geologic;il Survey (USGS) classilication scl~cmc.'l'lle 'uoiiisc~~vercrl re-
I n .l ,~. ,~ t Sistim;~tes
ui are based on geological evidence and ;rssumxl cmtinuity in source' classilication is used by public planning agcncies and is not appmpri;~tefor use
which there is less conlidence than for measured andlo! indicated icsoorces. Inferred in commerci;~lventnres.
rcsoutccs mi~yor may not he supported by samples or tncasurenlents but the inlerence
m~lstbe s~~pported by ~easonablcg e ~ - s c i e ~ ~ t(geological,
ific gct)chetnical, geophysical, 3. Rescrve. A reservc can he subdivided into two calegories:
or otI1er) &rta. (a) Ptobahlc reserve;
(h) Pmven rcserve.
Kesrrvc. A rcscrve is tliat pan of the resource that meets minimum physical and chern- The term 'reserve* is recommended over the terms 'ore reserve,' 'minnblc reserve' or
icd criteria related to ihe specilied mining and production practices, including those for 'recovcrahle reserve.'
grade, quality, thickness and depth; and c ; ~ nhe rensonably :~ssu~ned to be econornic;rlly 'The terms 'measured reserve' and 'indicated reserve,' generally cquivalcot 111 ' p r i w o
and legally extmctcd or produced at the time of dctcrminatioo. 'l'he feasibility of the reserve' and 'prob;iblc reserve,' respcctively. are not pan of this classilicittion scheme and
specified mining and production practices must have been deoionstlated or can he tea- sbould not be used. The terms 'measured,' 'indicated' ;md 'inferred' qu;llify resources
sm;thly assumcd on the hasis of tests and mcasuren~ents.l'he term reserves need not and reflect only diffc.renccs in geological confidence. The terms 'proven' :ind 'prob;~ble'
signify that cxtraction f;~cilitiesare in piace and operative. qualify reserves and reflect a high level of economic conlidcnce ;IS wcll as dilfcrcnccs
'l'hc term economic implies that profitable cxtraction or prnduction under defined in geological confidence.
investment assumptions has been estahlished or analylically demonstrated. The assump- 'The terms 'possible reserve' and 'inferred reserve' are not part of this classilication
tions made must he reasonable including assumptions a~ncerning[he prices and costs schemc. Material described hy these terms lacks the requisite dcgrec of ;issurance to be
that will prevail during the life of the project. reported as a reserve.
'I'hc term 'Iegnlly' does not imply that all permits needed for mining and processing The tern1 'ore' should he used only for material that meets tlic reqk!irements to be a
h;we hccn obtained or that other legal issues have Ileeo cornplctely resolved. However, reserve.
for a reserve to exist, there should not he any significant uncertait~tyconcenring issuance It is recorrmrcnded that proven and probable reserves he reportcd separately. Where
of tlresc permits or resolution of legal issues. the term reserve is used without the modiliers proven or probable. it is considered to be
I<cscrvcs relate lo resources as follows: the total of proven and probable reserves.
--- L'mven reserve. Tlrat part of a measured resource thza satislies the. conditions to be
. .'
c[.dsslfied as a reserve.
- Probable reserve. That pan of an indicated resources that satisfies the conditions to 1.2 MINE DEVELOPMENT PHASES
hc classified as a reserve.
It should be stated whether the reserve estimate is of in-place material or of recover- The mineral supply process is shown diagrammaticdly in Figure 1.2. As can be seen a
able material. Any in-place estiniate should he qualilied to show the anticipated losses positive change in the market place creates a new or increased demand for a mineral
resulting frnrn mining rnetliods and beneficiation or preparation. product.
In response to the demand, financial resources are applied in an exploration phase
Il'el~ortinglerrninology resulting in the discovery and delineation of deposits. Through increases in price and/or
The following terms should he used for reporting exploration information, resources and advances in technology, previously located deposits may become interesting. These
reserves: deposits must then be thoroughly evaluated regarding their economic attractiveness. This
evaluation process will he termed the 'planning phase' of a project (Lee. 1984). The
 MPLEMENTATIOI PRODUCTION

Claanges in

for

C
0
u O c c u r r e n c e of
+ ORE d e p o s i t
.-C I
Sell product
m
D e v e l o q mine
fXtract.on facilities
Mine and p r o c e s s

I:it:wc I . 3 l<cl;lliveability lo inllucscc cosls (1.e~. 1984).

MINERAL S U P P L Y PROCESS

vcrrrutu. Bur h e oppmite is rrlso true: rro phusr ( ~ frhc f projecf contuirrs lhe polenfinl for-
concltnion of this phase will he the preparation of a feasihilily report. Based upon this,
imrilli,rfi l~cI1nIcd~~~fi.sc(rI disa~terinto n drvelopirrg projw1, tho1 i.s LtAere~~r in rke
the decision will be made as to whether or not to proceed. If the decision is 'go', then
/>km!,itlg/ ; / l f m . ...
the development of the mine and concentrating facilities is mrlertakcn. ?'his is called
,tr rlzc rrrm qf the conceprual srudy, (here ir (1 wlurively rm!imirerl rrhility ro irl/lrier~ce
the i~nplcmentation,investment, or design and conslructiol~phase. Finally there is the
rhe w , s r r{111c r%leq,i,~fiproject. As decisions are mode, correcrly or orlz?rwi.se, drirbr~
production or operational phase during which the mineral is mined and processed. The
tire hulnnce of rhe pklnning phase, the opporrrirriry ro irl/!uo~ceflte co.sf of rhr job
result is a product to be sold in the marketplace. The entrance of the mining engineer
diminishes rrrpirlly
into this process begins at the planning phase and continues tlirough the production
7 1 1 nhiliry
~ f o irflrrerrce the cosr of rhe pn,jecr ditnini.she.sfrrr-rhet-a s mow deci.siotn.s ore
phase. Figitre 1.3 is a time line showing the relationship of the different phases and
,,ludc derirrg rlze design s t u p . At the end of the constrrrcrion period lhetr i s r.s.se,uiully
tlteir stages.
rro oppwl~milylo i~(/(uence cos1.s.
'The irnplerncnlation phase consists of two stages (Izc, 1984). The design and con-
struction stage includes the design, procurement and construction activities. Since it is The remainder of this chapter will focus on the activities conducted within the planning
the period of major cash flow for the project, economies generally result by keeping the stage.
time frame to a realistic minirnum. The second stage is commissioning. This is the trial
operation of the individual components to integrate them into an operating system and
ensure their readiness for startup. It is conducted without feedstock or raw materials.
1.3 AN INITIAL DKTA COLLECTION CHECKLIST
Frequently the delnands and costs of the commissioning period are underestimated.
The production phase,also has two stages (Lee, 1984). The startup stage commences at
the moment that f e d is delivered to the plant with the express intention of transforming In the initial planning stages for any new project there are a great number of factors
it into product. Startup normally ends when the quantity and quality of the product is oT rather diverse types requiring consideration. Some of these fi~ctorscan be easily
sustainable at the desired level. Operation commences at the end of the startup stage. addressed, whercas others will require in-depth study. To prevent forgetting factors,
As can be seen in Figure 1.3. and as indicated by Lee (1984). checklists are often of grcal value. Included below are the items from a 'Field Work
I'rograrn Checklist for New Propc~ties' developed by Halls (1975). Student engineers
llrc plnnr~ingphase oflers the grrufesl opportunity ro rnirritnize rile cupirfll and operuling will find many of the items on this checklist of relevance when preparing mine design
costs of the ulrbnure prujejecr, while tnrubtrizi~rgrhe operubiliry nnd profiluhilily (fthe reports
Checklist itcms (Ilalls, 1975) 4. Geologic structure
I. 'l'opogrephy (;I) Within ininc area
(a) USGS n1;tps (h) Surrounding arcas
(h) Special aerial or land survey (c) Dam locations
(4) 1:mhquakes
(c) liffcct 011 pit slopes
2. Clinlatic condilions Maxin~ulnpredicted slopes
(a) Aldtude (0 Eslirnatc on Si~undalioncondilions
(h) 'l'e~nperatures 5. Minc water :IS determined by prospect lloles
I :xtre~llcs (a) I)cpth
Montl~lyaverages (b) Qu:oltily
(c) I'recipitation (c) Mcthod of draimigc
Avcrsge annual precipitation 5. Surface
Average rnnnthly rainfall (a) Vegetation
Average monlhly snowfill 'Typc
Run-off ~ Method of clearine"
~

Normal Local costs for clcaling

Flood (h) Unusual conditions
Slides - snow and mud I:xtra heavy timber growtl~
(d) Wind Muskeg
M:~xi~nonrrecorded Lakcs
I'rcvailing direction Stream diversions
Ilurricancs, ton~ados,cyclones, ctc. Ciravcl deposits
(c) Iiuniidity 7. Kock type - overburden and ore
Effcct on inslallatioes, i.e. eleclrical motors, etc. (;I) Silbmit sample for drillability test
(f) Dust (b) Observe fragmentation f~atllres
(g) Fog and cloud cortditions liardness
1. Warer - potable and process Ikgrec of weathering
(a) Sourccs Cleavage and fracture planes
Streams Suitabilitv for road surface
I.&s 8. I.ocations for concentrator - Factors to consider for optilnum location
Wells (a) Minc location
(h) Availnhility llaul uphill or downhill
Ownership (b) Site prepamtion
Water rights Amount of cut and!or till
Cost (c) I'rocess water
(c) Quantities Gravity flow or pumping
Monthly availability (d) Tailings disposal
Flow rates Gravity flow or pumping
(e) Maintenance facilities
Drought or flood conditions
I~cation
Possible dam locations
(d) Quality 9. Tailings pond area
Present sample (a) Location of pipeline length and discharge elevations
Possibility of quality change in upstream source water (h) Enclosing features
Effect of contamination on downstream users Natural
Darr~sor dikes
(e) Sewage disposd method
Lakes
 (c) I'ond overllow 1::tvor:ible ur unfavorable to mining
lificct of' water pollution on down st re an^ wcrs Past reactions in the area to mining
L'ossihility for reclaiining water (b) Special minin# laws
([I) 'l':iilings dust
Its eflect on tile area
10. Roads (a) I'rincipd i~~dustrics
(a) Obtain area road maps (h) Avdahility of labor and normal work scl~erinlcs
(I)) Additionid road information (c) Wage scilles
Widths (d) 'lhx structure
Surfacing ( e ) Av:iil;ibility of goods and services
Maximum load limits Housing
Seasonal load limits Storm
Seasonal access Rccrc:~tino
Otbcr limits or restrictions Mcdic;~ll~cilitiesattd unusual local discase
Maintained by county, state, etc. 1lospil;il
(c) Access roads to he constructed by company (factors coosidclcd) Sclrools
Distat~ce (I) Matcrial costs and/or availability
Profile h c l oil
Cut and lill Concretc
Bridges. culverts Gravel
Terrain and soil conditions Ljormw mntcrial for &lms
I I . Power (g) Purchasing
(a) Availability Duties
Kilovolts 16. Waste dump location
Distaoce (a) 11;101 dist:incc
Rates and length of contract (b) Haul profilc
(b) Power lines to site (c) Amenable to future leaching operation
Who builds
17. Accessibility of principal town to outside
Who maintains
(a) Mett~odsof transponation available
Right-of-way requirements
(b) Reliability of transportation available
(c) Substation location
(c) Cotn~nunications
(d) Possibility of power generation at or near site
18. Methods of obtaining information
12. Smelting
(a) Past records (i.e. government sources)
(a) Availability
(h) Maintain measuring and recording devices
(h) Method of shipping concentrate
(c) Collect samples
(c) Rates
(d) Field observations and measurements
(d) If company on site smelting - effect of smelter gases
(e) Field surveys
(e) Concentrate freight rates
( f ) Make preliminary plant layouts
(1)Railroads and dock facility
(g) Check courtliouse records for land information
13. Land ownersltip
(11) Check local laws and ordinances for applicable legislation
fa) Present owners
(i) Personal inquiries and observation on economic and political climates
(b) Present usage (i) Maps
(c) Price of land (k) Make cost inquiries
(d) Types of options, leases and royalties expected (I) Make material availability inquiries
14. Government (m) Make utility availability inquiries
(a) Political climate
111 preparing t l ~ i ss e c t i m IIICautlrors have d r a w n 1ic;tvily on mnteri;~l originally pre-
sented in papers h y L c e (1984) and Taylor (1977). '1'11~pertnission b y the authors and
llreir publisltcr. T h e Nurthwcst M i t r i n g Associaiiott, ti] include this material is gr;itcfully
;tcknowlcdgcd.

F?,idin~,\:Cwnprisc a auot~mik~y. prcfcrably i n scqsestial ;and inmiilly li~huliwfmns. 01 the i r q ~ m t n R~IIIPS

t
;ssd ohscsv;ttic,es Iron>;a11 the remaining rcctions. ' l l i i 5 section loay equ;llly be tc~it~ed Ccmclusiwn.
l l i w g l ~this titlc i n v w ~2% dttager of strsying into rcro~>~slc$~d;~li,>a~swllich \I~oold1101 h ~flcrede01r.b
'l'llc (>lmrting phase cottlmonly involves llrrcc stages o f study (Lec, 1984). rpcially rcqilcsred.
Any caihoss ur rcretv;niom thc iiulho~sc x e to m a i c should Ir incorpi~r:twdi n cwc 111 llic fits1 tlwec
.S1qc I:c~,,,cq,tld .study rcctiims. l l i c gcner;bl aim i s that tllc i~ot~vlcchsical o r lcrs~teul~i~~ci~l
rcxler \Ix,~~ld
lhc .~<lcqo;,tclymfoni,ed

A cortccptt~;tl (or preliminary valuation) study rcprcscnts the tr;tnshrmnti~,o o f a p m j c c t ;ilnrut ihc prolrmy by the lime hc lhas rcnd lhc cnd of I'inilisgs

idca i n t o ;I broad invest~rrentproposition, b y using a)t~rparative~ n c t h o d so f scope def-

inition and cost e s t i ~ n a t i n gtechniques t o identify 11 potcnlial investment opportunity.
C;tpitel and o [ ~ c r a t i o gcosts arc usually approximate ratio estimates usiog l ~ i s t o r i c adata.
l
I 1 is inlcntled pritrlarily t o highlight the principal invcstnrenl aspects o f ;I possible ittin- hlmrrlh. a d lrmdra-,iu,t rrlrrdule: 'finbulatcs lhc rninit~gpmgr;un (including prcpi,xluct,oe work). thc m ~ l l ~ s g
i n g proposition. T h e prepasation of suclt ;I study is normaily the w o r k o f one o r t w o pn~g~;un. any expmrlanr or cap;sity cl~usgcr.tllc r c c o v e ~ e rand [pnxlau~ilui~lilici(cwiccntr;ne gindes).
;,1111 o w p ~ m
of pwducls.
engineers. 'The lindings are reported as a preliminnry vduation.

S l o p 2 : I'reli,nirrrtry or pre-/easihility s r d y
A prc1ittrin;try s l ~ t d yis an intcrtnediatc-level exercise, trortnally not soitahle for att invest-
incnt dccisioo. It has the objectives of determining whether l l ~ ep r o j e a conccpt justifies
a detailed ittralysis h y a feasibility sludy, and w h c t l ~ e rany aspecls o f t l ~ cproject arc crit-
ical t o its viability and necessitate in-depth investigation through ftmctional o r support corr .,srin~nre:Tatialates lhc
Op~~nrting cash costs of !mining, otillisg. othcc l i e ; m ~ c n l ;mcill;try
. rcn,us.
;idrl,isirtrat~aa>,clc. I)cpreciNion is not a c a h cost. and is 1h;mdled rrpi;mly m carli flow calculalioss.
studies.
I',,srmisc trcauncet and rcaliratian costs arc most con~cnicnllyregaidcd a\ clccluc:icm~fro-o rcrcnuer.
A psclinrinary study should b e viewed as an interrncdiate stage belwcctt a relatively
inexpensive conceptual study and a relatively expensive feasibility stody. Sotne arc done
h y ;I t w o o r t h e e nlan team w h o have access t o consultants in various liclds others may
b c multi-group efforts.

S i n g e -7: 1;cusihility study iirto,iri,~p rirul n u duro: State what linancing assumptions have k c , , made, all cqeity, all dcbt or urmc
T h e feasibility study provides a definitive technical, ettviron~nentaland co~rtrrrercialbase rixcilierl inixturc, to~etherwith the intorest and repayment tenns of Ikmr A mtemcnl on [he tax iceinre
for an invcstmcnt decision. I t uses iterative processes t o optitnizc a l l critical elernents
o f the project. I t identities the production capacity, technology, invesmmnt and produc-
t i o n costs, sales revenues, and return o n invcstrnent. Norrnally i t delines the scopc o f
involving sigtrilicast loss of accuracy.
w o r k oncquivocally, and serves as a base-line documcnt f o r advancement o f tbe project
tlrmugh subsequcnt phases. Jlmv r c h e ~ l ~ d r skcsent
C~lrh (if isfansation pemits) onc or mure year-by-year pr~~jljectians
: of cash
~riovcmentris and out uf the project. Thcsc labulalions arc very infonrmivc. particularly hccvuse their
These latter t w o stages w i l l n o w b e described in m o r e detail.
format i s almost unifomly stmdardizd. ntcy may bc cantpiled h r the isd~cnlcdlite of thc project or. in
"cry early studies, for somc arbitrary shorter period.
1.4.2 The conlerzl of art inrerrrrediale valuatiorz ~ e p o r t I'igures must also k totalled and summarized. Depending on compney piactice and inr~ructiunr.
isvesmcnt indicators such as internal rate of return, debt payback time. or cnsh flow after payback eray
,~
Ihe important sections o f a n intermediate valuation report (Taylor, 1977) are: k displayed.
- Aim;
- 'Technical concept;
- Findings;
- O r e tonnage and grade;
 - Mining and p r o d u c t i o n schedule;
- - Capit;tl cost estitnate;
- O p e r a t i n g cost estimate;
- Rcventtc estimate;
'fitxe; a n d Lin.?t;cing ;:'-,,i,,,,'-,zi <". b i ? ~
- Cash flow lables. Cicolopic;\l sludy of slmclarc, stincralizalios iwl p,srihly 4 genesis.
'She degree of d c t a i l depends on the q u a ~ r t i l y;tnd q t ~ a l i l yof i n f n r m n t i m Table 1.1 S;mpliag by drilling or tt~noellisgor hoth.
- llulk si~oq~ling fhr cl~ccking;md (or ~laetallurgicalresting.
outlines t h e contents of t h e d i f f c r c n t scctiotis.
l lenched o r oxidicecl arcas (trcqueslly foeod to he undercsti~?~;ttccl).
l l n ~ c oof
As\;tying ;~wlrecoding of d ~ a including
, clteck essaying. z r k p q m i i c , slrcsgtb :and rt;hbility
1:Iose~ tltillialg 111 imin s ~ l l ~ d ufor
l ~ the
d SIdrI of inlining.
Gcqhysics ;and inilic;~tiw~ of tlrc likely ultinmuc lirails of n,ir1e1i~lir;aioi1.including pnmf of
'l'l~c csscnti;rl functions of the f c a s i h i l i t y r c p o r l arc g i v e n icr 'fithle 1.2. lion iniecr;~lirntio$t01 plim and ~ U I I ~ ):areits.
S w i c e s of wimr nsd 01cosslmcliun n~;Wrislr.
I h e t o t h e great i m p o r t a n c e uf this report il i s nccessaiy t o i n c l u d e a l l det;tilcd
infortn;~lion that supports a general understanding a n d appraisal of tltc project o r t h e (;wh@l w d m;tiq$ (<(/ice):
Cllcckiltg. cortcclieg and cixting u f data for conqxllcr input.
reasons f o r selecting particular processes, equiptrrcnt o r courses of action. T h e contcnts
M;~U;II c;kulieions of otc tonn;tgcs and grades.
of t h e Sc;tsihility r e p o r t are o u t l i n e d in 'Crhlc 1.1. Asmy coyx,siling and rrvtirtical analysis.
'She t w o itriportant requirements for h o t h valuation a n d f c a s i h i l i t y reports are: Cnieputatioi~of tmincml invenlury (geological ncserves) and minable icserver,rcgregaled iar ncetlccl by
1. R e p o t t s [nust b e easy t o rcad, and tlreir i n f o r m a t i o n must h e easily accessible. t>lclxxly, thy oic t y p , by clevihion or Irnch. and by gradc catcgorics.
2. I'arls of t h e reports need to b e rcad and uodcrstond b y non-technical people. - ('wn[lulatiue ol ;ass~xi;lledwastc r w k .

According t o Taylor (1977): I>criv:ttion of t l ~ ccconomic fzctorr uscd in the delennis;slioo of mirvable rcservc.

7%em i s mrrch m e r i t in (1 l a y e r e d o r p y r f u n i r l pr~!.smtution ill wiiiclr rile m t i r e h o d y of

l eddretuirred i n three di,stinct 1uyer.s.
irr/ortnution i s i ~ . s s e ~ ~ ~ ab n
hyer I.D e t u i l e d h a c k g r o u n d irlfonnniiort rreatly o.s.setnhled irz r<:rr&~l>le Jimn n r d
udeqrintely irtdexerl, h u t r e t o i n e d in the c o ~ ~ t p m:Yl y(Nice fi~r
refirmce ond n o t irtclr.rrled
in the ,feo.sibility report.
L * ~ y e r2. F u c t t m l i ~ f o r m a t i o r r a b o u t the project, precisely iohul i s p r o p o s e d t o h e d o n e
u h v u t it, rind whur t h e technical, plty.sicn1 utrd/itruncial rr.srr1t.s w e expected t o be.
Iuyer .3. A c o r n p r e h m s i v e b u t reasonably s h o r t .surnrnrrry report, issved pr@rubly a s
a .se[Ju,-ute "olurlle.
The Jerrsilility r e p o r t itself then cornpri.ses o n l y tile second nrrd t h i r d iuyerv. W h i l e
c v e r y t l ~ i t z gmay I e g i t i m o t e l y he grotrped i n t o a , s i ~ g I ev o l ~ o ~ r e
the
, a.se r f s ~ n a l l c rse/jumted
vo1u11te.s rnakes fi)r eusier r e a d i n g und JOr 1110re flexible firms of hktdirrg. F(m~ibility
r e p o r r s u l w u y s n e e d ro b e r e v i e w e d by e x l ~ e r r vin v a r i u r ~ sspeciultir,.s. The use i $ s e v e r a l
r$ r copies treederl.
s ~ r l n l l e rvolurne~srnakes this easier, a d rnirtinzire.~the t r ~ t r t tl ~ t r ~ n h e

Menlllu?&y (d:sign):
- '1%~trcalnrcnt conce~tin considerable debil, with flowsheets and calculation of quanlilies flowing
Tablc 1.2. The essential funclions of the feasibility rcgxlrt (Taylor. 1977). - Specification of recovery and of producl grade.
-... -. . ~ -(;cneral siting and layout of plant with drawings i f necessary
I. Tu provide a comprcheesive framework of cstilhlished and detailed facts concerning the mineral project.
Aricillriv .services and reyrrirenienls:
2. ?h prcseot an appmpriale scheme of exploitation with designs and equipmcnt lists laken to a degree of - Acccrs. transport, power, watcr, fuel and communications.
detail sufficient for accuralc prediclion of costs and results. - Workshops, offices, change1,ouse. lukmtorier, sundry buildings and equipmcnt.
- I a t m slmctare and strength
3. To indicate to the project's ownen and other interested parties thc likcly prnfiti~hilityof itwestment in
- Housing and rraespon of employees.
the project i f equipped and opcralcd as the r e p n specilier.
- Otlicr rmial reqairemcnts.
, ~ ,~ ~
 f~r<><~r~ci,tlWMl i m u?<,,t<~r.v:
. . .
>;tjggc:;tcd mg,mi;mti:m 01' 1 1 entwpri>c,~ zas w q w ~ t t m ~ ~p.utc~ctsIt~~!.
p t ~ i w ~ <># ~ l w ~
I:is;lrcir>g ;and oblig;ttioas. p;micularly d a t i n g to intercrt awl rcpnyrtlesi on deht.
h r c i g o cxclrimge itsd rccosvcrsion rights, if applicahlc.
Study o f tax aotlwritier and regieicr. w l ~ e t l ~ e siuglu
r or multiplc.
I ) ~ ~ , ~ K t ~ t t<,11,>wa,,ccs
iW, and I2LX w t c .
' 1 : ~ coece~sicwr;and llic i~egotiatingp n n l d u r e for them
Appmlm~ticm;and division o f distrihutablc p m l i t s ~

Oi~enrringcmr c.~linmlirm:
- 1)clinc tlte i a k r strcngth, basic pay rate. fringe cous~
l i s l i ~ b l i r htltc qvunlities of ilnpmant meavrablc rupplicr 1 1 lx co~~sumecl [xwcr. explosives. fuel,
gcisdin~: slcel. !rrgcnts, ew. - a n d ilteir unit costs.
I ~ e t c n n i n cthe l>ourly operating m d tmaintcnnncc costs fbr mobilc rquijmtcnt plus lair perlbnaancc
I:Ic~~>'s.
1il:tisxnc the fixed ikdminisltrtion cosls and otlicr overheids plus the irrcawenble clemcnts townritc
and soci:tl costs.

Murheling:
l'roduct specifications, t r a n s p i , marketing r c g e l i ~ ~ i mars reslrictxms 'l'hc cost of these studies (Lee, 1984) varies substantially, depending upon the size and
- Market analysis and forecast o f future prices.
nature of the project, the type of study being undertaken, the nurnbcr of alternatives
- Likdv ..liurchasen.
Costs for frcigl,t, funllcr treatment and sales.
to be investigated, and numerous other factors. However, the order of magnitude cost
Dr;,fl salts tcmns, plefcrvbly with a letter o f intenl. of the tc~hnicalportion of studies, excluding such owner's cost items as exploration
Mccils crf direct pt~rchsscas against toll lrevtrrrcn~. drilling, special grinding or ~netallurgicaltes~5.enviroonrenral and permitting studies, or
Contract der;ition. provisions for amendrncut or cost cscslation other sopport studies, is co~nnlonlyexpressed as a percentage of the capital cost of the
- lleqtli~enrenlsfor ampling. assaying and umpiring. project:
The existence o f a marker contract or fin" lerler o f intenl is usually an i m p r t n n l prereqeisitc l o the loan
financing o f a new n,inc.
Concepwal study : 0.1 to 0.3 percent
Preliminary study : 0.2 to 0.8 percent
I<ighr.r, oin!cr,rhip and /ego/ nzatler.~:
- Minerid rights m d tenure Feasibility study : 0.5 to 1.5 percent
- M i n i n g rigltts (ifseparated f m m m i t w a l rights).
- Rcnts and royalties.
- I ' m l m y acquisilions or rccurclnent by aption or othcnvise.
-Surface rights to land. wuler, rights-of-way, ev.
1.6 ACCURACY OF ESTIMATES
- I.icenscs and w r m i t s for canstruction as well as o l l e r x i o n

- l h p l o y m e o l laws for Imrl and expatrivtc employees separately i f applicable.

- Agreeniem k t w e c n pannen i n Ihc enterprise. The material presented in this section has bcen largely extracted from the paper 'Mine
Valuation and Feasibility Studies' presented by Taylor (1977).
 pi~nrplant fuu~~detion conditions, or severe we;~therprthlcms. Tu some extent the can-
At fensihility, hy rc;~sonof ~~wltiple s;ur~pli~~g
and ilrwrerous cl~ccks,the average mining tingcncy ;~llownnccinevitably allows fur certain srnall expenditures always known to
gr;~dcof some declared tonnage is likely to hc known within acccl~tahlelimits, say ;wise but not forcsce;~blcnor estimable in detail. Cautioo is needed here. The contingency
i 5%. and verilicd by standard statisticd n~ctlroils.Altl~ougl~ tlic ultim;~lctonnage of ore ;~llow;mccis not an allowance for bad or inadequate estimating, and it sliould never be
tic k;;owi; gar pit mil;es ifcxplnr;i:ioii d;il!iiig f r<)ZIS
~ -Lu.. ..,i-.c
<
.,-,-s
1
L Ll
- * - . <,Gti,7C,
C,,,,,b.,
8 intcrprp!r,l i n tl,;tt mrnncr~
than the practicnl rnining limit, in practice. the ulti~~iatc t o ~ ~ n a gofc many deposits is The ;~ccuracyof capital st estio~;ttesiocreascs 21s the project advances
~~ehulous hecause it depemls on cost price rclntiorrships late i n tlic project life. By the from conccptml to preliminary to feasihility stage. Normally acceptahle ranges of ac-
discount effects in present value theory, late life tonnage is not cco~~oniically signilicant curacy arc considcrcd to be (I.ee, 1984):
at the lcxsihility stage, Its significance will grow steadily with time once prndnction lias Conceptual study : f 30 percent
hcgun. I t is not critical tlmt the tot;~lpossible tr>nn;~gcbe known st tlic outset. What is
Inore illlporta~ltis that the grade ;lnd quality factors of the lirst fcw yc;rrs of operation I'rclirninary study : 4: 20 percent
he known with assurance. . . , nhty
' ' study : f 10 percent
'Iivo standards of i~nportancecan he defined for most large ~ [ I C I Ipit n~incs: It was noted earlier that the scope of work in tlie conceptual and preliminary studies is
I. A iirini~numore reserve equal to tl~atrequired fur all t l ~ eycars t h t the cash llows tart optimize(l. l'he cost estimate is suitable for decision purposes, to mlvance the project
;IIC ps+cted in the feasibility report must he known will1 ;~ccunlcy:u~dco~~fidence.
111 the ncxt stage. or to abort and ~ninin~ize losses.
2. An ultimate tonnage potential, projected generously and oplimistic;~lly,should be
calculated so as to define the area adverscly affected by mining and within whicli dumps
and plant buildings mwt not encroach.
'She revcnue over a mine's life is the Largest single categoty of money. It has to pay for
everythi~~g, including repayment of the original investment money. Decause revenue is
'l'his reduces lo two items - througl~putand rccovcry. Opcn pit n i i ~ ~ i ~ units
i g have well tlre biggcst hase, measures of the mine's economic merit are more sensitive to clianges
cstnhlished per(i~rmence rates that can usually hc iicl~ievetl iC tlre work is correctly i n revenue than to clianges of similar ratio in any of the expenditure items.
org;rnired and the associated iterns (i.e. shovels ;rnd tn~cks)are suitahly matched. Per- Revenue is governed by grade, throughput, recovery, and metal or product price.
lnrnrance s u f i r s if advance work (waste stripping i n a pit) is in;aletlu;~te.Care must Of tlrcse, price is: (a) by far the most difficult to estim;tte and (h) the onc quantity
he taken that these tasks are adequately scheduled and provided for in the feasihility Iargcly outside t l ~ eestimator's control. Even ignoring inflation, selling prices are widely
st11dy. variable with time. Except for certain controlled commodities, they tend to follow cyclic
The throughput of a concentrator tends to be limited at citlrer the fine crushing stage ['"""n.
or tire grinding stages. The principles of milling design ; ~ r cwell established, but their The rrrarket departments of major metal rnining corporations are well informed on
application requires accurate knowledge of the ore's hardness and grindahility. These supplylde~nandrelationsl~ipsand metal price movements. They can usually provide fore-
qualities most therefore receive careful attention in the prcfeasibility test work. Concen- casts of average metal prices in present value dollars, hot11 probable and conservative,
trator performance is part of a three way relationship i~lvolvingthe fineness of grind, tlie latter being with 80% probability or hetter. Ideally, even at the cnnservative product
recovery, and the grade of concentrate or product. Very siniilar relations may exist in price, tlre proposed project sliould still display at least the lowest acceptable level of
metallurgical plants of other types. Again, accuracy can result only from adequate test- profitability.
work.

1.7 FhASfDILITY STUDY PREPARATION

Some cost items, notably in the operating cost field, differ little from mine to mine and
are reliably known in detail. Others may be unique or otherwise difficult to estimate. The feasibility study is a major undertaking involving many people and a variety of
Generally, accuracy in capital or operating cost estimating goes back to accuracy in specialized skills. There are two basic ways through which it is accomplished.
quantities, reliable quotes or unit prices, and adequate provision for indirect or overhead 1. The mining company itself organizes the study and assembles the feasibility report.
items. The latter tend to form an ever increasing burden. I'or this reason, they should Various parts or tasks are assigned to outside consultants.
also be itemized and estimated directly whenever possible, and not he concealed in or 2. The feasibility work is delegated to one or more engineering companies.
allocated into other direct cost items. Contained on the following pages is an eleven step niethodology outlining the planning
Contingency allowance is an allowance for possible overexpenditures contingent upon (Steps 1-4) organizing (Steps 5-10) and execution (Step 11) steps which might he used
unforeseen happenings such as a strike or time delaying accident during construction, in conducting a feasihility study. It has been developed hy Lee (1984, 1991).
 3) Organiz:uion;,I units;
4) <;cograplric;~larcas;
St<,/>I: l<,vrohlisl~
rr steering corrrrrritree. A steering connirittee cor~sistingof managers 5 ) Cost accunnls;
and otlwr individu;rls of wide experience and responsibility would bc IOrmcd tu overview 6 ) 'l'imc pl~ases;
;~ndcvi~lo;~le the direction and viiibility of the iki~sibilitysurdy tc;m One stch steering 7) (:~~nllp~r;~li!m cl!;rr:~ctcris!ics;
cori!mittee tmghl he the following: 8) I~clivcral~lcs;
- Vicc-President (Chairman); 9) I<espm~siblcpersons;
- General Manager, mining operations;
10) S u b p ~ ~ f w s e s .
- Vice-President, finance; It is not a rigid system. WBS categories can t ~ eused in m y sequence desired, includ-
- Chief Geologist, exploration;
ing using tl~es;mc category several timcs. A s m ~ p l eWI3S is shown in Figures 1.4
Vice-President. teclrnical services; and 1.5.
Coosultant(s). An ;tltcrn;rtive to tliis is the Work Classification Structure (WCS). This ctmnwdity-
h;~sedcl;~ssilic;~tion of goods ;~ndservices is commonly used by construction amtractors
Srq>2: E.smhlish u project srudy term. Thc criteria for selcctio~r01' tlie stody team meor- and consulting cnginccring tirnis as the primary cost-collection system 'The specific io-
bcrs would c~nphitsizethese qualities: tent of the WCS is to provide a consistent reference system for storage, comparison and
- (bmpctcnt in ilicir respective fields.
ev;rluation of technical, man-hour and cost data from work arca to work arca willrin a
Considerahlc experience with mining operations. projcct; :rnd from project to project; nnd from country to country. The WCS may 11;lvc
-- Comple~rrcotarytechnical abilities. dil'l'erent nxrlcs i n different organizations, but it is the 'original' costing system. It is the
- Compatible personalities - strong interpersonal qn;rlities.
hasis hl-virtually all ofthe cstirnating ~narrunlsand handbooks which identify unit costs
- Oninrritmcnt to he available througl~tlie i~nplemeotationplrasc, shoold the prospect for co~inmrditiessuch as concrete, or piping, or road construction, or equipment installa-
he viable. lion. TIE WCS provides a commodity based 111ct1iodto estimate and control costs. 'The
'l'hc teaw n~embersmight be: key to the success ol'the WCS system within an organization is the abstrlrrte consistency
- Project Manager;
with which it is used.
- Art% Supervisor, mining; 'Thc WDS is of primary interest to owners and project managers - both of whom arc
- Area Supervisor, beneficiation; interested i n tracking cost and schedule on a work area basis. The WCS is primarily
- Area Supervisor, ancillaries. of interest 10 C ~ I I S ~ ~ I I Cconlractors
~ ~ O I ~ and engineering consult;t!rts, wlm lncasurc actual
perfororitncc ;igainst forecast pcrforrnance on a commodity basis.
Bep 3: I l r v e l o ~a ~work breakdown .strrictrrre. 'The Work Breakdown Structore (WBS) is I'rofessional project managers and cost engineers nor~nallyw e cost coding systems
(lclincrl by the American Association of Cost Engineers (AACE) as: which encode both the cormnodity and the work packrge. This allows them to evaluate
11 pmrlun-oriented family tree division of hurdwure, srftwure, /ucilitie.s ntld orher iterns job-to-date pcrformrnce, then forecast cost or productivity tren~lsfor the halance of the
which orpnizes, defines and displays 1111 of the work lo he petfi)rtned in ucconrplishirrji prc~jec!
rhe pruject objectives.
Step 4: 1)evelr)p ml ucrion plun /br the srudy. An action plan in its simplest form, is
The WHS is a functional breakdown of all elements of work on a project, on a geo- just a logical (logic-oriented) time-bar plan listing all of the activities to be stodicd.
grapl~icalnotl/or process basis. It is a 1rier;uchy of work packages, or products, on a 1:igurc 1.6 is one ex~riipleof such a time-bar graph. A more general action plan would
work arc;t basis. The WBS is project-unique, rellecting the axiom that every project is have these cllaracterislics:
a unique event. 1. Purpose: the action plan serves as a control document during the execution of
A WBS is a simple common-sensc procedure which systematically reviews the full tlre feasibility study. It functions as a master reference, against which change can be
scope of a project (or study) and breaks it down into logical packages of work. The measured and resolved. It provides a visual conrmunication of the logic and progrcss of
primary ctrallenge is normally one of perspective. It is imperative that the entire project the study.
be visualized as a sum of many parts, any one of which could be designed, scheduled, 2. Methodology: it may be possible for one person, working in isolation, to develop
constructed, and priced as a single mini-project. an action plan. I~lowever,it is substantially more desirable to have tlre project study
There arc a number of categories which can be used to construct a work breakdown team develop their plan on a participative, interactive basis. (Texa Instruments' Patrick
structure. These include: Ilaggerty insisted that 'those who implement plans must make the plans'). This interac-
1) Components of the product; tion fosters understanding and appreciation of mutual requirements and objectives; even
2) Functions; more intportantly, it develops a sllared commitment.
 I'm tlle h;il;~nccof the study. These schcdulcs are oricntcd on an area-by-;sea basis, with
thc lirin~arylearn rncn~hcrsproviding llic lcadcrsliip for each m a .

Srq) Y: IiIe~rr!fy ,specid <~xperti.se

required, l'hc project study learn ;tflcr reviewing tlrcir
plan, with thc nilditiona! inform~!londevc!oped during Step 8, may i(lan1iry a nuiirlicr
or areas of the job which require special expertise. Such items nray hc packaged its
Geostntistics/
O r e Rcserves I I = + e m I scpzirak Requests For Proposals (KFP's), and forwarded to pre-screened consultants
on ;in invitation basis. Tllc scope of work in each KFP should he c1c;lrly ide~~lifietl,
along with the d,jeclives fbr the work. A separate section provides explicit comments
o n the criteria for selection of the succcssf111Ridclcr; Illis pnlvidcs the tii<lderwith the
opportunity to deliver proposals wl~ichcan lie weighted i n the directions indicalcd hy
the project team

Stop 10: 1:I:'voIrraterrtrd sclecr co1l.sii1rani.s. 1:v;rluation of the consult;~nt'shids shriulil he

t h o r t ~ g h ,olijeclive, and fair. The evaluatio~~s and decisioms ;ire made hy the use of
spre;d sheets which compare each bidder's capability to satisfy each u i the olijectivcs
for the work as identified in the RI? The objectives should he pre-weighted to remove
bias from the selection process.

Step 11: Ikecccre, r,rouitor, corrrrul. With the project study lean, fully mobilized ;urd
with the specialist consultants engaged and actively executing well-defined contracts,
the primary challenge to the project manager is lo ensurc that the study stays on
!rack.
A number of management and reporting systems and forms may he utili/.cd, but tile
hnsc-line rcfercncc for each system and report is the scope of work, schetlulc and cost
for each activity identified in the action plan. Thc status-linc is ;nldetl to the scbcdule
on ;I hi-weekly basis, and corrections and modifications rnsde as indicated, to keep the
Slqj 5: Iderrrify udditio,ral resource requiremcnlv. While developing a comprehensive work on track.
:~ctiimplan, neeils for additional resources nom~allybecome ;ipparent.

1.8 CRI'I'ICAL PATH IIEI'RESENTATION

Slq> 7: Oevelop ly,orgurzization churt and re,spori.sihilitie,s.There are a number of ways
lo organize $1 project study team for a l q e study. A separate task force can be es- Figure 1.7 is an example of a network chan which has heen presented by Taylor (1977)
tablished hy removing personnel from existing jobs and developing a project-oriented for a rr~ediurnsized, open pit base metal mine. Each box on the chart col~tains:
hierarchy, oiilitary style. This can work effectively, but can discourage broad participa- - activity number,
tion in the evolution of the project. In a large company, a matrix system can be used -activity title.
very successfully, if used very carefully and with understanding. The management of a - responsibility (this should be a personhead of section who would carry the respon-
~natrixorganization is based on the management of intentional conflict; it works exceed- sibility for budget and for progress reports).
ingly well in a positive environment, and is an unequivocal disaster in an unfavorable - starting date,
cnviron~~lent. - completion date,
- task duration.
Step I' 1I)evelop .second-levelplans and schedule,~.Using the master time-bar, the action 'The activities, sequential relationships and criticallnear critical paths can be easily seen.
plan and the WBS as primary references, the enlarged project study team develops Figure 1.8 is the hranch showing the basic mining related activities. This progression
second-level plans and schedules, thus establishing their objectives and commitments will be lollowed through the remainder of the book.
 In ;&cordancc with the Natkinal Envimnmental I'olicy Act (NTII'A), ao eovir~inmental
ilocun~cntwill he prepared for those mineral actions which pr(iposc surl.zice disturbance.
'The reqt~ircn~cnts and mitigation measurcs recommcndcd i n an EnviroomcntaI Assess-
me111 (ERA) or hvironmeotal impact Statement ( I X ) sh;~ll he made a part of the
reclamation plan.
I t is ;I statutory I
operations he completed in an environmentally sound rnartner. 'The UI.M's long-term
I 9 MINE RECLAMAI'ION rccl;in~tiongoals are to shape, stabilize. revegclate, or otherwise treat disturbed arms in
order to provide ;I sell-sustaining, safe, and stahlc condition that provides ;I prniluctivc
use of ihe land which conforms lo the ;tppnived l;\nd-use plan for the area. 'l'he short-
I n the past, recl;unation was son~cthingto he considered at the end o l mine operations term reclamation goals are to stabilize disturhed areas and to pmtcct hotli disturhed i~nd
:lnd not in the planning stage. Today, in many countries at least, there will be no t
;icij;~ccntundisturbed areas from unnecessary or undue degrxixion.
mine without lirst thornugltly and salisfactorily addressing the envimnmental aspects of
the prqi(rxd project. Althouglr t l ~ esuhject of mine reclan~atiorlis much too large to be
covered in this brief chapter, some of thc factors requiring planning consideration will he
discussed. In the western United States, a considerable amount of mineral development 'The purposes of the reclamation plan .ue as follows:
I.'I kLL
. . place on federal and Indian lands. The 13tncau of Land M a ~ q p i c n (ULM)
t of the I . 1lecl;tmation plans provide detailed guidelines for the recl;tmation process ;~ndlul-
U.S. Dcpartmcnt of the Interior has developed the Solid M i n e r u l , ~Reclmnutirm Hundhook fill federal, state, county and other local agencies reqoircmcnls. 'They can be t~setlby
(I3I,M, 1992) with the objective being 'to provide the user with clear guidance which regulatory agencies in their oversight roles to ensure that the reclamation measures are
highlights a logical sequence for managing the reclamation process ;~nda summary of implemented, are appropriate for l l ~ esite, and are environment;tlly sound.
key reclamation principles.' 2. I?eclant;~tionplans will be used by the operator th~oughoutthe operational period of
'The remaining sections of this ch;q)ter have hcert extracted from the handhook. Al- tbc prnject and subsequent to cessalion of exploration. mining. and processing activities.
though they only pertain directly to those lands under 1lI.M supervision, the concepts I n turn, responsible agencies, including the BLM, will use the rcclamalion plan as a
.' . to review and evaluate the success of the reclamation progr;il~i.
ty.ISI\
have more general application as well. I'crniission Srom the 8LM to include this material
is gratefully wknowledged. 3. Ileclamation plans should provide directior~and st;in~l;rnlstrr assist i ~ tmonitoring
and cornpliancc evaluations.

Multiple-use management is the central concept in the 12ederal Land Policy and Man-
agement Act (F1,PMA) of 1976. FLPMA mandates that 'the puhlic lands he managed 'l'hc reclamation plan should be a comprehensive docnrne~~t submitted with the plan of
in a manner that will protect the quality of scieotilic, scenic, historical, ecological, envi- oper;rtion:: notice, exploration plan, or mining plan. A reclamation plan should provide
rirnmental, air and atmospheric, water resource and ;acheological values.' Multiple-use the hllowing:
management is defined in FLPMA (43 USC 1702(c)) and in regulations (43 CFR 1601.0- I . A logical sequence of steps for completing the reclamation p c c s s .
S(1)) as, in pall, the 'harnionious and coordinated nlanagement of the various resources 2. The specifics of how reclamation srandards will be achieved.
without pcrnranent impairment of the productivity of the lands and the quality of the 3. An estimate of specific costs of reclamation.
cnvironn~entwith consideration being given to the relative values of the resources and 4. Sufficient information for development of a basis of inspection ;md enforcement
not necessarily to the combination of uses that will give the greatest economic return or of reclamation and criteria to be used to evaluate reclamation success and reclarnation
thc greatest unit output.' In addition, FLPMA mandates that activities be conducted so bond release.
as to prevent 'unnecessary or undue degradation of thc lands' (43 USC 1732 (b)). 'The reclaniation plan shall guide both the operator and the BLM toward a planned
I
The Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970 (30 USC 21(a)) established ihc policy future condition of the disturbed area. This requires early coordination with the operator
for the federal government relating to mining and mineral dcvclopment. The Act states to produce a colnprchensive plan. The reclamation plan will serve as a hinding agree-
that it is policy to encourage the development of 'economically sound and stable do- ment between the operator and the regulatory agencies fur the reclamation rne!liodology
~ncsticmining, minerals, metal and mineral reclamation industries.' The Act also states, and expected reclamation condition of the disturbed lands and should he periodically
however, that the government should also promote the 'dcvclopment of methods for reviewed and modified as necessary.
the disposal, control, and reclamation of mineral waste products, and the reclanation Although the operator will usually develop the reclamation plan, appropriate pre-
of mined land, so as to lessen any adverse irnpact of mineral extraction and processing planning, data inventory, and involvement in the planning process hy the regulatory
upon the physical environment that may result from mining or mineral activities.' agencies, is essential to determine the optimum reclamation proposal. Most detcrmina-
tioos as to what is expected should he made before the reclamnion plan is approved (b) 'I'lle slope sh;rll be stabilized using ;tppropriate rcsh;~piogand earthwork measures,
and iinplcincntcd. including proper pl;relncnt of soils and other lnatcrials.
It is expected that there will he changes to planned reclamation procedures over the (c) Appropriate water cot~rsesand draimgc icatures sllall he established and stabilized
life of the project. Any climges will ge~~crally be limited to tecliniqocs and methodology
nec&xl to attnin tl:c goals set fortl: in the p1:ui. These cha!:g:s to the p!an may rtsult 4. W;ner m;in;~gement. 'l'bc quality and iatqritv of ailccted ground and surface wa-
fi.om ovcrsigtlrs or omissions from the original reclamation plan, permitted alterations ters shall he protected as a part of mineral devclop~nentand rec1;imation activities in
of project activities, procedural changes in plarlr~edreclamation as u result of informa- accor&~ncewith ;tpplicable federal and state requirements:
tion developed by on-site revegetation research undertaken hy lhe operator and studies (a) Appropriate llydmlogic practices shall he used to protect and, if practical, eiiliaoce
pcrfnrmed elsewhere, ;~nd/orclianges i n ferlerallstate regol;~fions.Specilic rcquiremenls both the quality and qoaiitity of imlmcted waters.
are given in the next section. (11) Wliere appropriate, actions shdl 11c t;tken to eliminate g r o o ~ lwater co-mingling
In preparing and reviewing reclamation plans, the B1.M and thc operator must set rea- and contamination.
sonable, achievable, and measurable reclamation goals which ;ire not inconsistent with (c) Drill holes sh;ill be plugged and ondcrgr~undopenings, such as shnfis, slopes,
the established land-use plans. Achiev;tble goals will ensure recla~nationand encolrrage stol~es,and adits, shall be closed in a imnner which protects and isolates aquifers arid
o l ~ e r a ~ m conduct
to research on different aspects of recl;irnatioo for difierent cnvimn- prevents idiltr:ltion of surface waters, where ;ippropri;rle.
merits. These goals should be based on available information and teclmiques, should (d) Waste disposal practices shall be designed mid conducted lo provide ior long-term
offer incentives to both parties, and should, as a result, generate useI'd information for ground and surfice water pmtcction.
I'utore use.
5. Soil management. Topsoil, selected subsoils, or other matcri;~lssuitable as a growth
nrediom shall be salvaged 1.rorn areas to Be disturbed a ~ i dinanagal for later use in
reclamation
An iriterdisciplinary approach shall be used to analyze the physic;il, chemical, biological,
climatic, and other site characteristics arid make reco~iirneod;~tio~rs ihr the reclarnation 6 . Erosion prevention. The surface area disturhcd at any one tinrc during the development
pl;m. In order for a disturbed arm to he considered pn~perlyreclaimed. tlie following of a project sliall he kept to the minimum necessary and the disturbed areas reclaiined as
mrst be cooiplicd with: soon as is practical (concurent recl;nnation) to prevent unnecessary o l undue degradation
resulting from erosion:
I. Waste management. All undesirable materials (e.g. toxic sobsoil, cor~tarninatedsoil. (a) 'l'he soil surface rnust be stable and have adequate surface loughness to reduce
drilling fluids. process residue, refuse, ctc.) shall be isolated, rel~~oved,or buried, or run-off, capture rainfall and snow melt, and allow for the capture o i windblown plant
otherwise disposed as appropriate, in a inamlet providing ibr long-term stability and in seeds.
compliance with all applicable state and federal requirements: (11) Additional short-term measures, such as the application of rnulcll or erosion net-
(a) The area shall be protected from future contamination resulting from an operator's ting, may be necessary to reduce surface soil movenrent and prornote revegation.
mining and reclamation activities. (c) Soil conservation measures, including surface manipulation, reduction in slope
(11) There shall be no coiitaminated materials remaining at or near the surface. ;ingle, revegetation, arid water management tcchoiques, shall be used.
(c) Toxic substances that may contaminate air, water, soil, or prohibit plan growth (d) Sediment rctention structures or devices sllall he locatcd as close to the source
slvall he isolated, removed, buried or otherwise disposed of in an appropriate manner. of scdirnent generating activities as possible to increase their effectiverless and reduce
(d) Waste disposal practices and the reclaii~ationof waste disposal facilities shall he environinental impncts.
conducted in conformance to applicable federal and state requirements.
7. Revegetation. When the final landthrtn is achieved. the surface shall he stabilized
2. Subsurface. The subsurface shall be properly stabilized, holes and underground work- by vegetation or other means as soon as practical to reduce further soil erosion from
ings properly plugged, when required, and subsurface integrity ensured subject to appli- wind or water, provide forage and cover, and reduce visual impacts. Specific criteria
cable federal and state requirements. for evaluating revegetatiou success must be site-specific and included as a part of the
reclamation plan:
3. Site stability. (a) Vegetation production, species diversity, and cover (on miforested sites), sllall
(a) The reclaimed area shall be stable and exhibit none of the following characteristics: approximate the surrounding undisturbed area.
- Large rills or gullies. (b) The vegetation shall stabilize the site and support the planned post-disturbance
- Perceptible soil movement or head cutting in drainages. land use, provide natural plant community succession and development, and be capable
- Slope instability on or adjacent to the reclaimed area. of renewing itself. This shall be demonstrated by:
 - Successful on-site establishment of the species included in thc planting mixture he controlled during the ongoing operations, d ~ r i n gi~~teriw S ~ I I ~ ~ O W I 11nd
I S . upon linal
a~ldlorother dcsira!>lc species. closurc.
-- Evidence of vegaation reproduction, either sprcnding by rhizo~~~atous species or Reclamation plans should d s o include a properly designed water monitoring program
seed production. to ensure operator compliance with the approved plan. 'The purpose of the monitoring
-- Evidence of overall sitc sklhility and sustai~i;hiliry. progmn is to de!cr!l!inr- the quantitie.; ond rpr:i!i!irs of all wntrrs which may he ~ ~ f f e c t ~ d
(c) Where rcvegetation is to Be used, a diversity of vegetation spccies shall be used to by mineral operat'1011s.
establish a resilient, self-perpetuating ccosysten~capahlc of supporting t l ~ epostmining Operi~torsshould consider controlling all surfitce itows (i.c rull-on and ruo-of0 with
land use. Species planted shall includes those tl~atwill providc lor quick soil stabilization, cngi~~eercd structures, surface stahilization and e;irly vegetative coven Where the threat
provide litter and nutrients for soil building, and are self-renewing. Except in extenuating to the downstream water quality is high, the plan sl~uuldprr~vidcfcx total containment,
circumslances, native species sl~ouldbe given preference in rcvcgetation efforts. trealmenl, or holh, if necessary, of the surfiice run-off o n !he pn!jecl sitc. Secliment
(11) Species diversity should be selected to ;tccominudatc long-term land uses, such as retention devices or structures should he located ;IS near as possible to sediment source.
rangeland and wildlife habitat, and to provide for a reduction in visual contrast. 'The physical contn~lof water use and routing is n majc~rtask for mir~ingprojects.
(e) Fertilizers, other soil a~neodmcnts,and irrigation s11aI1 be used only ;is necessary 'I'his uoalysis includes the need to:
to providc fix establishment and maintenance of a self-sosVaining plant corninuoity. - Minimize the quantity of water used i n mining and pnxxssing.
(f) Seedlings and oUm young plants may require pnitcction until tticy are fully estah- - I'rcveot conrainin;~tion and degrad;ttion of d l water.
lished. Grazing and other intensive lists may he prohibited until the plant conrmunity is --- Intercept water so tbat it does not wine iri contact wit11pollutant gc~leratirlgsources.
appropriately inature. - Intercept polluted water and divert it to the appropri;~tctrcatn~enrihcility.
(g) Wl~ererevegctation is impractical or inconsistent with the surrounding undisturbed Contnrl may he complicated by the ihcf that many sources i r f watcr pollution are oon
;irc;ls, other forms of surface stahilization, such as rock ptvement, shall he used. point sonrces and the conlaininatetl water is difficult to intercept.

8. Visual rcsourccs. To the extent practicable. the reclaimed landsc;~peshould have char-
;tcteristics that approxiinate or are coinpatihle with thc visual quality of the adjacent area
with regard to location, scale, s h q ~color,
, and orientation of major landscape features.
Hsodling of the waste rrlaterials generated during mining has ;I ditect and suhslantial
0 . Site protection. During and following reclamation activities the operator is responsible effect on the success of reclamation. Materials which will comprisc the waste should be
for ~nonitoringand, if necessaly, protecting the rcclaitned landscape to help ensure sampled and cll;mcterized for acid generation potential, reactivity, and other parameters
reclnrnation success until the liability and bond are released. ol concern. Final waste handling should consider the sclcctive placement of the overbur-
den, spoils, or waste o~aterials,and s h a p i ~ ~the
g wastc disposal areas. Creating special
10. Site-specific standards. All site-specific standards must be met in order for thc sitc sohsurface fcaturrs (rock drains), sealing toxic materials, and grading or leveling the
to he properly and adequately reclain~ed. waste dumps are all waste handling techniques for enhancing reclamation. Any prob-
lems with the place~nentof waste discovered after thr final handling will be very costly
to rectify. Therefore, the selective placement of wastes IIIUSI he considered during the
1.9.6 Surfirce and ground rvarer rnunagernenr
mine plan review process in onier to mitigate potentid prohlerns. Waste materials gen-
'The hydrologic portion of the reclamation plan shall be desigr~edin accordance with all erated during mining are either placed in external waste dumps, used to backlill mined
federal, state, and local water quality standards, especially those under the Clean Water out pits, or used to construct roads, pads, dikes, etc. 'The design of waste management
Act National l'ollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) point source and non practices n~ustbe conducted in cooperation with the State. the Environmental Protection
point source progmns. Agency (EI'A), the BLM, other involved federal agencies and the operator.
The baseline survey should be conducted to identify the quantity and quality of all 'The most common types of waste dumps include: (1) head of valley fills. (2) cross val-
surface and subsurface waters which may be at risk from a proposed mineral operation. ley fills, (3) side hill dumps, and (4) flat land pile dumps. In the design and consvuction
All aspects of an operation which may cause pollution need to be investigated, so that of large waste dumps it is important to consider appropriate reclamation performance
every phase of the operation can be designed to avoid contamination. It is better to avoid standards for stability, drainage, and revegetation. Some guidance to consider during the
pollution rather than subsequently treat water. The diversion of water around chemically mine plan review pnicess includes the following:
reactive mining areas or waste dumps must be considered during the planning stage. Site
selection must be considered during the planning stage. Site selection for waste dumps I. Waste dumps should not be located within stream drainages or groundwater discharge
sl~ouldbe conducted to minimize pollution. areas unless engineered to provide adequate drainage to accomn~odatethe expected
Rcclarnation plans should be prepared to include a detailed discussion of the pro- i~raximumRow.
posed surface water tun-off and erosion controls including how surface run-off will
 -ancl.~ns
a111 JO uo!Ieuielaal a~izaqdrr~oa L~lvrulou IOU II!M SBU!I!EI 3q1 u! ap!~tr!La 1 0 .'masa~tl
aq,f. ' p a ~ ~ a l o ls!d X~![cnb~alampirnwS(alnsua) amsse 01 sa!l!p:j Iuaruleall . ~ I I ? pot: M
s1pm yaeqdumd l o %u!loporit 1alcmpunor8 an!sua)xa laq)!a apnlnu! Xr!ru oo!ll:ulo~aas
~ e u y'ap!ueXn apnlnu! sYu!l!sl a l a q ~.ra~cmpuno~S ~o oo!~on!u~e~uos p!ont? CII pas!nlm
3q XPIII raXe[ Kep 10 1 3 ~ 1alqvau~sadur!IIV . S I D ~ ~1UaIl !~ ~ p u n o sli:!~ua~od
2 J O uo!ssrto
-s!p I! pun earn a111 u! susa~rr!d h \ q ia~i!~purto.tS l o ma!nal q4nolorl1 I? apnlou! plrror~s
s!sLleriv xeld uo!~i!u~epa~ xyduroa amru I? a.r!nbas II!M s q ~ a ~ l o r1:a!u13)q3
d 11) [i!n!si(qd
alqcs!sapun ~ a q l ol o n!rololXqd Su!l!q!qxa s911!p~,u q d Xue jo lnaurdolanap ar[l %rr!.rnp
alq!ssod sv X p a se paiyuianp aq plnoqs papunodu~!aq 01 sSu!l!er arll 1 0 a~n~i!u 311.1.
'SS3DDllS IIO!ll!IIIl?[D~l 31l!111!1~11
aa1uescn9 01 lapro u! palnssr: aq wuu arnlnnrls 31111 0 X~!l!qnls m~a~-Srrwj .sawn\ aqr ,lo
luaumn:ldu~aarulaq armp aq Lnu~Xloo alnsuaro s!q~,~ s a l e ~ p u n o sarll 4 J O uo!,au!umluon
l o urnp aqj hwpq aSt?daas p~one01 slseq awn-Lq-asr!n v or, 4u!li?as ar!nba~Luur salscn\
papunodm! aql poi! su!1?(1x u e p pu!qaq panqd ,<[lw!dKl all! s~uao~punodur! s911!1!i?,f,
'411! l?li!A\a!7 MO!S 3t11 !)alI?~!!dlU~.) SI S I > U O ~3111I!S j O 110lII!UIl!~33>1 . S U O I I I ! S ~ ~ O
~ u ~ s ~ J al!xnt!q
~ ~ J < pill:
I ali:.qilsoildiii!m paii:!>ossi? X ~ I I O ~ I U I Kam~ spooil "iu!l~sityi!ptiii~
S U I X Jwaanpas
~ ~ o l Xlan
s asncn r l q m *sL1:13 ~ I I I ?SII!S JO sa%r!~ua~sad qZ!il ~ I I Msptrod
s J u ! p ~all! spood a r q S -salsr!m II!III~ ~ I I I I O C I U I jo
! IS!SIIO~ spr~oda u q s p w s411!1~1~~.
 .1 hcrc arc a variety of mcthods for achieving dctmxilication of cymidc solutions.
~

'l'hese range from sinqrle natural degradation, to ;rctive chemic:rl or physical treatnient
111 process watcrs. A thorough understanding of the nietallorgicol process generating the
waste, and of tile cheniistry of the waste stream is necessary to select thc most cffectivc As descrihctl hy Gillilarrd (I1J77),envimnrnental plmling cnnsists of two distinct phases:
I - Initial project evaluatio~~,
- Tlic strategic p l m
I 'l'lic components involved in each of these as extracted f r m the Gillilitnd paper will he
1.9.10 f~otrlfi~rrrr
r~.clurnuriorr ! oritlined below.
Shztping, grading, crosioti control, and visual impact mitigation of an affected site are
inrpurhnt considerations during review of the rccl~lmationplan. The review process 11ot
only cnsures that the topography of the rcclail~~cd Imds hlend in as much as possible
with lllc surrourrtlirig land fonns, natural drainage patterns, and visual colltrasts, but illso I . IJrc[,are a rlct;tiled outlined of the prnposctl action. 'l'his should include such items ;IS
cnhanccs the succcss 01. revegctation. drawings of Innil sta~tus,general arrangement of fdcilities, emission points and estimates
The final land form should: ol'cmissio~~ ciirnposition and quantities, and reclamation plans. It is also helpful to have
-- he tnechanicelly stable, information on the scopc of possible future development and alternntives tl~atmight he
- promote successful revegetation,
;rvailablc wlrich could he accommodated within thc scopc of the proposed action.
- prevent wind and water erosion, I.'or example, arc thcrc other acceptable locations fur tailings disposal if the initial lo-
- he hydrologically cornpatihlc with the surrounding. Iandfnrms, and cntiwi cannot he enviroomcntally marketed? A schetlulc fur engineering and construction
- be visually compatible with the sun-ounding l;~ndf&ns. of tllc poposed action and possible future development should also be availahlc.
Pit backfilling providcs an effective means for rccl;imatioii 01. the distr~rbcdlands to
a productive post-mining lard use. Ilowever, dcvclupmc~~l of some co~nmoditiesand 2.Identify pcrn~itrcquircments. Certain permits can take many months to process and
dcposit types may not he compatible with pit h;~ckfilling. must hc ;ipplied for well in advance of construction. Further. some permits will require
Open pit mine opti~nizatiunis achieved by extending the pit to the point where the cost cxtcnsive data, and very long lead times nray be encountered in the collection of sl~ch
of removing overlying volumcs of unrnineralized 'waste' rock just equal the revenues (hta.
(including profit) from the ore being nriocd in the walls and bottom of thc pit. Because 1:or cx;nnple, hiotic studies for c~lvironmcntalimpact statements require at least a
there is usually mineralization remaining, lavorahlc changes in an economic factor (such ycar, ;in0 sometimes longer, to evaluate scasonal changes in organisms. Are there points
as an increase in the price of the commotlily or ncw technology resulting in a reduced o i conllicl hctwecn permit requirements ant! the naturc of the proposed action? Can
operating cost) can result in a condition where mining can be expanded, or resumed at the proposcd action he altered to overeonte these discrepancies or to avoid the need for
a Suture time. This ceooomically determined pit configuri~tioois typical of the open pit pcrntits that could he particularly difficult or significantly time-consuming to obtain? For
metal mining industry and is of critical importance in effurts to maximize the recovery exa~nple,a 'zern' emuent discharge facility could well avnid the Federal Water Pollution
of the mineral resource. To recover all the known ore reserves the entire pit must Control Action requirement for an Enviroomental lmpact Staterncot (EIS).
remain exposed through progressively deeper cuts. llacklilling where technologically
and economically feasible, can not hegin until the ore rcserves within the specific pit are 3. Identify Major I'.nvironntental Concerns. This includes potential on-site and off-site
dcpleted at the conclusion of mining. Additionally, some waste material is not suitable irnpxts of the proposed action and from possible future development. Land use and
for use as backfilling material. socioecortnmic issues as well as those of pollutional character must be taken into account.
Depending upon the size of the open pit, backlilling can extend the duration of oper- Although tlicrc may he little concern about the impacts of an exploratory activity itself,
atiuns from a few months to several years. wllcn bulldozers and drill rigs begin to move unto a property, it becomes apparent to
Final highwall configuration, including considcration of overall slope angle, bench the public that there may indeed ultimately be a full dcvclopment of the property. Public
width, bench height, etc., should be determined during the review of the plan. The concern nray surface from speculation about the possible impacts of full development,
maximum height of the highwall should be dcter~ninedusing site-specific parameters and this could result in considerable difficulty in obtaining even the permits necessary
such as rock type and morphology. In most cases. the maximum height is regulated by to proceed with the proposed activity.
various state agencies.
The normal procedures are to either leave the exposed highwall or to backfill and 4. Evaluate the opportunity for and likelihood of public participation in the decision-
bury the highwall either totally or partially. Appropriate fencing or berming at the top making process. Recent administrative reforms provide for expanded opportunity for
of the highwall is necessary to abate some of the hazards to people and animals. public participation in the decision-making process. Projects to bc located ill areas of
It is important that the backfill requirements be determined during the plan review minimal c~rviromncntalsensitivity may stir little public interest and permits will not be
process and included in the approved plan. delayed beyond their normal course of approval. A project threatening material impact
to an area where the environlncnlal rcswrces ;tre signilicanl, lalwcvcr, will pmbahly other tnittlcrs can enhance thc credibility of a company's plan~lingefforts and accept-
receive careful public scrutiny ;~ndmay be chnllengcd cvcry step irl the permit pmccss. ;hilily within ;I comtnutlity.

I I. Consider having a local consulfat check the cooclusions of the initial evaluation.

is essentially an identificirti~mpmcedure which i n many

This initii~lpmject evi~lu;~tion
inst;lnces can be largely produccd io-house with possibly some mudcst assistance from
outside consult;~nts.Correspondingly, the cost could range from a thousand dollars or
less to several thousand dollars tlcpending upon the familiarity of personnel with this
type of work and the amount o l outside consullant help needed
6. l<valunte the organization ;~ndeffcciivcness oC lr~calcitizens groups. Atlitudes ;\re
also part of this cvalualiorl. 1,oc;d citizen groups can be a powerful ally in positive
co~~~munications with tllc public. l'tley can d s o he clkciivc i~dvcrsarics.This evahiation
sl~ooldbe extended to all groups which a ~ d have d a signilicant voice in opiniou making I~ollowingthe initial project evaluation the next step is to prepare a strategy or game
within a community. The working relationship of loc;il gnrups with state or national plan for dealing with the identified issues. 'l'lre clcnients would include:
counlerpart groups should also he ;~sscssed.
I. Outline of technical information needed to obtain pernrits zrnd to address lcb. mnmte
7. 1)etcrrnine the attitudes and experience of govcr~i~iicntal
agencies. Identify any intera- environmental, land use and socioecono~nicconcerns. 'I'here are good reasons for the rc-
gency conflicts. New ventures face an intricate weh of fcderal, state, and local laws and luctarlce of planners to devclop hard data before they are sorc that tlley will be permitted
regulations which are often complici~tcdby inconsistencies in tlie policy goals wllich to proceed with a project.
underlie these laws, and overlapping jurisdiction of thc rcgdatnry agencies. However, if a project is worthwhile, every practical effort must be made to develop
Sometimes you must deal with personnel who have little k~rowlcdgeof the business inlixmi~tionthat de~nonstratesimpacts have heen carefully assessed, legitimate envi-
world or of the nature of ojieralions hcing proposed. A c~1n1p;rnymust be prepared, ronmental concerns llave been addressed, and controls and luitigation measures will be
therefore, to dedicate cor~sidcrabletime and eSSol-t i n promoting and i~nderstandingof adequate to meet all existing standards and to pn~tectthe cnvironrnent. lo cases wlrere
the project. staudanls are stringent and controls are not de~nonstratedtecbnulogy. substantial extra
Futfhcr, it is impcraiive for a colnpany to recognize that government agency person- cffort it~ayhave to be nude to develop predictions of performance. In case whcre better
nel liave a public rcsponsibility tu sec that tlie various laws and regulations within their data cannot he developed without delaying construction, plans may have to include a
jurisdiction are complied with. They may not always agree that the requirements of the proposal for eventually securing such data and adjusting permit requirements before
law are practical, fair or equitable, but it is their job to ensure their applicability. Sorne- operations begin.
times areas of apparent frustration or conllicl will resolve thernsclves by re-evaluating Where predictive data are not practically obtainable, a plan might provide for opera-
your position witlr regard to the role that must be perfornlcd by regulatory personnel. tional monitoring with post-startup alteration of permit requirerrlents i f problems arise.
'l'his plan elerneot, therefore, provides a specific checklist for the information gathering
8. Consider previous industry experience in the arca. 'I'his involves a determination system.
of public attitudes toward previous or existing industry in the area and the posture
and performance of tlrese industries its a responsible member of the community. It is 2. Categorically assign responsibilities for the acquisition of the technical inforrnation
extremely helpful to the cause of your projca if industry enjoys the status of being a and hire necessary consultants. Coordinate this work with govenrllienlal agencies when
good citizen. Where negative attitudes prevail, is there something about your project that appropriate.
could invite similar censure or could it be so designed to change these puhlic attitudes? The prin~aryresponsibility for each element of data collection should be clearly desig-
nated so that misunderstandings do not arise. Governmental agencies can be an important
9. Consider recent experience of other companies. Have new industries located or tried source of background information on air quality, water quality and other pertinent data.
to locate within the area? Were there any issues involved relative lo their success or Further, government studies may be intended or in progress which in scope would in-
iailure to locate that might also be issues of concern to ihe proposed activity? clude the location and environmental concerns of the company's proposed action. Data
collection by the company could complement these studies and vice versa.
10. Identify possible local consultants and evaluate their ability and experience. Local
cotisultants can be invaluable in assisting the company in many areas of inquiry. Their 3. Prepare a schedule for obtaining information and data and for submitting permit
Camiliarity with the local scene on environmental, legal, socioeconontic, land use and applications to the appropriate agencies. Firm target dates must be established for ~e
finalization of reports, permit applications or other necessary authorizations. Interim
 Mitre p1~1,tning 4 I

rcportirrg periods should also he set lo ;tsccrIain the s1;ttus ol progress and lo provide FJblc 1 . 4 V l r s of penuits slal approvslr wllicl~,nay t% required for llle Kcsrington 6old I'nject (Ibrert
whatever ildj~sttlte11IsilrC 1leCess:try 1 0 kcq) 011 the a ~ p p r i a schedule.
t~ A critical pal11 Scrvicc. IWO).
clrztrl would include a rlisplny of this sequence. 11 a projecl is properly pl;tnncd, its
Ixoponcncs require nothing more from goveron~colcxccpt even hztnded operalion o f the
z ~ p p v a lt n e c h a n i s ~ ~ ~ . I . Nlil'A corspliancc and record ofdecision on lilS
2. 1'l;m 01 opecations

4. Select local legal, tcclrnical and puhlic relalir~ns consultanls. Solnctintcs the local Alir.~knll~,,~l,ornnmr ~f?fwim,mwr,ol
consultanls [nay he lltosc who will be dircclly involved in tlrc dala dcvelr~prnent.In other Comrnxrirn,
iost;tnccs, these consulmrs would have more o f 21 role in planning, dzlla evztlu;~tionand I , Air quality p m i l
public comrt~nnicnlio~~s. 2. llwning permit
3. <:cnilicntios of rearoeablc orsurancc
4. Solid Wzme Marlagclrlellt pennit
5 . A v d hostile corrfronlations with envimnnrcntal groups. 'l'hcrc is nothing to he gained 5. Oil rttcilities approval of financiill
frotlt ;I shouting tnzttch wlrcre 11olh sides b c u ~ r n cs o ltigl~lypolzlrized that reason and rcspnsibilily
credihility cannot he mainlnined. No-growl11 advocates will p r d n b l y continue to he 6. Oil facilikics disclrarge contingency plan
unyielding in thcir opposilion no matter how 1ooc11progress is inz~dein devising effective 7. Walcr awl scicwcr plno npproval
enviro~nnent;tlcontrols. 8. I'?wul service pennit
Project planners who vicw citizen opposition ;IS rnonnlithic and implacable miss, Anm <brp.s rflj,z~ineer.s
I . Scclion 404 Pentlit C l e a n Wnter Acl
however, an opportunity to reduce the risks of intervention and delay. Citizeti attitttdes (drcdge ma1 lill)
are suhject to change, and many citizen activists are sincerely, and very properly, seeking 2. Section 10 Pmnit - Rivers and Hsrlmr Act
to secure for themselves and others the inaiotcnancc of zt quality environment. 3. Nlil'A cnmpliance and record of decision oo E1S
If llre proposed activity is detno~tstrahlysound, hot11 indostrinlly and environmentally, (cwperuliog ;agency)
;md the public has access to all the facts, it is likely thztl pcoplc will make sound
judgements and that tnineral develop~ncntwill be permitted.

(I. Develop a consistent progratn for the generation of credible factual information. Good
fitctual information needed to refulc o r substanti:tte concerns regarding possible inrpacts
of the proposed action o r fi~turedcvelop~nenlis not always :~vailablc.Such delicicncics l ~ d e mAvianon
l Adnrirtistrarion Alorka Deporlmenr of Ptrblic Safer)
I . Noticeof landing areaand cerlificationof operation I. Life and lim safety plan check
are not uncommon o r unacceptable if ilrey are honestly faced and a program is designed
2. Detcrn~inaliunof no hazard
lo acquire the necessary information. Many projects have heen seriously delayed or Alu.vka llepnnmenr of,/lnbor
stopped because of a company's fztilure to adlnit that a concern exists. This can become t . \'ired and dufirul pressure vessel cenificatc
a focal point for altacking the credibility of a company's entire progranr. 2. Elevator cenificatc of opcratiou

Alarku Drpanrriozl of Rcventre

1.10.3 The mvirorrmental p l u t t n i q fenm I. Affidavit for "on-residenl business taxation
2. Alaska business license
'I'lie environmental planning effort, due lo the wide diversity of tasks involved requires
3. Alaska mining license
the participation of many specialists drawn lllrn~various functional areas of mining orga- Mitt< Sofery old tiealth Administmlion
nizations and from oulsidc consulting lirms. lb coordinate this effort there must b e a team I . Mine 1.D. number Alaska Depnrlmeur .?f Ifcnlrl~and
leader who has the perspective to understand the requiretnents of the disciplines involved 2. Legal ideolity repon Snciol Services
and the eventual use of the information evolved. This team leader must also have the 3. Miner training plan approval I . Health care fncililies construction license
acknowledged responsibility and authority for the performance of this coordinating rolc. 2. Cenificstc of need (townsite wilh health
U.S. Fidz a d Wildlife Service care fucilitics)
The team members includc such personnel as the project manager, project engineers, I . lhreatencd and endangered species elearancc
attorneys, environtnental specialists, technical and public relations experts. 2. Bald FA& I'mtcction Acl clearance 3. law1 government
Cily nttd Dcrreou nf Juneau
Nnlionul Morine fisheries Service I . Mining pennit
1.11 A S A M P L E LIST O F PROJECT PERMITS AND APPROVALS 1. Threatend and endangered s p x i e s clearance 2. Grading pennit
3. Building pernits
The 'Final Scoping Document. Environmental Impact Statement' for the Kensington 4. Burning permits
Gold Project located near Juneau, Alaska was puhlisbed hy the U S Forest Service 5. Explosive permits
~~ ~- ~
 I990 (Forest Service, 1090). lh p n ) v i d e 11te resdcr
( J t ~ n c a o Ranger D i s t r i c t ) i n J u l y I K . 1977. hline vnlwticm and fcaribility studies. Mirrcrril I,rrlr~.srr).Cmrr (J.K. llorkisr & WI<.
Grccn, mlilars): 1L17. Spokane, WA: Nonhwcsr Mining Arutiislios.
with ao a p p r e c i a ~ i o nl o r tlre level 01' c l l d i l t v o l v e d just in the p c r m i l t i l t g proccss. ;I
IJS. Ikpi~nnrestu f the Inmriar (Orlice of Surface Mining Ilc~liimali~m itntl ~~U~O~CCIIICII~)1I)XX. Serfsce
Lisling o l t h e various l'ctlcral, scale, and l o c a l governrncot per~nitsl;tpprovals whiclr w a y Mining Conlml m d l<eclactlaliosA u 011977. (I'ublic l,aw 95~87).
be rcquiretl for f i t i s underground gold ~ l t i ~ ~ c l r niisl lg. i v e n in l b h l e 1.4. I1.S Ilcpan~nenlof Agticultwc (P{~resrSetvice) 1988. Bcrt minerals il,iiaagcslcnt lprncrices ;I guirlc lo
m : r t r c e nl:iorrgc!:!cn! :mr! rt.cl:!!nsri:!!! sf mi::^." !;Ix:!I in !hc !l!tck !11!1s of Cn!t!l? l):bh?!-.a ~ Wyr?!eir!g.
!
IISllM 1967. A Dt,-rimao. ,f Minircg. Mitzcwd end IWorcd 7 i w t r r (PswI W 'Ilmsl~.c~litai).W.slringtoll:
I I S . I>epartn,cnl of tlle istcriar
Wolxr, H.H. & 111. Morgan 1993. (:lasrilicalim of arc rescrves based on gwrtarirliurl m d cccmoleic p n ~
rateeters. U M Llrrllclitr 86(966): 73-76.

liwi~,mmcnr;II 1top;~l St;rtenrcnl. U.S. Dcparlrricni of Agriculiu&c(7)

(ii1lil;md. SC 1W7. Thc envircmocnlal eequircmcnlr of mirx plaosisg. Mirionl Irriluioy Cm1.s Nclnhwest
M ~ n i s gAsn,ciitrioo: 57~65.
c , K A. 1')H.i. I<esc~ver,resources and pic-is-the-sky Mitring i:o,lgmecri,!p :l6(lO). 1416-1450; 1985.
1)iscussioe M i t r i q tG;girircrirzg 37(X): 1069-1072.
I l i i l l a . JI.. 1975 I'rrmiml runn~rrnirolim.Kct,nccot: Cnplcr Ccmpsny.
Jacus, S l l & Tli KCKX1901. Thc crecrging fcdcral law ofrnine waste: admisistc.aive, judicinl and legislative
devclojirncsts. 1.aad and Water Law Review, llniverrily of Wyoming, vol. XXVI. n. 2, 1991
Kirk. S 1 & TJ. O ' N d 1983. Prcplanning of end land uses (bran o p n pit copper leise. Mircircg F;ngi,reeri,q
35(K). 1191-1195.
Kral. S. 1991. Ilirk asesssrcnUnrirnagcn~e~~t i s rite esvinmnental planning of miner. Minirag firgineering
45121: , , 151-154.
LAC. 'TI>. IW4. Planning :and srisc feasibility study - As owners p x q x x t i ~ e Is: . I'nrrrrdingr of {lie I984
NWMA Sbon C o u r x 'Mine Fmsibiliry - Cmcepr r o Cm!rplc,ion' (GI!. McKcluey, compiler). Spokane,
WA.
I r e . '10. I W I . I'monal comn,unicalion. IV!O/9I
M;rm~s.J. 1990. Mining envirosmcnt - regulatory conlro! of mining at the lzderal lcvel. pan I. E&MJ
19l(6)
McKclvey. G.E. 1984. Mineral Exploration. Mine I'emibiliry - Cortcelrr lo Cimpl~liu,t(G.E. McKelvey,
con,pilcr). Spokane. WA: Nonhwest Mining Association.
McKcsric, R.W. 1980. I m k i n g for the improbable needle in a haystack. The Cco,romicr r ~ f Bare Metal
Lxplorurion in Cmoda. Qucens University, Ontario: Working Paper No. 19.
Miller. Ill.1984. lcgal considerations i n mine planning and feasibility. Mine Fenribiliry - Comrpl ro
C,mplerion (GE. McKelvcy, compiler). Spokane, WA: Nonhwest Mining Asxriation.
M w r c , 11.11 1984. Esvironmestal/Permitting. Mine Fe'earibiliry - Concepr 10 Complcrirm (G.E. McKelvey.
conyiler). Nonhwest Mining Association.
Noble. A.C. 1993. Geologic resources vs. ore reserves. Mining Engineeritl8 45(2): 173-176.
I'aulres. K.K. 1982. Envimnmcntal and regulatory costs of mining projcctr. Mincral Indulry Costs (1.R. Iioskias,
compiler): 27-32. Nunhwest Mining Asswialion.
SMIi (Swicty of Mining. Metallurgy and Exploration) 1991. A guidc for reporting expluralion inforn>alion.
resuurces and reserves. Mining Engineering 43(4): 379-384.
CHAYl't:R 2
'l'lie Future wort11 ca1cul;rtion pr~~cedure can now lie revcrscd by askil~gthe question
'Wl~atis the present v;~locof $1.61 deposited i n the hank 5 y c m hcncc i~sson~ing an
iotercsl rate of 10%'? T l ~ eibrmola is rewritten in the form
Mining ....,

Substituting 1%'
value is
- $1.61, z == 0.10, and 71 -.5 cine iinds as expectcd h t the present

2.2.3 IJre.sml w l u e ~ J J ~ .s~:rie.s

L ~JJuttiJbrrnc o n ~ r i h u t i o ~

2.1 IN'I'RODUCTION that $1 is to he deposited in the bank at the end rif 5 consccntivc years. Assuruiog
Ass~~rnc
an interest rate of 10%, one can calculate the present value of each of these p;~y~ncnts.
For one to know whether the material under consideration is 'ore' or simply 'miner;llizcd 'I'hcsc indivirlu;~lpresent values can then be summcd to get the t r ~ t ; r l .
rock', both the revenues and the costs must he examined. It is the irmin objective of this Year I : Pay~rrcnt
cl~qiterto explore in some detail each of these topics.

I n Clrnpter 6, the production planning portion of this text, an economic hasis will be used
to select production rate, mine life, etc. This section has bec~li:icluded to support that
cl~apter.It is not intended to be a textbook complete in itscif but rather to demonstrate
sonlc of the irllportant concepts atld terms.
Year 4: Payment
2.2.1 l;lrturc. worth

If sorneone puts $1 in a savings account today at a bank paying 10% simple interest, at
the end of year 1 the depositor would have $1.10 in Iris account. This can he written as Year 5: P;rymcnt
FW = f'V(1 + i) (2.1)
where PW is the future worth, PV is the present value, i is the interest rate.
If the money is left in the account, the entire aniount (principal plus interest) would The present value of these 5 payments is
draw interest. At the end of year 2, the account would contain $1.21. This is calcutated l'V = $3.790
using
The general formula for calculating the present value of such equal yearly payments is
FW = PV(1 + i)(l + i)
At the end of year n, the accu~nulatedamount would he
F W = PV(l + i)" Apply~ngthe formula in this case yields
I n this case if n = 5 years, then
FW = $1(1 + 0 . 1 0 ) ~= $1.61
The difference in the results is due to roundoff.
2.2.4 Payhirck period
Assume that $5 is borrowed froor the hank today (lime = 0) lo purchase a piccc of
cqui[m~cntand that a 10% interest rate applies. I t is intended to repay thc loan io q u a 1
yearly payn~cntsof $1. Tlic question is 'Ilow long will it tzhc to rcjiay thc loan?' This
is called the payback period. 'The present value of the loan is

The prescent value of the payments is

I'lrc iatc of r c t o r ~is~ therefore 15%. One can similarly liod thc irrtcrcst rate wl~ichmakes
tllc net Iplcscnl value of the payments and the investn~entcqu;tl to zcm at time I 0.
'I'l~eloan has been repaid when the net prcscrrl value
Net prcsentvaalue (NPV) .-:PV (loan) i PV ( p a y ~ ~ ~ c n l s )
is equal to zero. In this case, one subslitotcs dillcrent values of ?L into the
'l'he answer is the sane.
NI'V = -$5 4- $1 [ ~ 'IO l q ~ ~ ~ ~ 'l'he pnlcess of bringing the future payments back to time zero is called 'discounting'.

5 years NPV 1 -$1.209: for n =: 6 years NI'V : - $0.645; for n = 7 years

For ? L -:
NPV : $ 0 . 1 3 2 ; for n 18 years NPV 0 . 3 3 5 .
-
Thus the payback period would be slightly more that1 7 years ( n 7.25 years). 'i'he term 'cash flow' rckrs to the net inllow or outllow of money tl~atoccurs during a
specilic timc period. 'The representation using the word equation written vertically for
an c1etnc:lrtiuy cash flow calculation is
(;ross revenue
Assu~iiethat $1 is invested in a piece of equipmcot at time 0. After tax prolits of
- Operating expense
$I will be generated through its use for each of the next 10 years. If the $5 had been
placed in a bank at an interest ratc of i then its value at the crrd of 10 years would have Gross prolit (taxable income)
been using Equation (2.2).
-
'Tax
FW PV(1 t-i)'L = $5(1 + i)"'
Capital costs
Thc future worth (at the end of 10 years) of the yearly $1 after tax profits is
Ca41 llow
A simple example (after Stermole & Stermole, 1987) is given in Table 2.1.
In this case there is a capital expense of $200 incurred at time t = 0 and another $100
where A,,, is the annual amount and [(I -t i)" - l]/i is the uniform series compound
at the cnd of the first year. There are positive cash fiows for years 2 through 6.
aniount factor.
The interest rate i which makes the future worths equal is called the rate of return
(IIOR) on the investment.
In this case
To 'discount' is generally used synonymously with 'to find the present value'. In the
previous example, one can calculate the present values of each of the individual cash
flows. The net present value assuming a minimum acceptable discount rate of 15% is
Solving for z one finds that Year 0 NI'Vo = -200 = -200.00

z 2? 0.15
 100
Year 2 NI'V2 = =: 75.01
(1.15)*
Ycx 3 NIW1 .-
110 I= 73.33
(1.15)~ 8O.O 84.0 XXO 92.0 '1611
I20 30.0 7 -3'10 I l l 3 x 0
Year I N!V4 = = 68.61 211.0 LOO -700 ?0.0 2 00
(1.1sj4 30.0 38.0
-
3211 .340 16.0
130 6 10.2 10') 1 Ls 122
Year 5 NPVs --i = 64.61 20.4 21.8 23.1 24.5 25.8
(1.15)
211.0 20.0 2os1 20 0
Year 6 NPV6 -- 140
(1.15)"
(10.51 I(Hl O
-1~Xl.O 40.4 41.8
2ll.0

43.1 44.5 45 X

Discounted cash now = $55.75

'1'11~ su~nmetlcesli flows equal $55.75. This rcprcscnts tllc additio~~al capital expense
that could be incurred in ycar 0 aud still achieve a inioin1111nrate of rculrn o l 15% on I n tl~isi~ookno i~ttcnlptwill be made 13 discuss the various tcchniqucs l o r depreciating
the invcsted capilal. ;I c;~pit;tl;isset. 1:or tl~isexample it will be assumed that tile i~ivcstmcnl(lov) has a Y
yeat lice wit11 zcro salvage value. Standard straigl~tline dcpreci;~tionyields a yearly
deprccintion value (Ikp) of
2.2.8 Uiscomtrd cash flow rule if relurn (11Ct~XON)
'lb c;llculate the net present value, a discount rate had to hc ;~ssunled.One can however
calculnte the discount rate which makes the net prcsent value equal to zero. This is
called the discounted cash (low rate of r a m (IXI~K011)or rhc internal ratc of returli Fron~Stcrmole Xr Stcrmolc
'I'lic poccdurc will be illustrated using the example ;~d;~ptctl
(ROR). The terms DCI'KOK or simply ROR will he used interclmngcahly in tllis book. (19ti7).
For the example given in Subsection 2.2.6, Llle NPV equ.dt IOII
' is . .
1 < x : m p 1 ~A
~ . $100 investment cost has been illcol~ed;it lime I0 ;is part of a project
11;lving ;I 5 ycar liletimc. The salvage value is zero. Pmjcct dollar income is cstirilatcd
to be StiO in year I. $84 in year 2, $88 in year 3, $92 in year 4, and $96 in year 5.
Solving for z one finds that Operating cxpenscs are estimated to be $30 in year 1, $32 in ycar 2, $34 i l l year 3. $36
i n year 4, and $38 in year 5. The effective income tax rate is 32%.
'I'hc c;tsli llows are sliown i n l'ahle 2.2.
In words, the after tax ratc of return on this investrr~entis 20.8% The net pscsent value (NPV) of these cash Rows assuming a discount rate of 15% is
%13.29

T l ~ ecash flow calculation is modified in the following way wtlen a capital investment
is depreciated over a certain time periud.
Gross revenue 'f'bc 11Ct:KOIl is the discount rate which makes the ncl present value equal to zero. In
this case
- Operating expense
40.4 41.8 43.1 44.5 45.8
- Depreciation NI'V r: -100- -+-+ -------- + 0
I + i (1 + z ) ~ ( I +i)' (I +iI4 (I t iI5
= Taxable income
The value of z is about
- Tax
= Profit
+ Depreciation
- Capital costs
In the U.S. special tax consideration is given to the owner of ;I mineral deposit which
= Cash Itow is extracted (depleted) over the production life. One might consider the value of the
 p?ncrsse.r rli~cessaryto hring tile rnirrerrrl or rirr lo the s l ( l f i ~ u l which i t /i,:st /J~CII~CS
~ - o ? n t ~ ~ o r irn(~rketirhle:
nlly rhi. rrsunlly merr,t.r lo a ,s/tippittg g r d e m d f i ~ n n .flowever.
111 r.ert& ~ x 1 . s ~uddlliort~~l
~. procmw,s I)Y .s/~~)~(:ffied ill lhe I n t ~ r r z Krwvu~e
~l Servk:e
n~,qriIrrlii~~r.s, ond are ~ l ~ m i d r r eUSd mini~tg.Net .s,~telter rmrrrr o r it.%erleiv~tlenti.? the
(2) [Icrcentage depletion. ". Aw wc r i ..,~
K p.).m m i:: w!iir!i
~ mitiiirg pzic;iilugz di/;lciiiiii coriiniiirilj i~ hosed Rliyoliy iiioiie?a
l i i t c l ~year both t~~elh(xls:trc applied and that wltich yields the crc;ilesl tax deduction is
get pwwrlufie r l q ~ l c t i o r011
~ roydty income so co,t~prrrtie.s g~elpercentage del~ktiotlon
cltosen. The tnetlrml chosen can vary frurn year to year I:or tnost nrinit~goperittio~~s,
grm.s inix~rne( f i r royn1tie.s.
percentage depletion normally results in tlle greatest dcduction.
'li~ apply lltc cost depletion mell~od,one nlusl lirsl cstahlislr the cosl dcpletion b;tsis. As sl~owni n 'Table 2.3, the percentage which is ;tpplied varies depending on the type of
1'11~initial cosl basis would normally i~~clude: niirrer;d being mined.
t l ~ ecost of acquiring the property it~cludiogabstract m d attomcy 1i.c~. 111 step 2, the taxable i n a m c (including all deductions cxccpt dcpletion and carry
- ex[~lol-;ttioncosts, geologicsl and gcop11ysic;il survey costs. forw;trd loss) is calculated fur the ycar i n qoeslio~~, Finally in stcp 3, the allowable
'To illustrate the principle, ilssutne tlxrl Illis is $IO. ASSUIIC :I~SO t l i i t l there an, 100 tons pcrccntage depletion deduction is selected SI; thc lesser <IS the percent depletion (found
<IS rcscrvcs and tbc yearly production is 10 to~rs.The $10 cost must tltcn he written off i t 1 stcp I ) and 5 0 % o f the taxable income (found i n stcp 2).
over the 100 total tons. For the calculation o f cost depletim 111e cost basis at tltc end
o r m y year (not ~a!justcd by the currcnt years depletion) is divided hy the estim;+tc(l
~ c ~ n s i n i nore g reserve units plus tltc anloont o f ore removed during the year This givcs
the unit depletion. I n this simple case, for year I
I'crcentage
Unit dcpletion = . .
$10
100
$0.10 depletion nmr. %

'l'hc t ~ n i tdcpletion is tl~cttmolliplied by the amourit o f ore cxtmcted durittg the ycar to
81rrivc at the deplcliott deduction,

Ileplction dcduction - 10 tons x $0.10 = $1

'l'lie new depletion cost hasis i s the origitial cost basis ininus thc depletion to date. Thus
for the year 2 calculation:
Depletion cost basis =I $10 --$1 I= $9
Ile~nainingreserves = 90 tons Ciravel. sand, scme 5
M m t a h c r tnisemls and non-rnetallic ores I4
'The y c x 2 unit depletion and depletion deduction arc:

$9 . .'i71c IxmM depletion rates for coal and iron are dmp to 8% und 12%. rcspcclivcly, after the cost depiction
Unit depletion = - =- $0.10 n<ljtrztedbasis Ihar lmn recovered by either percent or cost deplctioc deductions. -.
90
Depletion deduction = 10 x $0.10 = $1
.
Once the initial cost of the property has been recovered, the cost depletion b&IS.' I'S zero.
Obviously, the cost depletion deduction w i l l remain zero for all succeeding years. Pcrcent
Tlte percent depletion deduction calculation is a three stcp process. I n the first step, the Depiction
percetlt deduction is found by multiplying a specified percentage times the gross mining The Smaller I s the
ir~cornc(after royalties l ~ a v ebeen subtracted) resulting from the sale o f thc minerals '"Allawed Percent
extracted from the properly during the tax year According to Stertnole & Stermole Deduction" Depletion
The Larger 1% the
(1987):
5046 Clmlt on/ "Allowed Depletlan
'Mining' inclurle.~,bt addition 10 the extrrrcrir~,~of mhera1.s from the ground, treatment Percent Depletion Deduction"
processes cor~sideredas tnbzing fll~p1ic.dby the mine owner or operutor to l l ~ e minerals Cart Depletlon
or rhe ore, m d tronspormtion that is nor over 50 nrile.sfrom the point oJ'exlracrion to the DeductIan
plunt o r m i l l b~ which allowable treatment processes are upplied. Treatment processes
considered a.s minirtg depend upon the ore or nlir~errrlmined, and gerrerrtlly include those I'igurc 2.1. I'low sheet for ddclern~iningthe depletion deduction (Sannolc & Sleneole. 1987).
 With both the ;illowal~lecost depletion and percenlage depletion deductions now cal-
culated, they arc compared. The larger of lltc two is the 'allowed rlcplcti~~n
rlcduction'.
Thc ovcrnll process is suttttnarinxl ia Figure 2.1. (;ross rcvenue $1. 500, O(K)
Opuating expense -700,000
2.2.1 1 ( h h Jlr~tvs, incla(!ing dep - 1kpl"ciatiort 1(XI!),
000
Ikpletion --225,000
As indicated the depletioo allowance works exactly the same way i n a cash flow cnlco- -- ~ .~
lation ;a deplcci;tlion. Wit11 depletion the cash ilow hcco~ncs: '1:dx.1. IIIC i~tconte $475,004
Gross revenue 'I'm t 9 32% 152,000
.
Operating expense ~

I'rolit $323, OIN

lkpreciation
I lkprcciation -1 100, 000
- Ikplction
i Ocpletion t225,MK)
. i~tajme
.p.txdble
'Lhx
-~~ - Ctsh flow
.
$648,000
l'rolit
~. 'She cash flow c;~lcolalionprocess is expressed in words (I,aing, 1076) in 'Table 2.4.
I I>epreciation l i n g (1976) Itas summarized (see Table 2.5) tltc factors which should he considered
i Depletion w11cn ~rtakinga cash llow analysis of a mining property.
'I'lre dislinctiort hetwecrt the 'exploration' and 'development' plt;tscs of a project is
- Capital costs
o k n hlurrul in itctml practice. However from a lax viewpoint a sllarp distinction is often
t ~ ~ a dl'hc
c , distinction madc hy the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (l98X;t) is pxaphrased
~ ~ ~

= Cash flow
tlclow.
'1'11~ ihllowing sin~pliliedexample adapted from Stertnole & Sterntolc (1987) illustrates
thc inclusion of dcpletion in a cash $low calculation.

Exwzple. A mining operetion has an annual sales revenue of $1,500,000 from ;I sil-
ver ore. Operating costs are $700.000, the allowable depreciation is $100,000 and the
;~pplicablclax rate is 32%. The cost depletion basis is zero. 'I'llc cash llow is:
( I ) I'rrlirnitrnry. Calculation without depletion. less -
Otxraling costs
C~UBIS Nel income hcforc depreciation and depletinn
Gross revenue $1, 500,000
- Operating expense --700.000
- Depreciation - 100,000
\CIS Ikpletion allowance
--
cqu;ds Net taxable income
= Taxable income before depletion $700,000
ICS Starc inalme tax
( 2 ) Ikplerion calculatior~.Sincc the depletion hasis is ?,err], percentage depletion is the equal.; Net federal taxable income
only one to he considered. One must then choose the smaller of: less I'edernl income tux
equals Net profit after taxes
(a) 50% of the taxable income before depletion and carry-forward-losses
(b) 15% of the gross rcvenue add Depreciation and amonizaiw allowances
add Depletion allowance
In this case the values are: equals Owrating cash Row
(a) 0.50 x $700,000 = $350,000
(h) 0.15 x$1,500,000=$225,000
Hence the depletion allowance is $225,000.
 -- ~ n i s c e l l a n ~ oinetals
~~s
- Lcrro alloys
- ores arld concentrates.
expcircr
lixplori~lioc~
w;llcr righs In rcvicwin# tile tablcs it is seen tl~althere is considcrahlc wrialion i n 11ow the prices
q";':"(;, I;, ge""'" , t(!iz p'cc" ' .~-" 1 upu11.
--.-:-- , UC17LIIU -- - -
Mint and p l ~ w tcttpiLx1 q u i w n e n t s
Sunk cow - quality
Working c;~pit;rl -- quantity
I',irilar.lin,l pPriod -- SOLIrce
- forni
I'nicc
I'muxing costs
packaging.
I<ec,,very The onits in wlrich the prices are expressed also vary. Some exan~plesin this rcgard arc
I'osI CO,ICClllr.llC CWI {xwcntcd below.
I ~ C S C ~ Y Cimd
S IETCCIII r c m w i t b l c I. For Inany inincrals. the 'ton' is unit of sale. 'Shere arc tlmc difCcrenl Yens' which
(;,;sic
might be i~sed.They arc:
tax crcdil
ltivcs~mcn~
S I ;Iuer
~ I short ton (st) = 2000 lhs = 0.9072 metric tons
1:cdcml Iaxea
I long ton (It) = 2240 lbs := 1.01605 metric ions
Ocplelioo raw
ncprccii~liooschedule 1 metric ton (mt or tonne) = 2204.61 ibs
= 1004 kilograms
= 0.9842 long tons
== 1.1023 short torrs

Irol~ore, sullirr, and manganese ore are three materials nor~nally sold by the long
ton. The prices for iron ore and manganese ore are expressed i n X dollars (or cents)
I . The exploration stage involves those activities ai~r~cil
at ;isccrtaining the existence,
per long to11 unit (Itu). A 'unit' refers to the unit in which tllc quality of the min-
location, extent or quality of any deposit of ole or other mineral (other than oil or
eial is expressed. For imn ore the quality is expressed in Y % 1% 'lherefore one unit
gas). Exploration expenditures paid for or incurred hclore the beginning of the devel-
means 1%.
opment stage of the mine or otller natural deposit !nay for tax purposes be deducted
If I long ton (2240 lbs) of iron ore contained 1% i i n n (22.40 lhs), then it would
from current income. If, howcvcr, a producing mine results, these expenditures ntust
contain I long ton unit (1 ltu) of iron. If the long ton assayed at 65% iron then it would
be 'recaptured' and capitalized. 7'hese arc later recovered tlir<~ugheitlm depreciation or
contain 6 5 lto. If the quoted price for pellets is 70@/Itu,then the price of 1 long ton of
cost depletion.
pellets running 65% iron would be:
2. The development stage of the mine or other natural deposit will be decmed to begin
nl the time when, in consideration of all tlre facts and circumstances, deposits of ore or ~irice/longton = 6 5 x 70$ = 4550$/1t
other mineral are shown to exist in sufficient quantity and quality to reasonably justify = $45.50/1t
exploitation. lxpcnditures on a mine after ihe development stage has been reached are
treated as operating expenses. Metric ton units (mtu) and short ton units (stu) are dealt with in the same way.
'The reason for using the 'unit' approach is to take into account varying qualities.
2. For most metals, the unit of weight is the pound (lb) or kilogrm (kg).
2.3 ESTIMATING REVENUES 3. Gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium are sold by the troy ounce.
The relationship between the troy ounce and some other units of weight are given
below.
2.3.1 C~irrertlmineral prices
Troy weight (11)
Current mineral priccs may be found in a ~iu~nbcr of different publications. Metals Week,
1 tr oz = 31.1035 grams
Skil1irrji.s Mining Review and Er~gbteering/~irri~!:/Mii,
Journal are threc exan~ples.Spot prices
for the major metals are listed in the business sections of many daily newspapers together = 480 grains
wit11 futures prices. Tables 2.6 through 2.8 contuin recent prices for certain: = 20 pennyweights (dwt)
- metals = 1.09714 oz avoird
- nonmetallic tninerals
 Arbclr,,.~
All ~priccsqsotal ;arc I;.O.li. mine
Gnadi;rn clrrysol~lc . .
i t N 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C$1,4501.750 Ilol!cdrta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41fXlLl 10
Ciimq No. 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C$i.liKii-IAiXi Mcxic:m l~O.l!,T::nvpico
r N . 5 ....................... ~ ~ ~ 5 ~ 8Acidspar 5 0 li1lcrc;lkc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $122-127
(i!oup No. 6 ....................... C$525-575 Met;~llurgical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $00.95
G n ~ No. p 7 ....................... C$180-350 Sooth Alricrn ;~cidrp;$rdry h ; w \ .
Sw1h African chryrdlc l l O H Ilurbm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1 10V 15
Gccwp No. 5 ......................... $300-410 W A , lllir~msdistrict, hulk, M
ilcidspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $l'%l-195
(;map No. 6 ......................... $100.390
(;reap No. 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $180~220
South African aenosite
i,,,,, Y//7/W
Ilr.,).il",pp<". 1.oag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $f>Ml-I.(XHI
Stti], (No. 25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.25 Mcrliunr ............................ $610~700
M<,n.,<ry. 'IYYB. . y ~ I / . ~ k Shon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $425-625
I I I w (No 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IO.24 Snilth Aflic;rn cn,cidolite
Ncw Ywk pnmpl. 8126IY2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205-210
li,.W<,l/,, "%/I!, ,,m I,. 5 I.""g ............................... $720-XXO .............. l s t i I'npm
C.I.1:. liunqxits ~xm.12/8/92 . . . 1 15- 130
M h t 3/1/12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.411 245 Mecliutn ............................ SM5-715 60.66% 1i1'1. . . . %4W $3036
Moly/~diroriili,.
bi l$ Short . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $(MI-05 6 7 % I . ........... $2J!l9 $34.67
('Xmiaai, $/h, rot! lor.$ f'mdscer. IIM'l2 ........................... 1.35 ll<~,,,,,,~i,<. 70-72'Yi 111'1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527.81 $3738
I'ioducetr. hlll'J2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IXIlL21H1 Wyomiog. hundry grade, 85% 72~74,%1111 '. . $36.24 MIX0
NirPd Plh 21x1 mesh bugged. 10 too hm. 74% Rl'l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535 10 $50.20
"%/I/, / / / A 1
('lt~<n,,i,,,,,, Mclling Ihriqacttes. 101111191 . . . . . . . . . 3.48~1.52 del I1.K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S120-130 Monrco. 75.77% LII'L.. ].AS
p.,s.~blanca
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 848.50
lilectrulytic mc!:8l, stnsdarrl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.75 N.Y. sterchanl. q ~ t 1/14/93
. . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6vl-2.68 1:O.B. plants. Wyoming rail
1 I , I st .............. $IX.lXl-35.00 7W72% lil'l., PAS
(i~bal,. %I X//h
%, Il',,i,,9n, $/,r O Z I'O 13. pliiots. Wycmbing. haggcd, Cnrshlanca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 846
Alairott, I I O I i . New Ycrik Insdon pts. l i ~ 1114193 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358.75 rail cam. st ....................... $33.Wl-45.lXI Tunisia. b5-1Wk IJI'I.. PAS Slm . $32~18
Naum. 83% I W . . It. I.'011. ............ -
(hthodes, rtc, 1/1/92 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I3.lXl Cornex. Y90%, Apt. ...................... 155.50 l'ullerr' l i o n h xxlil asl~~trcatcd.
I'orrr.sb
I'owdcr, 1127/X9 ............................. N O lingelhard hbricnted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459.(W clel. U.K. foundry grade, bagged ....... EX5-95 Marisitc of ptsrlt, boll. 60% K.0
I t t i , 2 7 / 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . h'Q 1I.S mercll;un. 1/1~l/93............ 358.00-35'11)(1 Cwil esgineering grade, bulk ............. •’60-70 I . I . I x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . f:1-74
Slrcrritl (ior4m OCMA. bulk del U.K. ................... fh5-70 Gracnhi. C I I - U.K. l x ~. . . . . . . . . . . . CXI-84
Silver, p/lr or API. F.O.1i. plant. Wyoming. Snl, 1:.0.13. Vancouver . . . . . . . . . . . $ W I ( K l
'S' pwwr. 12/31/90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N O
Cogelhrnl Ihllion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36X.(Kl rail c;mls. bagged, st ................... $31.50 I ? O R Sark.~chcw;w. l d k pcr, rt
Copper. p/lh Ilimdy & Hannan. N.Y. ................... 397.00 Fdd.~pnr Stasd;ml . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $83
I.MLi. grade A, clnring I s m l n n tin. awl ......................... 369.15 Cemmic grade. powder. 300 mesh. Cuarrc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $87
hugged. en-store U.K. .................... •’ 1411 (iraonlar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $89
cash bid .............................. 100.26 3 rno ................................... 371.95
Sand. 28 mesh, glass grade, F.O.U. Cirri\hacl.. bolk. . .a r tos.
3 om ................................. 100.58 6 es, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374.95 ex~slclrcU.K. .............................. •’65 c,varse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $90- 100
Cwncn. high grade. Jan. closing ............ 98.35 12 cmo .................................. 383.00 Ccrawic grade, hulk, st Granular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $95
[IS. ~pmluccrs,cnthmle ................... I1W.W Zurich fin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369.70 F.O.H. Spruce Pine. NC. 170-250mesh . $50.00 S<dl
Wxrcnton tclioiag, wirebar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110.35 1'0.11 Monticcllo. Ga. 200 mesh Ground nrk\alt. 15-211 a m c lots.
Tin nvg. price del I1.K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S20
N Y s~echast,catlt~~les, Mar ............ 101.00 lhigh potash .......................... $82.50
Kunla 1.usrpur spot. ringgiUkilo ............ 14.81 fX.13. Middleton. Con. 200 mesh ...... $67.50 S,d<r arb
(;,,/<I, $/,r 0 2 S p l exchange, $/ringgit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03843 <;I.. ~.r.rp. d c . bulk, st IJS iti$lanl. 1:O.Il Wyoniisg. I>cssc.
A M M N.Y. e r ~ d w k .$/lb .................... 2.76 i t ..................................... $80
%with avg.. upg .......................... 328.00 I'0.L. Spruce I'inc. NC. 97.8%
I s I . . ............................... 329.21 uraniurn, $/I6 U30a > 2(Xl ttresh ........................... $33.50
Ihndoe. 3:W p.m. ....................... 327.65 I:.O.U. Mosticello. Ga. 92%
Nucxco. 12/31/92 ........................... 7.85 > 200 nrerh, high ptash ...............$64.75
flanrly & Harman, N.Y. .................. 327.65
F.O.U. Middleton, Con. 96% . . .
1':ngelhanl bullion ........................ 328.86 znc. #/lb Kotrerdam, tonne .......................... $90
I1.S. a d foreign prcducers. > 200 mesh ........................... $45.50 I:rcnch. Polish. liquid, cr~tcrminnl
Engellrard fabricsled ..................... 345.30 Ruors/mr
sfah, delivered in WS.. 1114193 Rutterdsm tonne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $105.75
I m d . t/U> Metallurgical. mi" 70% C e 2 . Canadian. rolid!slate. I:.O.B.
High grade ....................... 53.76-54.74 ex-U.K. minc .........................•’85-90 Vancower. spat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $65.75
US. and Canadian pruduecrs. S&xcial high gnde ................ 51.00-55.24 Acidspar, dry hasir 97% Cap2 Csoadias. solid!sliltc. EOH.
11/6/92 .......................... 32.00-35.00 CGF ............................. 51.75-54.49 bagged ex-works .....................
f 140-150 Vancouver. contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665.70
Secondary fabricated. U.S. pducers. die casting alloys
11/9/92 ........................... 36SXl-40.00 No. 3. 713019 1 ......................... .. . NQ 'To accord with trade practices, cenain prices are quo!& in US$ (sterling now floating at anrund $1.501.70
1.ondm lix. $/mt No. 5. 7130191 ............................. NO = f I). A l l quuvalions are M e l d Udlelin pic IW2.
 (I'cr gwss tun. 5 l O % i n w i~ittnr;~l.at rail of rcsrel lower litkc prm)
Mcsihi s r r d c s s c n w $30.03-31.53

(l'cr inm natural st>it. ;at rail of vessel lower lake p t )

n ................................. T I C pcr torme ('levelmd~C'lilfs IK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

20130% Sn (iecludiag decluclion) . . . f4Ol1~L530

I'c~~grosr ton asit ;,I
Ihdd o f vesscl upper litkc jxm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5340P
wahesh l r ~ ~ e t s px gmsr tun tit I ' O U f b i n t e ~ o i c c. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.506
3IKSOc%Sn (inchding dccluction) ...... f350-fS(Xl
511NIS'Yn Sn (including daluctioo) . . . f3IHI-S600
65175% So (including < l c d u c l i m j . . . UIKlLf 25 (Per gmss tos imo unit natural t:.O.B. Silver flay)
(:y~xwN~onhrhorcpellets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I O C O m S d e r Or. prllc,l p7ic.r

Kutilc c o n c m i n 4 5 K ' l i Q bagged.
(I'm in;ttur;,l gnws ton unit delivered m i l of vcsscl lowcr lakc [ x m l
I<O.H.ll'id . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A8550-AS600
Rutile bulk concn,is.')5'% li02 I I 1 ...................................................
. l . B . l l d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A6500-AS560
I.io,enitc lmlk concninS4'Yn
'li02K O . B ......................... h$X3~A$90

Oglcboy N w m z 0,.pcllcl p r i m r
?irtig.slrn ore .......... I'er metric tonne unit WO1
(lkr ~ U N U C ~gmss
I 1011 unir, at rail of vessel lower lake puc0
M i s . 65% WOi C l F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40-$50
(:alun~hitc s l i s 65% SI;,,,,$~~ gr;a~c .................................................................................. 72454
iivelctl, S~XC~;,~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74.00*
C h 2 0 q +'ra20r. 10:l C I I I . . . $261)-$3.05

Nuexco exciv.wge value 1)ccenhclzr ......... $7.85

Lrud c o w
Nucxco rcrtricied Anrcricim rnidrker
7018O% I'b $500.550 basis C.1.E . . . . $170-$180 penalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $210
Nukccu Ueceod~.rrcstrietell spot ... %'1.90-$10.35
1,irhiwn ores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I'er tonne Nukem 1)ecernber unrcstiicted spur ... $7,9048.00

l'clalilc, 3.5-4.5% C.1.E ............... S135-f 140

Spwlumenc 4.7% L i z 0 C.1.E . . . . . . . . f 1 7 8 ~Is8 3
Vrrrioditmr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Highveld. fused hmis 98'% V 2 0 s C.1.E ..... $1.95

O l l m rourccs ........................ $1.75-$1.85
I'er I b V 2 0 r U.S. Standard (avoirdupois)
I oz avoird 28.3495 grarns
= 437.5 grains
-
Murrgnmw ore ........ Metallurgical per nltu M n
i nc . .............. T I C per metric dry tonne I Ib = Ihoz
48150% M n Max. O.I%P C.1.E . $3.35-$3.55
Sulpl*ide 49155% 1.n basis = 14.5833 ti OZ
M o l y b ~ l m i r e .................. Per I b M o i n MoS2 $I,MXl C.1.l:. main pofl ............... $188-$190 = 453.59 g r a m
Sulpbide 56161% Yon basis
Conc. C.1.E .........................$1.95-$2.05 4. Mercury (quicksilver) is sold by the flask. A 'flask' is an iron , container
. which
$LLKX) C.I.F. main port ............... $190-$194
C o w C.1.E US .................... $2.80-$3.00 holds 76 lbs of mercury.
....................... Australian pcr tonne
ZR-O,~ 5. Molybdenum is sometimes quoted in the oxide (roasted) form (MOO,) or as the
Mo,cnzire ....................Australian pcr tonne sulfide (MoS2). The price given is per pound of Mo contained. I'or the oxide form this
Std, min. 65% ZrQ2 EO.B.IFid . . . A$230-A$270
Conc. Min.55% K E O + Thoria. Premium max. 0 0 5 % 17e203 1s about 67% and for thc sulfide 60%.
I?O.H.lFid ....................
... A1300-,416350 1;O.B.Il:id ......................... A$250-AS325 6. The [orm? in which minerals sre sold include bulk, bags, calhodcs, ingots, rods,
slabs, etc.
'Prices expressed C.1.E Eurup unless othenvise indicated 7. The purity of the mineral products oflen have a substantial cffect on price (see for
exarnple Feldspar).
8.The fiber length and quality is extremely important to asbestos.
Mcitbi Kame olnols c r n H N ar:

The point of sale also has a considerable eSSect on t l ~ eprice. Two abbreviario~~s
are often 2.3.2 fl~.s/oricolprice dutu
used in this regard.
The abbreviation 'I?O.B.' stands ihr 'frce-on-board'. 'I'lrus t l ~ edesignation 'EO.13. Mineral prices as monitored over a time span of many years exbibit a general upward
tnine' means that the product would he 1o;lded into a transport vessel (for exanple, rail trend. I n 1908 for example the copper price was about 14.1Ullh. lo 1988 some 80 years
cars) but the buyer must pay all transport charges from the nrine to the final destioation. later. the price had risen to 120.5@Ab.The average rate ol' price incre;~scper year over
The abbreviation 'C.I.F.' rneans that cost, insurance and freight are included in the this period using the end point values is 2.7 percent, As can be seen i n Table 2.12
price. however, the copper price only reached the 1908 level twice i n the period 1925.1947
Table 2.9 illustrates the difference in price depending on delivery point. For USX (years 1928 and 1929). Over this period it dropped to a low of 5.56@11b(1932) and
Colp. pellcts, the price of 37.344@/ltu is at the lnine (Mountain Iron, Minnesota). The rcachcd a high of 18.1 1$ (1929). Using the average price increase over the period 1908
Cleveland-Cliffs price of 59.4~111~ (also for Minnesota taconite pellets) is at the hold to 1988, the predicted price in 1948 should have been 40.9@11b.The actual value was
of the ship at the upper lake port. Hence a rail charge has now been imposed. For the 22.06. It then proceeded to drop, only achieving that level again in 1969. A mining
Oglebay Norton Co. (Minnesota) pellets, the price of 72.45$/ltu is at the lower lake port. venwre may span a few years to many decades. In some cascs mines have- produccd
Thus it includes rail transport from the mine lo the upper lake port plus ship transport over several centuries. Normally a considerable capital investment is required to bring
to the lower lake port. Table 2.10 provides freight rates for iron ore and pellets. Lake a mine into production. This investment is recovered from h e revenues generated over
freight rates are given in Table 2.1 1. the life time of the mine. The revenues obviously are strongly dependent upon mineral
Many mineral products are sold tl~roughlong tcnn contracts arranged between sup- price. If the actual price over the mine life period is less than that projected, serious
plier and customer. The prices will reflect this shared risk taking. There will often be revenue shortfalls would be experienced. Capital recovery would he jeopardized to say
significant differences between the short term (spot) and long term prices. nothing of profits.
 Price trends, for metals in particular, are typically cyclic. Figures 2.2 through 2.4 show
the prices for 10 metals over the period 1984 through 1988. The period and amplitude
of the cycles varies considerably. For nickel the price went from a low of $1.50/lb at the
end of 1986 to a high of $8.00/lb in the spring of 1988. It then dropped to $5.25/1b (Sept.
1988) hefore increasing once again. Over that same period the price for molybdenum
remained fairly flat. Figure 2.5 shows the price history of silver and gold over the period
of 1975 through February 1992. Beginning at around $4.50/tr oz. silver shot up to nearly
$40.00/tr oz (January 1980) due to the buying of the Hunt brothers from Texas. By the
end of 1991, the price had dropped hack to about $4.50/tr oz.Table 2.13 shows the
detailed monthly price variations for 10 common metals from December 1988 through
December 1992, as well as the yearly averages. From the table one can see the price
volatility.
For making the valuation calculations, the first problem is deciding what base price
should be used. The second problent is forecasting the future price history.
 zinc *'
\.. . /.-----,
Lead

I 1904
I
1985 1986
1
1987
I
I
1988
I
Year
Yosr

Figure 2.6 shows ;I plot o i average price for coppcr 21s a function oC time over the
[~criotlo i 1935 to 1992. This is based on the data given in 'Sable 2.14. As can he seen,
the price exhibits an upward trend but a cyclic variation is observed.
IC the year in which l l ~ evaluation was made was 1980, then the average copper price
is 101.42$/lb. If this currcnt price had been selected as the base price, since it was at
- ~ i c k eI ~ \( the peak of 21 cycle, the average price would never reach this basc price again for mmy
years. In this particular case until 1988. The revenue projection would have been very
I \
- Tar off. The same would have been true if the base price for 1985 (a local low) had been
*-C_ selected. Here however the revenue projections would he too pcssinistic and possibly
- -.-/--? Tin I I
the proposed project would be shelved. The conclusion is that choosing the current price
as llle base price for the valuation is generally poor due to the cyclic behavior of the
Molybdenum 1 I
I prices. The problem is shown diagrammatically in Figure 2.7.
One must decide the basc price to be used as well as the trend angle and project the
results over the depreciation period as a minimum. Another alternative to the selection
-----'-\
\-A-
-- /--
/
/-
of the current price as the base price is to use a recent price history over the past two
or perhaps five years. For a valuation being done in July 1989 the price was $1.15/lb.
--C
Averaging this value with those over the past three years would yield
1 0 I I I
1984 '1985 1986 1987 1988 Years Base value % ch'mge

Year

Figure 2.3. Price perlomunce of molybdenum, nickel and tin over the period 1984-1989(Hucnphreys. 1989).
 Gold
700 t
GOO I 1988 Dee.
Arg.
IYSY Jan.
Fcb.
Mar
A!"
Mny
June
July
Aug.
Scp1.
oct.
Nov.
1)cc.
Avg.

I970 Jim
Feb.
Mar
A~I:
Miiy
Jullc
July
Aug.
scpc.
oc1.
Nov.
Uec.
Avg.

lkWl Jan.
Fd,.
Mar
Apr
May
June
July
Figure 2.5. Average n~onrlilyprices of gold (COMEXI and silver lL.ondon P M Pix) over the pcrid 1975 - AUg.
I'ebnrary 1992 (Kosla. 1992). Sepl.
Ocr.
Nov.
Dcc.
A"&
Inflation has not been accounted for in lllese figures. The point being that a wide range
of base values can be calculated. The same is obviously true for determining the 'slope' 1992 Jail.
of the trend line. This can be reRected by the percent change over the period of interest. Fcb.
Mar.
These values have been added lo the above table. They have been calculated by Apr

Percent change =
Price (1989) - Price Y
Price Y
j 100%
May
June
July
Aug.
A1 = Aluminum I,Mk cnsh ($111~)
CII = Copper 1.ME s t i ~ n i l i ~cash
n l (yllb)
I'b = I x a d LMli casli!sct~lerncnt (y/ll,)
Sn = 'li,, I.ME cash except wllcre noted' ias M W ctlnt]~)silc(Sllb)
%,I = Zisc 1.Mli It(; c;~rhdsc~rle~t~eo~ (yllb)
A,, = c;dd I m a l o n lion1 (%llrcrr)
1'1 = l'lali"",,, landon P M fix (Sllr or)
Ag = Silvcr 1.c~ndos spul (SAr o r )
M o = Molylxlcnnm M W dealer oxide (Sllh)
Ni = Nickel [.ME cash (Sllb)

Figure 2.6. Average copwr price by year over the lime wrid 1935 la 1992 (Noblc. 1979; U M J . 1992).

The conclusion is that due to the cyclic nature of the prices, several cycles must be
examined in aniving at both a reprcsentetive base price and a trend.
There are two approaches which will be briefly discussed for price forecasting. These
ale:
- trend analysis,
- use of econometric models.
 where a , are coefficicnts; 1, is the price in ycar x; :c is the year relative to the initial
ycar (2: = 0).
I f onc has 10 pairs of data (price, ear), then ille m;rxinrum power of the pdynol11i;ll
which could he litted is 7 n 9. AS the power is ilicrease~l,the actual behavior o l the
&.-!a could bs !nore and more rlcsdy represe~teti.Unfor!un:t!cly wlrile !hi.; is a good
proccdorc for intel-polation, that is, dclining values for points within the range of the dal%
the equation cannot be used for deternlining values beyond the endpoints (extrapolation).
'l'lris however is wlint is desired, that of projecting the historical data past the cird points
into the ftlturc. It can he easily demonstrated that some of the terms of power 2 and
higher can vary wildly hoth in sign and magnitude over only one ycar, Thus such a
general power series representation is not of iirterest. There are some other possibilities
Iiuwever based upon the lilting of the first two terms of a power series. The siir~plcst
representation

represents a straight line with intercept no (3. 0) and slope aI. [:or this to apply the
d;rtn should plot as a straight line on rectangular graph paper. Figure 2.6 shuws such a
plot for the copper data over the time period 1935-1992. Thc average trend over the
period 1935 through 1970 might be litted by such a straight line hot then there is a rapid
change in tlre rate of price growth. In examining the averagc trend it appears as if some
type of oon-linear function is required. The first approach by thc engineer might be to
try an exponential function such as

Xlking natural logs of both sides one finds that

I I
I Depreciation Period I Since the natural log of e is 1, then

Time
Letting

I'igurc 2.7. Diagrammatic leprcrcntatiun ol l i price

~ pmiection process

The basic idea in trend analysis is to try and replace the actual price-time history
with a mathematical representation which can he used for projection into the future. In
examining a 'typical' curve one can see that it is cyclic and the cycles have different A straight line should now result when the natural log of the price is plotted versus thc
amplitudes. One could try to fit a function describing the hehavior quite closely over a year. Such a plot, easily made using semi-log paper, is shown in Figure 2.8. A straight
given time period using a type of regression analysis which is commonly available on line can bc made to fit the data quite well. In 1977, Noble (1979) fitted an equation of
computers as part of a statistical software package. tlre form
The general objective is to determine an equation of the form
 Copper

Hence the price predictor equation becomes

1, = 9.5 1 8 5 ~ " ' ~ ~ ' " "

'l'k correlation cocflicient r may be calculated using

.%,
zz ,jZs7;
wI1ere
2
S , , : = n ~ z ~ (EX,) -259161
Year

S,,, - n ~ ( 1 i i l l J 2- ( x l n y n )
2
648.65
:

S, := r ~ x ( x In
, y,) .- (zz,) ( X i n g , ) = 12462.30

lo the data i n Table 2.14 for the period 1935 to 1976. For the least squares approach In this case
employed, tllc constants a and 6 ate give11 by r :- 0.961
This high correlation coefficient indicates a strwg relationship hctween price and time.
Conlideocc limits (CI.) for the estimates may be calculated using
C[&) :
: aebZi' (2.19)

The constant c is given by

For the period of 1935 to 1976

71 = 42 where.
a s the probahd~ty(expressed a? a dec~tnal)of y hemg outs~dethe conhdence
limits;
x ( z , in y,) = 3085.521 tmIz is the value read from a Student 't' table for a cutnulative probability ( I 3 ) of
1 - a / 2 and n - 2 degrees of freedom;
XI,861= St is the population variance of iny (= (SDJ2);
x l n y , = 136.039 S; is the population variance of z (= (SD,)2);
z is the mean (arithmetic value) of x;
 (Sf>,) is tlie st:mdanl devilttion o l III!/;
(SII,) is lhc standanl devi;~tiooof :c;
1. is tlic correlation coeflicicnl. I'rcclicwl I'rcdicred tangc
S Ywr civeragc price (Qllb) .- A<:I~S;LI
lpzicc
Thc required rrredn valtics, vari;tnccs and st:~odanldrviutic~nsare given by
In ..
I 2 = 3.2390
11 (2.21) 41 I'J18
44 197'1 7898 61.72 101.07 92.31
45 I')SO 82.87 M.63 106.27 l t l l 42
46 1481 86.96 67.66 111.75 83.74
47 1982 I .24 70.X4 117.51 729
48 I983 95.73 7 4 16 121.59 77 XI)
4'1 IV8.I IlX145 77.61 12938 00.76
SO 19x5 105.411 81.26 13671 65.57
51 1'186 1111.59 8505 141XtI 06 10
52 I9X7 I I 6.04 89.01 151.27 82 50
51 I988 121.76
Areri&ge
~ .

limit. This corresponded to a very difficult time for producers. The conclusion is that it
is very difficult to predict future price trends.
S,: SD, ;= 4s: = 12.2678
Substitution of these values into I'q~mtion (2.20) yields 2.3.4 f<cunomel,-icrt~odr!i.s
. .
A conmiodity rrrorlel is a quantitative representation of a commodity markel or industry
(Lahys, 1977). ' 1 ' 1 ~beha\,ioral relationsl$~s included reflect supply and demand aspccts
If the probability of y being outside of the contide~icelimits is a = 0.20 (80% probability of price dctcrmirration, as well as other related economic, political and sociai pbenornena.
that the price is within the upper and lower limits), ihen There we a number of different methodologies applied to modelling nlineral rnarkcts
and industries. Iach concentrates on different aspects of explaining history, analyzing
I' = 1 - 0.20/2 = 0.90 policy and forecasting. The methodologies choseri for a nrodel depend on the particular
DF=42-2=40 economic behavior of interest. It could he price determination, reserve and supply effects,
or other aspects.
The value of t,lz as read from the Student 'I' table is
The market nlndel is the most hasic type of micro economic structure and the one
= 1.303 from which otlrcr commodity riiethodologies have developed. It includes factors such
as:
Equation (2.27) becomes - Conirnodity de~naid,si~ppiyarid prices;
- Prices of substitute commodities;
- Price lags;
- Commodity inventories;
The average trend price value for 1976 (z = 41 ) is - Income or activity level;
y = 68.37 $/1b
- Technical factors;
- Geological factors;
This happens to be very close to the actual 1976 price of 68.82$11b. The predicted - Policy factors innucncing the supply.
average price and price ranges for the time period 1977-1988 ( z = 42 to 53) are given Market models, wbich balance supply and demand to produce an yuilibriurn price,
in Table 2.15. arc commonly used in the mineral busiacss for: (a) historical explanation, (h) policy
The actual average prices for the same years are also given. As can be seen for the analysis decision making, and (c) prediction.
time period 1982-1987. the actual value was considerably lower that1 the predicted lower They are also used lo simulatc the possible effects of stockpiles andlor supply restric-
tions over time.
 wltcrc J is thc price factor, G V is the gross valuc ($/ton of concentrate).
For hasc it~ctalssuch its copper, lead, itlid zinc, prices are rtot quoted fnr co~~cet~trates 'kr obtain the hasic smelter return (DSK)the charges incurred during trenttncnt, relining
r;~thcrlllc refined ~tlctalprice is given. 'The pnytncnt received by the company lro~ntl~c itor1 scllitrg must be taken into account. l'hc hasic equation is that hclow
sr~~clter for their coocen1r:lles (c:~lledthe net slneltcr retom (NSR)) (I.cwis ct al., 1978; BSR = M,(llJ (2.34)
I l ~ ~ s 1984; s, Wcrner & Janakiramirii. 1980) depcitds upon nwly l'xlors besides metal
price. l'lie process by which thc net smelter return is calculated is t l ~ esuhject of this where v is the refirling and selling cost (Ypound of payable rnet;ll), 'I' is the treatment
section. chiirgc ($/too of concentrate).
Assume that a mill produces :r copper concentrate containing (: percent of copper Often them are other tnetals/elerrrents in the cot~centrate.Their presence can be ad-
I I I C ~ : I ~ 'The
. ~ contai~lcdtnetal i n one tun of concc~~trate
~ I I I I O I J I Iof is ;,
v;rntageoiw i n the sense that by-product crcdit (Y) is received or deleterious resulting
i n ;I penalty cl~arge(X).
The net srrrelter return (NSK) is expressed by
where CM is the contained metal (Ihs), C: is the concentrate grade ('8) rrtet;~l),and tlle NSR - M,(I'J - r ) - 3' - X -I Y (2.35)
mliu IBsAoo is 2000.
Most stnclters and refiners pay for the contained metal hascd upon prices publislred in wltcrc X is the penalty charge due to excessive amounts of certain clcmcnts i n the
S I I U ~ C C Ssuch IS Meru1.s Week. If thc current rrrarkct price ($llh) is I' then the contained concentrate ($/too of concentrate) and Y is the credit fur valuable by-pmducts rccuvcrcd
copper value is from the concentrate ($/tun of concentrate).
1.elting
Pe -- I'f r (2.36)
where CV is the contained alpper value ($/tun), P is the currcnt nrarket price ($lib).
where I: is the effective metal price (after price reductions and refirling cl~arges)llrc
It is ncver possible for srnelting and relining operations to recover one hundred percent
NSR expression can be siorplilied to
(11the contained metal. Some lltclal is lost in the slag, for cxalriple. .li, account for these
losses, the smelter only pays fur a portion of the 111eta1content in the concentrate. 'The
deductions may take one of three forms: ~. .~ ~,
NSK - McI'c-7'-X +Y (2.37)
.; ,.
( I ) I'crcentage deduction. The smelter pays on!y for a percentage (C) of the contained 1.ong-term refining and trwtment agreements generally contain cost and price cscaladon
illelill. provkions. Escalation of relining charges ( e l ) can he groupcd into five distirict forms:
(2) Unit deduction. The conccntrale grade is reduced by a certain fixed amount called (I) No escalation.
the unit deduction. For minerals whose grade is expressed in percent one unit is one (2) Predictive cscal;~tion.A specified rate of increase for each year of the contract
percentage point. For tninerals whose grade is expressed in lroy ounces, one unit is one hased upon predictions of costlprice changes.
troy ounce. (3) Cost-indexed csc;tlation. Escalation hased upon published cost indices (e.g. wages,
(3) A contbination of percentage and unit dcductions. fuel and encigy).
'The 'effective' concentrate grade (G,) is thus (4) Price b;~scdcost escalation. If the metal price increases above a celtain level. the
relining cost is increased. This allows the refinery to share in the gain On the other
band if the price decreases below a certain level, the relining cost may or [nay not he
decreased.
whcre G, is the cffectivc co~~centrategrade (%). ?L is the fixed unit dcduction (%), C is ( 5 ) Some combination of (2). (3) and (4).
the credited percentage of the metal content (%). Escalation of treatment charges (e2) is generally either by predictive (No. 2) or cost-
The payable (accountable) metal content in one ton of concentrates is indexed (No. 3) means. Including escalation. the general NSR equation can he written
as
NSK = M,(P f - 1. f e l ) - ( T i e2) -~S +Y (2.38)
where is the payable nletal content (Ibs).
Stneltcrs sometimes pay only a certain percentage of the currcnt market price. The Snlelter contracts rnust cover all aspects of the sale and purcl~aseof the concentrates
factor relating the price paid to (he market price is called the price factor. If 100% of from the moment that they leave the mine until final payment is made. Table 2.16 lists
the market price is paid then the price factor is 1.00. The gross value of one ton of thc elements of smelter conuact and the questions to be addressed. Although the terms
concentrates is thus of an existing smelter contract are binding upon the contracting parties, supplelnentary
agreetnents are usually made in respect to problems as they arise.
 Mining ,rrre,rr.re.s nnd oarf.s 79

'l'hc trct v;~lue of tbc cotrcet~rratct o the t n i t ~ eis called the 'a-mine-revenue' or AMR
I t i s llrc net stncltcr rcwrn (NSR) m i n u s ll~e
rc;~lization cost (12)

and who is the buyer?

2 . TI!? nwlcrid m d im qwdity. Wlnt is thc nmmm
'I'hc r m l i z ; ~ l i o ncnsf cnvcrs such items as:
of tlic !malerial; tor cx:imple. arc or conccstr;~e'l
Wliat a l e its assay chansrecisticc and as what (a) Freight.
baris (wet or dry) arc iany assays medc awl re- two wecks ;after llrc ilniv;ll of thc last car in each (h) Insurance.
]mtcd'! of thc lot a1 buyers' plant)? (c) Sirlcs agents' cotntnissiot~s.
:I. T!w qc<,081iry <m<1 <l,,r,zlim, <fr!F c<~nlr<~ct,
what Where. in what fnnn i d how arc ihc payments
arc the emoum involved? Are thc shipments
(d) R c p r c s e n h l i o n at the stnelter during w e i g h i n g a n d sampling.
lo 1% mndc i u ~what
l arc llx p m ~ i s i m sfur the
sent wct or dry'! Whtbl is the rirc of it IM! What O ' H a r a (1980) presented t h e following l i m l t t t l a for Sreigllt cost 1.' in $ Canadian (1979)
m;,king ol (lie liml pityo~ent'!
is thc dutation of the costnst ;bad lmw arc the p e r t o n US corlcerltratcs
sl~iprncststo be aprvad wit cwcr the pcriwl in
qucstioo?
II. Irssrrmrc. Which pany pays for inrurancc and
4. W!m, i . ,!w ~ mode ofddiwry. What i b the tmwlc
to what pint'! For crik~nplc,'i~lmgaidcw l w f ' when 1
; i s tlrc freight cost ($/ton); 'I;,are miles h y r o a d (truck); It,,, arc n ~ i l e sb y
o f dclivcry (is llulk or otherwise)'! Is wh;lt i m i t ~ l -
ricr is thc shipment to be m;xdc and how is it to 12. Orhrr rmdirion.. W1m ;are the provisinns c o w
railrmd; TI,, a r c days of loading, ocean travel and u n l o a d i n g on a 15,000-ton freighter.
I=rprcial w c r tlic life of thc contr;kct? Is it to ceming evcnls hcyond tlie cc~nlnllu f the buyer
I*: dclivcrcd by tmck, rail or ship ;and us what or seller? When ,wry 'lu!ce tnitjewe' 1% in^ In 1989 US$, the f o r m u l a becotnes
lhsis: f i x example, C.1.E or l<O.L.'! Wlticlr at voked'! What arc the condi~ionsender which
lll~ parlies to tlic contrilct pays the traoslx,rri~- the contract way lr assigned to a thin1 parry
lion clrargcs'! hy thc buyer or the rellcr'! What, i f any, arc thc
pn~visimsin regiinl to l l ~ cprcrcnce of slxcific T h e rclatiortslrip b c l w c e n the AMK a n d the gross value o f the ntctal contained i n the
5. Ihe. price m he lrnii!. t h w much of thc tmetal
contaiscd io tlie shipment is to k paid for? Is minor minerals or iwetnls in thc cnocestrnte? concentrate (CV) i s c a l l e d t h e percent payment (1'1')
lhere ilny imisimum rlaluclion from the rqxmed 13. Pnynrrril rottverrim role.?. W l m price qoota-
AMR
cailtcnt of lhc coscenlriitc? What is lhc o;nun: tions iuld Currency C ~ I V C I S ~ O ~ ma iire 10 be 1'1' 100 x -CV
(2 42)
of thc priccs: for example, simple or weighted used ond in wlrilt publication ;arc they quo~cd'!
average'! Which panicular price or prices arc Wltat arc lltc provi\inns fr,r the tdaplion of sew h r base-nrclal concentrates t h e percent p a y t ~ r c n ct a n v a r y f r o m as l i l t l c as 50'%i lo m o r e
lu bc sscd. for example; Ncw Yuck or L.osdon b-d ..:
s ~ s11those uscd cc;ac to be publishe;l?
Mctnl linchnc~gehasis, and in wltat publications 14. Arl,irmrion Whcre arc m y prohlcms to k s i
than 95%.
arc thesr prices publirhed? What is qunta~ional biirared'! How and trndcr what jurisdiction? S m c l t e r terms are, therefore, a significant factor in the estimation of p n t e n t i a l r e v e i u e
pxiod inv<llvcd?1low is the pkce derived ;a"- r r o m any n e w mining venture.
15. Wcix!<irzg,.xmrplivg OW! 171015114red ~ t e r m i t i a r i ~ m
eragcd over wlrat quotationnl period?
Who does this, wherc. and who pays for it'! To illustrate the concepts, a n exanrple u s i n g the m o d e l slneltcr scltedule for copper
In what currency is tlte price to be paid? I f i t Docs thc rellcr hnvc tlie riglit ro be rcprcseated
i s as itvensge price, what is thc basis for thc concentrates (Table 2.17) will b e presented. I t w i l l b e assumed that the coppcr con-
at thc prmedure at his own crpesse? How arc
uuereging? What lonns u f weight inearwentent the silmplcr tukcn to bedislribuledamoog buyer. centrate contains 30% copper a n d 10 t r o z o f silver p e r ton. I t also contains 2% lead.
arc to k lemd: for cn;tmplc. troy, avoinlupis scller and umpire'! All o t h e r deleterious elements are b e l o w t h e a l l o w a b l e litnits. A s s u m e d prices arc $Illb
or metric? Wlval prcrniums. i f any, am to lr of-
16. Ar.~oyhg.What are the pnrcedurcs fnr asray- f o r copper, $6/tr oz for s i l v e r a n d $0.50/1b for lead. T h e payments, deductions a n d
fered? What are ttle pmvisiom i f the quut;ttion
ceases to k publishctl or no longer reflects the ing? What is as accept:~ble assay for s c t W
asscssrnetlts are:
full value of the rncral? meat purpt,ses imd what are tlac splitting limits?
Which pany pays Cur ampire assuyiug?
6. T!w smdrerk c1crrrge.r. What is thc smelter's
l m e clvarge for trestmcnl? On what ground 17. Defittiriots 0lrcne.r. Wh;11 are tlte agreed upon
might i t be increrscd or decreased, and i f so,
how might this be dune - in relation to the
price of metal or lo some othcr cliange such as
dclinitions of lenns? 1:or cxamplc: 'Shon ton
equivalent lo 21XX) pounds avoirdu]mis.' Dodol-
Ian and cents refer to. fix example, Canadian
or Unitcd Stales currency?
Copper:
f 1.0
6
-
C = 98%

= 1%
a variation in the cost of l a b u r at the smelter?
Whdt arc tlle penalties or premiums for excess 18. l~tsamnce.What insurance cuvcragc is required
and which pany is to pay for it?
Silver: C = 95%
moisture sod for exceeding minimum or maxi-
mum l i m i a in content of other clements of min- 19. lirle. At what point shall title pars from seller f = 1.0
cml constitucnls? to Buyer?
6 = 1.0 tr 0 2
What are the associated rcfining charges, if any? 20. Risk of llorr. At what p i n t sttall risk of loss
7. Tlze yuororionnlperiod What is the quotath~nal pass from seller lo buycr? Deductions
wriorl (fur example, the cslcndar moeth follow- 21, Arhirrarion orrd jurirdicrion. What are lhe p w
ing the month during which the vessel r e p n s ccdures for settling any disputes that may arise Copper: 1' = $75/ton
to customs at a derignatd pun) and lmw i r this between the panics and which eountr/'s law are r = $O.lO/lb
slxxilicd? to govern the panics'!
Silver: r = $0.35/tr oz of accountable s i l v e r
 'The by-pri~doctcrcdit fnr silvcr is
Pay for 95% to 98% I
of 1.0 unit per dry am ior copper colwnuatcr gsa<ling l x b w 3 0 % tjclic
dcductinns and trcatct~eslcharges may ix lhiglcc h , r ccaaccn~mtesi t b v c 311%

llertce l l ~ cnet smelter rct~trtlis

NSK $4:36,SC $10.00 + $155.66 - $582.22/lon of conccntrale
It will he ;issnmed that the concentrates are shipped 500 wiles by rail to tire s~ncltcr.
'The rr;tnsporl cost (12) per ton of concentrate is
1; 0 . 31 0.39(500)"' - $30.22
The at-mine-revcnnc hecomes
AMR $582.22 - $30.22 : $552
The gross value of the rnctal con1;lincd it1 one ton of c~~nccntrates
is
(coppcr) (silver) (Ict~d)

'I'he percctit paytncnt is

2.3.6 Price-cosr rclu~io~t,ship.s

Asse.ssmenr,s Using the net smeltcr return formula it is possible to calculate the revenue per ton of
I-cad: 1 unit is free concentrate. The revenue to the mine every ycar depends upon the tons of concentrate
additional units charged at $10.00 per unit. producul and the price. T11c costs to the tnine on the other Band depsnd upon the amount
nf material tnined and processed.
'I'he copper provides the major source of income. Using Equation (2.34) one finds that I f one assumcs drat X tons of concentrate are pmduced every ycar. then the y e d y
the hasic slirelter return is revenue depends directly on t l ~ cprice received for the prnducl.
BSR = M,(Pf - 1.) - T A I;~rgccapital investment is required at the start of the mining. As will be discussed
later this must he recovered from the yearly profits. If the yearly profits arc not as ,
expected, then the payments cannot be made. Therefore it is important that the price
projections or price forecasts he made covering at least the depreciation period (that
period in which the investment is being recovered).
= $416.56/ton of concentrate By examining the sinlplilicd net smelter return formula.
The pet~altycharge for excess lead is C
NSR = -20 (G - u) f'-----
-r
-T (2.43)
X .=is the (Units present - Units allowahle) x Chargdunit 100 100
= (2 - 1)$10.00 = $10.00 where 1' is the price, 1. is the refining and selling cost, T is the treatment cost, G is
rhe percent of metal, v is the fixed unit deduction (%), one can see that the revenue is
equal to

wbcrc k is a constant.
Assume Tor delinitencss that T b e x arc a nuirhcr af &ilFsrsnt type!; of cc.;ts which arc inckirclcl in a rniriirig operation

C
1.
-
100%
12$?
-
(Pllcider & Weaton, 1968). There are also rnarly ways in which they can be repofled.
'Three cost categories might he:
- (:;\pita1 cost;
7' = $60 - Operaling cost;
- ficncral and administrative cost (G&A).
7L :. 1.3%

-
C 28.5%
Tire capital cost in this case might refer to the investment required lor the mine and mill
plant. 'I'he operating costs would reflect drilling, blasting, etc. costs incurred on a per
I' - W$ ton basis. The general and administrative cost might bc a yearly charge. The G&A cost
could inch~deone or more of the following:
Thus - Arm supervision;

NSR - 1 x 20(28.5 - 1.3)

- Mine supervision;

- Iitnployee benefits;

- Overti~ne premium;
- Mine office expense;

Assurne that next year both the price and the costs illcrease By 5% hut 111;1t C , C and 7~ - Head office cxpc~isc;
remain constant - Mine surveying;
- Pumping;

T
7. -- -
I' .~= 90 x 1.05 194.5y)
12 x 1.05 12.6t
60 x I 0 5 = $63
- Development drilling;
- Payroll taxcs;
- State and local taxes;
- Insurance;
Hence - Assaying;
- Mitie plant depreciation.
NSK - 5.44 x 81.') - 63 = $382.54 l'he capital and G&A costs could be translated into a cost per ton basis just as the
Tlir net present value would he operating costs. The cost categories might then become:
- Ownership cost;

NPV - 382.54
------ = $364.32
1.05
- f'mduction cost;
- (;enera1 and adnlinistrative costs.
l'he operating cost can be reported by the different unit operations:
If the price however decrcosed by 5% atid the costs increased by 5%. then
- Drilling;
- Blasting;
- Loading;
If the price increased by 10% and the costs increased by 5%. then . - Hauling;
- Other.
NSR = 5.44(99 - 12.6) - 63 = $407.02 The 'other category' could be broken down to include dozing, grading, road maintenance,
dump maintenance, pumping, etc. Some mines include nraintenance costs together with
The conclusion is that the net smelter return depends upon the relative changes of the tlie operating costs. Others might include it under G&A. Material cost can he fclrther
price arid the costs. If the prices and costs escalate at the same rate then the expected hroken down into components. For blasting this might mean:
return remains intact. If however, there is a difference then the return may he significantly - Explosive;
more or significantly less than expected. Ohviously the problem area is if the costs are - Caps;
significently more than expected or thc price significantly less. - Primers;
- Downlines.
T l ~ eoperating cost could just as easily be hrokeu down for ex;to~pleinto lhc uakgorics:
-- I.abor;
- - Materiels, expenses and power (MIIP);
Other.
At a given operation, the lalm expense may includc ouly the direct labor (driller, ;lnd
~lrillcrhelper, for example). At ;tnotbcr the indirect labor (supervision, repair, etc.) could
he included as well.
'l'here are certain costs which arc regarded as 'fixed', or indcpen~lento f t l ~ epn~duction
level. Other costs are 'variable', depending directly on pnxluction levcl. Still other costs
are sv~uewlierein between.
Costs can be charged against the ore, against the w;tste, or against hot11. I (',~~MK,,S
For equipment the ownership cost is often broken down into depreciation ;~ndan
average annual investment cost. 7'be average annual investment cost may include ihr
exwnple taxes, insurmce and interest (the cost of money).
-
i;,)Mining: cric = 22,lUXI qrl
w ; ~ e 2S.SIHl lpl
cwc iwcl warle = 5.1 11.500 fpy (istual)
'I'he bottonl line is t h ; ~ twhen discussing, calculating or presenting costs one must he (I,) Milling: c;ip;lcily = 20.lXX) tpi
very careft11lo define what is meant and included (11snot included). 'This section ;tttempts crrc = 2.'145.~Xu1 tpy ( i s t u i l l )
rntill Q ~ i ~ =
d 043%
s CU
to psescnt a number of ways i n which costs of various typcs migltt he estimated. coi,w;ilr recovcrecl = Cu. A s , Ag
rewvccy = 85S'Yo
co!lrcmr;nc grilde = 10% Cu
pic~cilmlymrcsses: primary SAG. secondary com crusbcr. hall nlillisg. Cu llcm18rm
San~ctin~cs it is prrssihle to obtain actual costs (i-om 'similar' opcr;~tions.However gre;tt
care n~osthc exercised i n using such c o t s since aca~untingpractices vary widely. 1:or
mmy y c m the Cunnilim Minirt~J ~ i r - t ~ nhas l puhlished its 'Rcfcrence Manu;tl and
Fittycrs Guide'. A great deal of tlscli~linfnr~nationis contained regarding both mine and
mill. 'Yable 2.18 conlaios ioronnatioo from the 1986 edition for the Sitnilkameen Mine.
Similar inlvnnation for elcvcn open pit operations of different typcs and sizes as
cxtracled fro~nthe 1993 edition of the Refererrw Miiniml (Southam Mining Croup, 1992),
is included in Table 2.19. Since Si~nilcoMines Ltd. is tltc successor of Si~nilkan~ccn
I'rope~ty dcscrihcd in Table 2.18, une can examine cl~angesin the operation and in the
C O S ~ Swith linle. Inforlnation as complete as this is seldonl puhlicly available.

Publications from years past often contain valuable cost informaticm. Is there some 6. ikillirtg irt om nttd worlr

simple tcclr~~ique for updating so that these costs could be applied for estimating even (a) Drills = 3 Racyms-Eric 6OK
today'? The answer is a qualilied yes. The qualification will be discussed later in this (11) Hole iliameter = Y 'Is"
( c ) I'n~ern(bunlcn r spacing) = 18' x 24'
section. ' f i e procedore ir~volvesthe escalation of costs through the application of various
(d) I'ect dril!edlsl>ilt= 4W'
puhlished indexes. 'Table 2.20 is an example of the: ( e ) Tondfoor = 26
- Construction cost: (0 Bit life = 6.000 fI
- Building cost: (g) Rwl lifc = 32O.MX) fl
- Skilled labor; 7. I'awer rcq~rirenzems
- Co~nrnonlabor: (a) Total (all motors) = 53.600 HP
- Materials (b) Peak demvnd = 35.776 kVA
indices published weekly in the C~gi~zeerbfg Ne~v.sRecord (ENR). ' h e values are year (c) Annual mill dcrnand = 255.282.172 k w h
end values except where noted. One column is based upon an index of 100 for year (4 Total annual demand = 266,573,172kwh
1913 and the second adjusted for 100 in 1967. To illustrate the application of the index
system, assume that the cost of the mine n~aintenanccbuilding was $l(HJ,MK) in June of
Table 2.18. (Continued).
 1V0061 H'Bd 1
~ 0 0 6H
1 'B~P a m m pun a0 8aqp.j osl!w!~

Jape01 886 1Q I
r~aper59 9 1 l e 3 s
-2ZOP Pi8 123 E 06111 P!lWl i
~ a z o p1 6 a 1x3 I 1-OLI' 9 YW
~ a ! i~ v E ~ S I ' ~ 1 6 UOPI
1 "; z
uazop N O L 183 ~ P O L I X P!I~FI 91 <PL S I ' 7 8 0 0 1 ~~ 3 a dE aim* PUP ao laid02 puelsi HE
'avo SVmL uap~q s1aAoqS almm i o a0 au? 'Luedmo3

a ~ m n n bpcs alqiew w OSE x w W L I Y w W L Z sayey ai!qde:~) %J%P'L sauuoi uo!liy P a:!qdeig o!une.~~s
a..!shiiu! "3 % s z 0 suai iio!ipu ~1 :a[!ciyxis
odqqe8 aiuoip aausq qljm aiuidoqq5 "3 %OP'O SUOl uO!llN1 6'121 :qJd
s>!u-qon >!)!sap? u! a10 pue aiuLd '%!arog n 5 %SPO suoi ua!Il!W 6 . p ~: u . q sau!p.j o ~ j y !
3!iewqn p u ;lie~am
~ qdap n "ado
-012~0s'C~Lqdiad3!rresp\ ,0081 x , m i "!ah r v m b l e u u a q l o l p i ~ W EPI'O ruoi uo!l[p E.6 a w o a 'awoaiavqd
e!smq a l ? i d PUF ai"6d nV I@ LPO
sv lfi ST35
alyrrew 'e!maq s!i!sepoLq~ UZ 361'2
'am s!?!XPpaIa~4\ w 9 ~ x1 w S L x~ Lu 0601 sasua] aiuLd pui. u~ 'ng "5 3LL.0 sauuoi n o ! [ p ~ l i a!eqlaS sawpi
uo!>euuoj uai! rjnuawpar
raao~spurra:euoqm u! al!:auSew aijiau5ew 3661
-zuvnb pur Eal!zu~nb w 005 x w osz n liry 8 pnz a~!i?wadr q n s a d ~ ad 66E sauuoi uo!~[!q E [ o m j "05a'o uaq
qd %Mil
U Z %Z6
"3 36ZO
Zv I@ E Z I
s ~ ! u ~ s p>!qaj
n paailv ,OSI x ,001 x ,OSL sv!qd~nsw s m w ijiire~ n v ifi 9 ~ 0 . 0 suoi fflE'6EP am Iasm 'Leg UOSpnH
"V 1@ EBO
s;lp!qdpr pamp "3 3622'0
3!iselm& w osz x m ms x uq 5 5 - m q pue p a l ~ ~ ! ~ a s s ! a ZV 1fi ZL sauuoi uo!ily g 8auip.j ianf!S A!"&
ow 3Llo'O
a?!sapuv ,0091 x , W Z x ,W0S ng Oiq&od V 3SSEO suol uo!lly $5 laddo3 puqsi ' d ~ a
y mlro~ (ax 4 x 7 ) suojsuam!a a d 6 a10 a p e s nl!s u1 savasai alqsqo~dp u ~uanoq a u 'Luedmog
~

uo!iduxap i!soda~[ 5
'(panu!iuo3! '61.z a i q a
Table 2 19 (Cont~nued) 's
+
.
4 Dnlling equipment and piacuces

Company, mne Ore or wazte Dniis Hole diameter Feet per Tans per Feet per Feet per Feet per
3
Q
5
Pattern shift foot br r shank rod
3
BHP, island Copper Ore and warre 2 Bucyrui-Erie 60R2
2 Bucyrui-Ene 60RUl
Equity S~lverMines Ore and waste 3 Bucyrns-Erie 40R 230 mm
5 n x j m
Hudson Bay, Chisel Iake OR 1 GD SCH35WBU 411:"
I with HPR IH hammer 7' x 8'
Waste 1 Copco ROC 812HCSO 411:''
2 with 1238ME hammei 8' x 10'
Iron Ore Ca., Carol Ore and waste 4 Bucyms-Erie 49RH 381 mm Ore: 264
3 Gaidner Denver 120 Ore: 8 m x 8 m Warre: 22
Waste: 8.5 m x 8.5 m
Mines Selbaiie. A1 zone Ore and waste 2 Dnitech D40KD 2W mm Ore: 70 1,090 14,925 13.355
>
L
+
.
1 Driltech D60KII
I Copco ROC 712H (secd)
Ore: 5.1 m x 5.8 m
Waste: i,ai
Waste: 77 3-
Placer Dome, Dome Ore 4"
10' x 10'
Similco Mines Ore and waste 3 Bucyrus-Erie M)R 97,8"
Swarmin Graphite Ore and wazre 2 Arias C o p 812HC5001 5"
4mx4m
Williams Operating Corp. Waste 1 Gardnei Denver 100 ],,!is"
5.3 m n 6.5 m

Table 2.19. (Continued)

5. Blasting practices

Ore Wasle
Company, mine
Explosives Loading
.::Powder Explosives Loading Powder
factor ifactor factor Bctor

BHP, lriand Copper IOOW emulsion 0 86 lbl)d3 0 38 lbiton Magnsiiac 0.86 lblyd3
Equity Silver Mines 60% Anfo 0 53 kgim3 3 18 kglt 60% Anfo
40% s l u w 40% slurry
Hudson Bay, Cnisel Lake Dry holes: Amex 2.4 lb/yd3 0.53 lbiton Dry holes: Amex 1.66 1biyd3 3 63 lblton
Wet holes: Magnafrac Wet holes: Slagnafiac
Iron Ore Co.. Carol Magnafrac 89000 1.71 ks/m3 0.44 kgi: Magnafrac B900o 1.65 kUm3
Mines Selbaie, A1 zone 67% Anfo (column charge) 0.80-0.86k@m3 0.23-032 kgit 67% Anfo (column charge) 0.75-0.80 kgim3
33% slurry (bonom charge) 33% s l u m (bottom c h q e )
Placer Dome. Dome 90% Anfo Amex & Detagel 1.125 lblyd3
I070 r i u m
Similco Mines 95% Fragmax Fragmax hT3L 1019
5% emulsion
Stratmin Graphite 90% Anfo 1.35 lbiyd3 0.6 lblton
10% s l u m
Wdllams Operatrig Corp 95% Anfo
5% packaged
95% 4 n i o
5% packaged
0 40 kgim3
-
5
x
5
 a q b p put Bujmly '%u!uax2!ip
'uc!leloy n 3 '%!ii!w 11eq 'gvs "3 w 8 z 308 "5 %OS'O 3 ~ 0 3n 3 3 1 W'SZ 38 'uoiax+d 'pi7 s a u ! ~owm!s
pue %u!qx?a[
XSeK 'Su!~muawo, S!/
'%!l[y [[eq pun pi 'Zu(qshi5 %SS6 W 1fi S i l o nv pdl rn IUD 'au!dnxod q l o o ~ a w o a " ~ u 1am= l a q d
8uua1lg amsaid pue uo!~zloy UZ %SS UZ %ot. UZ a%LL'O ~uoa uz p i i IS91
~
jepuarall!~'Su!l!rw !IT P U POX ~ "3 BLZ "3 %96 "3 W 6 Z JUOJ "3 "0 8p zv
3upl)g ainsr~~d
put uo!inoy je!iuaiag!p uZ 1L9S UZ %Z8 U Z OLSZ'Z JUO~ uz pdiw 0085
'BU!II!W 11eqpup ~ V S "3 %PZ Q %L8 "5 3bL9'0 J U O ~n~ :am 1 v anb pi no^ aieqias s w ! n
Suual(y PUP Zu!uaq>!ql " s m 2 n~ %ES "V I@ 90'0
uzpue "3 q l JOJ~ SU!UP~IJ pm uz % C I S uz O L E ' Z ~ U Z OLE9 m o 3 uz uou U!U 'pi? '03 2 ~ 9 1 ~
%u!qzIlOi '4U)lj!LU [(Eq PUe POX "3 ?WiZ "3 %E'P6 "3 " M I 31103 n5 & WL iren '"OH U!U pU3 h!u!n & a UospnH
n v i@ 6 1 2 w %6s n v ifi 88'0
i!n3l!~ ~3 pus " ~ b 'Buual[g
p d v 1fi ' ~ 6 6 ~ SV % ~ 9 2~ 1fi 98 amp n v - 8 ~
'uoil~iog'%u!\i!m p q pue pox "5 i b i . 1 ~ "3 "j69 n3 3303%yn> 38 ' u o ~ s s n o ~ ' p n sau!ly i a n i ! ~Kqnb'iJ
%"!hi.p
PUP %u=a>lyuojieloa ' 8 q p OK %St OM1 NUS9 OK %910'0 >uo2 OK laddog puejsl
l l w ,%~o=s ' ~ V S~ e m u d n 3 %UPS u5 ~ 8 "3 1 ~ 6 ~ 0 3 u O J "3 pdi WS'LS 58 '.(PnH UOd '?I7 WEUTJ sFJa'J!N dHB
apela weaq indqBno~ip
saisanld ] e d ! x y aiwiuaxm3 Lrano~ag ll!M nxpard 4iea uo!lesql [I" 'Aoedmo3

%u!ssanid p a u r n -L
'(panwo3) 61.2aiqq

,is9 x ,,ZP
bo1eiL8 y$ n i a w LLL 1 0 3 P i!d wnno '&o3 BupwxIo s m q i ~
UJUJ oizl x $16 WL' s w m I-SE Ii"l1V ai!qdw u w w s
:
n-%
' r n N " r n V
c-.?mrn-
0mc.4 LC

-
. m
N

* r4
? - " r ir
" " " 4 - m
= ri

:: -" m - -
n
"
,n
r;;

"
-4
%eN":: -

rn
"-
P-w-CI"
N

*"
-
0 rn
<e**mrn
mc.4-O"
-
- -
N
m o
- f - -
o

2z ccCI-C,
",-"N-

*
- 0
- yoz"0'
"4

. m q ~ N m ~ m n r o
n o - - w a . 0
m 4'3"'-

-
n N m m
m N
N
"
N \ D *

N N N
c-,CICI *
r n w d
- P - - P - =
n m - - t m
0 - C i
r N -
222 ?
0 .r
n
0 0 C
N

*-
.NNO",
rn
20".

N w
0 '- 3
m

" "-
O
::
*
Vl Ci "7
3

-"
CI 0
3
N" z

a-3

G
.E:

- z8 us
.
J
5 3
U.
:.o e
BE 8
.
y
g
i
;.e
c
5.<$ 0s
u. 0,
a g 382
- m
5 8 8;zg$;u3yg;; w 0.c
3 a b s g -
m w x 32 E zm3
1978. The eslimn~cdcost of t!~esame building in June of 1989 would he . ..
..-.
,

Building cost index (Junc 1989)

Cost Junc 1989 :: Cost June 1978 x
Building cost index (June 1978)
In this case

Co<t June 1989 -= 100,000 x - 2626 --- 100,000 x 1.58 -$158,000

1664
'The escalation factor of 1.58 is the ratio of the index values for t t ~ cyears involved. In
a similar way one can compute the escalation factors for the other E N R indexes over
this period. They are sululnarized below:

_ 1.66
4568 -
Construction cost factor = -
2754

Building cost factor - --

2626
1664 1.58

Skillcd labor lactor = l:i

--
- 1.75

9336
Conlrnon labor factor = -= 1.78
5241
 Apr 1992 A".. I992 Mar 1993 A r' 1'197
~~ -~

14.54
15.07 15.26 15.2 1 15.29
16.42 16.52 15.74 17.68
13.55 13.83 13.95 13.97
17.111 17.15 17.29 17.52
17.22 17.28 17.47 17.71

1686
Materials factor :- = 1.37
1229
Oll~crindexes are also available. 'Riblc 2.21 gives the average hm~rlye;uniogs for mining
productiondnon supervisory workers as puhlishcrl by the U.S. Uure;to of Labor Statistics
(131.S) over lhc period 1964 through 1992, These values can also serve as a 1;rhor cost
escalator Fur the period 1978 to 1989 the fixtor would he
13.25
Mining hourly wage factor = = 1.73 Productivity is a very i~npoltantarpect of cost estimation. It deals with the rate at
7.67
.
.Iablc 2.22 gives average hourly earnings broken down by industry. Gmtained with the wlliclt ;I certain task can be accomplished. If for example the daily production for a
puh1ic;rtion Slatisticul Ab.srruct of the Urtited St(rtcs are values for tllc prnducer price one shift per day mining operation is 20,000 tons with 100 emphyccs, then one way of
index fur construction machinery and equipment. The vaiues for the time period 1978 expressing the productivity is
to 1991 are given in Table 2.23. The resulting factor for the 1978 lo 1989 time period
is
117.2 Assume that the payroll is $10,000/day or $IW/ma~~sllift. The labor cost would he
Crmstruction machinery and equipment factor = =: 1.73
67.7 $0.50/ton.
Corlsidering the five ENR indices plus thc two from the RLS, an average escalation If through s o n ~ etype of cllange, thc daily production could be raised to 30,000 tons,
factor of 1.71 is selected. The average cost inflation rate r over this I1 year period is with the same cn~ployces,then the productivity would be
computed by
(I + r)" = 1.71
and the labor component of the cost would drop to $0.333hon. If this productivity has
Hencc
come about through the purchase of new, larger cquipn~entthen the decrease in unit
T = 0.050 labor cost will be accompanied by an increase in other costs (ownership, etc.).
A copper mining example will bc used to demonstrate the effect of productivity
The rate is S%/year. changes on cost escalation.
It was indicated earlier that such escalation has lo be done with some care. A major In 1909, the use of steam shovels was just beginning in the Utah Copper Company
reason for this is the change in 1;tbor productivity which has occul~edover lime. Binghain Canyon Mine of Kennecott (Anonyrnous, 1909a,b; Finlay, 1908; Jackling,
 1909). l'lre following data are available from that tirne.
I. Direct ore mining cost
2. General mining expense
(includes lixed cl~ange
pcr ton to retire
p~epaidstripping)

'l'otal mining cost

3. Average stripping cost

4. Ilirect milling cost
5. General milling expense

Tot4 milling cost

6. Ore grade = 36 lhslton ( I .X% Cu)
Milling rate % 7000 tpd
Recovery
Production ratc
"70%
= 61,oil0,000 lhs Cdycar
7. Total average cost = 8.125 ellb Cn
(mining, milling, smelting)
8. Labor wages
9. Copper price
The index values in 1913 (the closest available year to 1910) were 100. In January 1993
Ihe index values were as follows:

Doe to major changes in productivity over these intervening 80 years, the price and
overall cost increase has been much less than would he expected due to labor costs
alone. Therefore, when using productivity factors, one must hear in mine the effect of
productivity changes over the intervening tirne.
Table 2.24 givcs productivity figures for the mining of iron ore, copper ore, crushed
and broken stone and non metallic niinerals over thc period 1967 through 1990. One can
'Todays mining wages average about $15.00/hour or $120lday. The labor cost ratio see the major productivity increase which has taken place over the period 1978 tllrough
(LCR) of 1992 to 1910 is 1990 in iron and copper mining. .a.

$120 It is often very difficult to interpret productivity figures since it makes a big difference
LCR = -= 60 as to who has or has not been included.
$2
This is similar to the index values for skilled labor. The copper price ratio (CPR) for
the same period is about
100 In 1980 O'Hara (1980) puhlished what has become a classic paper 'Quick guides to
CPR = -= 7.9 the evaluation of orebodies'. He lvas since produced an updated version which is the
12.7
subject of the next section. However, one of his original curves (Fig. 2.9). which re
 Mining x w n r m o ~co.st.s
l 103

'l'llcse vducs are rellcctaf by the right hand axis in Figure 2.9. The iotercsted studcot is
encouraged to escalate these costs to the present time.

I~~lro(l~icri(~~~
locludcd in the 2nd cdition of the SME Mining Er~gineersi~~111~1110,ook (Hartman, 1992),
is an iq~latetlchapter on 'Costs & Cost Estimation', prepared by O'Hara and Suholeski
(1992). They cover the costs associated with hot11 open pit and underground mining.
'This section presents material extracted from their paper The presentation. however,
is organized somewhat differently from theirs. All of the costs are expressed in U.S.
dollars appropriate for the third qu~anerof 1988.
Pits may vary greatly i n shape, size, zmd pit slope, especially in mountainous areas
or where the orc andlor waste mck varies greatly in competence. The typical open pit
mine in Nurtlr Amcrica produces about 43.000 tpd (39 kllday) of ore and w;lstc Lrom a
pit depth of about 400 to 500 St (120 to 150 m), with ;in oval shaped periphery 2200 ft
(670 m) wide and 4700 St (1430 m) long. Pit benches are typically 40 ft (12 m) high,
and overell pit slope (excluding roads) is about 57" in pits with competent rack, and 44"
in pits with oxidized or altered rock. with in-pit haulage mad gradients averaging 9%.
Tllc formulas given for equipment sizing, preproduction stripping, and maintenance
pa ~ t l ~ t prcsume
~es that the shape and type of open pit is similar, except in daily tonnage,
to the 'typical' open pit.

Ilnily rorrrrrrge
The most inspollant factor affecting costs is the size of the mine, primary crusher,
and processing plant as expressed in terms of the tons of material handled pcr day of
latcs mindmill capital cost G to daily milling rate 2; will he used to denlonstrate cost opcration. To simplify the discussion the following terms will be introduced:
escalation procedures.
'I' z: tons of ore millcd/day
The mill generally has a much larger capital cost per daily ton of ore, and hence
dominates the curve. It was assu~nedthat the mining operations run only 5 dayslweek, T:, tons of ore minedlday
but that the mill is operated continuously 7 days per week. Thus. the daily ore tonnage 7; = tons of waste ndnedday
mined and crushed 7; will bc 40% higher than the milling rate 1.: T,.
-tons of ore passing the primary crusherlday
,, I
' ;, = ?;,+ 1:,= total material m i n d d a y
1
1 , = Ore mining rate = -- 7' ..~:1.47'
5 In this estimator it is assumed that the mill operates three 8-hour shifts per day and
The combined minelmill capital cost expressed in mid-1978 Canadian doll;us is 7 daysiweek irregardless of the shifts worked by the open pit. Many open pit mines
operate 7 dayslweck, hut others may opemte only 5. In the case of a 5 daylweek mining
operation.

This must first be converted to U.S. dollars and then escalated to 1989 U S . dollars.
In mid-1978, one Canadian dollar had a value of 0.877 U.S. do1l;trs. The approxiniate
escalation factor from mid-1978 using ENR indices is 1.71. Combining the escalation The cost guides in this section are based upon this assumption that the mill capacity is
factor and the exchange rate factor yields an overall multiplying factor of 1.50. Applying 71% of the daily mined ore tonnage.
this, the expected capital cost in U.S. dollars for mid-1989 is The crushing plant may operate 5.6, or 7 dayslweek, depending on the mine schedule
and whether or not there is adequate fine ore storage capacity to keep the mill supplied
with ore when the crusher is shut down for repairs or regular maintenance.
 The inill crcw size (wbiclr includes those involved in crushing an&r grinding as well
21s bcnelicintimrj 21s ;I function of prrlccss type anif nlill rille is shown i n I'igore 2.10.
'I'llc i ~ u m h ~ofr sc~wice11erso1111eIIV,~.required for O ~ I C Ipits
~ ~miriinglow graik ore
may be estimated as ;I pcrccntagc o i the totnl mine and inill persr,nnel as shown hclwv:
N ,,,, == 25.4% of ( N,,,, + Nrr1tj (2.49)
Thc nrtmhcr o l :almioislrativc and teclmical personnel N,,, requircd for a mining and
nill ling plmt imy be esti~natedas a percentage of the tola1 required for inining, milling,
and serviccs:

It sl~ouldhe trmcd 111~11thc fi~rrnolasdo not include tlie personnel rcquircd for smelters,
rcli~icries,minc townsilc serviccs, concentrate transport, or offsite hc;ul :,flices, since
these services rwy not hc rcquircd for many nrine projects. Whenever thcsc services
can be linanci;dly justilicd lix the mine project circn~nstances,the additiond personnel
should he cstiniated separatly.

I I I I
4000 BOO0 8000 10000
Mirrc sile cl~rr,-ing. Prior to heginning conslmclion, the minclrnill sire must he lirst
Ton. Par nay Mlllsd cle;rrctl of trees, pl;ints and topsoil. The soil overlwrden should be stripped to the limits
of the n1lim;itc pit ;tor1 stockpiled.
The average soil thickness can he found from drilling logs or oltrasonic tcchniqocs.
By mdtiplying t l ~ caverage thickness t i n m the pit asen, the volume is determined. As an
aid to tonnage calculati<ms.an acrc of moist soil averaging 10 ft in thickne!;~contains
;~hout23,(jOO tvns of material. For Lhe pit, tlir required area A, in acres is
It is assumed that the crushing plant has tile same daily capacity as the mine, but will
work 6 dayslwcck to ensure that the rnill will be supplied with cruslied ore if the fine A,, 001731:1" (2.51)
ore bins have insufficient capacity to kccp the rnill supplied with ore during the two-day
The clearing costs depend upon the topograpl~y,the type of cover, and the total area
mine shutdown.
They are expressed as
Personnel nrrm11er.s $1600Ay for 20% slopes with light tree growt11
'firtal
It may seem somewhat unusual lo begin the cost discussion with pasonoel, hot their $300~? for flat land with slr~ubsand no trees (2.52)
productivity is extremely important to the profitability of an operation and their corn-
cost $2000 A? for 30% slopes with heavy trees
pe~lsalionis n major cost item.
Thc number of minc personnel No,, required in open pit mines using sllovels and Clearing, initial stripping and access road costs are plotted as a function of 'I;, in Fig
trucks for loading and hauling the ore may he estimated froin tile following formulas: urc 2.11.
0 . 0 3 4 e 8 for hard rock
No,,
= (2.47) Pre-pmducliorr waste srripping. The rock overburden above the ore nlust he stripped to
0 . 0 2 4 e 8 for competent soft rock expose a suflicient nrnounr of ore to supply the planned daily ore tonnage for a period of
The number personnel N,,c required to operate mills treating ?' tons of low-grade ore four to six months. If insurficient ore has been exposed by the pre-production stripping
may be estimated from the following formulas: of waste, it may become difficult to continue ore mining due to the close proximity of
waste benclics where blasting, loading, and haulage of waste is taking place.
5 . 9 0 9 ~for cyanidation of precious metal ores The location and required area of the ore exposure is determined from ore body
5.701"~ for flotation of low-grade base metal ores (2.48) mapping. Once this has been done, the average thickness and area of the waste rock
7 . 2 0 9 . ~for gravity concentration of iron ores overlying this ore can he computed. Each acre of waste rock averaging 10 ft in thickness
contains about 40.000 tons of waste.
 Tlic tons of orc or waste that arc drilled off per day by a drill with a hole diameter
of d inches is:
tons of tnciliu~ndribble rock :-1 170d2
torts of easily drillable rock = 23(id2 (2.54)
tons of hard drillable rock == 100d2
For the rock dclined as 'medium' drillable. the expected production rate is about 500 ft
per shift.
'The number of drills N,( should never he less than two. For tonnages up to 25,000 tpd,
two drills of appropriate hole dianleter sliould be chosen. 'Three drills should hc adequate
h r i ~ pto 60,000 tpd and lour or more drills will he required for deily tonnages over
60,000.
The cost of the drilling equipment is given hy:
1)rilliog equipment costs = N,j x $20,000i11-X (2.55)
This formula includes a 25% allowance for drilling and blasting supplies and accessory
eqiiipment.

(h) Shovels. The optimum shovel size S expressed in cubic yards o l nominal dipper
capacity it1 relation to daily tonnage of ore and waste ?;, to be loaded daily is
T o n s of O r e a n d W a s t e Mined P e r Day

'fbc number of shovels N , with dipper size S that will be required to load a total of 7;,
tons of ore and waste daily will be

Because of the inverted conical shape of the ultin~ateopen pit, the wastelore tonnage
ratio at each horizontal bench decreases with each lower bench. Typically,the uppermost In practice, the sizc of shovel chosen will be one with a standard dipper sizc close to the
ole bench to be exposed has a wastelore ratio of at least twice the wastelore ratio of size calculated by Equation (2.56). The calculated number of shovels N , usually is not
the oltimate pit. If 7; is the tons of soil, and 7:,,, is the tons of waste rock that niust be a whole number. It should be rounded down. The omitted fractional number expresses
stripped to expose an anrouot of ore to sustain four to six ~nontllsore protlnction, then the need for either a sntaller-siked shovel or a front-end loader for supplemental loading
the estimated costs of waste stripping will be service. This srnaller shovel or front end loader must, of course, be capable of loading
tn~cksof a size appropriate to the shovels with dipper size S.
Soil stripping costs = $3.20<'X for soil not more than 20 St deep (2.53a) The total costs of the fleet of shovels supplemented by auxiliary hulldozers and front
end loaders will be
Waste stripping costs = $340c:,6 for rock requiring blasting, Loading equipment cost = N, x $ 5 1 0 , 0 0 0 ~ ~ " (2.58)
loading, and haulage (2.53b)

(c) Trucks. The optimum truck size t in tons that is well matched with shovels of bucket
size S (cubic yards) is
(a) Drills. The size, hole diameter, and number of drills required depends on the tons of Truck size t (tons) = 9.0.9'-' (2.59)
ore and waste to be drilled off daily.
Typically, drill hole sizes have standard diameters of 4. 5, 6'12, 7'18, 9, 9718, 105/g, The total number of truck? Nt of t tons capacity required for the open pit truck fleet,
I21lq. 13314. 15, and 17112 inches (or 102, 125, 165, 200, 229, 250, 270, 110, 350, 380, plus an allowance for trucks under repair, is approximated by the following formula:
and 445 mm). Thus drill selection will be limited to one of these sizes. ly
Nt (Number of trucks required) = 0.25 - (2.60)
t
 Minrrtg reverzue3 ortd com 109
.f lhus the arcas of repair sl~opsrequired fur open pit mines are:
~

Mine size, tpd 10, 000 20.000 40, 000 80, 000
2
Repair shop arca, ft 14,300 18,900 25,000 33,000
The cost of ciinstnictiiig and iquipiyiiig ilic shop is i-xjmssed by
Cost of pit maintenance facilities =: $ 6 0 0 0 ~ t~o '" (2.63)

(h) f:omrnunicalion and electrical distribution. This cost includes the insialled costs for
a surface telepl~oncsystem with mohile and hase radio units and one or morc repeaters
depending on the size of the mine. The electrical distribution includes the inslalled costs
of primary substations, transmission lines, ponable skid-mount transforn~ers,and trailing
cables, all of wl~ichdepend on the size of the open pit mine as measured by the daily
tons ' I ; of ore and waste inineil.
Cost 01- cornnrunications/c1ectrical = $250'1y (2.64)

(c) Fueling system. This cost includes the storage and services for diesel fuel, gasoline,
Tons o f Ore and Waste Mined Per Day lubricants, and coolants for the truck haulage fleet and mobile service vehicles
Cost of refueling system = $ 2 8 q
'I%e open pit scrviccs costs arc shown in Figure 2.13

'l'l:c fi?roroln for Nt determines the s i x of the trl~ckfleet under thc typical conditions
whcre tlrc average :~auiagedistmce and gradient ouksidc the pit periphery is less than
the haulage distance imd gradient inside the pit pcriphery. If the waste dump and the
ore dump hy the primary crusher are well removed from the pit boundaries, or if the
haulage road beyond the pit has a steep gradient, it may be necessary to increase the
truck fleet size to allow for the longer trip time per load.
The cost of haulage equipnrent including the accessory road maintenance equipment
is given by:
Haulage equipment cost = N, x $20,000 to (2.61)
'l'lre capital costs for the production fleet are given in Figure 2.12

(a) Maintenance facilities. The size of maintenance facilities for repair and maintenance
of open pit equipment depends primarily on the number and size of the mine haulage
trucks, whicl~in turn depends on the daily tonnage of ore and waste to he hauled. Repair
and maintenance of the shovels and drills is normally performed on site by mobile repair
vehicles.
The area in square feet required by the open pit maintenance shop (which should be
located close to the open pit) is as follows: T o m o t Ore and Waste Mlned Par Day
Area of open pit repair shop = 360'1:~ (2.62)
Figure 2 . 1 3 Carts for apcn pit services (O'Hara 61 Suboleski, IYY2)
Mill site clenrirtg rord/i)ri~~rlrrrio,i rostr. The al-c;~A,. (in ;~cres)to he cleared
prn~~rrr~rlir~~t
for the concentrator building, crusher building, substation, warelronse, and ancillary
buildings is given hy
A,. - 0.0s 7"" (2.66)
In addilir~nto this clearing, roads nrusl be amstructed from the nearest existing suitable
road to provide access to the concentrator site, the hoisting plant, thc proposed tailings
h;~sio,aud the source of the watcr supply. Costs fix clei~ringand wcess roads for the
surlrce p1;url are estimated to be:
Clcaring costs = $2(K)OA~"or lightly trecil arm wiih (2.6721) "
+
0
slopes of not more than 20% gradicnt 0
Access roads = $280,000 per mile for 30-ft ('I-m) wide
gr;~veledroad in niildly hilly region
(2.676)
Clearingpiantsits Excavation Of
f t deep 8 rock 5 ft deep)
-
'l'lre formulas should be rnoditied .t30% for more adverse or nrorc favorable slope and tailed Excavation and Fill Compactlon
0 I I I I I I I
tree gruwtlr conditions. 5000 10000
Soil overhurilen must he stripped wlrerever buildings and facilities are to be sited.
Plant Capacity in Tonr of Ore Per Day
The cost of stripping soil overhrrrden I),, feet deep over and ;ma o i A acres will be:
Cost of soil stripping - $1000 A""),, (2.68)
Alicr the soil ovcri)urden is removed and lire underlying lock or hasal strata is exposed,
this rock or strata will require localircrl reoroval, probably by drilling and blasting, to
es!ablish sound foundatio;~conditiws over levelled areas lor tlre plant buildings and It is diflicult to estimate the shape and volunre of concrete f o r m before these lomrs
plant cquipn~cnt.If therc arc C, cubic yards of rock requiring drilling, blasting, and have been designed, and hence concrete costs related to concrete volurne are unrcliahlc
haulage to a dump site, this mass excavation will cost: for preliminary estimation. Assuming no difficulties

Coat of mas\ excavatmn $200~:~ Approximate concrete foundation costs =: $30.000'p5 (2.71)
: (2.69)
for excavations of up to 100,000 yd3. These different costs are shown in Figure 2.14 as a function of daily plant capacity.
If tlre mass excavation is in rock that can he broken hy ripping, tlre cost will be only
Corrcentruror building. The costs of the concentrator building include all costs or con-
20% of that indicated.
structing the building above the concrete foundations and enclosing thc building, plus
When the mass excavation has been completed, detailed excavation to tailor the rock
the cost of internal offices, laboratories, and changerooms. It does not include the cost
surface to the exact levels for pouring concrete foundations can he done. At the sarne
of process cquipnrent, piping, or electrical wiring, because these i t e m arc included in
time, suitable fill will be placed and compacted aver level areas where deep trenches
the costs of each functional area. The equipment in operating concentrators generates
of soft soil have been removed. If therc are Cd cubic yards of rock to he excavated by
a substantial iunount of heat and comfortable working conditions can he attained with
detailed excavation and PC cubic yards of compactal fill to be placcd, the cost will be:
little or no insulation, as long as the concentrator is located in a region with a mild
Excavated and fill compact~on= $ 8 5 0 G 6 +$75 e7 (2.70) climate. For flotation mills located in a mild climate
Concrete costs for the foundations of the concentrator building, fine ore bins, and eoncen- Cost of building = $27,00074" (2.72)
trator equipment probably will cost between $350 and $900Iyd3, depending on whether A 'mild climate' is defined as a region where the degree-days are about 7000 (in "F)
the concrete pour is for a simple form with little reinforcing steel or for a complex or 4000 (in "C) per year. Weather stations usually record the 'degree-days' ("F x D ,
form that is heavily reinforced. The concrete cost may be significantly higher per cubic or "C x D). which represents the average number of days times the degrees that tlre
yard if concrcte is scheduled to be poured in winter months when the temperature is temperature is below 65 "For 18 'C. In hot climates, where freezing telnperatures are not
below 4 0 • ‹ F(4.4"C) and heating of aggregate and water and heating of concrete forms experienced, the building costs may be reduced by only partially enclosing the building
is required for sound concrete. 'and by locating thickeners and other hydrometallurgical equipment outside the building.
 In cold clinmtes, the adt!ilional cost of insulation. heating, and snow loading is likely to Fine om cru.slri,~gorrd co,zvcyor:s. This cosl i~lcludesthe cruslling pktnt building, installed
incrcasc tlrc building cost by ahool 10% for each incrcasc nf 18oil ("I: x I)) above 7000 eqoipmcot and conveyors.
or 1000 ( "C x I ) ) above 4000.
Cost of line ore crushing plant : $18.0007~-' (2.75)
f'rL7rur-y o-rrshing pion1 wit11 gyr~lo,yo-it.slrer. Open pit milies generally place tlte pri- Nore: The cost miy he !2% bhjber if the conveyors must be enclosed and heateti.
mary crushcr on tllc surfilcc outside tlke pit, within convcnicnt conveying dista~~cc to
the coarse ore stockpile and lllc line ore crushing plant. Open pit trucks normally dump (;rinrlirrg sectior~c r d /in(! ore storage. The tine storage hins must have suflicicnt live
thc ore onto :i grimly lnountcd over lhe gyratory crusl~erwhich disch;~rgescrrlsl~edorc capacity to provide mill feed for at least the number of days that the crusl~ingplant is
III a conveyor. Because of ll~elieadroom required lo operate and discharge the crusl~cd idle per week. The cost of the fine ore hins will he proportional to the weight of stccl
orc frtm a gyratory crusher. a substantin1 excavation and volume of a~ncrcteis required used i n constructing these hins, and the weight of steel will he pn~prrrtio~lalto 'Io7.
for the prilnury cr~rslrcrplmt. The cost of tlie primary crusher depends on the si7.e and 'I'l~esizc and cosl of the grinding mills depend on the toos of orc to he ground d d y
c;~pacityof the gyratory crusher selcctcd 101.crushiog '1:. tirns of ore daily: by each mill, hut they also depcnd on the hardness of the ore as n~casurcdhy the work
index and the (ineness of grind tbat is required to attain the desired concentration and
Cost of gyratory cmsher = $63'1:"" (2.73) recovery of v;~lunbleminerals.
'I'hc cost of excavating and coocrcting the foundations for the primary crusher, installing $1 8 , 7 0 0 ~ " 'for
~ mediurn hard ore
ll~ccrnshw, constmction of the lrt~ckdump and grizzly, plus the co:~rsc urc conveyor with a work index of 15. ground
;~ndfeeder under thc crusl~eris: to 70% passing 200 mesh
Cost of
Cost of primary crushing plant =: $15,000e7 (2.74) $12.500'1'7 for soft orcs ground
grinding =
to 55% passing 200 mesh
and bins
The cost of tlie crusher itself is not included.
$22, 500~"-' for hard orcs with a
work index of higher than 17, ground
to 85% passing 200 mesh
'These costs arc plotted in Figure 2.16 21s a function of plant capacity.

Pr<~ce.ssirrfi
und relofed sec(ions. The capital costs in this section cover the purchase and
installation of all equipment required to concentrate or extract valuable minerals fro111
the slurried ground ore, and process tile concentrates or extracted ~nincralsinto dried
solids or irnpore nietals that are directly salable as dry concentrates, ingots of precious
metals, uranium yellowcake, or impure metallic gravity concentrates of alloy metals.
These capiral costs includc equipment and tanks for thickening, liltering, precipitation,
leaching. solvent extraction, etc.. plus all process piping, electrical wiring, and process
control.
Process costs for different types of ore by different nlethods are listed below:
1. High-grade gold ores leached by cyanidation, followed by zinc dust prccipilalion
of gold by Memill Crowe process, liltcriog, drying, and gold relining:
Process capital costs = $60, 2 0 0 ' p 5 (2.77)
2. Low-grade ores, cyanide leaching, CIP (carbon-in-pulp) or CIL (carbon-in-leach)
adsorption. refining:
Process capital costs 1 $ 4 7 , 3 0 0 1 "" (2.78)

Plant Capacity in Tons of Ore Per Day 3. Higtl-grade gold ores with base metal sulfides; cyanide leaching, secondary Rota-
tion, carbon adsorption by CIP or CIL process, filtering, thickening, drying, and refining:
I'igure 2.15. Costs hr the concentrator building and crustling plan! (O'Hara & Suboleski, I942).
Process capital costs = $ 1 0 3 , 2 0 0 p 5 (2.79)
 Plant Capaclty in Tonr of O r e Per Day
I 1 I I I I I I I 1
5000 10000
Tonr of O r e Processed Dally
1:igurc 2.16. Cosrr for the grinding section, storage bins and tailings rtor;gp (O'lisra & Suk,lcski, 1992).

4. Simple low-grade base metal ores of copper with nlinor content of'gold, which can
be recovered as smelter credits. Flotation, thickening, liltering, and drying of auriferous
copper concentrates: separated by specialized gravity concentration mcthods:

Process capital costs = $ 1 3 , 7 0 0 ~ " ~ (2.80) Pmcess capital costs :$ 5 0 0 0 9 - ~to $13.0007"'

5. Pyritic gold/silver ores where the precious metals are locked in the pyritic n~inerals. 9. Uranium ores: acid leaching, countercunent decantation, clarification, solvent ex-
Differential Rotation, selective roasting, recovery of deleterious materials, cyanidation, traction and yeilowcake precipitation:
thickening, precipitation, filteriog, and refining.
Process capital costs = $ 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 p 5 to $ 2 0 0 . 0 ( H ~ . 5 (2.85)
Process capital costs = $ 1 8 0 , 0 0 0 p - ~ (2.81) Ftgure 2.17 is a plot of these relationships.
6. High-grade CuIPb ores. CuEn ores, PbEn ores. CuINi ores. Recovery by differ-
ential flotation, thickening, filtering, and drying of separate concentrates: 111irinl 1r1iling.r srorajie. There are many aspects of tailings storage such as topography,
distance from mill to tailings site, localized er~vironmentalconcerns, etc., that could
Process capital costs = $ 2 0 , 6 0 0 p 6 (2.82) drastically alter the costs of tailings storage. If, however, all adverse aspects are absent.
7. Complex base metal ores containing at least three valuable metals, with recover- and a suitable tailings site is available within two miles of the mill, and the nature of
able minor amounts of precious metals; Cu/Zn/Pb ores, PblZnlAg ores, CulPblAg ores, the tailings does not have adverse environmental effects, the minimum cost of tailings
CdZrdAu ores. Recovery by differential Rotation, separnte thickening, filtering, and storage may be:
drying of several concentrates andlor bulk concentrates.
Minimum tailings storage cost = $20,0001"5 (2.86)
Process capital costs = $ 3 0 , 1 0 0 1 ~ ~ (2.83)
Very few mines have such favorable conditions, and if the area topography is steep or
8. Nan-sulfide ores containing specialty metals such as colurnbium (niobium), tan- the environmental constraints are stringent, the tailings storage costs could be several
talum, tungsten, and tin in minerals that do not respond to Rotation, and which are times as liig!~as the foregoing cost guide.
 Gwerxl plrmt services. Tl~csccosts include the cmts of constn~ctiog,fr~rnishing,and
Wuter .s~rp/~l)'
.systrrrr. The cost of fresh water pumping plants, rcclailrr waler plants. and equipping llic generid ;~dministr;~tive oftice, gener;d w;~rehwsc,elcct~icalmd 111ccha11-
pmvision for lire prr~tcctianwatcr supply, plus potable w;ucr supply, varies according the ic;d repair stlop (Ibr smaller mill equipnrent and services equipment), vel~iclcgarages.
local topography and tlie proximity m d nature US nearhy sources of year-mond supplies cl~;~ngchouscs, lirst ;lid and mine rescue stations, security stations plus general purposc
of water. If thcrc is ;I suitable source of waicr within two miles of the inill, imd ihe vebiclcs, !parking Ints. and yrrd fcncir
intervening topography is moderately level, the water supply system would cost: 'The size of thc buildings tends to d
building. It is ncccssary to estimate the huilrling size in sqn;irc feet hefore estimating
Cost of water supply syslem == $14,0001"" (2.87) building cost, which will vary with lhe m a of each lypc of building.
The cost 01 the water supply system for the mine, mill, and plant (but excluding the
(a) Administriitive oflice. The lloor space per person tcods 111 incrcasc as the nunher of
r~iitlcwatcr distrihulion system) will be much l~igllcrif the local topography is steep and
:rltninistr;aivc ;rod tcclrnici~lstaff N,,, hecolnes larger. 'This rellccts the tnlore complex
rugged or if there are scverc constrairtts on sources of fresh water.
records of accounting ;~ndtcclrnical staff and tlie consequent requirc~t~cnt of in~ores p ~ c c
Lix computer Sxcilities, mining pl;~ns,;ind reference file f;lcilities.
,;
I<I~~ct~-icd

load in kilowatts.
.srrl~.stoIiorrlrrid .surfii(:e electriud distribution. The capital cost of c1ectric;tl
c ~:~. l. l i tfor
~ e as mininghnilling pla~ltdepends primarily on thc size of the electrical peak A :: Oflice area required in St2 :z 35 N,!:

'l'l~cpcak load (I'L) expressed in kilowatls per month and t l ~ c;tverage daily power Cost of oflice = $155~"'
consu~nptionin kilowatt hours can be estimated from the following formu1;is: (h) Maintenance shop. Maintenance personnel N,,will require ahout 85 ft2/person For
Peak load (PL) = 782""or open pit mincs maintenance and rcpnir of movahle equipment from the mill and service dep;a-1111ents.
milling 7' tons of ore daily
(c) Mine cltangel~ouse.'The m i ~ ~ changchouse
e requires ;ibont 24 ft71pcrso~ron thc minc
t'owcr -: l400ld'"or open pit mines payroll ;~ndincludes t l ~ clirst aid station and mine rescue hcilitics.
Consumcil with shovel and truck ttaulage Cliangchousc cost :: $1 25 (24 N,,,,)11'1 (2.?5)
to concelltriitor
(d) Surface warehouse. This should accot~~rrrodate all supplies and spare parts for t l ~
and related facilities account lor about 85% of the total power
'Sypically. the corlce~~trator mine, mill, and scrvice fi~cilitiesthat IIILIS~b~ kept indoors. Bulky supplies such as rougll
consumptio~~ for open pit mines and concentrators. lumhcr, structural stccl, c t c , can he stored outdoors in most cli~nates.
The cost of power supply depends on wllether the power is generated by an existing
Surface warehouse cost =: $5,7507"" (2.96)
electric utility or by a mine diesel-electric plant. Small m i ~ ~ cins remote areas may be
forced to generate their own electric power, because the cost of a lengthy transmission (c) M i ~ c c l l i ~ ~ i csurlace
o u ~ facilities. This includes gener;d purpose vehicles and garages,
linc from an existing utility may be too high due to the low pcak load and low electric security stations and fencing. parking lots, and r~~iscellaneous services.
power consumption of a small mine.
If the mine is supplied with utility power, the cost of a utility substation with step- Miscellaneous surface facilities -; $10,0002"5 (2.97)
down tr;~nsformerswill be l'hosc general plant c;~pitalcosts depcndent on plant capacity arc shown in Figure 2.18.
Cost of substation = $ 5 8 0 ( ~ ~ ) " (2.90) Mine project overlrend costs
The cost of installing low-voltage power distribution to the surface concentrator, crushing In addition to the direct costs for specilic facilities for a mine project, which may total
plant, and surface facilities, but excluding the distribution to the surface open pit is likely many millions of dollars, there are substantial costs and expenses involved in project
to be design, general site costs, supervision and administration, and provision of working
capital. These overtlead costs may be estimated as a function of the totel direct costs D
Cost of surface power distribution = $1 150(1'L)0"" (2.91) in doll;trs.
A diesel-electric generating plant may be required for a sniall mine in a remote area or
by a larger mine supplied with utility power that may require a standby electric power Erzgirrewing. 'This includcs the costs of feasibility studies, environmental irnpact studies,
plant for protection of vital equipment. design engineering, equipment specifications and procurement, and specialized consult-
ing services:
Cost of diesel-electric plant = $ 6 0 0 0 ( ~ ~ ) " " (2.92)
Engineering costs = $2.30 DO" (2.98)
 Plant Capacity In Tons of Ore Per Day
Direct Project C o s t in Dollars (millions)

G m e r d sile co.st.~'This i~:cludesco~~slruction

camp costs, specialized construction equip-
Inent, and general construction site costs: will vary depending on the snielter tcrms or marketing terms, but the typical allowancE
Gencml site costs = $ 0 . 3 1 0 ~ ~ ~
is ahout 10 weeks after the concentrator is operating at full capacity. ..
(2.99) Typical working capital allowance is equal to the operating costs for 10 weeks after
Projecl .supervision. This includes project supervision, schcduling arid hudgcting, and commissioning of concentrator plus cost of purchasing initial inventory of capital spares
construction management: and parts.
Whcnevcr the mine or mill design is based on extensive usage of reconditioned used
Project sope~visioncosts = $ 1 . 8 0 ~ " ~ (2.100) cquipnrent, there is a higher frequency of equipment downtime that requires additional
Adtninistrutiorl. This includes local office administration hy corporate owner's represcn- time allowance of working capital; this will decrease the apparent savings of used
tatives, accounting and payment of general contractor, legal costs, plus preproduction equipment.
employment of key operating staff: 'She total overhead costs as a summ;~tionof the different colnponents are shown in
Figure 2.19.
Administration costs = $1 .SO 0"' (2.101)
Project overhead costs as a percentage of direct project costs tend to vary depending
on the size and complexity of the project. The lower percentages of 4 to 6% would In~roducliorl. In this section the operating costs per day for each activity will hc pre
he typical for $100 million projects and conventional technology, whereas the higher
sented in the form
percentages of 8 to 11% would apply to smaller $10 million project that are technically
novel or complex. Operating cost = K7;2 (2.102)

Working cupitul. The allowance for working capital for a mining project should be suf- The operating cost per ton can be derived from the givcn forn~ulasimply by dividing
ficient to cover all operating costs plus purchase of the initial inventory of capital spares the opcrating cost per day by the tons mined (or processed) per day. If, for examplc,
and parts until revenue is received from slnelters or purchasers of rnetallic products. Thc
time period elapsing before receipt of revenue sufficient to pay imminent operating costs Operating cost per day = 1007f7 (2.103)
lllc operaling cost per ton is (11) I'rocess scctiorr. This irrcludes the operating costs of all sections th;tt involve cow
'1" 7 ccnlsation of ore by ilutation or by gravity. Icaching of inetals from ore, thickening of
Opa-atiog cost per ton = 100 '7 j - 100 7,"1 (2.104) slurries. ion cxcl~angc,precipitation. filtering, drying, and rccovcry of metallic conccn-
trations. or deleterious materials that would otherwise penalize smelter revenue.
b z ~ Tire opcmting costs of open pit mints depends 011 the size and
Pi1 ( ~ / ~ e r u r cos1.s. sC,5.(<I& (or cyanidation oI goldlsilver
nomhers of drills, shovels, and trucks, which in turn is ilepcodcnt on tllc tons per day
ores (2. I 131)
of ore and waste. 111 most open pit mines mining low glade ore, there is little if any
difference in the specific gravities, blasting characteristics, and drillabilities of ore or $5470.6 for flotation of simple hasc
waste, and the huilage distance to the ore dump osually docs not differ very rr~uclr metal ores (2.1 1311)
from tire waste haulage disrancc. Consequently, the cost of mining ;I ton of ore will itc Processing -- $34 lo $41 3"' fnr cumplex hase metal
virlually tlre same as the cost of mining a ton of wziste. costs IJcr day ores varying in complexity (2.1 l l c )
'The daily operating costs ;KC:
$65'1"-' for uranioir~ores hy leaching,
Ilrilling cost per day = $1 .')[IT;;' CCD, solvent extraction, and precipitation (2.1 ] I d )
Lllasting cost per day = $ 3 . 1 7 7 ~ ~ 7 $45'1"' for nonflo~ahlcnonsullidc ores
Imding cost per day = $2.67'1;:' responding to grwity separation (2.1 13c)
IIaulage cost per day = $18.077:7 1.,I'1 .mgs costs = $0.92?an for all concentrators (2.1 130
per day
Gcneral services cost per day = $6.65'1;;' (2.109)
, .
I hc open pit generd services cost includes the cost of pit maintenance, mad grading,
Assaying costs
pcr day
= $1.277"X for all conccntrators (2.1 13g)

waste dump grading, pumping. and open pit supervision, hut it docs trot include the cost
nf primary crushing or electric powcr. Supwrvisio~r. = $40.807•‹8 (or all concerrtraturs (2.113h)
I ~ ~ I ~ I I ~ Cand
II~IICC,
Crmxwtrutor operr~rir~g ooso. A!though the gyratory crusher may he located at the edge general costs
or thc !,pen pit, the cosrs of operating it ;uc grouped oirdcr milling costs (ratl~crthan as per dny
ope11pit operating costs) since it is tllc first stage of ore treatment. Pn~cessingcosts would he decreased to 55% of tllose slrown hy the foregoing formulas
The design of the milling flowsheet is usually optimized after cxlmsive testwork when low-grade ore, typically mined by open prt mining, is being treated by a concen-
on the cypes of processes tailored to the cl~aracteristics111the ore. At the preliminary trator that rejects tailings at at1 early stage.
fed s. .~.b. ~ l ~
stage
t y however, the optimum processing requirements are not known with
accuracy, and the costs of processing can oniy he approximately estimated.
The following cost guides are offered as rough estimates of crushing and concentrating
costs per day. (a) Electrical power Expressions for the peak load and daily power requirernents for the
open pit, crushing plant and concentrator. ctc. have been given earlier. The power cost
(a) Prirnery crushing. This cost includcs the cost of primary crushing, the cost of con- for open pit mines and plants processing 7 tons of ore per day is
veying the primary crusl~edore to the coarse ore stuckpile, plus opcrating costs of the
Cost of electric power = $1451"'~ (2.114)
coarse ore stockpile.
(b) Surface services. The daily cost of each person in the surface maintenance and
Crushing costs per day = $7.902"~ (2.110) general services departments is estimated to be $141 in wages and fringe benefits, plus
(11) Pine clushing and conveying. This includes fine crushing, conveying from coarse an average cost of $16 in supplies consumed. If the number of maintenance and general
ore storage. and conveying to the fine ore bins. services personnel is N,,, then the daily costs of maintenance and general services
depnuttneots is
Fme crushing costs per day = $12.607"~ (2.111)
Services cost per day = $157 N,, (2.115)
(c) Grinding. 'This cost includes the fine ore bin storage md the rod mills, ball mills,
andlor SAG (semiautogenous grinding) mills: The daily costs of the administrative and technical staff, including supplies and ser-
vices required by them, plus fixed costs for local property taxes and legal fees paid by
Grinding section costs per day = $4.9070" (2.11 2) administrative services, are proportional to the number of staff N,,.
 )';~cIi stalf person is estimated to cost 011 the nveragc $185 i n s;ll;iry per day, and to Step 7. C;rlc~~latc
llie ovcrall cost per lon.
consume $37.60 in supplies and services per day.
'This pmccdure will he den~onstratcdusing 2111 example prcscntcd by Clien-ier (1968).
Total cost per day for administrative :~nd:~$222.60
: N,,, A1thr)ugh the costs arc old. Ihe process remains lhc same.
(2.1 16)
aff salaries and supplies Tlie cmss-sections through the niolybdenurir urebody used iii lliis cxamplc will be
prescntcd in C11;lpter 3. The initial mine design has indicated a pit for which
.islance in cost estimation. O'Hara ;ind Suholcski (1002) s ~ ~ g g cthat st Kock type is granite porphyry,
tlic following sourccs/puhlicatir,ns may he of ;~ssistaoceto those making cost eslim;~tcs. - 32,300,000 tons of waste,
1. (;enerul Con.strrrdion l~.sti~nrrlion .Tfirnrlr~,d.s.6 vr,lunres, rcvisctl ;~rniually,p u b i
- 53,000,000 tons o l ore,
lished by Ricl~anlsonEngineering Services, roc., PO. I h x 1055, San M x c m , CA Strippilig ri~tioSR equds 0.W. and
92069. Average ore grade is 0.28% MoS2.
2. Memrs C~~nstrrrctiorr Co.sts, revised ;~nnually,and puhlisl~cdby Ilobert Snow Mems 'l'lre waste will he I~1~11ecl hy trucks to a dump arc;,. The ore will he hauled by trucks to
Co., Inc., 100 Construction 1'1.. Kingston, MA 02164. I one of two ore passes. T l ~ orc c is crushed and then tmnsported by underground conveyor
i. f1.S / ~ u ) I . u<
I ,~fMines Cast ~,s1i!nUtillg .~.y.ste~n//0~//100k,2 V O ~ U I I I C S , hli~rlllilli~n to t l ~ cmill. '1'11~step-hy-step process will he developed.
Circular 9142 (surface and underground mining), and Information f:ircul;rr 9143 (min-
eral processing). Mining and ~uillingcosts ;ire as of January I984 'I'hc two volumes, IC S ~ e pI: Ihily i~,-o,dedio,~rute det~rmi~rntinn,it has heen decided that the annual pro-
9 143, are available from the Superintendent of Uocu~nc~rts, L1.S. Government Printing 1111dion rate will bc
Oflice. Washington, IIC 20402. I - 3,000,000 tons ore and
4. C(~tmrlirrfrCorr,slructiorl C<JS~.Y: Etirrrl.stick,s]>Jr f h t i n g , revised allllon~~y; available 2,000,000 tons waste.
fronr Soutlla~nBusiness Publications. 1450 Don Mills lld., Don Mills, ON. Canada, 'I'llc mine will operate 2 slriftslday. 5 dayslwcek, 52 weeks per year, with I0 t~olidays.
MRI3 2x7. 'The nrc and wastc production per shift becomes:
5. Mininx m i l M i n e d Proci~,s,sin~ k.'quipr~mt (,?,.sf.s m d t'rdifnir~~~ry C q i t u l Cosf I Ore: 6000 tonslshift.
I~.stimrrtiorr.s,Special Vol. 25, 1982; poblisl~edby T l ~ cCanadia~~ 111stituleof Mining and - Waste: 4000 t~~nslsliift.
Metallurgy, 1 Place Alexis Nihon, 1210-3400 dc Maisonncuve Hlvd. W., Montreal, P o ,
Cmada 113% 1BX. Step 2: S e l ~ t i o ,of~ n cnrrsisrcrrl set of pit cquipr,w~i.'fie nrajor types of producrion
cquipnicnt to be selected are:
~-Drill!;,

- Sliovels,

Before discussing some techniques for estimating mining costs, :I more detailed cost --- Trucks.
examination will be presented. With this as a basis, the costs will he grouped in sev- The bench height has been chosen to be 30 ft. The basic equipnlent fleet selected consists
eral ways to show tlie dependence on accounting practice. l'hc overall process is as I of:
follows: -- 6 yd3 electric shovels,
- 35 ton capacity rear dump trucks,

Step I . Given the annual production requirements for ore and waste plus the operaling .
- - Rotary drills capable of drilling 91/$' diameter hole.
~

schedule, determine the daily production rate.

Ste11 3: f'n~iluctiof~ca~,nciry/Numberof rnochines. Based upon a detailed examination of
Step 2. Select a basic equipment fleet. each unit operation, the following production rates were determined:
- IMls: 35 ft of holc per hour.
Step 3. Calculate the expected production rate for each type of equipment. Calcu- - St~ovels(waste): 630 tonshour,
late the number of machines required. Determine the amount of support equipment .I - Shovels (ore): 750 tonshour,
needed. -Trucks (waste): 175 tonshour,
-
.-. - Trucks (ore): 280 tonshour.
Step 4. Determine the nurnber of production enrployees required. Determine the number Prom this, of the number production units and required scheduling were determined for
of support employees. 'L:. ore ;md waste:
( 1
- Ore

Step 5. Calculate the owning and operating costs for the equipment. I drill (I shiftlday).
,f
1 sl~ovel(2 shiftslday),
Stcp 6. Calculate the other costs. 3 trucks (2 shiftslday);.
 Mirrblg revenues and cos1.s 125

w;lstc
I drill (I sl~iftlday),
I sl~ovcl(2 slriftslday),
4 trucks (2 sl~iftslday).
Moll Tue. Wed. Thur I . Sat. week raj'tl
A 8 C A Ii C A 8 C A Ii C A Ii C A li (' A li C l b t i t l incn
- 2-5 yd3 rubber tiretlfront end loaders (2 sl~if~sklay),
- 2 mad graders (2 shiftslday),
- I water truck (2 shiftslday),
-~I explosives truck (I shif1M;ty).
The reserve production equiprllent to be purchased is:
-- 2-35 ton trucks,
- 1-5 yd3 front end loader.
I n case of shovel hrcakdown, a front end loatlcr will suhslit~lc

Srep 4: I k r ~ r ~ n i nr e/ rtrrrnher
~ ifproducfim ~ W I [ J ~ O IA~ ~~P~. lSi .~ t ~ p oscl~eduli~~g
wer &an
is prclnred such as is shown i n 'I'able 2.25. l'hc overall numbcrs arc su~nmarizedbclow. Sl~ovel
:.
- 1 . ass~stant superintendent, <Ilxrilllll
- 4 shift foreman, S1,ovcl
oiler
- 4 sliovel opcralors,
TnKk
- 4 oilers, drrvcr
14 truck drivers. hser
-- 2 drillers, operator
- 2 driller helpers,
llrill
,l/~rBtor
- I Ihster,
hi!]
- 1 blrtster helper,
liellxr
- 8 dozer operators, Imder
- 4 loader operators, uperator
- 4 grader operators, &drr
operator
- 2 water truck drivers,
Water truck
- 4 truck spotters,
dtivcr
- 4 crusher operators, Truck
- 4 conveyor operators, rpollcrr
- 10 laborers. Lll&stcr
As can he seen, lherc are 73 production employees. Blaster
Ihellm
The crusherlconveyor pan of the production sysletn operates 7 dayslweek and 3 shifts Crusher 1
per day. 'l'here is one crusher operator and one conveyor operator per shift. The orc passes operator
contain enough storage capacity so that the mill can nu1 7 dayslwcek even though the
mine runs 5. ('onvcyer I
I
operator

Step 5: Iktcrmif~elhc nrmrber of other etnl?loyees.There are four basic departments at

the mine:
- Administration. Total 68
- Engineering,
- Mine,
- Maintenance.
 Mining revenues nnd co,sf,s 129

..
Fuel
Labor
Arnmoniun~nitrate
I'uel oil
L'rinxn
P"niacon1. caps. hlsc
1.8kjr
Repairs. teaintesasce, supplies
Power
1.ub~icslioo
lahr
Tire\ cost
'lire repairs
Repairs, tnninlennnce
liuel
Oil. grcnse
1.alnr
Tracked dozer
K u b k r t i n d dorcr
I;n,ilt m d loader
(iradcls
Water truck
I.akw

The cquipmcnt ownership cost consists of two pans:

(1) Depreciation.
1
(2) Averagc an~iualinvestment cost.
Straight linc depreciation with zero salvage value is assumed. Thus the average equip-
ment dcprcciation per year is $281,850. I'he average annual invcstlnent (AAI) is calcu-
lated using the following formula.
rti 1
AAI = --- CC (2 117)
2n
where n 1s the hfe (yr?) and CC is the capltal cost ($)
 No.
. ~

9
2
I
2

1
3
2
3
2
I
I

4
4
I
I
I

'fire depreciation categories of 5 , 10 and 20 years will be used. Thus the AAI for
n = 5 yrs is

6
AA1 (5 yrs) = - x $861,000 = $516,600
10 The avcrege annual equipment ownership cost becomes
The total AAI is
Ownership cost = Depreciation + AAlC
AA1= $1,469,930 +
= $281,850 $146,993

To obtain the average annual investment cost AAIC a percent P (expressed as a ratio) = $428,843
is applied. Included in P are interest, taxes and insurance.
Step 9: Calculati~ncf other capital expenditures (mine). The other capital expenditures
AAIC = P x AAI (2.1 18) a1 the mine include those for the required mine buildings and the costs associated with
In tllis case 10 percent will be used. Hence the mine development period.

AAlC = 0.10 x $1,469,930 = $146,993

 Maintenance shops
Building (shect mct;~l) $105,000
Equipment (electrical, cranes, tools, ctc.) $1 :30,000
~~p

Ilnulpak cn~k Total $235.000

Ilulld~,~rs
Ikabbcr tired dowjs Powder lrupper
Pick up Inlcks I'urchase and erection $ 12,000
') I'assengcr t n x k r
Total for all buildings
Iladio iyrtcr
Col~liogcscics Contingencies (10%)
'1irt;d Total estimated capital expenditures for 1)uildiogs
This will be depreciated over the 20 year mine life. 'The dcvclopment expenses are as
f~lllows:
Schedule of capital expenditures
I969
Ueveloprrrent
Extended exploratioo
Access road and site preparation
I'relirninary stripping
'Ti~nnelexcavation
Equipment
Surface installat.ions
'I'he following list includes all required mine buildings, and tl~cirrequirwt capital Ikpipnent
ot~tktys. Total
I970
Oflice building (Admin. and eng.) Dcvelopmcnt
Building (brick) Preliminary stripping
I?pipment Ore pass excavation
Office (desks, files, typewriters, etc.) Eqoipmcnt
Engineering (calculalors, survey equip. ctc.) Crusl~er
Total Total
C:h;~ngc lrouse 1971
Building (brick) Ilquiprnent
Equipment (lockers, sbowers, fixtures, etc.) Mill
Total Equipment
Warehouse Total
Building (sheet metal) Dcvelopment drilling
Fuel station Access road
Building (sheet metal) Dcvelopment stripping
Feuipn~ent(tanks, pumps) Tunnel cxcavation
Total Ore pass excavation
Total
Both the buildings and the development costs an: co~isideredas sunk. 'l'l~ey will he
recovered against the ore produced.
S t q ~10: C(dcul(rtion i,f rr~illirt~
cosr.s. In Illis case the opcn pit ore tonnage (evcr;~gcdover MliP (waste) costs incurred in the mining 01 5,000,000 tons arc
7 days) of 8,600 tpd will go to ;I iriill l~avinga capacity of 34.400 tpd. The additional
25,800 tpd will be supplied hy an ondergruund mine. Since the total niill invest~nentis
$48,000,000 the share for the opcn pit oper;~fiunis $12,000,000. This will be dcpreci-
sled over the 20 year mine life. 'The ownership ~(1st(rleprcciation p!r!s average snn:!:;!
--
1-ahor (with Cringes) : $663, 125
MEP (ore) 0. I87 x 3,000,000 = $56 1.000
MEP f.v;tste) I!. 165 r 2, !WlO, ON!= $??(I, 000
investlnenl) per year is
'The total MllP cost is $89 1,000. The costs per ton of material inovetl are

-
Owncrship cost = $600,000 $630,000
$1,230.l100/year
I.nhor $0.133/ton
-
MEI' 0.17H/lon
The [lrirnary crushing will he donc at the mine, therefr~rethe first stell i n milling will Tot;rl = $0.31 l/ton
be the secondary crushing. Operating costs for milling arc estimated lo he the following
(includes administration and overheal): In terms 01' pcrccot;tges one finds
Labor
Metcri;rl
$0. l 31ton
0.391ton
I.ahor - 43%
MBP 57%
Power 0.26lton
Total $0.78/ton (,'~~.se3. Dirccr 111~er~1ting
cr~.stplus rnuintenunce. The hasic annu;~ln~aintenancelal)or
cost is $196,000. With the 25% Cringe this becomes
rftlze mining cn.st,s. There are a variety of ways by which the mining
Sle11 I I: 1~x~~re.v.sio~t
costs can be expressed. A series of cases will be presented to illustmtc this. Mamtenancc labor - $245,000

I I. i t ~ e r [ : , si t . The siir~plestway is to ex;rmine the direct operating The ovcrall mine 11lus maintenance labor cost is therelbre
mining costs lor ore and waste. These are:
I h o r (Mine t M;rintcn;n~c)= $663, 125 1 $245.000
Ore : $908, 125
Mf3' = $0.1 87/ton
Tlx average operating cost per tan of n~atcrialrnoved is
I A u r = $0.107/ton
Total = $0.294/ton Operating cost - $891,000 4- $908,125
5,000,000
-

Waste
-
MEP $0.165/ton 'The percent distribution is now
Labor = $0.105/ton MEI' - 49.8%
Total = $0.270/ton I.abor = 50.2%
The weighted average costs are: Cme 4. All mine reluted [:mt,s. The costs for the engineering and administration de-
MCI' = $0.178/ton pxtmcnts can now be added. The annual wages (including Cringes) a n $312,500. 'The
associatcd MEP is $150,00. Thus the average operating cost per ton of material nroved
Labor = $0.106/ton is
Total = $0.284/ton
Operaling cost =
$1,799,125 + $312,500 $150,000+
Using the average costs, the percent breakdown is: 5.000.000
MEP = 63%
Labor = 37%
The cost breakdown is:
Case 2. Turd operating cost. The labor costs used in Casc 1 did not include all of the
MLT = $I,041,0(Kl
people involvcd under the mine category. The total labor expense is equal to $530,500.
Including fringes of 25%. this figure increases to $663,125. The labor, MEP (ore), and Labor = 1,220,625
The pacent distributio~ris:
MEP 2 46%
Lebor .: 54%
The productivity in terms o l tons per in:mshift can
S f q ~11: I'mrhclivily colc~rlr~liot~,~.
now he calculated. It will be assumed that cach e~nployccworks 250 slrifls per ycar in
pr(x1ucing the 5.000.000 tons of total ~nateri;il.The productivity will clraogc depending 'l'ltc owncrslrip cost per ton milled is
on tlrc n ~ ~ m b ol'
e r departments iocludcd:
Ow~~crslrip
costitoir = $0.41
5 , ihlO,000
Mine productivity = = 274 iln~s This i\ aliout 51% of lhe nrill operating cost and 34% of tlrc total twilling cosl.
73 x 250
Srrp 15: Pro/iirrbility csfi,,mle. Tlrc revenues are attrihutihlc ((1 the 1 1 ~ :end z11I the costs
5 000,000 ~rlostn i w he charged against the orc as well.
(Mine i Maintenance) productivity = 202 t/nrs
90 x 250
llevcnue pcr ton o l ore
(Mine I Maintenance + Engineering I Administration) productivity Avcr;~gcgradc 0.28% MuSz
I<ccovery 90%
Mo contained 60% 01' rccovercd MoSz
Slep 12: Mine ownership co.sl,s/~orr.As indicated czrrlier, i n addition to the operating Pricc per lb of contained Mo - $ 1.02
costs, there am a number of capital costs to he charged against thc rnateri;d moved.
Kcvcnoc 2000 x 0.0028 x 0.90 x 0.60 x 1 .02 : $4.9O/ton
'l'lrese are:
- I'quiprnent ownership costs;

- Dcvelopmcnt cosls:
(:ost pcr tun of urc
- Mine huildings. Min~ngof ore $0.452
'I'he dcvelopnrcnt and miire buildings will be :~morti~e.etl
over the total i~mount(11- nraterial Stripping o l waste - 0.457 r 0.6 :-$0.27 1
~nuvcil.In this case $0.72
Minc operating (Mining - I Stripping)
. .....
Mine overhead (27% of mine operating) - $0.20 ,:*-
Mill operating = $0.78
The equipment ownership cost is
Milling overhead (53% of mill operating) $0.41
Total cost - $2.1 1/ton

Clc~rccthe ownership cosllton is Profitability per ton = $4.00 $2. 1 1 : $2.79/ton

Ownership cosilton = $0.036 + $0.086 = $0.122

2.4.7 Quick-and-dirty mining cost csrimutt!s
Step 13: Total rnirritrg cosl. The total mining cost is equal to the total operating cost plus
the ownership cost. In this case it is Al'tcr goi~tgtl~ronghthe detailcd cost cstimatc, one might ask about ways in whiclr ball-
park cstimzltes could bc made. Even if existing operations arc not willing to release cost
Total mining cost = $0.452/ton -1- $0.122/ton = $0.574/ton data they sometimes will provide data concerning cost distributions, production rates
Note that the ownership cost here is about 27% of the operating cost and 21% of the (ore and waste). total personnel and stripping ratio. If so then the following forrnulac
total mining cost. lnay be nsed for making preliminary cost estitnates (Pflcider & Wheaton. 1968):

Step 14: Milling cost. As was indicated earlier, the mills operating costs per ton is Estimated average Iahor cost per man shift
(including fringe benefits)
Labor cost per ton = ~- (2.120)
Mill operating cost = $0.78/ton A
Mill recovery = 90%
Labor cost per ton
Total operating cost per ton = (2.121)
'The mill ownership cosllyear is the depreciationlyear + AAICIyear R
 . mining cost per Ion - l ' o t ; t l opcmting cost(l
.1oI;tl 1 C) (2.122)
wltcre A is the estimated average tons per rnanshili (tints),

its it11 c~!jnia!~if valii~

(; -
Ownership costs
7-p.-..
:
as an cstitriatcd value
Ibtal operaling costs'
'The inlonnalion colltaitlcd in the previous section will he ~lsctlin tllis ex;tmplc.
(;iven:
I'roductivity - - 155 11111s
Operating cost percentage: I A o r == 54%
M111' 46%
Ovcrlre,?cl cost
Stripping ratio
- 27% o l opc~wtingcost
0.6: I
Estimate: base labor cosr/hoor $4
-~.
Avcr;~gcfringe benclits 25%

Calculation:
I.abor costlshift - 8 11s x $4/ht x 1.25 .$40/shiCt
- $40
I A m costfton - - -- = $0.2h/ton
155
0.26
'lbtitl operating costlton -~ O.j4 . $0.48/101,

Total mining costiton -~ 0.48(1 + 0.27) = $0.6l/roo

Total mining costlton of orc
-
: 0.6l(l .I S R )
-
O.hl(l.6) $0.97/lon ore
GEC
'Rrlal
qmating
Told
hourly
As can be seen, this conipares well with tlte value 01' $0.92 obtained in the long calcu- cosUlrr foils
. ~ . . . ~ ~ ~. ...
~~

lation. $109 $31.28 $86.44

3.23 79.33 210.59
3.52 83.07 224.14
2.4.8 Clirrerrr eqliiprnellr, .supplies and labor cos1.s 4.22 92.37 258.lKl
4.38 94.23 264.78
Current prices for mining equipment and supplies can easily be ohtained from the indi- 4.50 96IW 271.54
vidual manufacturer or supplier. Lists of such suppliers are published by yearly in special
publication of the Engineering/Mining Journal (UMJ), Canadian Mining J o u r m l and Nules:
Coal Age. Several companies publish guidebooks which are extremely useful for mak- I . All omlels include water injection, cab heater, second pipe r,xk and autr~malicluhricalion for upper and
lower works.
ing preliminary cosl estimates. The Cosr Referertce Guide F o r Cort.srnlctio,l Equipmenr 2. I1ates do not ioclude drill bits.
puhlished by Equiprncnt Guide-Book Company, Palo Alto, California, contains owner- 3. Operating cosu do not includc cosl of electricity.
ship atid operating cosls for a wide range of mining equipment. The tahle of contents 4. Cost of rmoney rate = 7.000%.
is given below: 5. Dicscl = $.89 per gallon.
6. Gasoline = $114 per gallon.
7. Mecbunic's wage = $25.28.
 ~- . ~ ..
Price

Slrovcl o p r a t o r
lilcciriciiin
C'wllnil system q x r a l u r
I:ield n,cch;wic l2.1KI hear trailcr u p a t o r 9.33 9'111" ea
1)xrel-cleclric lmecltiinic 12.(Hl S h w c l rcrviceinas W 3 105/8'' Cd.
I%wlermi&ler 12.00 Crusher qrr;rtor b e l l x r 8.78 12'1r" e;r~
Wcldcr 12.lH) llcatl ll~,lnlioaopcmtor 8.78 IS" ea~
I'r~xlucrios lo;&r o j r r a t o r 11.25 Ilotrry drill hclpcr 8.78 I l w k himl~lsessrangc 5718'' e;,~
Iisulage m c k driver IOSX I ~ I c ~ t r i ~ iIi~a en l l r r 8.2') IO.IXX).3S.IWO PSI. 6Ild' tit.
('ru-hci olrraror 111.58 Coocentraux clc;milp 7.511 Medium h i d l o hvrrl 6'ld' GI.
H e w y cquipoicnr q r r a t o r 9114 k,nsrliuns such as 7XI8" Cil.

rrdprtxk, coppr 7718'' ea~

porphyries, chcrly 9" Cil.
li#nertoner, soft inn ores, 9~18" Cd.
bi~srll,and granitc. IO'l11" c*.
IZlIi" ea.
13314'' c*.
IS" CQ.
16'' ca.
1.ik w s r t r e ~ e ycs I
Mcdic;~linsurance yes 3 I l r x k lrsrdness range 77/11'' ca.
ZS.O(X1-I00,(MI PSI. 9" ca.
l h i l t i l imunmce yes S
V i r i o r ~insurance no 10 Ilanl hasitll. granite. 071d~ e;,.
Ketwcisenr lxnclils yes IS thconitc. 121lr" *a.
Sick Icnve no 20 IS" Cil

1)tsahllily inconrc insurance ycs > 25

IJSOP 11"
9 dad 110lidilyQ~

Shifr dilrcret~lial:evening = $.30lhr: night 1 $.45/hr

14 Marine
Corr 01hcnefirs: 41% of waxes. Pile driving
l r ~ c c ~ i vh cu n u plan: no. f'urnping
lload maintenance
Slrop tools
Section Description Trailcrs
I Introduction Trucks
2 Index Tunnel
3 Air tools Miscellaneous
4 Crushing and conveying Cost and production formulas
5 Asphalt and hituminuos 'lkble 2.33 extracted from the section on electric powered rotary blasthole drills provides
6 Compaction an indication of the information provided. The costs are updated on a regular basis.
7 Concrete Western Mine Engineering of Spokane, Washington provides their Mirrirzg Cost Service
8 Drilling to subscrihers. ?'he Service contains the following cost and related information:
9 Tractors and earthmoving - Electric power;
10 Excavating - Natural gas;
II Motors and generators - Transportation;
12 Hoists and derricks - Labor;
I3 Lifting - Cost indexes:
 - S u p p l i e s and ~ ~ t i s c c l l a ~ t e oitclos;
us
litlttipme~it:

T h e costs arc updated o n a regular b;tsis. As itn CXB~IIPIC~ 01' IIIC c ~ n l e n lX h l e 2.34
presents thc I 9 8 9 lahor rates hr a rnctliom size (711 ettrpltryccs, 2,751,700 tons of
i ~ r e l y c u r )copper m i n e in Ariz.m;i. S i l n i l a r i11fwtn;tlion i s p r o v i i l c d on tnincs in o t l l c r
st;ttes i n v o l v i n g a range of ~iiirtcl-als.' l > t l ~ l c2.15 also 1;thctt frim l l t c Service, provides
cost data on r o t a r y hits.

Anc>nymow 1Wl;i. Monthly Average Mcralr I'ricc T l u 1;rtgirwerittg artd Mirimg Jorr,,iol XX(1 I): 1054.
Anosyllwss 1909h. Utah Coppel Quarte~lyRcpul. 7 h I+i,,girrrcri,~g~ nrvl M O I O IJ~m n d 88(1 I): 1028.
Ikrry. C W 1984. Ecoso8!,ic livalualion Pltascs of ;I Mioirlg Pnmpxx Mirir Fmiiihibry - C m m p t to on^
plcliom (KE. McKelvcy, compiler). Nontwert Miuing Asswiiitiutl.
13losroin. I S 1991. MolyMenun~.198Y M i ~ m l sfiw,hook. (Volume I). 719~728.i3orc;w of Mincr. U S .
(iovcmrnest Printing Oflicc. ... . .... .
I3I.S (IJsrcau of Lalmr Statistics) 1991. limployrncnt. Hours, and Ii;lrr*ings, Urlitcd Stalcs 1989-90. 13ulletie I ~ w i sPI.. & CC;. Streels 1978. An analysis af basc-metal srnclter terms. Pmcwdingr of rhc llrlr C ~ m n w -
2170, vul. 1(3) 1J.S. Dcpsnment of I s l x ~ r wrolrh Mitling mil M e ~ i d l a r ~ i c n
Cm,ngrerr:
l 753-767, llong Kong: IMM.
I3I.S IL192a.I'axluclivity Mciisures for Selected 18aluitricr eed (;crvernalesl Scrricer Hellctin 2406 (4). U.S. I.illico, 7:M. 1973. Ifow to maximize return ou capital wlicn planning open pit mines. World M i n i q 9(6):
1)epannicnt of 1,almr 22~27.
1U.S 19926 P n h c c r P r i m lndcxes - 1)atit for I90I (9). Manssen. 1.13. 1983. Financial evaluation of wining projects: Is 'common practice' enough? Mining E q i -
1313 I993a. I'mdarcr I+h-c. Indcxcs - 1)uta fbr Oca,lm 1992 (2) n ~ e r i n g35(b): 60-61%.
II1.S 1993b. Erriploymcnr and Eorningi. ( 6 ) I1 S Ikpanmesl of 1.aImr Mason. I'M. 1984. Capital and operalinnal planning for open pit i n a mrxlcrn economy. lXll< lnlernnrio,rnl
(:arsm. 'l:W 199 1. Simplified cost rnwJels for picfe;~ribililymiucml cv:tls;tlim*. tJSl3M. Ir+,rnmrion Ci,culrir Sy,rpwia,n on A:~pli,lirn~im of Cornpatem "i?d Mnrhcntorics in rlic Mincrrcl Indwrry: 791.802. Landon
9298~ IMM.
Clicrricr. T.E. 1968. A R q x m on ll!c Ccresco I1idgc iktcnsion of thc Climax MulylxleaiM Ikposit. MSG. MeVal Bullclin l W 3 Metal Priccs (I). Trans-world Mctalr (USA) I r d .
Iheris. University of Misscsota. Metals Week 1993. Wcekly Priccs (2).
CMJ (Canadian Mining luun>al) 1986. Refcre,irr Motwol ,md Uuyerr Gairlr Southam I3esiscss Publications. Mining Cost Service 1989 Model Smeller Sch6dules. Spokane. WA: Western Mine Engineering.
Cad Agc 19')2. Buyers Guide. M < ~ r l e a nIlrrnrrr l'c~blirolion(6): 57-107. Mining Cosl Scrvicc 1992. Prices for large Diameler Blnsr Ilolr Birr. Spkane, WA: Weslerrl Misc IingiL
I)al;lqaest lnc. CmI Reference CuidcJh C,~rr.rmrcrim~ Eqaipmvtr. I'slo Ala,. Calif.: Ilquiptneur Guide-Bcwk <ncerirtg.
Ci,nipmy. Noble. A.C. 1979 Pricc forecasting and senaitivily analysis for economic analysis of final pi1 limil. O [ x n Pit
1)iiw. J.I. IT.& 1f.N. McCarl 1977. An c~an~iwatim trf intcrcst rates atld thcir ctlcct on viiluation of mineral Mine I'ln,ming and Design (J.T. Cmwford and W.A. I h t r u l i d , ccls): 127-133. New York: SME~AIME.
delx~sits.M i n i n ~Eagirwerin,q 29(6): 44-47. O'Hara, 1:A. 1980. Quick guides to the evaluation of oretmlies. C I M flullrli~r(nu. 814) 73(2): 87-99.
F I M I 1986 Avernye Atznual Mrrol /'rice5 1925-IYX5 (3) 27. O'llilra. T A . 19x1. Clraplcr h: Mine evaluation. Miner01 Indrrrrry C<,.sr.s (J.lt. Hoskins, colspilcr): 89-99.
WMJ I 9 9 2 Iiayers Guide 1992. E&MJ l93(10): U01-45. Nonhwest Misiog Associalion.
IVMJ 1993. Prices /rum lire Amerirorr Mumi Mor*n. I'ridey January I S . 1993: 74WW. O'llara, T A . & S.C. Subulcski 1992. Chaplei 6.3: Carts and cost estimation. SME M b t i w Cnginrerirzg
ENK (Engineering News Record) 1976-I992 A,vumI Simmory. If~ailbimk2nd Edition (Volurnc 1) (H.L. Hurtman, Senior Editor): 405-424. SME.
tiNR 1993. ENR Marker Trerids. (2). O'Neil, T.J. 1982. Minc evaluation i n a changing investment climate (Pans I and 2). h l i n i n ~Ewirtcerir8g
I'inlay. I.K. 1908. Cost o f producing the world's supply 01coppen ?he EtzgUmring mrd Mining Journal 1% I val. 34(11): 1563-1566, Pan 2 val. 311(12): 1669-1672.
86(7): 165-168. Oshrne, T.C. 1985. What is the cast of producing copper? Inler,lariond M i n b q 2(3): 14~15.
Finlay. J.R. 1909. Cost of pig iron made f n m 1.iikc Sulxrior ores. The E q i t m r i n g and Mbrbtg Journal I'cterses. U. & R.S. Maxwell 1979. Historical mineral production and pricc trends. MCting l~rlgille~rillg
X7(IS): 739-745. 31(1): 25-34.
(ktllngher. TC. 1982. Developing acusstruction cost ercalatiou index for the U.S. mining and metals industry ffleidcr. l i p . & G . t Weaton 1968. Chapter 13.4: Iron ore mining. Sujoce Miriirtg (El'. I'fleider. edilor):
C k t Eo,qincering 240): 147-152. 917-921. New York: AIME.
Gcnlry, D.W. 1988. Minerals project evaluation - An overview. Tmnr. 61.7111. Mitt. Mcmll. (Sea. A: Min. f';tulren. K.R. l 9 8 l Envimnmcntrl and regulslory costs of mining projecLs M i m m l I r u l l n l ~Cmr 1J.R.
Indurrry) 97(1): A25435. Huskins. compiler): 27-32. Nonhwesl Mining Association.
Ileittl,. K.C.G. 1988. Mine costing. Tmrn Ina. Mitr hfelidl. (Serl. A: Min. irrdrrrrry) 97(1): AI-A8. Raodal. l1.L 1979. Economic modeling and market forecasting Cmpurer Mrrhod.~ for rlzc '8Ok: 938-949.
Ifrebur, M.J. 1977. l'inancial analysis M i n r m l Inilt,.s~r~Cbsri. (I.K. lh~rkins& W R Grecn. editors): 205-224. Sc4ety of Mining Bngiseers of AIME.
Nc~nl~west Mining Association.
('IIAPSEK 1

Orebody description

Today, nwst potential orebodies arc explored using diamond core drilling. The sniall
di;t~netcrcore collected from each hole provides a conlintrous 'line' of geologic infor-
nt;ilion. Each of the recovered cores is studied in detail and the contained information
rccurded. 7'he process is called 'logging'. Each 'line' is subsequently subdivided into a
scl-ics of segments representing a particular rock type, stnlctural feature, type of miner-
alization, grade, etc. By drilling a pattern of such holes, a series of similarly segmented
lines are located in space. Using this information. together with a knowledge of the geo-
logic setling and other factors, the mining geologist proceeds to construct ;I 3-dimensional
mprcenralion of the mineralized body. The objective is to quantify, as best possible,
tlic size, slrapc and distribution of the obsen,ahle geologic features. 'l'hc dislribution of
ore grades arc correlated to lithology, alteration, structure, etc. T11c result is a mineral
inventory or geological reserve. At this point in the evaluation process, economics have
not hcen introduced so that terms such as 'ore' or 'ore reserve' are not involved.
'The development of a mineral inventory involves substantial judgement, assumptions
heing made regarding sample and assay quality. and the interpretation and projection
of geologic features based upon very limited data. The geologic data hase, properly
gathered and interpreted, should remain useful for many years. It fomis the basis for
current and future feasibility studies, mine planning and financial analyses. 'She success
or failure of a project can thus be directly linked to the quality of its recorded data hase,
the drill logs and the maps. This chapter covers some of the basic techniques involved
in the development and presentation of a mineral inventory.

3.2 MINE MAPS

'She fundamental docunients in all stages of mine planning and design are the maps.
Maps are esser~tialfor the purpose of:
- collecting,
-- outlining, and
- correlating
a Izgc portion of the data required for a surface mining feasibility study. Tllese maps
are drawn to various .scules. The 'scale' is the ratio hetween the linear distances o n rhr
$nap and t l ~ ecorresponding distances ;I[ thc site, In the ilnglish system this scale relates
'inches' 21s mcasured on the snap to 'i,cet' in tlrc licld 'l'l~ismay be e x p r e s s ~ ;is
l
Map distance (in) I<,,. x Acto;d c1ist;mcc (St) (3.1)

'I'lris inesns Illat an actual dist;~oce111200 it would hc represented hy a length of 1 inch

on the m q ~ In . the metric system, thc map scalc relates si~nilarinap and actual distance
units:
Map distance (m) ::: Knr x Actual distancc (ID)

or (3.2)
Mnp distance (an) .. Ifh, x Actual distmcc (cm)
wlrcre K M is the metric map scale. A scale 01 1 : 1000 illeans that a length of 1 meter
on the map represents 1000 incters in the field. Sin~ilarlya length of 1 cm represents
:I distance of 1000 cm. A metric scale of 1 : 1250 is very close to the English scale of
1 in = 100 fi.
One speaks of a map being of larger or s ~ n d l e rscale than another. Figure 3.1 shows
a particular area drawn to a scale 01 1 : 50. In Figure 1.2 the region within the dashed
lines ol- Pigore 3.1 has been drawn to n scale of 1 :20. I n this figure the building appears I:lgure 3.2, A poniun of the plan map in Figum 3.1 rlriwn to scale 1 :20.
Irrrgcr. Thus the scale of the 1 : 20 map is larger tlmn that of the I :50 map. A map of
scalc 1 : 4 0 would be of larger scale tbm one drawn to 1 :ZOO.
'l'lle ge~tcralrule is 'the greater the ratio (50 is greater tbm 20), the smaller is the Minc planning, for example, should be doue ;kt a scale tlrat keeps the whole pit on
scale.' o ~ t esheet end yet permits sufficient detail to he shown. f%r medium to large size lnclal
The selection of the most appropriate scale for any map depends upon: mines, cornmon planning scales are:
1. 'The size of the area to he represented. I in = 100 ft
2. l'he intended uses for the map. I in = 200 ft
As more detail and accuracy is required, tlre scalc slrould be increased. In the metric system, common scales are:
1 : 1000
1 : 1250
1 :2000
(ieologic mapping is commonly done on a larger scale such as 1 in = 40 ft (the corre-
sponding metric scale is 1 :500). For planning porposes, the geologic features (outlines)
are replotted onto thc smaller scale maps.
The types of maps prepared and used depends upon the stage in the life of the
property. At the exploration stage, satellite maps may provide inrportant information
regarding structural regimes and potential exploration sites. These can be complemented
with infra-red photos, ete. For certain types of information, for example the location of
smelters, a small scale map, such as a map of the US., may he the most appropriate.
Certain materials, such as crushed rock, are highly dependent on transportation costs.
Regional maps overlain witli circles corresponding to different freight tariffs are useful
for displaying potential markets.
A state map Figure 3.3 can provide a considerable amount of basic ini'or~nation:
L'igun: 3.1. Plan map drawn to scale - nearest highways,
130. - closest towns,
 - p ~ o p m ylocation,
- rai1ro;td lines, and
- gross property ownership.
A typical scale for a state !nap is 1 inch equal to 15 miles.
Very quickly, however, one needs maps of larger scale for the more detailed planning.
In t l ~ cUS., these often are the topographic maps prepared by the U S . Geological Survey.
Tl~cse'quadrangle' maps are prepared in two series. The 7 l / 2 minute-series (covers an
area of 7 ' 1 2 millutes latitude (high) by 7 ' 1 2 minutes longitude (wide)) with a unitless I'lgure 3.4. The USGS quadrangle map including Golden. Colorado (USGS. 1976).
(metric) scale of 1 :24000. 'l'his correspor~dslo a scale of 1 inch equal lo 2000 ft. The
15-minute series includes an m a 15 minutes in latitude by 15 minutes in longitude.
One minute, it should be noted, represents one sixtieth of a degree.
available tl~roughthe state or county engineer's office or a federal agency. Many sections
Quadrangle maps show tbc topographic features. roads, rivers and drainage regions
of the U S . bave been mapped on relief maps by the U.S. C o q s of Engineers.
(Kg. 3.4).
Such maps can be enlarged to any desired scale (Figs 1.5 and 3.6). to serve as base Very early in the life of a prospective mining area it is necessary to develop an
ownership map. In the US., the best ;tvailablc owncrsllip map can he obtained from the
maps until more detailed surveying is done. Aerial photos of the area are sometimes
oflicr of the county surveyor or the county clerk.
 SCALE
I 1 1 I I
0 0. I 0.2 0.3 0.4 m l l s

Step 2. Il'State lands tire involved, the appropriate State land office should he consulted
tcgmiing rhe status.
SCALE Step 3. l'he rccords of the appropriate County Recorder or other oflice slmtdd he
1 I 1 I I I cllcckcd regarding tilining claims.
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 mlia
Step 4. A visit to the site should be conducted to determine whether there is anything
I'igore 3.5. Eolargen,ent of the Golden quadrangle map. (miiring claim location markers, mine workings, ctc.) no1 disclosed in the other check
out steps.
For mine planning and design there arc three map types (Phelps, 1968) of different
. d es...
sC.I
In the western US., much of the land and minerals are owned by either the state or by I . General area map,
the federal government. A four-step process is followed (Parr & Ely, 1973) to determine 2. General mine map,
the current status of the land. 3. Detailed mine map (plans and cross sections).
Slep I. Consult the appropriate State land office, U S . Geological Survey office or 'She objective of the general area map is to show many pertinent features:
state or regional land office of the U S . Bureau of Land Management. These offices -- geology (extent of orebodies, mineralized zones).
can determine whether the land in question is available or if there are prospecting -- transportation routes (highways, railroad, water routes),
pcrtnitsllcases in effect. - property ownership and control,
- rlistar~cesto market, processing or transfer points (applicable freight rates),
Figure 3.7. An example of a general area map (McWilliane, 1959).

available access . O U A T E R H A R V CRETACEOUS PALEOZOIC TERTIARI INTRUSIVE PRECANBRIAN

- location of transmission lines for power supply (capacity and construction distances GRAVELS SEolMENTS SEOINFNTS LAVAS PORPHYRIES G R A N I T E AND
SCHISTS
required for connections),
- location of both present and future potential water supplylreservoir areas. l'igun: 3 % . An example of a general arm geologic map (Hardwick. 1959).
-areas suitable for tailings, slurry and refuse disposal in relation to mining and pro.
cessing.
 As such il is considered to be a srnall scalc map. One can superi~rrposethe data on
tl~csemaps either directly or through tire use of transparent overlays. Figorc 3.7 is onc
ex;uuple of a general area map. Agurc 3.8 is an ex;n~ipleof a general area geologic
[nap.
The general mine map is a rnap of 'mcdium' scale. It covcrs a particular region
within the general area map. Because the scale is I:rrger, greater detail may be examined.
Figorc 3.9 is one example of a general minc map. The types of things which might he LEGEND I
slrown on such a map include:
- processing plant location,
- mine structures,
- power lines,

- w1tcr supply,
- access roads,
- railroad lines,
- conveyor lines, I'igure 3.10 An cxm>pleof a general mint geologic inup (Hardwick. 1959)
- pipelines,
- location of the orebody,
- location of a few drillholes,
- dulnpltailing pond locations,
Ttre detailed mine maps arc those used for the actual pit planning. The basic planning
- property ownership and control,
package consists of both plan maps and cross sections. Drill hole locations are laid out
- proposed timing of mining development.
on plan maps at a scale appropriate to the rcquircments. In the Nortlrern hemisphere the
A general n ~ i n egcologic rnap is shown in Figure 3.10. map is normally laid out in the northeast quadrant (Fig. 3.11).
 selected mine north with rcs[>ectto the direction illat the mine manager looked out over
tile wine f i l m his office window. I:br elongated deposits, such as showr~i n 1;igule 3.12,
the deposit lends itself to primary sections running N-S.
Lucal ~rlineNorth is then conveniently selected as running pc~m~dicul:o to the long
axis of the deposit. For tnassive, no re or lcss circular deposits (Fig. 3.13), tile clwicc is
less ohvious.
S~~nrelinres there is a different coordinate systeni for the pit as dictatcd hy orehody
I geometry and that for the mine as a whole.
II Map Locatlon I
I I The cx[)lorntory and development diamond drill holes are generally laid out i n ;I more
or less rcgril;~rpattern. When orehody evaluation is to he done using sections, i t is corr-
vctricnt, alll~ouglrnot imperalive, if fhc drilling and mine grids are aligned. When hlrrck
orodcls am used to represent the orebodies, this is not ;IS in~prmmt.
'T:~blc3.1 contains some guidelines for the preparation of mine maps. 'The line widths
ior the borders and coordinate systems should he carefully selected so that they can hc
easily seen, yet do not interfere with the major purpose of the m;~p- t11;it of presenting
the graphical infornlation. Modern CAD (conrputer-aidetI design) draliing S Y S ~ C I I ~lhi~vc
S
greatly sinq)lilicd this previously, very tedious and time consuming joh
It is very impo~lantthat revision/versions of the different m;~pshe inaintained.
The waps coordinates are labelled as I6OON. 14001i, etc. l'lrese arc shown in 1:ig-
ore 3.14.
Vertical sections arc made hased upon these plan maps. As sccn in I:igol-e 3.14, there
;ire iwo ways of construcling the N-S running sections.
I n constructing section 1050E, one would get the results slrowrr ill Figures 3.I5a.h
depending on whether one is looking from east to west or west to cast. Since one is
uscd to ~rarnbcrsincrcasirig from left to right, thc east to west choice is made.
'1'11~ Ir~cationof the drill holes have been added to thc plan !nap in Figure 3.16. The

The active portion of the map is selected with initial coordinates sufficiently large
so that there is no danger that other quadrants will be involved. When this occurs the
awkward use of +, - coordinates or West and South norncnclaturc is required. Both lead
to confusion and possible errors. In the Southern hemisphere, the southwestern quadrant
is often used.
The selection of the map 'north' direction is not universal. Some mines select ge-
ographic north as their north. Others use magnetic north. One large mine reputedly Figure 3.14 Tlre two viewing dircclions for seaions
 I . 'Xtlc or subjjccl. Irrarion of llx arm, acid an extra idcntilicalios or indcxiog ootalioil an thc aulsidc or
i l l ;ln upper conlcr. and a refcrcncc lo tlre arrwiated rcyx,r(.
N SOON IOOON 7. <'ompilcr's namc, the ~tilmesof tlx field olspixr, asd an inilcx diagram idcntilling ruimer ol'clirtit.
3. Ihtc 01' lield work iand ditlc 01' cwnpiiatior~.
4 Srnlc: ~.mr,hicand nutncricnl.

Figure 3.16. Additions of lhc di-

SOON ;,mend d d l lhole (DD11) loca-
!mss lo lhc plan map.

oomenclalurc DDH is often used to identify diamond drill holes. These holes w e also
added to the vertical sections (Fig. 3.17). Normally, the vcrtical scale for the sections
is chosen to be the same as the horizontal. If this is not done, illen pit slopes and other
fcalurcs become distorted.
By examining the rock types and grades present in the holcs on a given section, the
geologist connects up similar features (Fig. 3.18). In this way a preliminary view of the
size, shape and extent of the orebody is achieved. Such sections and their related plan
Figum 3.15b. The sections created lkmking fmm wcst lo cart
 Orebody description 16 1

SOON 600N 7OON BOON SOON IOOON

Figure 3.18. Addilion of tile ore zonc to a section

maps Sorm the hasic elements osed in mine plmniny and design. Sometimes, I~owever,
it is very belpl~tnlfor vis1ta1iz;rtion porpuses to use isometric projections. I;igol-c 3.19 is
such a pn~jcctionibr llie Bingharo Canyon Miitc.
Ik",,'
J , ,dgL
..~~.

1 3 GEOLOGIC IN1:ORMKI'ION 50 mm
3tKX) 111
Mining opcr;~tionsat any given mineral deposit may he dividcd into four stages. I'mspect- tligh
ing (Stage I), is the act 01' searching for v:~luabletnil~erals.With the discovery 01' such Variiiblc
1;.,111 .
'

minerals, the property becomes a mineral prospect. 'The pmpcrty is then explored to gain
some initial inlimnation reg:mling thc size, sh;ipc, position, cliaracteristics and value of S t ll
the deposit. If Illis cxplomtiorr stage (Stage 2) is successful, t l m ~the decision to prc,cccd
into Stagc 3 (development) may he m:idc. 1)etailetl (W:~tcrinnit RL Iin~crt,1068) geo- 31)"
logic infornration must be collected ;~odmade ;~vailablcearly in this stage to facilitate
planning and design. 'The following poinls should be included:
High Nonc None
1. Geology of the rnir~eralizedzone; Litllc I.itt1c High
2. Physical size and shape of the dcposit; Ail. A A+I
3. Qu;intitative data on grade and tons of rnaterial within pcrlincnt cut-off limits;
4. Mineralogical and metallurgical cliaracteristics of the ore; lrw High
5. Pl~ysicalcharacteristics of tile ore and waste; and Vaciable Variibblc
6. Data o n ground conditions, groundwater ;~ndother l~ctorsthat affect mine design V~riable Hiph

:UKI operation. ]l<cvcrsecinculrlinn Ihas receslly k c n used 81 inclinakinns up 40".

I<?
Stage 4 is the ;tctual mining of tlle deposit.
Although trenching, the sirrkirrg of shafts, and the driving of tunnels are all some-
ti~nesused in the evaluation of a surface rnining prospect, most often the initial and .,a ,le 3.3 llrill Ihle log from the Comstwk Mine (Blais, I'ISS:.
continuing collection of geologic itformation is accornpliihed through a drilling pro- Mine: Comrtock Driller Mnchinc Hole No. 144
gram. 'She various drilling methods ard their characteristics are suirnnarized in Tahle 3.2. t.cvcl: Surface lacaliun: Iron County. Utah lilev. 6246.50 Uatc 6-11-51
Here the focus will be on diamond drilling which pnxluces a core for logging and as- I.at XY6.60 S D c a 2099.69 E Anfile Vcrt. Beasitng
saying. '% two basic types of diamond corc drilling are: (a) conventional and (h) Ihte L)iillcd Core Materiallflerrlarks
wireline. In conventional drilli~~g the core is retained hy a core spring or core lifter in I'rorn To ft ft in
the core barrel which is located just hehind the bit. When the core barrel is full or after Porphyry, plsg (G K-feldspan almut I to
dsilling n cewain length, the entire drill string must be removed in order to extract the 1.5 sun long in gray. siliceous looking
core. groundmass. Some cnhdral hiotitc present.
The wireline method uses a core harrcl rcmovahle through the inside of t l ~ cdrill stem I<mk sotncwhat altercd.
Porplryly, ssmc as 0-5 except for 4" IsvrJ,
with a latching device on the end of a cable. With this method, core can he relrieved black, magnetite veinlel at 10'.
at any desired point. Due to the space taken up by the inncr harrel, wireline cores are Porphyry, same as 0-5
smaller than those obtained in conventional drilling for the same hole size. The most Porphyry. higlrly argililized & bleached, very
colntnon core size is NXINQ which means that for a nominal 3-inch diameter hole, a friable, some litnonite staining.
1718 inch diameter core is recovered. The cores are typically recovered over 5 to 10 ft Porphyry, same as 16-26exccpt no limonite
staining.
intervals. Sometimes the core recovery is poor and the grade is obtained by analyzing the
Po~phyry.same as 26-36
cuttings/sludge. The recovered core is placed in order in core boxes for study, transport Porphyry. same as 16-26
and storage. Table 3.3 is an example of a drill hole log. ?'he amount of corc recovered has Porphyly, same as 26-36
heen noted and a description of the material provided for each interval. Representative 2' porphyry, same as 26-36
samples of thc core are selected and sent out for assaying. 'Tahle 3.4 shows the results 3' siltstone. finc g m i n d . liglrf gray.
for the corc descrihcd in 'Tahle 3.3. Information of this type may he plotted directly Sillstone. very dcnsc, fine grained. me* gray
on cross sections or entered into a data file for computer processing. Table 3.5 is an color, ~~casional SIIIAII c l w t y no&lcs.
Sittsrtlnc, same as 71~75
example of one such computer file.
 0,uhoily i/(?.sc~~iprionI65
Siltstolle. sarnc as '71~75 from thc drill lwlc i n 'Table 3.1 (Hlais. 1985).
'Ctbli: 1.4. L),ill smnjrlc ;~~i;tlysir
Siltstonc. same a s 71~75
S~IIstosc,rncd gmio~tl.srlotly. gliby to p~plisb
grey c k i r
Siltstow s i m c ;e71L75
Sillstone, vccy dcnrc, finc g~ained,dwk gray
wilh well develo]xd joints dipping 45", nsil;illy
f i l l ~ t lwith CIIIC~IC.
Siltstwtc, S ~ I W as ~J6~llKl
Siltsame, line grainccl, sligl?llyrandy.
somewhat banded with b;~sdsof lighl gray,
]wq~lisltgray, and greenish gray ;dxx>t' I t 6 "to
'14" thick joints arc lilled with cnlcitc.
Siltstotle. fine grained, dcssc. gray with rmmy
witk citlcite lillctl joints
Sillramc, rime as 116~126cxccpt $14"
~mgnctitevein 8th 126127.
Siltsto~ie.med grained. sliglrtly smdy, gray
with m l ~ ycalcite and magnctilc veinlclr and
s~riegcrsa1 136~140.
2' rillrtose, fine grained. grccnis1~-gray,sligl~tly
itllerml.
2' m;tgsetite, black, %,It,with much admixed
silly iwmribl
Mcignctite, soft. sooty. lhck with inmy silty
bands and stienks.
M;*gnctite.o l t , swcy, lhck. with somc rtrcska
;and hmds nl shiny black, rued crystalline
~nogtictilcSilty rmiNeria1 prcccnl as rlrcsks i:nd
tiny blobs.
Maguctite, same ;IS !50156 In addition lo the type of information neuled to compute the giadc and tonnage, rock
Md~nclitc,r u m as !53~156except Iklcally stroclural data are important a more comprehensive
for pit slope design. A sirnplilied and
quite vuggy.
data slicet uscd in the logging of structural infornration are given in 'lhbles 3.6 and 3.7
Msgnctia, samc as 153-156
rcspectivcly. These data are the foundations for the p l a n i n g and design steps. The
Magnetite, same as 153-156 cxccpt silty
erlnlcrial is glcen. information represented by a single hole is extended to a rather large region including
Mibgnetite, same as 153~156cxcept many the hole. Thus mistakes in evalualion, poor drilling practices, poor core recovery. sloppy
calcite rlrerks and blobs from 177-178. record keeping, etc. may have very serious consequences. As soon as these data a r e
Magnetite, line grained, o l t lo med Bard, dark entered into the computer or onto sections and plans, the level o r uncertainty associated
gray, "cry little sill.
with them vanishes. Good numbers and less g w d numbers all carry the same weight
Magnetite, r a m as 181L183.
at tlut scagc. Hence it is imperative that utmost care be exercised at this early stage
Magsetitc. rsmc as 181.183,
Magnetite, same as 181-183 except some rwd to provide a thorough and accurate evaluation of all infannation. Each hole is quite
crysralline. slriny black magnetite. expensive and there is pressure to keep them to a minimum. O n the other hand, poor
Magnetite. same as 189'12- 195 except ~mucl> decisions based on inadequate data are also expensive. This weighing of real costs versus
pyritc. project lxmefits is not easy.
Magnetite, fine gninul, soft, sooty, black with
some med grained shiny black magnetite.
1.irncrlose. very finc grained, dense, bluish
gray with some cnagncritc as disseminated h c 3.4 COMPOSLTING AND T O N N A G E FACTOR CALCULATIONS
gnkiss and veinlcts.
I.i~nestone. name as 202-206 except ,no
rnilgnctite.
As discussed in the previous section, after the diamond core has been extracted it is
logged by the geologist and representative samples are sent out for assaying. U p o n
Table 3.5. Typical computerized drill hole d m file, after Stanley (1979).

Page No 1
Run dare 03/03/77
R e p n No:Ol Collar coordinates Run ume 14 30 06
Site Hole Type k t Nonh Elevation inre~al Hoic depd Remarks
KO 0002 D 08054 05796 05509 010 00500 none
Seq. Coordinates Elevation Distance Pcrccnr Max PC RK R RK Al!eration Mineral
No East Nonh A21 NC INT MOS2 W03 LNG CR QD C TP PSSACFT MFPFU

0000
OOOR
0000
m
m
WOR
WOO
WOR
DOOF
OOOR
mF
0000
0000
WoCi
oOOB
OOOF
WOR
m
WOO
WOO
WOO
receipt, Iltc assays are ;lddcd to the other collcclal infmnation. 'These individw~las-
say vi~luesmay rcprescnt core lengths of a few inches up lo inmy feet. Cottip~~siling
is n tccl~niqucby which these assay dntn arc coo~binedto form weiglrted avcragc or
con~positegrades reprcscol;~tiveof iotcrv;ils longer t l t i ~ ntheir o u n 'The drill log shown
di;~gmr~nnaticaIly in f:igorc 3.20 conlait~sa series of orc lengths 1, and corresponding
gmdcs g,.
In tl~iscase the boundaries bclwccn ore and waste arc assumed sharp. The first qucs-
tion which might be asked is 'What is the average grade for this ore intersection?' T l ~ e
weighted average is found by first ~ a b ~ ~ l ; ~the iodividu:~l lengths li ;~ndtheir corre-
ling
spuiding grades g,. The products l,y, are fwmcd :n~dsummed Zl,g,, This sum is then
divided by the s u u ~of tlic lcngtl~sEl, to yield llic dcsiretl gr&. This is written oul
below:

'Tlx nvcragc grade is

This valuc woold tlten 11e iillcd inlo the t ~ o xon the tahlc. lo this u s e g is called llle
ore-iwe cc~trposile.Although compositing is usually a length-weighted average, if the ---------
waste
density is extremely variable, the weighting factor used is the length rimes the density - QO

(or the specific gravity).

ore
'Shis procedure is repeated for each of the holes. Note that each ore intercept would, in I
general, be of a different length. The top and bottom elevations would also be different.
1:or large, unifonn deposits where the transition from ore to waste is gradual (the
cut-off is economic rather than physical) the cornpositing interval is the hench height
and tixetl elevations are selccted. This 6rrx:h coonlposirirrg is the method most often used
for resource niodeling in open pit mining today. In Figure 3.21, a hench is shown by
the l~orizontaldashed lines.
In tbis particular case, t l ~ cupper portion of the bench lies in 'waste.' The bench
composite grade is

ore
.%_r-,.y-/vv~
I"
___ l _ l-
wartc

P"gurc 3.21. Uench height comporiting

 170 Opm pit rn11te plm11ittg ( J I ~(I~~.vipf:
f:~~~r(Ifl~~t~~~tl~tl.~

where If is bench hcight. Hence

Cornpositing with fixed intervals and clcvatiotis makes i t vcry easy to present and analyze
tile rcsttlls fnr a deposit conlaining ;i twmbcr of drill iroies.
Sorrie of the reasons lor arid the hcnclifs of cotripositing include:
1. Irregul;~rlcngtti assay s;tmpies nust he compositcd to provide representative dat;t
for analysis.
2. Cotnpositing incorporates dilution such as that lronr mining constarit height benches
in an open pit mine.
3. Compositing reduces erratic variation due to vcry liiglr or very low assay values.
4. By coritposiling, the tiulrrher of data, and hence the required conipotational limes,
arc rctluced.
'lh illustwte the principles presented, consider the sitiiplilial drill liole log
(Ihvey, 1979) given i n 'l'ahle 3.8.
It has hccri decided that 40 ll lrigti benches and a 5200 li rcfererice clcvation will hc
used. This ttrcans that hench crest e1cvatii)os would hc ;it 5200 ft, 5160 ft. 5120 ft, etc.
'l'hc upper 38 St o l hole C-22 would lie in hencli I. The next 40 ft would he in hench
2 and the liole would tertiiir~atein hcnch 3. Using the prt~cetlureoutliried ahovc, tlie
composite gr;ule at this hole localion for bench 2 is dctcnnilrcd as:
1.cngtlr (It) Grade (%) 1,cogllr x Grade (f&)
2 0.590 1.18
5 0.480 2.40
5 0.600 3.00
5 0.560 2.80 If 111;iteriaIrunning 0.3% and higher is urlderstood to bc ore, tlien the we-zone at this
5 0.320 I .60 tiole extends from tlie surface to a depth of 60 ft. 'nit ore-zone co~ttpositewould he:
5 0.700 3.50 Length (St) Grade (%) 1,engrh x Grade (ft'%)
5 0.210 1.05 5 0.40 2.00
5 0.180 0.90 5 0.56 2.80
3 0.080 0.24 5 0.44 2.20
5 0.48 2.40
5 0.40 2.00
5 0.38 1.90
5 0.33 1.65
5 0.59 2.95
l'lie inid-elevation of the hench 2 is 5140.0 ft. Corrrposilcs of the remaining portions of
5 0.48 2.40
the drill hole lying above and below this bench [nay he found in the sarne way. The
5 0.60 3.00
results are given below.
5 0.56 2.80
5 0.32 1.60
I3each Center coordinates Grade 3.so
5-~
~~ 0.70
E N Elevation 65 0.48 3 1.20
~ ~ ~~ -.-. .
I 800.00 1800.00 5179.W 0.440
2 800.00 18WiX1 5140.W 0.417
3 800.M) IRlX1.00 51 141W 0.126
 In this case when llre lcngtlrs are all equal, lhc average grade is jrtst the sitrlple werage Alll~oughsimple in principle, it is not as easy in practice lo determine the ap~mq~ri;lte
of rlie gr;ales. rnnlcrial densilies to be used in the calculations. 'I'here can he many dil'fcrcnr 111;ttcri;rls
involved in an open pit mine and each 'material' can vary ilk d e ~ ~ s i from
t y p n i ~ to
~ t point.
,~
,., I hrec techniques arc available for dcter~niningmalerial densily:
'l'hc smne cornpositing teclmique can be uscd when dealing with grades rcprcsc~~ling I. I h s i t y testing of sniall sarnplcs it1 the inhorat
different areas or voluo~cs.This will he de~nonstratctlin Section 3.5. 2. C;rrelid excavation and weighing of ;I large volume.
3. C;ilculalirro based upon composition (mineralogy) r~singpoblishcd dcnsi~icssuch
as given in 'lhbles 3.9 thn~ugh3.11
1)epw"ning upon llic requirerneots, all three are son~clin~es used. 14rr 'Sichtiique I ,
In mining, aithough vol~ofre.sof nialeriill arc removed, paytncnl is normally receivcd t11crc are two prirnuy tests which are done. In tllc lirsl, the s~tmpleis lirst weiglled ( W )
11t1 rltc liasis o f the weigh, of the vduahle it~alerinlcontained. This is in contrast to in sir The sample volume V is then dctcrtnined by water displacement (the water level
civil c o n s t r t d o n projects where norni;tlly payment is received based simply upon the
~ii;tlcrialvolunte rcmovcd or e o q h c e d . liven here, ir~wcver,lhe conversion kom v o h ~ m c
t o weight niust oflen he in& due lo the liflit~gand carrying limilations of the loading
mil hauling cqt~iprncntused The conversion from volume V to weight W and vice
v e m is done in lbc English systcrn of uriils wit11 tllc help of a tonnage ktctor '1.F
(volumelweight):
Native
v '1'1: x W (3.4) Stihnite
Orpinrcnt
w l w c 1'1' is lhe tonnage f:tctor (volunielweight). V is the volume, atid W is the weight. Healgar
'I'lle detcnnirrillio~~o f a represenlalive faclor(s) is quite impiwanl to mining operations. Ikuile
In llre lhglisli system of measrtremenl, the hasic onil for dcscribing tlrc weight of Witlierite
Calcite
111;1lcrialsis thc weight of 21 cubic foot of watcr. 'The density W,, of water is
Amgooitc
Gyps,,,,,
1'luorsp;tr
and ils specific gravity S C is I. If the ruined material has a specific gravity of 2.5, its Apatite
weight density is Anthracite
IJilrur!inour
1.innaitc
Seraltite
T11e tonnage factor T F for the ~naterial(assuming that lhc s l ~ o ston
~ (st) applies) is Cubalritc
I!rytbrite
Native
Clralcocile
111tlte metric system, tlle density of water is Cl,iilcopyrite
llurnire
Enrrgilc
Tctrallcdntc
S ~ o c cthe specific gravity of t l ~ emined material is 2.5, the density is 2.5 1/m3. The Alacanrilc
tonnage factor is Cupri1c
Chalcanthite
Millacl~ire
Azurite
Allhougb the tonnagc factor as defined here with units of volume per weight is probably Chrys%-olla
Uioptase
the nlost comnionly used, tile inverse ( T F ) is also used: Native
Pyrite
Marcasire
I'yrrhotite
. sonrelimes used for convenience
Other units such as yd' instead of ft' .ire
 Asunborilc 2.71
Sycnite 2.74 4. Scdimcsliiry
Quarlz diorile 2.79 (c~~~solidi~lcd)
Uiocite 2.91
Fabhro 3.1N
t'rridolitc 3116
f'ynmx>c 3.22
2. Igacous Quanr porpltyry 2.63 5. Sctlis~~ots~ and the tonnage factor (English system) is
(Lypi%b;ts;,l/ l'o,rpl,yry 2.67 (~rncnssolidstcd)
vu1c;inic) 1)i;ih:se 25%
Rhyolite 2.511
I'ltonolitc 2.56
'liacbylc 258 A margin of safety is introduced when applying tile results of any of the techniques.
Disite 2.59 I n this case a value of 12 or even greater might he used 'This is ilte in-situ or in-place
Awlesite 2.62 lannage lactor.
tlrsalr 2.90
'Ib illustrate the principles involved in the conversion from volume, to weight and
3. Mclatnorpbic Onbi~-l;,scgneiss 2.70
t'lngioclsse gneiss 2.84 vice versa assunre that a mining company Ins a conlract to sell S,O(X) tons of metal
Quart, sc1,irt 2.68 X per year. The mined nlaterial amrains 1%) of the cuntaincd inetal and the pmcessing
M i c a rchirr 2 73 plant recovers 50%. The total tosoage T A which it~ustbe ~rrinedand processed each
yew is given by
.
ill '.. ..
c bl~~duated

of the sample).
cylinder is, for example, compared bclhre imtnersion and after in~mersion

The derlsity d is then calculated: Assuming that the layer being mined has a thickness t of 20 11, the question becomes
trow large a plan area A must be exposed to produce t l ~ crequired tonnage.
The annual volume VA is
In the second type of test, the salnple is first wcigbed (W) in air and then weighed ( S )
wlwl suspended in water. The specific gravity is
'lh solve h e problem, the relationship between the volurne VA and the weight 7;i must
W
SG = -- (3.1 1) be known. Assmning that the specific gravity of the mined rnaterial is 2.5, the tonnage
W-S factor is 12.82 ft3/st.
Care must be taken to correct both for porosity and moisture. Hence, the volume removed per year is
Technique 2 is the n~ostexpensive and time consuming, but provides the best site
specific results. Such tests would have to he trradc for different locations in the mine.
To illustrate the use of 'lkchnique 3, consider a gold ore made up of 94% qualtz and lknce, the area to be exposed is
6% iron pyrite by weight. From Tables 3.9 and 3.10 one finds that the respective specific
gravities are:
- Quartz: 2.65
- Iron pyrite: 5.1 The acre is commonly used to describe land area:

The overall specific gravity for the ore IS

I acre = 43,560 ft2
'l'hus, a total of 14.72 acres would be mined each year
 'l'hc same problem will now he worked using the nlctric system. It is assuineil that 2. A complete set of cross sections. 7'hcse are dmwn tu any convenient scale (usu;rlly
4517 1 of ~nir~cral are produced froin a s c m 6.1 in thick. The numerical value of the 40 feet to the inch) and contain the following:
density and lhe specific gravity are thc same i n this system, wl~icl~
simplilies the ealcu- (a) All exploration drill l~oleswhich fall on or clusc to tlie scction (half way lo tlic
lalio~is. next section), with thc detailed analysis of e;lch san~plet;~licn.llesolts of l ~ i wits11
d
Since the specilic gravity of the mined ~rlatcrialis 2.5, the density is 2.5 tltn3. f i e or hcavy density tests if they were made. Also, the localion and i~ndysisof m y hank
tomrage factor is s;unples tbat liave bcen taken.
(b) A line showing the current top of the rn;tterial rcnraioing i n the ground ur~disturbed
(c) (;eologic structure lines showing an interprcl;ltion of the limits 0 1 the ore areas,
and the various lean nrc (low grade) or waste formations.

I'lm,r~i,rgpmcerlrrrcv
I . Drill s;u~~plcsare evaluated on the cmss sections and z o ~ ~ cofs differet~ttypes of
A = 59,502 m2 in~aterialarc color coded l i ~ rcoovenicncc. If the pit has bccn operating, any pit nper-
ations nr observ;~tionswhich may dispmve drilling sawples in nny way arc take~ii~ho
In tlrc metric systet~l,land area is expressed in terms of the hectare: consider;~lionin outlining zones of the various types of n~alcrinls.
1 hectitre 100 m x 100 $11 = 10,000 nr2
-:
2 . limits of ore rnatcrials are transposed to the plan map as a general outlinc Sor the pit
'l'hos a total of 5.95 hectares would be rrrirrcd each year. itrcir.

1. The pit plan layout is dcvclopcd to recover all of tl~corc that is economically ininahlc
3.5 METHOD OF VEKI'ICAL SECTIONS with the necessary remov;~lof the waste materials. Mmy faclors enter into this plan,
;~odgovern the amount of nraterial which must hc r c ~ ~ ~ o vSome e d . of these are:
(a) 'l'l~cnature of the surrirce c;tpping; i.e., sand, clay, gravel, muskeg, clc., and the
;rngle at which this rr~aterialwill remain stahlc in the hank.
(11) The nature of the rock and waste material and thc angle al which it will rcrnain
'I'he tradition;tl rnethod fnr estimating nre reserves bas b~etcothrough the usr of sections. stable when exposed.
'I'hc rrrelhod has a nu!rrbcr of advantages, the primary one is tliat it can be done by hand. (c) 'I'he local terrain and the location of the mine facilities, plant and dump areas i n
Other advantages ere that it can he easily dcpictcd, ondcrstood and checkcd. It will be relation to the pit.
assumed that the method is done by hand. However, a number of coniputcr techniques ((1) The grade or steepness of the haulagc road and the widtlr required by the haul;~ge
are available to allow designer inputlllexihility wl~iledoing the calculations by machine. trucks.
Somc corrrputer progranrs have been designed to esscr~tiallyreproduce the interpretation (c) The number of herms or protective henetles that will \ ~ crequired to insure pit
logic currently done by engineers and geologists by h;tnd. s;~fetyand bank stability.

3.5.2 Procedures 4. After the pit p1a1i is laid out, and the bank slopes are dmwn on the cmss sections,
tonnages can be cornputcd.
'l'he general procedures described below h;we heen used hy the Oflice of Ore Estinration-
University of Minnesota (Wcaton, 1972, 1973) for preparing andlor reviewing iron ore 5. Unless disproven by other drilling or sanrplings, the material on each cross section is
reserve estimates for thc State of Minnesota. They can easily be adapted to otllcr types assumed to extend to a point one half the distance to the section on each side or 100 fect
of mineralization and deposits. heyond t11c end section.

Plar~rtingmaterials
I. A current, up-to-date plan map. This is made to a convenient scalc (usually I in
100 ft) and slrows the following:
- 5. Computation of volumes in cubic feet are made by rneasuriog t l ~ earea of each type of
mtlerial 21s shown on the cross section, and n~ultiplyingthis by the distance represented
by the section (one-hall the distance to each adjacent section). By experience, the factor
(a) Pit surface conditions, existing banks and details of the imrnediatc vicinity. of cubic feet per ton has bcen established, for both ore and other rnatcrials. Concenuation
(h) Location of all drill holes. tests on drill sarrlples of materials requiring plant treatment establish t11c recovery figure
(c) Ixmtion of all qumer section lines and property lincs. or how much concentrate will remain after being run through a coi~ccntrationplant.
(d) Location of pit cross sections.
7. 'l'onnages of each section arc totdled to givc the linal reserve tonnage ligrtres

8. A weighted averilge of tlle cllelllic;~~

;tndyses 01. each type r l f 11l;lterialis computed to
pmduce tlic final esti~ri;ilcdgrade of llic proilucls included in the cstitnate.

An li-W section (640 N) taken tl~rouglran iron del~ositis shown i n 1:igure 3.22. The
o1)jective is to begin with the drill hole data and proceed throng11 to the detenninatiort
of the areas of the different matel-ials w1,icIi wn11k1tie i;icludcd i n the final pit. Thc
sytnhols which have been used to denote the hyers ;~rcaarc:
SU-surlace (ovcrtwrdcn) m;~tcrinl(soil, glacial t i l l , etc.) wlticlr can he rmroved
without drilling and blasting.

-
IIT 1 dccoinposed taconite.
OP ore and paint rock.
01'-:ore and taconite.
S W - sandy was11 ore and taconite.
UliS = Hessemer ore.
O I X = ore and decomposed t;rconitc.

-
1>0= lean (low grade) ore.
SW sandy was11 ore.
HM :I~eavymedia ore.
Step I. T l ~ cdrill holes and surf;tce topgr;iplry arc plotted on the section.
St<!/)2. The bisector betwcen lXIH57 and I)Uti60 is conslructeil. 'l'he surface-rock
interface is drawn. Points common to all 3 holcs are coonectcd (Fig. 3.23).
Sr?p 3. Sta:iing from the surlice, connect ille rcm;iining common points i n holes
I)DH57 and DDHG and extend them to the left of IIIIH6. To the right of DOH57 extend
the layers over to the bisector line. These are drawn parallel to the known overlying
surfaces. I'ill in the region hetwcen DDHS7 and the bisector by extending the layers
p"ralle1 to the known ovcrlyirig trend lines. (Fig. 1.24).
Slep 4. The remaining layers intersected by DlIH60 are extended left to the bisector
and to the right. (Fig. 3.25).
Step 5. The pit outline is superintposed on the section. In this case the following rules
lravc been used:
- the leom ore intercept forms the pit houom,
- an extension of 50 ft outside of the drill holes ;11 the pit hottorn is assumed,
- the allowal~lepit slope angle in the surface nraterial is 27" whereas i n the rock layers
near the pit bottom it is 54". A transition of 41" is used between these. (Fig. 3.26).
Step 6. An access road 50 ft in width crosses this section at the position indicated
(Fig. 3.27).
S i q ~7. Tho areas of the diCferent materials on the section are determined using a
planirneter (Fig. 3.28).
Even in this relatively simplc case, it is clcar that a good knowledge of the stmcture
of the orebody is required (Fig. 3.29) as well as some judgement in order to create
such sections. As will be discussed in more detail later, final pit outlines can only be
determined by considering all sections togetlier
 Figure 3.23. The Step 2 section

--
Figure 3 24 The Srep 3 section
3)
 Figure 3.25. The Step 4 recuon

Figure 3.26. The Step 5 section

 Figure 3 27 The Step 6 secuon

Figure 3 28 The Step 7 (final) secuon

 rf fotoruge orid uveruge grude j%r a pi/
3.5.4 ~'rrlcrclutiot~
This sirrrplilicd cxatnple has also been taken from iron mining practice. The following
concepts will be illustrated:
I . Side completion for sections.
2. Development of a find pit outline including pit ends.
3. Dctcnnination of tons and average grade for a seclion.
4. 1)etennination of tons and average grade for the pit.
Although most of the discussion will rcvol\.e around section I i-00, tlre sarrie appro;sh
would be used on all sections.

Side cconplclion
As described in the previous example, the section 1 - i - 00 (Fig. 3.30) has been extended
50 St past the positions of the outermost drill boles. 011 tire left side of the section. the
ore appcars to pinch out within this zonc. 'She pit slope of 27" has been drawn to pass
thmuglr the inid-height of this extension. The width associated wit11 Ilolc 6 would be
50 ft plus half the distance between holes 6 and 1. On the right-hand side, the ore is
quite thick (25 ft) and would appear to continue. The slope has bcen drawn at a point
oreasured 50 ft along the pit bottom. l'tre ore width associated wit11 lrolc 5 becomes
75 ft.

I'ltrnl pit orrfline

The surface is assumed to be flat and at 0 elevation. A bench height of 25 will be used.
Tlrruugh an examination of all sections, it is seen that the ovcrburdcn-rock interface
lies at an average elevation of about 100 ft. In tlre plan view s11own in Figure 3.31, the
surface ( x ) and 100 ft intercepts (o) read from the 6 sections have bcen markcd.
The ends of the pit must now be completed. There are several possible constructions
which might be used.
I. Construct longitudinal sections through tlie orchody and estimate ore continuation
by projection.
 2. lixtet~dtlre ore a distirnce equal to lhe ore tl~ick~rcss
observed in the end section.
:3. tixtcnd the ends solnc fixed dista~~cc past the last sectiorr. fiir example 100 11 or a
distmcc cqt~alto llalf the distance hctweclr sections.
In tlris particular case, tlre second 111ct11orlwas selected. As can he see11in Figarc 3.30.
the maximum ore thickness of 60 ft occurs is hole 2. This thickness cnterrtls it1 lrlarr
from 1111les1 to 4. Projection of llre lines from the pit hotlotn to tlie 100 ft and surface
elcvalions yields the poinu ;I, b, c and d shown on Figure 3.32. The s:lme pmccdure has
b c e ~followed
~ on the ens1 end of the pit where the ore thickness is 40 St. The final step
is to connect the points by s~rrootl~ curves. lo this casc, the transition hetween sections
is smoolh and no fu~tlreradjustmcot is required. If the individu~rlsecti~insdo not fit 1 30
together as nicely as in Figure 3.32, then obviously an iterative proccdul,: of going frotn 1x5
plan to section to plan, etc. rs requiretl.
Avg ItK1

7brrriljie rrnd uveroge grurle j i ~ ar section 2 I IN

Scclion I + 00 is defined by 6 drilll~oles.The lirst step in determining average grade for
Ihc section is to l i d the average gr:~de for each drill bole. If the sample intervttl was
always the same then a simple werage of the assays would sulticc. In gcncr;tl this is
not the casc and colnpositing most be done. Tlie results of Illis are given i n Table 3.12.
An influence area for each lmlc must now be ca1cul;rtcd. This area is 11ic orc intercept
height times a width. For interior holes, the width extends h:rIfway to a(lj:~ccotholes.
14)r sidc holes the width extends from the sidc line Imlhay lo tlre adjljncent hole. I%r this
section, the inlluence areas arc as slrown i n 1;igurc 0.33 and somm:tri~ed in Tal~lc3.13.
<Jsing the grades and irlfluencc areas, an average grade fnr the section is dctcr~nirledby
compositing. in this case it is 56.8% I'e.

7i11r.s nnd uvemjie grude Jbr tha pi(

'lhc ore volunrc attributed to the section is obtained by rnoltiplying the section area
(deterriiincd by calculation or p1;roinreter) by tlrc section interval which for sectiou
1 I 0 0 is 210 ft (Table 3.14). For this section the ore volu~ncis 4,357,500 ft'. Applying
a tonnage factor of 14 ft311t yields 31 1,000 tons.
Similar ligures are developed for each of tlic other sections. 'The avcrag!! grade for
tlre pit is obtained by cornposiling. 'l'he total ore tonnage is just the sum of the tons (A).
'She associated waste consists of two types:
- surface material, and
- taconite.
O n each section, tlie areas of each material type arc deterrnincd by planirnetering. The
results for section 1 + 00 are given in Tables 3.15 and 3.16.

Pit end tor~nugc

A somewhat trouhlesome problem is deciding lmw to include the material making up
the pit ends. The west end of the pit will be examined in this example assuming that
all of the material above the 100 ft contour is surface material. In Figure 3.33, the end
has bcen divided into five sectors which will he approximated by the following two
shapes.
- prisx~i(Al), and
- frustu~n of a right conc (A2 --+ AS).
 Cnxs-scct I'lan. ;me;, Area hctnr Scclion Scctios Vcllurnc Tbon;q$ 'I'hs
(it?) (f12/is2) zxca inlerv;il (a') fistor (st)
It' ,
41 1x1
6 + 1x1
8 -1 (XI
II + tX)
I3 - I IXI
T"t;,l C

wl~ercSI, S z re thc areas of the top aid hoitonr surl.accs, respeclively, and it is the
;~ltitorlc.'The f~~rnrul;t
for [he volume of a right cone is

vc = im-Z,, (3.13)
3
where r is the radius of thc base.
Thc fortnule for the volume of the frustutn of a right cone is
nh
Vfr -(
3
7~ T, + T I ~ tZ P:) (3.14)

whcrc r~ is the radius of the base and 1.2 is thc radios of the top.
Applying formula (3.12) to sector Al, onc l i d s
1
Vn, = -- (60 x 240 1 2 5 6 x 240)lCO 3,792,OW f$
2
-
For sector Az, base and top radii arc dctemiincd along the sector ccnterlincs. These
bcconie:
v 1 - 293 ft
7.2 = 60 ft
'f'l~eincluded angle (0) of the sector is 45". Hence
1 i00 15.16 50 x I00 75,800 210 15,918,0(~)5 9 0 . ~ ~ ~
191 838,lXX) 45
100(293~+ 293 60 + 602)- = 1,401,010 ft'
X
4I00
V, := - x
3 360
6 t 00
8 i 00
For sector A,:
I I -t-00 02 -- 45"
13 t - 0 0
r3 = 387 ft
Total A R
74 = 93 ft
n 45
V, = - 100(387~+ 387 x 93 + 93')- = 2,544,814 f13
3 360
An isometric drawing of sectors A l , Az and AT is shown in Figure 3.34. The indivkiual Sitnilarly for sectors Aq and As:
puts are shown in Figure 3.35. The gettcral formula for the volume of a prism is n 45
~ 293 x 53 + 532)- - == 1,367,808 ft'
VA, = - 1 0 0 ( 2 9 3 +
1 3 360
v, = 5 (SI + S d h (3.12) X
V,, = -- 100(3462 + 346 x 93 +932)-
45
= 2,101,508 ft'
3 364
Fagun: 3.35. Exploded view of the pit end volumes.
'I'he tot;~lvolu~ncof the west end then licartr~cs

Applying a tonnage Sktor of I!, l't'lst, yiclds 590,000 st. The split betwcen txonite and
rock can be found by including the interface i n tile drawings.
In estimating actual grade and tonnege limn the pit one must take into accoont
- ore losses in pit,
- dil~~tioo,
and
- mill recovery.

A less commonly used technique to represent grades on sections is fhrough iso-grade

conl(rurs. Altlrough there arc sever;rl rc;lsons for adopting such an approach, the prinrary
onc in thc exa~nplcto be consi<leretlis the lict thal lhe dircctiorrs of the cxplon~torydrill
llolcs wcre highly variable. This ex;n~npIc,using the data and s p l x ~ & ho l Clrerrier (1968).
will demonstrate lhc application of the techniqoc for determining tons and average grade
and also the application of longitudinal sections for coniplcting pit ends. 1:igure 3.36 is
a plan m"p l'or a ~nolyhdenun~ orebody showing the lowtion 01 Ihe drill holes ;~odthe
s u r f k c topograpl~y.7'he grid systenr lrirs heen soperinrposed. Sections 4 , 8, 12, 16 and
20 are given io Figures 3.37 ihn~rrgl~ 0.41. 'fhc drill lrolcs on Sections 2 and 22 levc:lled
no ore present. Using the drill hole data and a knowledge of the deposit foror, thc glade
contours have been created. A pit outline has Irccn dcvcloped using procedures which
will be desc;.ibcd in Chapter 5. In viewing thc 5 tsansvcrse sections, it can be sccn
11x11 longitudin;~lsection 3200 N runs approxi~nalcly lung the proposed pit axis. This
section is shown in Figure 3.42. Rock nrecbanics studies have suggested a 45" slope
angle at tlic e;~stend and 50" at the west. From lbc drilling results, the orebody must
tcrmioate between Sections 2 to 4 on the west and 20 to 22 on the cast. 7'lre gradc
contour lines have been drawn io to represent ibis (Fig. 3.43) conditioo. In examining
Ibe plan representation (Fig. 3.44) of the h a 1 pit, and the longitudinal section, it lras
hcerr decided to incorporate the end volr~rnesof the pit into Sections 4 and 20 rather
than to treat tlmn separately. This is accon~plisbcdhy varying the longitudinal length
CIS inflncnce so that the resulting volul~~cs are correct, For the east and west ends the
followilrg have been used:
Section Grade zone Influence distance (ft)
4 +0.3 200
0.2-0.3 225
0.12-0.2 250
Overburden 300
20 -1-0.3 200
0.2-0.3 250
0.12-0.2 300
Overburden 400
 Vigurc 3.39. Scction 12 showing rlie grade contours and pit oatlinc (Chcrriel, I%K)

I'ignre 3.38. Seclicm 8 showing lhe gmde contours and pit outliee (Chcmicr, 1968)
I: 1:igure 3.40. Section 16 showing the grade c o n t o m and pit outline (Cherrier. 1968).
 .I lhc reader is encouraged to check fl~eseapproximations. For enclr scction the areas
~

corresponding to each grade zone witlrin t l ~ epit outline arc determined using a planime-
ter. Tlresc :Ire tllen converted into voltnnes and tons as sumtnarizcd in Table 3.17. A
summary of ore and waste tons as well as the ratio of tlrc two (average stripping ratio)
by section is given in Table 3.18. The ovcrall stripping ratio for the pit is also calculated.
One assay was performed for each 10 St of core in every drill hole. For each section,
tlle ;Issays lying within a particular grxle zone wcre added together. 'This sum wzts
then divided by the number of assays to ohtain an average. Each average assay was
weighted by the volume of influence for the respective zone. '~hesewciglrted averages
wcre totalled and divided by thc total volurne for the three zones. 'This figure is then the
average assay for the entire ore zone on that section. The results of this calculation are
given in Table 3.19. The overall average grade for the pit is found in Table 1.20.
In s u r n m z :

Tonnage of ore = 53,288,000 st

Average grade
Tonnage of overburden
Average stripping ratio
-
= 0.281 percent (MoS2)
32.31 1,000 st
= 0.61

Some dilution and ore loss can be expcctcd from this orehody due to the difficulty
of defining the ore cut-off grade and mining to this grade in the upper half of the
orebody. The following calculation illustrates how one might account for these effects
 1;r;tde z t l w ' ~ I S X>l;~l
~ tons
(X 10') (X 1lP)
~~ ~

lO.3
02-113
i1.12~0.2
O\~crbsnlen

111.3
0.2-11.3
0. 12~0.2
Ovcrbutden

10.3
O.IZ~0.3
0. 12~0.2
O"e,bs,dc,,
-1~0.3
0.2~0.3 and determine an average grade for the ore actually mined.
0. 12~0.2
Ovcrbutdes Tons (st) (irade (%) 'li,ns x Grade (st x %)
Ore in place 53.0 x 10" 0.281 14x93 x LO"
lo.:l Dilution (esl. 5%) +2.65 x 10' 0.100 i 0.265 x 10"
0.2-0.3 Ore loss (cst. 5%) -2.05 x 10" 0.140 0.17 1 x 10"
0.12 0.3 -----

Ovc~irsrdes So~d 53.0 x 10" 14.787 x 10"

1m3
0.2-0.3
- li7--
Avcmge grade of ore ~mir~cd 14.787 0.279 percenr.

0 12.11.2
Overburden
3.7 T I E METHOD 01; IIORKONTAL SECTIONS
103
11.2-0.3
0.12-0.2
Ovcibimlee
Although vertical sections have playcd a dominant role in ore reserve eslirnation in tile
10.3 past, loday, for many, if not most, deposits this function is rapidly being replaced by
0.2-0.3 techniques based upon the use of horizontal sections. 'She priomry reason being the
0.12-0.2 widespread availability of computers for doing the tedious, tinre consuming calculations
Overtiurrlen involved and the developinent of new techniques for estinraling the grades between drill
+0.3 holes. Sections taken in lhe plane of the orebody have generally heen used for evaluating
0.2-0.3 relatively thin, llat lying deposits such as uranium, coal, sand, gravel, placer gold, etc.
0.12-0.2 'They may he of relatively uniform or varying thickness. Thick deposits are mined in a
Overburden series of horizontal slices (benches) of uniform thickness. For extraction planning, hench
plans showing tons and grade are of utnlost importance. I h c e even if vertical sections
arc used for initial evaluation, hench (horizontal) sections x e eventually required. In this
section hand methods for calculating tons and grade based on triangles and polygons will
be discussed. These discussions will use as a basis the drillholes shown in Figure 3.45.
'She corresponding grades and location coordinates a x given in Tahle 3.21
Section Grade

037Y 17.36
0.261 24.W
0.151 I1592
Totrl 55.28

0.41 1 24.88
0.243 4312
0. 142 20.40
Total 08.40

0.403 19.68
0.242 34.40
Ill68 I665
Ibld 711.72 Departure
0.398 20.56
0.247 25.44 Figure 3.45. I I ~ ~ r c l wlocations
le and grader fur Bcncl, 5140 (lluglies & 1)avey. 1979)
0.155 26.lW
Total 72.00

0.303 32.72
0.274 75.014
11.158 22.80
Ibral l3OSh

0.405 39.92
0.261 32 70
0.164 29.65
Total 102.26

3.7.2 Triangles

In the triartgular method, diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 3.46, each hole is taken
to bc at one comer of a triangle. If the triangular solid formed is of constant thickness Figwe 3.46. Tnangulnr prisms (Barnes, 1979b).
t , its volume is just equal to the plan area A times this thickness. To ohtain tons, the
appropriate tonn;;ge factor is applied. l'hc average gr;ale g is give11 by

where g, are the gradcs at the three cornas.

'The area of the triangle can be found using a planimeter or through calculation if
Ihc coordinates (z,, 9,) of the corners are known. This method, slmwr~in Figure 3.47,
readily adapts to calcr~latorlco~np~~ter application. 'f'lle average grxie for the block is
strictly concct only for cquilatcral triangles. For othcr triangle shapes the area associated
with each grade is not equal ;IS assumed in the forrnnl;;. I:or tri;mgular solids which are
on1 of constant thickness, then some additional calculalions are required. The average
thickness t is given by

and the averagc grade j is

Using the averagc thickness, the plan area and tonnage factor, the tons can be found.
'l'tle triangular clement for~nedby holes C-30, C-40, and C-50 (assuming a conslant
bench thickness of 40 ft and a tonnage factor of 12.5 ft'lton), contains 64,000 tons with
an average grade 0.17.
3.7.3 I'olyprrs lines arc constructed and extended lmtil they meet those from adjacent holes (step 2).
In the polyprrrd mclhotl, eaclr drill 11olclies willtin the center of a polygon, Tire polygon 'She area of the polygon is then detertnined and the tonnagc calculated (step 3). At the
is constructed such tliat its boondary is always equidistant fro~rrthe nearest rreighbor- drilling boundary, since thcre arc lroles o n only one side, sonle specid procedures arc
ing 11ole. Within tire polygon, tire gradc is ass~.~tned constant and cqt~;rllo tllitt of tllc required. Ilere it will be assurnctl that all appropriate radius of influence lt is known.
lrole it includes. Tire lhickness or rite polygon is also cr~nsiantand q u a i to tlrc ore '!'lii.: cotreel?: twill bc :!iscussc;! i n detail in :he following :;cction. Viwic 3.49 illustr-ales
i~rterceptlbcnchthickness. The slcps followed in forming ;I polygon around hole C-41
are illustralcd in Figure 3.48. In step I, r;rlial lines (similar to lltc spokes of a wheel) arc
drawn from the drill lrole to its nc;lrest neighbors. The pcrpcodicular bisectors lo tlrese

Step 2: /

Step 4:

Arua = 3.87 in2= 154000 ft2

~~~d~ = 0-1 40 % Copper

Figure 3.48. l l l e practicc of fonning plyguns for a hole in~ernulto the array. I'igurc 3.49. 'nle prilclice of forming pulyguns a1 tlx laundary of thc hole away.
the steps necessary to wnslruct the polygon around hole C-14. Step I proceeds as IxAbre
with r;ali;d lines drawn to the surrounding holes. 'So supply the missing sides a circle
of radius II is drawn (Step 2). lo this case / I = 250 ft. Chonls arc drawn p;rr;rllcl to the
property hoondirry (grid) lines along the top and side (Step 3). The remaining chords
;we drawn at angles of 4S0, t;rngent to (Ire circle. In tlre final stcp (Step 4) the x e a is
dctennincd, the tonnage c;~lculatedand tire grade ;rssigned.
Rulcs dcvclopcd by Hughes & Davcy (1979) which can be fc~llowcdwhen amstruct-
irrg polygons arc given i n 'l;lble 3.22. Figure 3.50 shows the hand generated polygons I
lor tlre drill hole data of Figtm 3.45.
Having gone tl~rouglrthese two exatrrples it is perhaps of value to list the general
steps (after flughes Kr Ihvey, 1979) which are followed:
1) Locations of drill holes and other samples are eslablishcd for a specified level using
:iv:iil;~ble drill-lmle survey data. Usu;tlly, the drill-hole location and assays of interest
:!re dcpictcil on 21 horimntal section.
2) 1)rill-hole interval ;es:ly data arc coorposited to intervals coosisleol with hcncl~
Ihciglrt. The elevation of the samplc is typically determined at the rr~idpoinlof the bench
3) Area of inlluct~ceor radius of influence is established by geologic and mining
cxpericnce.
4) Lines are drawn between drill holes that are within two times the radius of influence
uf c;rch other. This stcp may hc ahered by rules such as thrrsc io Table 1.22.
5) I'crpendicular bisectors are constructed on each of thcsc co~~nectiog lines. t
0 ) l3iscctors arc: extended until they inte~scct.If two lines run parallel or approxirnatcly
Iiolc intersects another line, the bisector that is closest to the drill holc is accepted :is
Ix~rallcl,a ~ a it
l is ohviotts that they will not intersect hebrc t l ~ cline closest to the drill
the polygon boundary.
7) In ;&reaswlierc drill holes are separated by distances greater than two times the
fi~diusof inllt~e~~ce, an eight-sided polygon (octagon) form is drawn an~oodthe hole
Bench 5140 location, representitig the maximum area of influence. 'This step may also be altered hy
2000
rules such as those in Tahle 3.22.
8) Drill holes along the periphery of the ore body are extrapolnted to the radios of
iirfluct~ccand the octagonal form is drawn xound the drill holc.
If ore is dclined as that material for which the grade is

@
u thett for illis bench the projected tonnage is 1,990,000 st at an average grade of 0.93.
1 A tonnage Eactor of 13 ft31st (specific gravity S G = 2.47) and a 40 f t hcncl~height has
U1000 heen assumed.
U
d It is obvious that the zonelradius of sample influence is over ridden under a number
J of special conditions. Some examples of such special conditions are:
- Grades shoold not be projected from one type of formation, mineralization, rock
type, etc. to another
- Sample grades should not be projected from one side of a post rnincralization
structure sucll as a fault to the other.
Rules should tie determined to deal with assigning a metal grade to in-place material
0 which is less than a full bench height thick. such as near the surface of the deposit.
0 1000 2000
Departure
Using a computer, lists like Table 3.22 can automatically be considered as well as
rules concerning mineralization controls for the specific deposit. However, it is very
1:igsre 3.50 Hand-generated plygons lwrm samples in Figun: 3.45 ( I h ~ g l m& Uavey, 1479), complicated to have a computer draw lines representing polygon boundaries and to
assign area grades according to the procedures described previously.
a s !.-.
8. ( to application of comp~!ter tcclniiques for grxle ;and tr,!ini!ge cu!i!nr!tion is !1w
visu;~lizationof the deposit as a cdlection of blocks. Such a block mr,dcl is shown in
Figure 3.51
Some guidance for the size of t l ~ cblocks chosen has hecn providcd hy ihvid (1977).

't'he height of the block is often that of the herich which will he used i n mining. Fur-
thern!ore the location of the hlocks depends on a varicty of fiictors. ];or cxnnlple ;I key
clcvution migllt be based upon ovcrbunlen ore contact. the intcrfxc between types of
~~linr:r;tlizatiori(oxides-sulfides), high grade-low grade zones, etc.
Superp~sitionof ;I 100 ft x 100 ft Mock grid otr the drill hole data from I'igure 3.45
is shown in I'igurc 3.52. As can be seen, some of the blocks Imvc d~illholes in them
but illost do not.
Some teclloiqoe rri~~st be used to assign grades to tllcse blocks. Thc tonnage of each
block can he easily found from the block volume (the same for all blocks) and the
tonnage factor (which niay vary). 'Iivo tecllniques will be discussed in this section and
no additional one in Section 3.10. They arc all based upon the application of the 'sphere
of inllucnce' concept in which grades are assigned to blocks by 'weighting' the grades of
ncarhy hlocks. Variations in how the weighting fxtors are selectcd distinguish the three
mcthods. A simplilication which will be made in tlris discussion is to consider blocks
as paint values rattier than as idrrrnes. This distinction is illustrated in Figure 1.53.
By treating the block as a point one would make one calculation of average hlock
grade based upon tlie distance from the hlock center to tlie surrounding points. If the
block is divided into ;I mesh of sniallcr blocks, the calculation would be made for
each sub-block and thc results summed. In the literature this volun~etricintegration is
denoted by integral or summation symbols. Hughes & Davey (1979) has indicated that
the difference between the point and volume approach is small. We have chosen to
take the least coniplicated approach in presenting the principles. Furtl~crmore,a two-
dimensional approach will be focussed upon with only passing rcfercoce to extensions
into 3 dimensions. The exarnples used will focus on assignment of grades for a bench
using cornpositc gracles for that bench alone. Grades lying above or below the bench in
question will not be i~icludedin the cala~lations.Finally unless specilically mentioned,
all of the gmdes will be assumed to belong to the same mineralization type and are all
useahlc in assigning grades to the blocks, ie there are no characteristics which eliminate
 certain values (change in ini~~el-;~lization,
furn~;~tion,
rock type, structural features). The
rc;lder will see l~owthese can he a~nsidcred.

3.8.2 R~llt!-rf-~-rlr<lrt.rr
poirlr.~

of-nearest points. 'The area surrounding a drill hole is defined in such a way that the
boundary is always equidistant from nearest points. Although computer programs now
do exist for doing this procedure, Hughes & Davey (1979) suggests that little accuracy
is lost using a regular grid. The computer calculates the distances from the hlock centers
to the surrounding known grade locations, and assigns the grade to UIC hlock of the
closest grade. If the closest distance is greater than It, no value is assigned. lo some
cases, the block center may he upidistnnt from two or more known gri~dcs.A procedure
must Be established to handle this. Sometimes ao average value is assigned.
Figure 3.54 shows the applicetion of a computerized polygonal interpolation to the
co~npositedvalues shown as level 5140 in Figurc 3.45. If the hlock contains a holc, it
is assigned that value. Blocks without holes are assigned the value of the ncarest hole
within a 250 ft radius. I'or blocks having centers outside of this radius a value or 0
has hcen assigned. 'l'he shaded area has heen interpolated as mineralization > O.6%Cu.
Because the distance lrom block to composite is computcd from the block centcr, results

P i p r c 1.52. Block grid superimposed on Figurc 345 (Ilughes & t h v e y , 1979).

Departure

Figurc 3.54.Computer generated polygons for Figure 3.45 (flogher& Davey. 1979).
vary slightly from the polygons delincd in Figure 3.50. Accuniulation of hlocks with IFor point b
projcctcd gr;rles > O.h%,Cu is calculated as 2,033,778 st at an average gradc of 0.92%.

the grade drops to that i n the ;djacart region. 'The grade at a point was deter
only hy the closest grade and nonc other. A more sophisticated approach waul
allow all of the surrounding grades to influence grade estimation at a point. Figu
illr~stratesthe assignment of grades along 21 line between two known grades. Assu
linear change in gradc between llie two known grades (Fig. 3.56) one can calculate the this to the iiughes X 1);lvey (1979) data is shown
expcctcd grades at points a, h, nnd c. 'The fmnula used to calculate this c m be written in Figure 3-57. 'The calculaled grade at the point is given by 0.45%

wl~erc{ I , is t l ~ cgiven gradc at distancc di away from the desired point

Iir)r point a

Grade

g = 0.450 %
t'igure 3.56. Linear varislion of grade
wilh separation dirlance.
Figure 3.57. Application of tlte itwecrc distance leclmique.
 'l'liis metliud is callcd the irrvww rlisr~rrrceweighti~~g
iccl~~liqoe.'l'he inlluence of widely used. In praclicc a distribution of ni values will he obtained from wliich a mean
surrounding gmdcs varies inversely with tlic disl;u~ceseparating tlrc gradc and the hlock can he dcteriiiincd mid a besl value selected.
center. 'I?, this point in the discussion it has been assumed that the weighting function is
I t is uhvioos that the grade of the l~lockshould be rnorc similar to nearer p o i ~ ~ t s independent of t l ~ cangular position of the known grades with respect tu the unk~~own.
tlr;111 thosr: f x away. 1'0e~nphasizcthis dependence. the weighting with distance can he Such a function is called isotropic (independent of orientatioo). 'l'his is lruc fix many
increased. This is done hy changing lllc powcr of d, in l<quatir~n(3.18). If the dependence deposits. For otliers howcvcr the variation of grade with distance does depend up011
varies inversely with the square of the distance rather t11ar1 linearly, Equation (3.18) direction. Thus in one direction, say N-S, the best value for m is rnl whereas in lhc
hecomes 1 be mz. Such a depsit would be tennui anisolsopic. Procedures
2 9:~ ding tl~csceffects. Their discussio~tis heyond the scope of this
<=I d;
,0 :--re (3.19) let's take a closer look at the inverse distance squared formula.
L
t I d?
This is the co~nmunlyused inverse dist:lnce squarcrl (IDS) weighting forn~ula.
Applying i l to the c:~lculationui'gratles at points ;I, h, and c long thc line (1:ig. 3.55)
as before one linds that
!I.? + 0.u
,q,3 - (25)'- (75)' -
I + I -.p~
4.5 - 1 0.9
- - ..
I0
0.54%
11 will he applied to the silnple case shown in Figure 3.58
Expanding the for~nulayields

(25)' (75)'

Thc denominator hecomes 5.694 and the equation can he written as

'I'l~iscan he rewritlcn as

It is obvious that the results are quite different from hefore. Applying the techniqt~eto
the 2-11 example from Hughes & Davey (Fig. 3.57). one finds that

If one were to select a different power for d, the results would change. The general
formula is
A 9.
,:=I
L d:"
</ -:
;1
Figure 3.58. Simple example for applying L l x in-
I:or linear dependence m = 1, quadratic (squ;ued) dependence, rn = 2, etc. The value verse distance squared (IDS) technique.

3fc := 2 has been found to be suitable for a number of different kinds of deposits and is
 wlrcrc
I
.~.-
4
a, = -~
4
-
>, -17
i~.I df

The cocflicicnts are:

a1 - 0.044
a2 :;;-0.176
ui = 0.702
nd = 0.078

The sum of the coefficients

5 -,=I
n. 0.044 -+ 0.176 - 1 0.701 + 0.078 = I (3.23)

will always equal I . 1:urtherrnore 0 < u, < 1

In the following section, it will he shown h a t the geostatistical approach to grade
cstirnation yields the same equation form. The coefficients a, are simply determined in
a different fashion. The constraints on a, are the same.
'li) this point, it has been attempted to simply dernorislrate how the method works.
Some further words are required about the application in practice. S o ~ n ctules in this
regard arc given by Hughes & Davey (1979) in 'l'able 3.27. An example slrowillg the
i~pplicatiooof the following rules:
( I ) an arigular exclusioo of 18" (excludes G3 and (is),
(2) nraximum of seven nearest holes (excludes G I and Gn), and
(3) power rn = 2
is givcn in 1:igure 3.59.
Figure 3.60 shows an inverse distance squared ( 7 1 ~=: 2) co!npuler evaluation 01' level
5140. The rules used for the sirnulatiorr are:
Radius of ir~flucnce-- 250 it
7n = 2
Angular exclusion angle = 18"
The accumulation of blocks 2 0.6% Cu is calculated to be 2,001,000 st at an average
grade of 0.9 1% Cu.

3.9 S'I'A'I'ISTICAI. BASIS FOR GRADE ASSIGNMENT

In the previous section one tech~~ique for assigning grades to blocks, based upon dis-
tance dependent weighling cocfficients, was discussed. The application depended up011
selecting the power m and a radius of influence for the samples. In some cases a value
for i n is just picked (often 2). and in others the data set is scanned. Little was mentioned
Figure 3.60. Inverse distance squared intcqmlntios for the c<mtp,sited samplcc i n Figure 3.45 (Hughes as how to select a value for R. If m = 2 is used, the decrease of influence with distance
& Dnvey. 1979). is quite rapid and the use of a Iqge value is not so serious. The minimum value of R
 i s d c l c n n i n c d b y the need to include a sullicicnt nutnher of points for the calcolalions.
drillit~gpattern. T h e l i c l d o f gcostatislics has c o n l r i b ~ ~ l e d
T h i s o b v i o u s l y varies w i t h tlte
;I nutrtber o f techniques w t r i c h cart b e u s a l . Of parlictllar importance i s a w a y l o evaluatc
tlte radius of i n l l u c n c e li a n d assigning gr;~des l o blocks. U n h r t u o a t e l y , due t o l h c lhigl~ly
t u a t l ~ e t ~ ~ a t i nature
cal o f their presentation, the l e v e l of undersCmding aid apprcciatioo
of the mining induslry i s poor. lo I l l i s section the attllrors
(11. the technique w i t h i n m u c h
have attempted lo c l a r i f y some of these conccpts

I h c Illmk mtst pass one of the f u l l ~ w i n gin ~rtkr10 1~ ilssign~tla gradc: 3.9.1 Some .slari,sric.s on rhe orebody
a) Thc block must 1% within R i t of i b com~x,iite.
1)) 'Ilrc block is within R f l of a lint cossecting two c o s ~ ~ ~ s iwhich
l e s arc within 31%ft of each otlrer One of the first thitlgs w h i c h can a n d should b e done i s lo see how tltc grades are
c) Tlrc hlock i r within I< R of a lisc comecling tw, composites that w e within 3 I I fl of it third distrihttted. I t i s tnost easily done b y plottirlg a Itistogram of the t1;tr;t. 'This has been
c~,l,~,ililc~ done in F i g u r e 3.61 u s i n g t h e data f r o m h e t l c l ~5140 CRhk 3.21).
cl) 'The blwk is inridc i t trisnglc ionncd by tltrrc comp,sites, any two legs of which a l e equd to or
T b c overnp gradc g i s calculated u s i n g
less th;m llii t long.

(Mlect ;,I1 assay con,[r~sitcsfor tlic lcrel lhrt are within Sf1 i t of the center 01 thc block.

rosnt the sumlxr of con>p,sitcs bsving chc same lock l y p : us the Mmk. h n x k ryfn: the s;me as thc
block i r rldined as:
a) 'The n r k tylx of the cotnpoitc matches the rock type of the block.
w h e r e IL i s the n u m b e r o f samples nnd g, i s the the i n d i v i d u a l grades. In this case t h e
b) I l t c ~ c c kt y l x of llru h l w k is unknown or sndcfincd. average grade i s

-- 0.47700

(:ompate distawer from the block l a cach cotnparile having a diffc'erent rusk type than thc b l x k . such
that tlic &newdist;mcc would k cquivvlcnt to the two yx~inlsk i o g i n Ute sane rock t y ~I f. the
cqwv:+lesl distmce is less than thc original distance, use thc original distance. 'lhc origin81 distancc
rather tlim tbc cquiwlcnt dista~accwill lx: urcd by thc ininirnum angle scmeuing.

I'or cach assiiy n f ilic mincralizulion mc4xlcl. computc the : q I e ktween each pair of composites having
data for thc assay. Chcck to sec i f the aogle is lcss than a'? I f the angle is less than ao and:
a) thc rock rylx of thc closer composite matches the rock type of the blmk. the ,nore distant cornpmite
is rejected.
b) both coinpsiter match the rock t y l r of the block and only two co~npsitesmatch thc rock type of
r11e block. h l h cun~~msitcs are rctaincd.
C ) t l rock
~ t y ~ xof lltc CIOSC~
cnmpasite matches the rmk type of the blwk. the more clistanl composilc
is rcj:jectcc1.
4) tlre mck lym, of <ocilhcrcornmsilc matches the rock t y m of the block, thc more distant cotntmritc is

-
Thc gradc assignment for the block is compuad as:
c C (~./D?)/C(l/fll)
where 6. is the sample assay value and Di is the equivalent distance to thc i-th campsite.
a) IJnless llrorc is a nonmro compsitc value within or on the bundary of the blusk. i s which case
tlta conqmsite will be used directly.
b) Unless there is only one compsitc, in which case the closest composite from the rcject list having
tlre satnc rock typ: is included. I f so second composite can be found with the satnc rock typc, the
closest composite from the reject list is induitcd.

If the resulting yradc assigcment is zero, it will be inweaced to the smallest nonzero mmber which can
Figurc 3.61. Hislogram reprcsentvlion of the 5140 bench gndes
lsble 3.24. Gnaler from hcnch 5140 iarmnp.ed i n increasing onler

case, one plots lllc ivatural logarithm of the grade (log;) versus cuniu1;aive frcqucncy on
log pobabil~typaper (Fig. 3.63).
It is ohservcd for grades greater than about 0.3% Cu, a straight line can he (itted.
flowever for lower grades, the points fall below the curve. Ilence the siniplc transfor-
mafion of in 9, doesn't yield the desired normal distribution. The next step is to rake the
It has been superimposed on Figure 3.61. If the grade distribution had been truly normal natural log of the grade plus an additive constant 6 and plot h(g; -1- p) on probability
then a hell shaped curve centered around rhe average value would he expected. Here, paper.
this is not the casc. The distribution is skewed somewhat towanis the lower grades. This If the number of samples is large enough, one can estimate (3 using the following
is ternled a negative skew and is quite common for low grade deposits. formula and values from Figure 3.62:
The degree of departure from normality can he checked by plotting the values on
standasd probability paper. First one arranges the grades in order as in Table 3.24. Next
the comsponding cumulative frequency of the grades are calculated using
where m is the grade at 50% cu~nulativefrequency, Jl is the sanrple value conespond-
ing to 15% cumulative Crequency, and Ji is the sample value corresponding to 85%
cumulative frequency.
where i is the i-th observation, n is the total number of observations. and 6, is the In general JI corresponds to frequency P and f2 to frequency 1 - P. In theoq any
cu~nulativefrequency. value of 'I can be used but one between 5-20% gives the best results.
If n is large it is not necessary to plot every point (every 5-111 or 10-th point may Applying this rule, one finds that
be enough). The results are plotted in Figure 3.62. As can be seen, there are departures
from a straight line particularly at the lower grades. For grades above 0.3% Cu, the lit is
fairly good. If the entire distribution is to be represented, then measures must be taken to
convert it into a normal distribution. Two types of logarithmic transformations may be The resulting value h ( g i 4- 0.935) provides a high degree of nonnaliwtiot~to the grade
applied to such skewed (whether negatively or positively) distributions. In the simplest distribution (Fig. 3 . M ) .
 'I'hiz traditional statistical apprvach has treated a11 the s;unples as n lnrge group with
IIO speci;d notice being paid to their relative positions within the gmop. S ~ ~ cattention
li
will bc paid in thc next section.
0.01
0.01 0.1 1 5 10 50 90 95 99 99.9 99.99
Cumulative Probability ( 'b 1

When using invene distance weig1:ting tcchniqncs, the range o! iollucncc of a sarnple
is, i n tlrewy, infinitc. In practice some finite range is assigned. The question arises as
to whether a rrlore quantitative way of determining the effective saniplc range could be
devised? The geostatistical approach dcscribcd in this section provides one way. 'l'he
The use of log-normal distributions introduces complexities which are beyond the basic logic involved will first be described followed by an example.
scope of this book. For instance one should be aware that the grade af 50% probability on If when sampling an orebody, the samples are collected close together, one might
a log-nonual distribution graph, would represent the median - also called the geometric expect the resulting assay values to be similar. On the other hand, if they are collected
~nean- and not tile true (arithmetic) 1r1ea11of the distribution. It will he assumed that far apart little similarity would be expected. In between these two extremes, one would
the grades from bench 5140 can be adequately represented by a norlnal distribution. expect some sort of functio~lalrelationship between grade difference and separation
As can be seen in Table 3.24, there is a large spread or range in the grades. distance to apply. If the function coukl be determined, then the distance (inlluence
'The rnrzgc is from 0.012% to 1.615%. The varinnce s2, obtained using range) at which samples lirst became independent of one another could be found. 'l'he
basic procedure (Barnes, 1980) would be:

1. Decide on separation distances ir into which sample pairs would be grouped. These
is found equal to distances are often called lags. For example. separation distances of 100 St. 200 ft, 300 ft,
CtC.
s2= 0.1351(%)~
Althoogh each lag is thought of as a specific distance, in practice, the lag distance
'The standard deviation (s), which is just the square root of the vasiance, hecomes usually represents the mean of a distance class interval. In other words, the lag distance
of 15 m (50 fr) may represent all pairs of samples falling between 11112 and 19'12 rn
s = 0.368%
(17'/2 and 62112 ft) apart. Such a practice is necessitated by the uneven spacing of
It will be recalled that about 68% of the grades should be contained within g -t s and most samples, especially when computing directional variograms that are not parallel o r
95% within g -+- 2s given a norlnal distribution. nonnal to a roughly rectangular sampling panern.
2. Identify the pairs falling wilbin a particular group. 1:igurc 3.05 illustrates ;I sinrplc
case oS 7 r s;nnplcs scparaled by a const;lnt lag dist;u~ccIL. Vxioos [lairs can he Swored.
'I'here arc 11 - I pairs of distance ILapart, ?L 2 pairs 211 scparnlirrn distance 2h, - 3
pairs scp;t~atcdby Dh, etc.

3. f:alculate the grade difSercnce g, 0, Sol each US the pairs witl~ineach gmup. It will
be found that a distribution of dit'fcrcnccs exists. As was done before, the avertigc, the
variar~ceand the standard deviation could all he c;~lculatcd.A prticular type of variance
defined as

where 74h) is the i~umbcrof pairs i n the grou~)of lag h, s2(h) is the variance for pairs
wit11 lag h, m d g, is the grade at point i of the pair, will be oscd. I'or inathematical
convenience, one-half of s2(h),denoted by the symbol y ( i ) will be used:

This is called the geoslalistical variance or the semi-variance (I~alfof the variance)
In Figure 3.67, the number of data pairs represented by each point is plotted. It is
4. Once values of y have been found for each of the difCercnt groups (called cells), the
irnponant that sufficient pairs are found at each lag in any direction to assure statistical
next step is to plot the results. The plot of y versus average lag h is called a variogrnm significance. Ideally at least 30 such pairs are necessary to compute the variance for
or more properly a semi-variojirr~rn.In tlis book the term variogranr is retained.
each lag in any given direction. Sornetinm in the early sampling stage, it is difficult to
lind enough pairs at certain lags to produce a viable variogranr point, and lesser numbers
5. The final step is to express the relationship Between y and h io some type of useable
may be oscd. A variograrn program that will output a different symbol when plotting
form The value of h beyond which little or no change in y is observed is called the
the y(h) value for all lags having less than 30 pairs is useful for quick recognition of
range of inlluetrce A,.
less reliable points (Barnes, 1980b).
As indicated earlier, it is desired to find the value of h at which y ceases to vary
with distance. This is called the range of influence. Due to the small number of sample
To illustrate these concepts ;m example wing the N-S data pairs in 1:igure 3.45 will be pairs at the higher separation distances, no particular plateau value is observed. If all
worked. In viewing the plan map it is clear that most of the holes are spaced 200 St directions are included (not just N-S), then a much larger number of pairs is obtained.
apart. Table 3.25 summarizes the lags and the number of corresponding pairs. The resulting figure is shown in Figure 3.68. A definite 'leveling off' is observed with
It is found convenient to consider the data in thirteen cells (groups) incremented fro111 distance although thc magnitude of the plateau (termed the sill) is difficult to discern
each othcr by 100 ft. The cells are summarized in Table 3.26. from these data. The variance for the entire set of samples was determined earlier to
The location of the 19 pairs at a separdtion distance of 600 St are shown in Figure 3.66. he 0.1351. It can be shown that this sllould equal the sill. Hence this line has been
The calculation of y(600) is shown in Table 3.27. superimposed on the figurc.
 .l,o cornplete the curve, the behavior in the rcgion of the origin is needcd. For samples
laken very close together ( h r 0). one would expect a difference i n assay valucs due to
- lack of care in sample collection,

- poor analytical precision (limits of analytical precision),

- poor sample preparation, and
- highly erratic mineralization at low scale.
This type of variance would be expected to he present independent of the sampling dis- 00)
tance. Its magnitude is given the symbol c, and it is called the nugget effect. In some texts 0 I I
this pert of the total variance is called the chaotic or unstluctured variance. (Fig. 3.69). 0 240 480 720 960 1200
Log Dls+a"ce (ft)
That portion of the variogram lying between the nugget effect and the sill repre-
sents the true variability within the deposit for the given mineralization. It is called the
structured variance. Pigurc 3.67. nrc resulling N-S variogram.
A straight line extending from the Y axis to the sill has been drawn through the first
few points in Figure 3.70. The value of G (the nugget effect) as read from the curve n "450 ft. In summary:
is 0.02. For the spherical model (of which this is an example), it has been found that co = nugget effect = 0.02
the straight line will intersect the sill at h = 2/3 a, where n is the range. In this case,
c! f q =sill = 0.135
 r:, st~ucturedvaiance - 0.135 0.02 - 0.I I5
A,. = I( = range = 450 St
It is clear that this pmccss call he ;lpplied i n pal-ticular dircctir~nslo ev;lluatc arrisotn~pi~
behavi<rr (or val-iatio~ti n rmgc, with dilcction). The lag lr wr~nld11;tvc ;In nss~iciate~l
direction and thus become ;I vcctor quantity denoted by I;. Vwiagranrs are prepared for
tach type of inlincraliz;~tionwithin ;I deposit.
7 ' 1 1 ~evaluation process can hc stop[~edat this point. 'Tile rcqoircd value of I< = A,.
can be ~ ~ s in e dpolygon, inverse dislancc or other scliemcs ibr tonnagc-grade calculation.
On the otber band the variog~~rn which reflects grade v;~risbilitywith dist;~ncecan he
used to develop weighting cocflicie~rtssimilar to the a,'s descrihcd earlier with respect

Lng Dlstnnca <ft)

to the inve~sedistance metl~od.This pmccss which is called kriging will be dcscribal

in Section 3.10.

t:ignrcs 3.71, 3.72, and 3.73 arc real experimental variogran~sgenerated from three
difl'crent types of deposits (Barnes, 1980). The slow steady growth of y Crom zero in
Figure 3.71 is characteristic of many stratigmphic and stratiform deposits with fairly
uniform ~rrineraIiz;~tionhaving a high degree of continuity. Figole 3.72 was generated
I n m porphyry-copper deposit data wherc mineral vcinlets, changes in suuctural inten-
sity, and other discontinuous features created a signilicant nugget effect due to changes
over very short distances. Beyond the short range cffects, however, y(h) shows a fairly
uniform growth curve and rcaches a plateau at the sill of tile variogram that is the overall
variance of all the samples.
The experimental variogram of Figure 3.73 is illustrative of a total random effect found
in some gold deposits. The mineral continuity is nonexistent, and the samples appear
to he cornplelely independent no matter what the distance between them Gcoslalistical
ore reserve cstimation techniques cannot make any contribution toward evaluating the
deposit l~avinga pure nugget effect sincc no regionalized clement is present.
The change of variance with distance between samples can he read directly iron1
the hand-drawn curve fitted through the expcrimcntal points. For computer calculations
however, it is necessary to have an equation which describes the curve. The three
n-,r

Chaotic
r ,L
I. n n,~+n
~m~rrry
models given in Figure 3.74. (as well as others) have been used to approximate the
actual variograms.
,Ilr*ll,rl,,,,,r Both the linear model and the De Wijsian model, which will produce a straight line
Lag Distance <h) when the lag h is plotted to log scale, imply that yfh) increascs inlinitely with increasing
distances. Experience has shown that both models often accurately fit experimental
Figure 3,69 Diagrammatic rcpresesralion o f a spherical vnriogrum. variogram data ncar the origin, but break down when h becomes large.
 0 33 60 90 IZO IM 180 210
Distance ( f e e t n 10 )

(c). The Sphorlcal Modal

&O l?Q 160 ~a ~m $0

Dkstance ( f e e t )

The spherical scheme is defined by the formula

The spherical model or Matheron model, as it is sometimes called, is one in which the
variograrn reaches a finite value as h increases indefinitely. This finite value, referred \CI -kc0 when h >a
to as the sill of tire spherical variogram, is the overall variance of the deposit and is
where c i +g = y ( m ) and is called the sill value, q is the nugget effect (usually present),
readled when the grades are tjr enough apart to become independent of each other
and a is the range ( a = A, = R) or maximum zone of influence.
and act in a random manner. 'l'he spllcrical model lras become the most imponant one
and many practicing geostatisticians have adopted it as an almost universal model. The
model has been found to adequately represent such diverse deposits as iron ore bodies, 3.9.5 Quant$cation of a deposit ihrougli variograrns
porplryry-copper deposits, stratibound lead-zinc deposits, bauxite and lateritic nickel, as
Dames (197Yb, 1980) has summarized very nicely the types of quantitative information
well as uranium and phosphate deposits. This model will be the only one discussed
provided by variograms.
hrrther in this text.
(a) A measure of co~rtinoityof the mineraliz:~tion:A rate of incl.casc of y(h) nenr the
origin imd for s~nallvalues of I1 rellects the rate at wliich the inllucncc of a s;~mple
ilccreases with incrc;~singilist;r~sefrom the sample site. ?'he growth curve rlemoestr;~tcs
the regionalized element of the sample, :rnd its smooth stenlv increase is indicative of
the degree of continuity of ~ni~~emlization.
'The intcrscction of the curve with the origin --
ve me:tsure of the n u ~ a e t
c k c t of the samplcs from which the variograrn has been generated and indicates the
rmgnitude of the r;~ndomeleorent of the samples.

(b) A measure of the :ma of inllucncc of a sample: The zone of inlluence of a sample is
tlre distance or range in any direction over which the regionalized element is in effect.
When samples rcach a point far enough apart so as to have no influence upon each other,
we have est:~blished the range or zone of inlluence of the sample. 'She quantilication
of tlic range or zone of inllucncc i n various directions has i~nporlaot;~pplications in
lllc design ;wl spacing of development drill holes within ;I deposit. 'l'hc total zone of
inll~~cncc is indicated by the point at which the y(A) growth curve reaches a plateau,
relkrrcd to i n the spherical scheme as the sill.

(c) A me:tsurc of mineral trend or mineral anisotropy of the depasit: 'She fact of mineral
;~~risatropisnri n various types of deposits has long been recognixd. 'l'he rmge of inllu-
cnce of :I s:~mplcis greater along the strikc or trend of the deposit than it is normal to where go is the grade to be estimated, g, are the known grades, alrd a, are the weighting
trclld. Most of the time, another ;~nisotropismis evident i n the vertic;ll dirncnsion. Prior functions.
to the variogram, there was n o satisfztctory way of determining the three-dimensional As was discussed earlier, the inverse distance method is also of this form 'l'he c ( d -
area 01. inlluence of a sample. With the simple process of computi!ig v;uiograms in licicnts would he
different directions as well as vertically, one can readily dctcrminc not only the min-
cralngical trcnd hut the nl;lgnitudc 01' the directional cllanges in t l ~ ezone of influcncc.
Knowing qua~~titativrly itre mineralogical range in three dimensions, it is relatively sim-
ple to assign directiorial anisotropic factors that will give proper weighing to samples
relative to ll~eirlocation from the point or block being evalu;~tcd.For example, if the The distance weighting factor rn is olien chosen equal to 2.
mnge of inlluence along the trend is twice as great as the range normal to trend, one In the present case, we have a curve (a variogram) which expresses the variance as
can multiply the distance in the oorm;d direction by a factor of two to restore gcornctric a function of distance. That curve can be used to calculate the total estirr~atedvariance
isotropy in terms of the major trend direction. of the grade go for different combinations of the ai coefficients. The hest estimate o l go
is that for which the variance is a minimurn. A powerful advantage of this technique
over that of other techniques, is that the variance is calculated as well as the estimated
3.10 KRIGING grade. The problcnr tllerefore hoils down to finding the a; coel'ficicnts. Such a set of
coefficients must be calculated for each point requiring a grade assignment in the region
under consideration. Therefore the use of a high speed computer is a definite requirement.

Prirrr to going into detail, it is perhaps worthwhile to review the objective and to suoi-
3.10.2 Corrcepr development
marize the approach to be taken. The overall problem (shown in Fig. 3.75) is tbat of
assigning a grade go to the point zo knowing the grades g; at surrounding points z;. For the example shown in Figure 3.75 there are six surrounding grades, hence an cqualion
The objective can be simply expressed as that of determining coeficients a,'s which of the fonn
when multiplied by the known grades g, and the resulting products summed will yield
a best estimate of the grade go, The equation developed is called a linear estimator and
has tlre form is being sought.
Since six coefficients a t , a2, a3, a&, as. and ag must be found, at least six equa-
tions containing these six unknowns must be developed and solved Although values of
variances y read directly from the variogram can be uscd directly in this process, it is As can be seen, the total variance consisls of three parts:
Ibunil more convenient to use mvorirrr~cmu. The covariance is related to the vari;urcc - 'She covariance of lhc unknown grade with itsclt As we lravc just sceo, this is eyunl
as shown in Iiigure 3.76. to (ql i.cl) which is the sill value ;uid is constant.
Whereas y (the variaece) is the distance betwec~~ the X axis and the curve for a given -- Tltc weighted cov;~riancebetween the rrnk~iowngrade and each of tlrc other sarnplcs.
lag h, tlie covariance at h is the distance hetween the curve and the sill q,i - cl. 'l'hr covxiance can he computed hctwcai the point and each of the sampies f m ~ nthe
Kt a lag distance of y(ho) = y o and the covariance is variogrnm since llie distance is known. The wciglrtiog coeflicients o, are onknown.
- The weighted covarianccs bctween each of the knowl~saniples. 'Shcsc can be coln-
puted frolo the variograrn since the dista~~ces are known. The weigbliog coeflicients a ,
For h = 0 (just at the location of the sample itsell) the variance of the sarnple with itself which apply i n this region arc unknown.
y is obviously equal to zero, y(0) = 0. 'The corresponding covariance (IT) of the saniple As stated earlier, the objective is to minimize u: by a proper choice of tlie coeflicicnts
with itself is f~iundeither from the curve or using the following equation a,. Similar to linding a minimun~in many other typcs of engineering prohlcnis, to dr,
this one lakes ;I derivative, sets the resulting equation equal to zero, ;~ndsolves ihr the
unknown. I:or a system of equations soch as this, partial derivatives with respect to each
'l'l~osy(0) is just tlie sill valuc. For samples taken very close ( h == 0-1) hut not at the of the unknown coefficients are taken, tlre resulting linear equations set equal to zcro,
saruplc, thc value of the variance y(0-t) jumps to the nugget lcvel q1and similarly the and solved for the coefficients.
covariance becornes Taking partial dcrivativcs of Equation (3.35) with icspcct to a , one 1i11d.sthat

whicli is the true deposit variability. At the range of sarnple inllucnce (a), y(a) =
,:I I and the covariance becomes n(a) = 0. The rcason fix using covarianccs in
14mnola (3.35) rather than the equivalent galnma values is due primarily to linczu pro- In this case, a constraint is irnposed on the n,'s to erlsurc that the grade estin~;~tion
is
grm~mingcomplexities (Ihvid, 1977). lo any case, this is a very simple substitution unbiased. 'This means that on tlre avcrage, rlrc computed grade shoold hc equal to t l ~ e
and as such should not prcsent understanding dimculties to thc reader. real grade ;old not systerrvalically highei ur lower. This constraint is written as
i'he equation for the total estimation v;uiance a; written in terms of the covariance
is givcn below

It says si~nply,that the sum o l the weighting factors should equal one. In this new
problem of minimizing : a in the light of a constraint, a special mathematical procedure
involving 1,agrangc niultipliers is used. A rreatnienl of this is beyond the scope of this
where o,,,,, is the covzuiancc bet wee^^ the grade at the point and itself, a,,,,, is the
book, and only tlre two rcsultirrg equations will be given:
covariance between the point being considered (xu) and the saniple point zi,a,, a, are
the weighting coefficients, u=,,, is the covariance between sarnplcs z, and z,,and 4
is the total variance.

x u , =1 (3.38h)
,==I
where h is the Lagrange multiplier. h r n grades, there itre T L ~ I -I u n k n o ~ n s( a l . . . . ,a,,, A).
Equations (3.38) supply the needed n -I- 1 equations. Once the a,'s have been found, the
estimated grade is

The csti~natcdvariance can then be found substituting thc value of A and ax's into
I I
I
ho
I

I'igure 3.76, llie reliltionship k.

L B ~
~ i = + a n ~ e ( h > tween variance and covariance.
'I'lius this process provides what the irlverse distance squared and other estirrration proce- -

C
Entire
-- Level
dures do not, a measure o f t h e confidence associated with the assigned grade. It will be
recalled that the actual grade would be expected to fall within tlrc range of the average
0.30
i l standard deviation 68% of the time (and within f2 standard dcviations 95% of the
time) if [!re sarnple distribution is symrnerric.

Thc concepts just described will he illustrated by sm example. 'The grades corresponding
to points r l , . . . .xs in Pigurc 3.75 are given in Table 3.28. I:w tlic sake of this example.
only points t,. 1 2 and :c, will he uscd. Hcnce it will be desired to find the equation

go = a191- 1 a 2 9 2 -Ia w (3.41)

wllerc ul, n2, nl arc tlre wciglrting coefficients. A spherical variogmu~liaving tlrc Sol-
lowing values:
qI = 0.02 qI + cl - 0.18 = sill
1 = 0.16
a = 450 St

h;~s heen found to descrihe the deposit (Hughes XL Ilavey, 1079). l'l~is variogrsrm is
shown in Figure 3.77.
'l'l~e rcquired distances arc first found ('I'able 3.29). Next the corrcspo~~ding
values of
Ihc variance 7 are found using tlrc general Sorlnulas

Su!)stituting the given values into the above equations yields

(0 if IL = 0

I I : 141, one finds that

' 3 c resultirrg values sire summarized in Table 3.30.

In the analysis, the covariances a defineti by
C-37 q = 0 320
C-25 g2 : 0.230 c , i c! ifh.10
(1.26 q, z ~ : 0833 IT =.
C-27 q4 =. 0.453
C-IS I,( -- 0.8M arc uscd.
: (to k detcnnincd)
~ ,~~
~ ~~~~p~
, ~ The cov:~rianceUIII col~espondingto n lag hol of 141 ft (yal = 0.0927) is
1 -= 0.16 -1- 0.02 -- 0.0927 = 0.0873
 (1.5 i n* i a3 == 1
One is now faced with solving 4 equations with 4 onknowns. l'lte ;Inswers arc:
(GI --
0.61 I
2 - 0.212

-
0.177
-
113

A 0.008(19
'l'he eslimatcd grade is

'l'he estimation vwiancc is given by

'She covariances ;we summarized in Table 3.31.

The basic kriging equatit~nsarc:

deviation (SD) is thc square root of the estimation vari;lnce or

'She sta~~danl
1:ol t h ~ sexamplc, they become
'She iokrested reader is asked to estimate the grade at zo using all 6 sonounding points.
'The ;iliswers arc:
nl =~0.263

-
n2 = 0.326
a3 0.167
a d . -0.0355
Expanding one linds that
as = -0.0372

y,
-
no :-= 0.3 18
A -0.00023
=: 0.480%
SD = 0.307%
A kriging cvaluatioo of level 5140 was perfor~i~eil by f luglrcs Kr Ihvcy (1079). I'lrc
variogr;lms along strike (N 45" W to S 45" E) and pcrpcndicul;~rto strike (S 45" W to
N 45" I:) arc shown in (Fig. 3.78).
'i'he n ~ i c sused by liughes Kr lhvey in the intcrpolatiot~x c :

Along Strtk?

0.30
C, = 0.015
1.L C , = 0.20

0.10

Departure
Distance ( f e e t )

250 St radios oS influence

along strike
ql - 0.015 a = 450 ft
I -.0.20
- pcrpenrlicul;rr to slrike
= 0.01 n = 400 St
q =-7 0.16
'The results are shown in Figure 3.79.

3.10.5 Block kriging

In the preceding sections lhe discussion tias been on point kriging. mock values can
0 1 I 1 1 1 be esti~rratedby considering the blocks to be made up of several points. The values at
0 200 400 600 800 I000
Distance ( feet ) the points ;we calculated as hefore and by averaging them, a block value is obtained.
I'arkcr & Sandcfur (1976) have lmwcvcr shown that only a small error results when
I:igure 3 7 X 'SIX cxperimesral variogr;ms ior trncl~5140 along rtrikc arul nonnd 10 slrike (Ilogbes & Uilvcy representing the grade of an entire block by a point. Hence the added effort rapired in
1979). block kriging may or may not be warranted.
 ll;tmcr. MI,. I97'J;8. Case study - oic-lmly s , ~ ~ l eatl iSacillon ~ ~ ~ Mine, Annma. Is: (ialarcr Mrdtoils irr
r l w 811; ( A W&s. c~litorj:2hX~115.Ncw Ywk: SMh~AlMli.
Hmnes, M.1'. 19701, l>iill-lmlc i c ~ l e ~ r l ; ~ t i o lirlis,alisg
s: inincral inventory. I n Oprrt I'ir Mine I'lnn,~in$ mil
IJrrig,~( I T O;twfanl & W.A. Ilurtnrlid, editors): 65~80.SMI?~AIMI;.
IIames, M.1'. I~JXII.C.'innput~
10,gieecrs el' lllc AIMI:.
llm IWX. N W. llJIW Uzc l.imml~~n~.s of I'opdor '/~~lt!tiqcerfi,rl ' r c p r ~ ~ ~ l ~R~c w
c lriw~ i~i n. ~ h w ~ m
i mM~i n i n ~ .
Sdt 1.akc Cily, U ' l M. ilwncs m d As$wi;ttcs, Inc.
Illais. J. IO85 l'crsoa;~l Cwruwuicslias. I'orlrln. Colordo: Cl'kl Steel Ccqmmion.
C t l l . 1<.0 1'17'J L)cuclop~nec~l drilling. Is: Oprn I'ir Mirrr Plnaning nrwl rii.s,ga ( J T Crawfonl & W.A.
I l a r l i ~ t l ~cd~twj:
tl, 2%40 Ncw Yoik: SMII-AlMI1.
('rirc l / i , ~ r ~ ~o,al r i r i Moiwd, in Mirteml Reiowcr l<vuluolion (A.17. Aonelr, cditm). IWZ. I.mdon: T h e
(;wtq$crl Scxicty.
<~'l~er~icc. 'XI'. I'J6X. A rcpnrt o o ll>c( ' e r e s c ~ ~l<idgc cilcnrion of lllc Climm Mdylnlenite I ~ e p r i t MSc. .
I-lughcs & h v e y (1979) have suggeslcd the f b l l o w i q pmhlenrs are c o m m o n l y associ- 'l'lwis. Utlivcrsily of Mi61aesot;t
ated wit11 the use o f the k r i g i n g technique. C'librk. 1. 197'1;1. I h m gcost;ttistics work? Is: Idrh AlY'OM (1:J O'Neil. edilor): 213~225.SMA.
Cl;wk. I. IV7'JO. I'rtrl-licnl (icorrori.rlir.s. 1.aorlon: Applied Science I'ul,lishcrs.
I. Vitriograms d o n o t accttrately represent the mineralized zone because o f inarlcqoslc
<'l;trk, J.W. 'TI<( ' c n m m . W.C. I)ixan & KI). Wiley. 1084. (jcologic ;and gearr;~tisiic:~l ;~pplicalinnsto $ n > i r x
data. pnnlacric,n ;at I~tspin~lioi~. I'rcscnted at tlic SMI7~AIMI:Fd1 Mccliug Ilcwer. O h r a d o Oct. 24~26.1984.
2. Mathcrnaticnl ~ n o d c l sd o n o t accurately l i t tllc v;triogram data, o r v;n-iogrsms lrlwe l'reprmt 84-381
heen i m p r o p e r l y intcrprcled.
3. K r i g i n g is iilscnsitive lo variogram coeflicicnts.
4. C'ottrpotational p n ~ b l e m sa n d expense are associated w i l l t repealetlly i n v c r l i n g large
Ilmdbor~k
<:I<<: ol Chr,n,.sm and Pl,vr,cr. 1991-1992. 72nd Edition 1D.K l.ide. edilorin-ChicH: 414.34,
mittliccs.
5. 'I'he nralrix i t i v o l v c d i n l i n d i o g rlrc caeflicicnts swnelimcs tends t o b c ill-conditionctl.
'l'lris tr~cansthat for certain geontetrics, k r i g i n g doesn't w o r k well. SINW, IAS v c p . NV. oct. 1 1 ~ 1 41982. .
6 . 'l'here ;ire problems associated w i t h w e i g h t i n g coefficieols. Ihglxcl, M. k M IJrvid 1977. I'rcdicting wwirliing inns t d o m pnxlucliot~rtans or r r w l l b l x k s are cmr
~ H hiX plitoning
I i n p q d ~ y r ytype dcpsits. I'rcscntcd at the 1177 A l M l i Aonual Mcctisg. Atliists. <;A.
Swict" 01 MI+; 1ioginecl.i of AIMI': prsprmt nuntlm 77-A0~83.
lhvicl. M. & A. ' h h 1 W J G ; ~ l ccontrol pr&len,s, dilution and gcnstatirticr: (hmsing tlx rcquirccl qwdity
and i~onctxiof samplcs for grade cotltml OM IJallerbr(911)82(1 I): 53-60.
Ihhle 3.32 shows a c o n r p a i s o n of some of the rnetlri~dsdescribed i n I l l i s c1t:tplcr ( I l u g h e s Ilavid, M. 1'171. Cieosetisticnl orc reserve calculittioss, a step 11). ssp c:ee m d y . 1)rririmr Mcrkinji i t r rhr
& D a v e y , 1979). T l r c decision as to w h i c h ~ i r e t l r o i lt o apply to any p,wticular deposit M i r i r r d 1,idu~rry.CIM Swcial Volume 12: 185~191.
evaltration i s left lo lire user, and w o u l d cerkainly depend o n the deposit, t h c dacr avail- Ihvid. M 1972. Grade-tonnnsx curve use and misuse io ore rescrve cs!ite;ltion. lio,>.r.bnl. Min. M ~ m l l .
;hie, sample density, the type of rcsulrs required, the required accuracy, and the amount
o f t i ~ n e ,money, a n d energy th;~t one is w i l l i n g t o cxpcnd o n thc e v a l u a f i o t ~o f ;Ispecific
deposit.
As indicated b y H t l g l ~ c sk Dnvey (1979), tlrcre arc p m s and cons w i t h each inelbod.
M a n y i n n o v d t i v e designers h a v e combined what lhey consider the hcstof various tech-
n i q u c s t o l l ~ c i rparticular application. T t i e inverse distance weiglrling rules described
b y l l u g l r z s ((r l h v c y (1979) in Table 3.23 actually arc ;I combinnlion of inverse dis-
tance a n d geostatistical methods. A l t h o u g l t the discussinn herein llas been restricted t o
two-dimensional examples, tllree-dinlensional applications, especially w i t h 11x a i d of
cornpukrs, are quite pr;stical and generally result i n a hctter interpolation of tlle de-
posit. T h e r e also i s n o question that the incorporation o f geologic data ( v a r y i n g r o c k
types, faults, etc.) i n t o the grade assign~nentprocess is essential for generation of the
most accurate ~ r i o d e of
l tlre deposit.
C'HAIYI1:R 4

Geometrical considerations

The ore deposits being nrinai by opcn pit techniqoes torlay vary considcra1)ly in size,
shape. orientation and depth helow t l ~ esurface. The initial surlace topograpl~iescan vary
Sro~~i mountain tops to valley floors. In spite of this, there are ;I nomber of geometry
basccl design and planning considerations f~lndao~ental to them all. ' n ~ c s care the foct~s
of this chapter. By way of introduction cor~sirlcrFigure 4.1 wl~ichis a di;tgr;umuatic
repsescotntion of 21 volume al the earth's surface prior to :lnd niter thc dcvclop~~~ent of
:ln open pit mine.
'l'hc orchody is mined from the top down in a series a l l~orizoot;~l hyers o l uniforni
tl~ickrresscalled benches. Mining starts wit11 the top bench and after ;I sul~licicntlloor
:1rc;1 bas i~ccnexposed, mining of thc next laye; can bcgin. l'l~cprocess conticues until
the bottom bench elevation 1s reached and thc final pit outlinc achieved. 'lb access the
different benches a road or ramp must be crcatcd. T l ~ cwidth and steepness of this
r m p depends upon the type of equipment to be accolrrmudated. Stable slopes must be
crcatcd and maintained during the creation and operation of the pit. Slope angle is an
iniportant geometric parameter whiclr has significant economic irnp;lct. Open pit mining
Etch bench has an uppcr 'and lower surface separated by a distance If equal to
is very highly mec11ani.zed. Each piece of mining machinery has an ;tssociated geometry
the bench height. The exposed subvertical surfaces are called the bench faces. They are
hot11 related to its own physical size, but also with the space it requires to operate
described by the toe, the crest and the face angle u (the average angle the face rnakes with
cfliciently. ' k r e is a complementary set of drilling, loading and hauling equipment
the horizontal). The bench face angle can vary considerably with rock characteristics,
whiclt requires a cenain amount of working space. This space requirement is taken
lice orientation and blasting practices. In most hard rock pits it varies from about 55"
ink) account when dimensioning the so-called working hcnches. I:roni both operating
to 80". A typical initial design value might be 65". 'This should he used with care since
and economic viewpoints certain volumes must or slrould, at least, be removed before
the bench face angle can have a major effect on the overall slope 'angle.
others. These voluntes have a cenain ttlinimurn size and an optirnum size.
Nom~allybench faces are mined as steeply as possible. However, due to a variety of
It is not possible in this short chapter to try and fully cover all of the different geo-
causes there is a certain amount of back break. This is defined as the distance the actual
lnetrical aspects involved in open pit mine planning and design. Iiowever, the general
bench crest is back of the designed crest. A cumulative frequency distribution plot o f
principles associated wit11 the primary design components will be presented and when-
ineawred average bench face angles is shown in Figure 4.3.
ever possible illustrated by examples.
The exposed bench lower surface is called the bench floor. The bench width is the
distance between the crest and the toe mwwred along t l ~ eupper surfxe. The bank width
4.2 nASfC BENCH GEOMETRY is the horizontal projection of the bench face.
There are several types of benches. A working bench is one that is in the process of
The basic extraction component in an open pit mine is the bench. Denclt nomenclature being mined. The width being extracted from the working bench is called the cut. The
is shown in I'igure 4.2. width of the working bench Wu is defined as the distance from the crest of the hench
 Bench Face Angle Figure 4.3. Cumulative frulscncy distribution of m a .
(deg.) sured lxnclt face artglcs (Call. 1986). During primary extraction, a safety bench is generally left on every level. The width
varies with the bench height. Generally the width of the safety hench is of the order
oC 213 o l the bench height. At the end or mine life, the safcty benches arc sometirnes
reduced in width to about '13 of the hench height.
floor to the ncw toe position after the cut has been extractcd (see Fig. 4.4). A detailed Sometimes double benches are left along the find pit wall (Fig. 4.6). These are benches
calculation of cut and working het~chdintensions is found in Subsection 4.4.5.After the of double height which consequently permit, at a given overall slope angle, a single catch
cut has been removed, a safety bcnch or catch bench of width Sn remains. bcnch of double width (and hence greater catching capability). Along the tinal pit corltour
The purpose of thcse benches is to: careful blasting is done to maintain the rock mass strength characteristics.
(a) collect the material which slides down from benches above, In addition to leaving the safety benches, berms (piles) of broken ~~iaterials are often
(b) stop the downward progress of houldcrs. constructed along the crest. These senre the function of forming a 'ditch' between
 I n sonre Ixge open pits today rrredian bcrnrs .?re also crcated in the center of haulage
roads. In this book the word 'berm' is usul tc, refer to the piles of rock inaterials used
to inrprove mitre safety. Others have used the word 'herm' as heirig synooynroos wit11
.
..-....,
l,1~111~11

I n the extraction of n cut, the drills operate on the upper bench surface. 'I'hc loaders
and trucks work off of the Bcoch lloor level.
A number of different factors influence the selection of bench dirncnsions. Bench
height hecomes the basic dccision since once this is lixed the rest of the dimensions
follow directly. A common bench height in today's large open pits is 50 St (15 in). 1:or
smaller pits the valuc might he 40 ft (12 m). For small gold dcposits n typical value
could be 25 ft (7.5 in). A general gikleline is that the hcncli height should he matched 10
the loading equipment. When using shovels, the benclt height shonlil he well withi11 the
~n;~xi~nurn digging height. For the 9 yd capacity shovel showtt in 1:igore 4.9, it is seen
that the m;txi~numcutting lreigltt is 43'6". Hence it could be oscd with 40 ft henchcs.
A" -
mneral rule of thurub is that thc bench heiaht should not he crcater th;tn that of. the
slrcavc wl~ecl.Operating in benches with heights grcatcr than this sonatinrcs result in
overhangs which cndanger thc loading and other operations.
Figure 4.10 shows typical reach heights for sl~ovelsand front end lo;tdcrs as a function
of bucket size.
At one lime, hench heights were limited by drilling depth. Modern drills have largely
rcmovcd soch restrictions. Ibvever, in large open pit mines, at least. it is desirable to
drill the holes in one pass. This means that the drill must ltave a rrrnst height suflicienl
to accon~rnodatethe bench height plus the required sublrill.
A deposit of thickness ?' can be cxtractcd in nrany ways. 'l\vo possihilitics are shown
in liigrm 4.1 I:
(a) 3 bcnchcs of height 50 ft.
(b) 6 benches of hciglrt 25 it.
I'igere 4.7. C'alcl~txnch gfonlelly (Call. 19x6) lligher and wider bcnches yield:
- lcss selectivity (mixing of high and low grade and ores of different types);
- morc dilution (mixing of waste and ore);
- fewer working places hence less Rcxibility;
- flatter working slopes; large machines require signilicanl working space lo operate
efficiently.
On the other hand, such benches provide:
- fewer equipment setups, thus a lower proportion of fixed set up time;
- i~npmvedsupervision possibilities;

the berm and the toe of the slope to catch falling rocks. Based upon studies of rock
falls made by Ritchie (1963). Call (1986) has made the design catch bench geometry
reco~rirncndationsgiven in Table 4.1 and illustrated in Figure 4.7.
A safety berm is also left (Fig. 4.8) along the outer cdge of a hench to prevent trucks
and other machines from backing over. It serves much the same function as a guard rail
on bridges and clevated highways. Normslly the pile has a height greater than or equal
to the tire radius. The berm slope is taken to be about 35O (the angle of repose). ~.
...... .. ...~...
............ ......
.~....,.......
. . .......
... ....
~

.. . Figurc4.8 Safcty k m l s at k n c h edgc

 Shovel Working Range
Dipper Capacity (Nominal) cu, ydr . . . . . . . . .
Dipper Capacities (Range) cu. ydr . . . . . . . . . .
Length of Boom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
E f f ~ t i v lmglh
e of dipper handle . . . . . . . . . .
Overall length of dxpper haodlc . . . . . . . . . . .

Thrce dimensions will vary slightly depending upon dipper selection

Anglc of hoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A Dumping height - nmxitnum . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A1 1)umping height a1 maximum radius - BI . . . . . .
B Dumping radius at maximunl height - A . . . . . . I;igaic 4.10. Height of reach 4,s a function of bucket sizc
BI Dumping radius - maximum . . . . . . . . . . . . .
0 2 Dumping radius at 16'0' dumping height . . . . .
-
D Cutting height maximum . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
E Cutting radius - maximum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
G Radius of level floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
E Digging depth helaw ground level - ~ ~ i n l u .m .
I Clear.aranceheight - boom p i n t sheave . . . . . . .
J Clearance radius - boom point sheaves . . . . . . .
K Clearance r a d i u - revolving hame . . . . . . . . .
L Clearance under frame - lo ground . . . . . . . . .
M Clearance hcight top of house . . . . . . . . . . . .
MI Height of A-frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
N Height of boom foot above ground level . . . . . .
P Distance - boom fool to center of rolation .....
S Overall width o l machinery house & operating cab
- higher m i n i n g mornentun,; larger blasts mean that m o r e trlatcrial c a n b e handled a t
T Clearance under lowest point in truck frame . . . .
U Operator's cyc level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a g i v e n time;
- efficiencies a n d high productivities associated with larger machiocs.
Figure 4 9. Uiagramnmlic representalion of a 9 yd' shovel (Riese. IW3). 'I'lie steps w h i c h a r c followcd w h e n cotnidering bench geolnelry are:
(1) Deposit characteristics (total tonnage. g r a d e distribution, value, etc.) dictate a ccr-
lain geornelrical approach a n d production strategy.
 (2) The pn~ductionstrategy yields daily ore-waste production rates, selective mining
i~ndblending require~iic~~ts, numbers of workilig pl;~ces.
(3) '1'11e production requirements lcad to a certain e q u i p ~ ~ ~set
e ~(Ileet
rt type and size).
(4) llacll cquipn~cotset has a cenain opti~norn;rssociatcd gconretry.
(5) liac11 piece of equipment in the set bns ao associated operating geometry.
(6) A rmgc of suitable hench geo~nctriesresults.
(7) Consequences regarding stripping ratios, operating vs. capital costs, slope stability
aspeas, ctc. are evaluated.
( 8 ) The 'best' of h e various alternatives is selected.
In tlle p;rst when rail hound yuipnlent was hcing extensively used, great attention was
paid to hcnch geometry. Today highly mobile rubber tircdlcrawler inounted equipment
Ins reduced the detailed evaluation require~nentssomcwlrat.

One nf tlre topics which is little writtcn ahout in the inining literature is gaining initial
physical access to the orcbody. How does one actually begin the process of mining? Ob-
viously the approach depends on the topography of the surrounding ground. To introduce
the topic it will he assumed that the ground surface is ilat. The overlying vegetation lras
hcen rerirnved as has the soillsandlgravcl overt~t~nlc~r. In this case it will he assu~licd
tlrat t11c orebody is 700 ft in diameter, 44 11 thick. 1Ia1 dipping and is exposed hy reniov-
ing the soil overhurdem The ore is hard so that drilling and blasting is required. The
Bench mining situation is shown in Figure 4.12.
A vcrtical digging face must he cstahlished in the orcbody helorc rnztjor pmduction -3rd
I
I
Blast -
I 2nd
I
I
I
1st Blast -II
cnn bcgin. 1:urrhermore a ramp must he created to ;~llowtruck and loader access. A drop
cut is used to create the venical breaking face and the ramp access at the sanle time.
Bec;~osevertical blastholes are heing fired without a vertical free face, the blast condi-
tions are highly constrained. Rock movement is primarily vertically upwards with only
very limited sideways motion. To create satisfactory digging conditions tlre blastl~oles
are nonnally rather closely spaced. Here only the geometry aspects will be emphasized.
'To access the orebody, the ramp shown in Figure 4.13 will he driven. it has an 8% grade
and a width of 65 11. Although not generally tlre case, the walls will he assumd verti-
cal. I b reach the 40 ft desired depth the ramp in horizontal projection will be 500 ft in
leogtll. 'Tlrerc is no general agreenlent on how the drop cut sl~ouldbe drilled and blasted.
Some companies drill the entire cut with holes of the same length. The early part of
the ramp then overlies blasted rock wlrile the final portion is at gradc. In the design
shown in Figure 4.14 the drop cut has beeu split into tlrree portions. Each is blasted and .I, the clearance radius of the boom point sheaves.
loaded out before the succeeding one is shot. Rotary drilled holes 971s" in diameter are C , llre nraximum digging radius of the level floor, and
used. The minimum hole depth is 15 ft. This is maintained over the first 90 ft of the E, tlie rnaxirnum cutting radius
ramp. The hole depth is then maintained at 7 ft below the desired final cut bottom. A are of importance. As can be seen from Figure 4.9, these are:
staggered pattern of holes is used.
The rninin~u~n width of the notch is controlled largely by the dimensions of the loading
machine being used. In this example, it will he assumed that the loading machine is tlie
I< -
J = 40'0"
I 9'9"

9 yd3 capacity shovel shown diagrammatically in Figure 4.9. C: = 35'3"

In the generally tight confines of the drop cut the following shovel dimensions:
15 = 54'6"
I<, the clcarar~ceradius of the revolving frame,
'The minimutn width of the drop cut is given hy

Minimum width I( - 1 .I
I n this C;ISC i t is

Miiiir~~um
width -.= 19'O" t 40'0" = 5'1'9"

This is sr~ctithat both the frolit and reas pollions of tlte inacllinc car1 clear the banks on
the two sides as it revolves in tile digging and dumping rnodes.
The nraximnni digging radius of the levcl floor is used to indicate the ~ ~ m x i ~ t l o ~ i
drnp cut width for the shovel working alrmg one cutting path. 'l'l~c ~iiaximumv;lluc
is that which the sl~oveldipper (hucket) can hc ir~oved11ori~~1nt;illy outw;~rd,tllerehy
;~cco~nplishing floor cleanup.
'I'hc m;~ximumwidth of tlrc cut at ftoor lcvcl would bc

Maxi~riumcut width (floor) =2 35'3" . 701(,"

'l'lic n~axii~rii~o
width o f t h e cut at crest level would Ire

Maximu~ncut width (crest) = 2 x 54'6" - 109'

In p c t i c c the cutting width for the shovcl moving :tlong one path is rcl;itivcly tightly
constrained by tlre shovel dimensions. In this case:
Minimum cut width (crest) 11 60 fi
Maximum cut width (floor) 71 it -
Maxi~norncut width (crest) = 109 f!
I:or typical cut slope angles 0160 lo 80". the rnnxi~i~u~n
cut width (floor) is the controlling
dimerrsion. When tile cutting path is clown the ccnter o l the cut and the shovel is digging
to both sides tlie maximum floor and minimom crest radii would he
Mnxirnum floor r;idios = 35'3"
Minimurn crest radius = 40'0"
In any case, for laying out the blasting nrund and evaluating minimurn pit button1
di~nensionsone wants to exceed tlie mininu~rnworking space rcquirenrents.
1:igures 4.15A ll~rouglr4.15D sliow tlic mioinium nuor hottom geometry when the
shovel moves along the two cutting paths. 'The loading would lirst be li-om one bank.
'I'be slrovel would then ritove over and lond from the other. Tliis would be considered
very tight operating conditions and would he used to create a final cut at the pit bottom.
The usual drop cut is shown in Figures 4.16A through 4.16C wliere the shovel moves
along (lie cut centerline and can dig to both sides. It will be noted that the shovel must
swing through large angles in order to reach the truck.
In both cases the working bench geometry at tl~isstage is characterized by craniped
operating conditions.
Two locations for the drop cutIranip will be considered. The first (casc A) is entirely
in the waste surrounding the pit. It is desired to have the floor of the ramp at the
bottom o f ore just as it reaches the ore-waste contact. This is shows diagramniatically
 wl~creIiIY is the avclage ramp width, I 1 is the bench I~cight,and y is the ro;ld grxle (%).
In this case it becomes
1 (40)' x 100 x 65
Itamp volume I - = 650,ONl ft'
2 8
This waste innst bc excavated and paid for before any ore can he rcm~vcd.However
in this arrnogement a11 of the ore can he removed. If it is assomcd t11;1t the orchody can
be extracted wit11 vertical walls, then the ore volurtre extracted is
nLI2fl n
Ore volume = - - - (700)' x 40 = 15.400,000 ft'
4 4
Up11 entering the orebody mining proceeds on an ever expanding front (Fig. 4.18).
As the front expands thc number of loading machines which can effectively operate
at the same tirne increases. Hence the production capacity for the level varies with timc.
Figure 4.16. Mioirnunl width drop cut geometry with shovel moving along centerline. In sun~maryfor Ibis ramp placement (case A):
(road) = 650.000 ft3
Waste re~~mvcd
Ore extracted = 15,400,000 ftl
in Figure 4.17. The volume of waste rock mined in excavating the ramp is % ore extracted -- 100%

Ramp volume = -1 H --
1M)Ff Another possihility (case D) as is shown in Figure 4.19 is to place the ramp in ore ratller
Rw than to place the ramp in waste rock. This would be driven as a drop cut in the same way
2 g
as discussed earlier. ' h e volume excavated is obviously the same as befiire hut now it is
 ore. Since the lnateri~dis ore i t car be prr~ccssedand t11ercl)y p ~ o l i l sare rcslizcd c:wlicr. Ilat section having a lengtlr of 200 ft lras been l e l l i n this ex;imple between the decline
I'mm the ramp bottom, the extracliorr front is grodu;llly increased in length (l:ig. 4.20). segments. 'l'lic r;mp has a corkscrew shape and t l ~ ecoils get tighter and tighter as the
Ohvioosly the disatlvanlagc is tlrnt w l i c t ~nrining is cwrrplctctl ;I quantity CI ore ren1;rins pit is decpeoetl. Rather srsm i n this exarrrplc, the pi1 would re;rch ;I h a 1 depth simply
locked I[I ill the ramp. 'l'his qoantily is cqlt;ll trr the ;tlno~rlrtof w:lste extfi~ctedi n case A. hcc;insc thc r ; q I ahsorhcd all of 111c available working space.
'l'lrus tlic two i~nport;int points I n he made wc: h vwtical scc!ion I~I~CII tIir0!1g!1 the l i d pit wit!? !!K orebody ruprri~irposrriis slrown
- I f tlrc haul road is ;~ddcdcxtcrn:d to t l ~ cp l a ~ i ~ spit d hoolidarics, tlreri an ;aldition;~l in 1:igrirc 4.25. 1?1r Illis particular design where only the initial segment o l the ramp is
quantity o l material equ;rl to the v o l t ~ n ~ofe the mad IIIUSI he cxtfi~ctcd. ill waste, ;t I:!rgc porlion of the urehody is slerilizcd. The ;tmount o f waste re~iiuvcdis
- I f the htrul road is d d e d illtern;~ll a the original p l m t ~ c t Ix~ond;~rics.
l then ;Iquantily ~ r ~ i n i m i n xhl ,~ w c v c r .
o f ~ l ~ ; l t c r i aequal
l to the road volume nlust be left i n phce. An alte<native design is one where the ramp is underlain h y waste ;~nd;ill ol' the ore
R;~thcr tlinn ;I straight ro;~ds ~ ;is~ is hs!1ow81 in c;lsc A, one might 11;1vc consideral is r o ~ ~ o v c r'lb l . make this coostructiot~onc slats tlie road dcsign at the l o w ~ sbench l
a curved road such as shown in p1i111in 1:igurc 1.21. Wit11 IIIC e x c e p t i ~ nof the f i n d and works hick i l u t 'I'lris exercise is left to the reader.
portion. the nml is enlircly d r i v c l ~ill waste, l'lrc road coltld bc ~11;scdso tI1;1t the 'we' f l i c actu;tl design w i l l generally bc somewbere i n between these two altcnlalives with
IeI1 is i n the poorest grade. tlic uppcr 1p:wt oC the ramp underlain b y waste and tlie lower part by 'oie'.
Assun~eth;rl tile pit is not I h c r ~ c highl ~ lhl i ~ ~ s t c aconsists
tl o f 2 h c ~ r c l ~ cssr d r as i s
shown i n Figure 4.22. The idea is obviously to drive thc tamp d o w r ~to the w e level
;lnd est:rhlish the desired production mtc. 'l'l~cn while i r r i r ~ i ~is~ rlt~dcrway
g or1 level I,
the r m p would be extended in ore to t l ~ clower level as s l ~ u w nin 1;igul-e 4.23 t h r o ~ ~ g l r
tlrc use o f a drop cut. A l l o f the ore lying below the r;twp is o l ~ v i o ~ ~sterilized.sly I:or
;I multi-bench operzitiol~,llre procedure contin~~es S
I; slrown i n Figutc 4.24. Note that ;I

Ramp 3

200'
I'ipm 4.25. Section view ~bowingi l l ~sierilira~ionof r c s c ~ v eby mmp.

'l'bc excwation may start wit11 attacking tllc ore lirst so that the cash llow is improved.
1.atcr during the mine life, thc wastc will he stripped as the ini~inaccess is gratlually
moved outward.
I n sun1rn;lry:
- there can he considerable volumes associated with the niain r;mp system;

- the location o f the r;imp cllai~geswit11 tiiue;

- in the upper levels of the pit, the ramp is undcrl;~inby w;~stc;in the lower ranges it

is ~rnderlainby mineral;
ci~sliflow considerations are signilic;mtly ;~SSectcdby r a n ~ pt i ~ n i n g
tllc stripping ratio, the percent extraction and the overall cxtr;~ctionarc :;troogly
afiectcd simply hy the haul road geonietry (mad width and road gr;rlc).
1 h i 1 cuts are used on every lcvel to create a new bencli. 1:igores 4.26A throngh 4 . 2 6 0
slww the steps going from the current pit bottoln through the mining out of tile level.
Often thc rarrip is extended directly off of the current ramp and closc to the cxisiing pit
wall. This is shown in Figure 4.27. A two lcvel loading operatino is shown isometrically
in Figorc 4.20. The ramp access to both levcls in this relatively siruple example is easily
seen.
There are many examples where the orebody lies in very rugged terrain. Figure 4.29
shows diagr;~~~unatically one possible case. Here the entry to the orehody is rnade by
pushing back the hillside. Bench elevations are lirst est;~blishedus shown o n the figure. In
this casc the bench height is 50 ft. Initial benches are cstahlisl~edhy makir~gpioneering
cuts along the surface at convel~ientbench elevations.
If tlrc slope is conrposed of softer material, then a dwzer can notch it without further
assistarm (Fig. 4.30). For harder rock types, ripping prior to dozing [nay be enough.
However if the rock is hard or the slope is steep, drilling and blasting will probably be
necessary for the pionecr cut. Generally air track types of drills are used. 'They can reach Figure 4 2 6 Plnn view of an nclual pi1 hottorn showing dmp cut and mining expansion (McWilli~sts.1959).
and drill in very difficult places and can tow tl~eirown air compressors/gcnerators.
As shown 111 Figure 4.31 a shovel can be usccl instead of a dam for notching a
slope. 'The notch is enlarged by taking successive cuts until the full bench height is
't'hc final pit outline for this section is shown in Figure 4.33. The reader is encouraged
achieved.
to consider the pit development sequence and the point where drop cuts would be
Once these initial benches are established, mining of the full faces with vertical blast
used.
holes proceeds. Obviously the upper henches have to be advanced before the lower ones.
Figure 4.27. fintension of the cunent ramp close to tllc pit wall (McWilliams, 1950)

4.4 THE PIT EXPANSION PROCESS

4.4. i lnrroducrion
When the drop cut bas reached the desired grade, the cut is expmded laterally. Fig-
ure 4.14 shows the steps. Initially (Pig. 4.34A) the operating space is vcry limited. The
trucks nlust turn and stop at the top o f the mmp and then hack down the ramp to- I:igurc 429. Dcpasil lkrated in mountainous fenain
 Turn
& Bock

Turn
& Back

Turn
& Bock

wards the loader. Wl~enthe pit bottom has been expanded sufficiently (Fig. 4.340). the
truck can turn around on the pit booom. Later as the working area becomes quite large
(Fig. 4.34C) several loaders can be used at t l ~ esame time. Thc optimum face length
Figure 4.32. Shovel cut sequence wllen initiating t ~ n c h i l l gio s hilly remin (Nicltols, 1956). assigned to a machine varies with the size and type. It is of the range 200 to 500 ft.
 Once access has been estahlislred the cot is widened ulrtil [Ire entire l~encl~llcvellras
been extended lo the l)cncl~limits. 'I'here arc thrcc ; ~ p ~ n m h whicl~
es will he discussed
here:
1. l:ro~rtal cuts.
2. Parallel cuts - drive by.
3. l'arallel cuts --turn arrd h;tck.
'I'lle lirst two apply wllen there is a great deal of working area availnhle, for examplc at
llre pit bottom. 'l'lre nlioing o f more 11;trruw henches on tllc sides of the pit is covered
under notnhcr three.

The fn~nt;tlcut is shown diagratrrlnatic;~Ily in Figore 4.35.

'Slrc shovcl l x c s the hench I':scc : r r d hegins digging forward (straight ahead) and
to the side. A niclre is cot in tltc lnnk wall. I:or the case s11ow11,douhle spotting of
the trucks is used. 7 ' 1 1 ~ shovel first loads to the lcft end w11cr1 the truck is lull, he
p r ~ c e c d swith t l ~ ctruck o n the right. 'She swing angle varics frorn a waxirnurn of
about 110" to a nrinimom of 10". 'She average swing mgle is ahout 60" hence the
Imdilrg operation is quite efficient. There must he morn Sbr the trucks to position them-
selves around the shovel. The sl~ovelpenetrates to the point ll~atthe center of swing
is in line with tile facc. It then moves parallel to itself end takes ar~otl~er frontal cut
(1:ig. 4.36).
With a long facc and sufiicient bench width, more tlrao onc shovcl c:ol work the same
Sicc (Fig. 4.37). A fill-in cut is taken hetween the irrdividual k ~ c cpositions (Fig. 4.38).
From the shovels view point this is a highly ellicierrt loading operation. l'hc trocks Inust
however stop and back into positiun,

Figure 4.37.Two s l ~ ~ eworking

ls llte same face.

I'igurc 4.35.Iliagrammatic representation of a fmnlul cutting o ~ r a l i o n .

Figure 4.38.Fill-in culling lo complete the face.
Anothcr possibility when the niirie geometry allowa is the parallel cut with drive-by.
This is shown diagrammatically in Figure 4.39. 'The shovel moves across and parallel to
thc digging face. For this case, bench access for the haul units must be available from
both directions. It is highly efficient for both thc trucks and thc loader. Although the
average swing aoglc is greater than for the fronval cut, the trucks do not iiave to back
up to the shovel and spotting is simplilied.

'l'he expansion of the pit at the uppcr levels is generally accomplished using parallel
cuts. Due to space limitations there is only acccss to the ramp from one side of the
shovel. This means that the truck approach the shovel from the rear. They then stop,
turn and back into load position. Sometimes there is room for the double spotting of
trucks (Fig. 4.40) and sometimes for only single spoai~lg(Fig. 4.41).
Pit geometry is made up of a series of trade-offs. Steeper slopes result in a savings
of stripping costs. On the other hand they can. by reducing operating space, produce an
increase in operating costs.
Figure 4.42 shows the single spotting sequence. 'Truck 2 (Fig. 4.428) waits while the
shovel completes the loading of truck I. After truck 1 has departed (Fig. 4.42C), truck 2
turns and stops (Fig. 4.42D) and backs into position (Fig. 4.42E). While truck 2 is being
Pinure 4 4 1 . Parallel cut will) the sinslc smminn of trucks
 I:iguw 4 4 2 . ((:orxinard).

'I'hc iloublc spotting situation is shown in Figure 4.43. T~wck I is first to he loaded
(17ig. 4.43A).
Truck 2 arrives (Fig. 4.438) and backs into position (Frg. 4.43C). Whe~rit is just in
posiilon tlrc shovel has completed the loading of truck 1. As truck 1 departs (I'ig. 4.43D)
rhe shovel begins the loading of truck 2. As truck 2 is being loaded truck 3 arrives.
It turns (Fig. 4.431;) and backs into position (Fig. 4.431:). As truck 2 leaves the shovel
begins loading truck 3 (I'ig. 4,436). With this type of anangcment there is no waiting by
the shovel and less waiting by the trucks. Thus the overall productivity or this system is
higher than that for single spotting. The sequencing is unfortunately quite often not as the
theory would suggest. Figures 4.43H and 4.431 show two rather typic;~lsituations. 130th
of these can be ~ninimizedthrough the use of an efkctivc com~nunicationsldispatching
system

Cut 30' 7 4.4.5 Minimum required operatirig roo~nfor parallel curs

In the prcvious sectioi~the physical process by which a pit is expanded using parallel
I'igurc 4.42. l i m e sequence showing shovcl loading with single spotking. cuts was described. In this section, the focus will be on determining the amount of
operating room required to accommodate the large trucks iuld shovels involved in the
loading operation.
The dimension being sought is the width of the working bench. The working hench
loaded tmck 3 arrives (Fig. 4.42F). The process then repeats. In this situation hoth the is that bench in the process of being mined. This width (which is synonymous with the
trucks and the shovel must wait causing a reduction in the overall productivity. term 'operating room') is defined as the distance Crom the crest of the hench providing
the floor for the loading operations to the bench toe being crcated as the pwallel cut is
f'igsw 4.43. lime sequence sl~owingslrovel loading with double spatting. Figure 4.43. (Continued).

heing advanced. The minimum amount of operating room varies depcnding upon whether Thc easiest way of demonstrating the principles involved is by way of example. For
single or double spotting of trucks is used, with the lamer obviously requiring somewhat this, the following assumptions will be made:
more. The minimum width ( W D )is equal to the width of the mini~nurtircquired safety - Ber~chheight = 40 ft.
bench ( S n ) plus the width of the cut (Wc)being taken. This is expressed as - A safcty berm is required.
- The rllinin~unlclearance between thc outer truck tire and the safety berm = 5 ft.
- Single spotting is used.
- Bench face angle = 70".
 - Loading is done wit11 a 9 yd' B E 155 shovel (spccilications givcrr in Fig. 4.9).
- tIaulage is by 85 ton capacity trucks.
- Truck widtl~= 16 ft.
- Tire rolling radius = 4 ft.
The general arrangement in plan and section is shown in Figure 4.44 'She dcsign shows
that:
Working bench width = 102 ft Figure 4.44. Section and plan views ttmugh a working bcsch.

Cut width = 60 ft
Selety bench width = 42 ft
Thc basic calculations (justificalion) behind tlrcse numbers will now hc presented

Slep I . A safety berm is required along the edge of this bench. As will be discussed in
Subsection 4.9.5, the height of the berm should he of the ordcr of the tire rolling r ad' us.
For this truck, the berm height would be ahout 4 fl. Assuming that the material has an
angle of repose of 45", the width of the safety berm is 8 (1 (see Fig. 4.45). It is assumed
that this berm is located with the outer edge at the crest.
-t W=8' ---------j Figure 4.45. Sirrlplitied reprcscnmtion of a safety k m l .

Step 2. The distance from the crest to the truck centerline is determined assuming parallel
alignment. A 5' clearance distance between the safety hernl and the wheels lms been
(a) Shovel centerline to truck centerline. This is assunled to be the dumping radius
used. Since the truck is 16 feet wide, !lie centerline to crest distance a)
is 21 feet.
( I ] ) at waxinrum height,
S(ep 3. The appropriate shovel dimetisions are read from the specilication sheet (Fig. 4.9):
 (h) 'l'he maximo om dumping height (A) is more than sufficient to cle;~rtl~ctruck,
A - 28 St
(c) TIIC lcvcl floor radius dimension (G') is tile maximoln distance from the slirlvel

'I'lris will he used as the msxirnurn shovel centerline to toe distance.

Slq1 4. The desired working hencl~dimension hecomes

birr, = Y:; I I) I - C - 21 + 45.5 + 35.25 E 102 St
Slcp 5. 'She corresponding width of cut is now c~tlculated.In this c;lsc it has heen
assutncd that tlre shovel moves along a single path p;e;rllcl to the crest. lnform;~tion
f ~ o mt l ~ cshovel marrufacturcr suggests that the m;~xirnomcutting widtl~(WC:)may he
estilnated by
Sfel, X. 'She cur dimension should he co~nparctllo the drilling and hlasling pattern being
~ ~ s e tInl . this p;~ticnlnrcase the holes arc 12114 ins. i n di;meter ( I ) , . ) ;ind ANFO is the
explosive. lising ;r common rule of lhumh, the 11nrden (11) is given hy
'I'his applies to the width of the pile of broken material. 'l'hcrcfore, to allow h r swell
nod throw of tlie ~rralerialduring blasting, ll~edesign cut width sl~ouldbe less than this
valuc. Ilerc ;I value 01 60 St has been assn~ned.
The hnle spxing ( S ) is equal to the hurtlcn
S I ~ 6.
I Knowing the width of the working bench and the cut width, the ~csultingsafety
Ilcnch has a wid111
'l'htrs !wo cows 1,f holes are appropria:~for this cut width.
A s o ~ ~ ~ c wsirnplilicd
l~at apploach has been applied lo the ma!ter of dcterniining work-
'T'his is of the order of the bench height (40 St) which i b ;I rule of thumb so~netimes ing licnch width. 7'hc complications arise wllen one ex;~minest!~e best width from an
employed. overall cconolnic viewpoint.
As will he discussed in Section 4.5, the working bench is generally one of a set of 3 to
S l q ~7. Some check calculations are made with reg& to other dimensions. 5 t~cncl~cs being mined as a group. The others i n the set each have a width equal lo that
a) The rnaxim~~rn cutting height of the shovel of ;I safety he~~cli. As the cut is extracted, the remaining portion of the working bench is
reduced to a safety hench width. Since the width of the working bench is approximately
equal to t l ~ ccombined widths of the others in the set, it has a major impact on the
is grcater than the 40' bench height. Thus tl~esliovel can reach to the top of tlre bench overall slope ;nrgle. A wider working bench means that the slope angle is flatter with
lice for scaling. the extra costs related to earlierl~norestripping, hut the equipment operating eflicicncy
b) The nlaxilnurn shovel cutting radius (13) is is h i g k r (with lower related costs). On thc other hand a more narrow working hench
would provide a steeper overall slope at the cost of operating efficiency. Thus, there arc
I5 = 54'6" = 54.5 ft
other factors, beside those related to equipment geornetries, which must be considered.
Since the maximum radius of the level floor (C) is
G = 35'3" = 35.25 ft 4.4.6 Cut seyumcbrg

the flattest bench face angle which could be scaled (Fig. 4.46) is In the previous section the terms 'working bench,' 'cot' and 'safety bench' were intro-
duced. These will now be applied to a simple example in which a 90 ft wide cut IOOO ft
Slope = tan-' 40 = 64.3" long will be taken from the right hand wall of the pit shown in Figure 4.47. As can be
54.50 - 35.25 seen tlie wall consists of 4 benches. The entire hench 1 (RI) is exposed at the surface.
Thus the shovel can easily scale the 70" bench face Benches B2, U3 and 0 4 are safety benches, 35 St wide. The process begins with the
 'Shcrc arc a nomhcr of 'slopes' which enter into pit design. Cere is needed so that there
is ino conrusion as to how they are calcul;rtcd and what they mean. Onc slope has already
hccn inimduceti. 'Rial is iiic trench face ar& (Fig. 4.50). it is defincd as :lie aiig!c iiiade
wit!] the horimntal of the line connecting the toc to the crest. This dcfiniiion of the slope
Figure 4.47. loiliiil geomelly for tl,e
push back ex;~~eple.
going froin the toe to the crest will he maintained throughout this hook.
Now corlsidcr the slope consisting of 5 such benches (Fig. 4.51). 'l'hc angle made
with the horizont;d of the line connecting the lowest most toc to thc uppcr most crest is

Bench 1
tower s u r f a r e ( C i o o r )
Berrch ?
/' Bench 3

..--. I'igun: 4.50.Safelyk n c h gcomerly showing k n c h

-I Cu., face angle.

~~-..

....
~~
~~~ ..... ...
~

Bench 2
Bench 3

drill working off the uppcr surface of 81. The holes f h n i o g the cut to be taken from
I31 me drilled and blasted (Fig. 4.48). The shovel then moves along the floor of bench
B f (upper surface of B2) and loads the trucks which also ttavel on this surface. The
working bench has a width of 125 ft. When the cut is completed the geonietry is as
shown in Figure 4.49. The cut to be taken from bench 2 is now drilled and blasted. The
sllovel moves along the top of bench 3 taking a cut width (Wc). A portion of bench 2
retnair~sas a safety bench. The process is repeated until the bonorn of the pit is reached.
The shovel then moves back up to bencl~1 and the process is repeated. If it is assumed
that the shovel can produce 10,000 tonslday, then the overall production from these 4
b e ~ ~ c h eiss 10.000 tonslday. The four benches associated with this shovel are referred
to as a riiinc production unit.
 3 X >U
4 x 35 1- :--
tan 75"
IS as is shown in Figure 4.52 no access rat11p with a width of 100 St is located hall way
up bench 3, the overzill pit slope beco~rlcs

As c ~ ben scen, the presence of the lamp on a given section Iras an cnorrnous impact
on tltc overall slope angle.
,~
1 he ramp breaks the overall slope into two portions (Fig. 4.53) which c;ln each he
descrihctl hy slope ;ingles. These angles are c;rlled interl-;imp mgles (betwcco-the-raorp
angles). In tlis case

'l'ltc interramp wall height is 125 ft ibr each segment. Generally the intermmp wall
heights and angles for the different slope segments wor~ldnot be the same. Frorrr a slope
stal1ility viewpoint each interramp segment would he c x m k c t l scp;rrately.
Wltilc active mining is ~ ~ ~ i d ~ r w
sonic
a y . working bcnches woold bc iltcluded in the
(wefill1 slope. Figure 4.54 shows ;I working bench 125 11 i n width inclndcil as bench 2.
'SIK ovel-;dI slope angle is now
5 x 50
ta~i
(3 ~: So =~3 6 . W
125 4 - 4 ; 35 + -.
tan 75"
Tire working bench is treated in the smie way as a ramp in terms of interrupting the
slopc. The two interramp angles are shown in Figure 4.55. In this case
(-)ln, - 75"
200
= tan-' -
(31~~ == 5 1.6"
3x35t7
tan 75
Tile urterramp wall heights are

For this section, it is possible that the ramp cuts bench 3 as before. This situation is
shown in Figurc 4.56.
The overall slope angle has now decreased to

@ .= tan^-' 250
, xm
1 2 5 4 - 3 x 3 5 + 1 0 0 t ----;
= 32.2"
Figure 4.53. Interramp slope angles for Figure 4.52.
tan 75
 I'igurc 4.56. Overall do* angle with one working im~cl,and a n m p section

I'sgure 4.57. intenamp slop angles for a slope containing a working k n c h and a ramp

Segment I :

As shown in Figure 4.57, there are now three interrarnp portions of thc slopc. The
interramp wall heights and angles arc:
Segment 2:

In 17igrrre 4.57, lllc overall slopc is sliowl~Lo conL;iin o ~ sworking bench. Under some
ci~cunrstancesthere may be several working hcnchcs i~~volveil in the mining of the slopc.
Vigure 4-58 shows tllc casc of a slope with 6 he~lcl~es ol'wlriclr two ;,re working benches
125 St i l l width.
The overall (working slope) is given by

(4 :tan-' 300
-
3 x 35 -I 2 x 125 t -=100
- -
34.6"
tan 75"
'The slope associated will1 each slrovcl working group is shown in Figore 4.59. I n this
citsc it is

If tlrc number of working benches is increased tu 3 for tl~esl!)pe containing 6 bcnchcs,

l l ~ eoverall slopc would be funher reduced. Thus to maintain reasonable slopc angles,
m ~ s rrrincs
t have one working bench ibr a group of 4 to 5 benches.
At the crld of mining it is desired to lcave the linal slopc as steep as possiblc. Some
of the salcty benches will be reduced in width while uthers may he climinatcd entirely.
Fur linal walls, a bench width or approxitnatcly 113 o l tl~cbench height is comrnooly
used. For this example with a bench height 01' 50 1.1, the bench width becomes 17 ft.
'l'hc final pit slope angle, assuming no rarrlp is ncedcd on this wall (Fig. 4.60). becomes
250
(3 (final) : tan-' 250
~~.
p- 61.6"
-
4 x l7+
tan 75"
If the final bench faces could have been cut at YO" instead of 75", then the final ovcrall
pit slopc anglc would be
250
O (final) = tan-' ------ = 74.8"
4x17
It is much more likely that Lhc final face angles arc 60" and the safety benches 20 ft
wide. Tlris gives
I'ilyrc 4.60. 1:isal overall pit slope.

Although much regarding final slope angles has lo do wit11 rock structure, care in blasting
can make a major impact.

4.6 PlNAL PIT SLOPE ANGLES

During the early feasibility studies for a propscd open pit mine, an estin~ateof the safe
slope angles is required for the calculation of ore to waste ratios and for the prelin~inary
pit layout. At this stage generally the only structural information available upon which
to hasc sucli an estimate is that obtained from diamond drill cores collected for mineral
evaluation purposes. Sometimes data from surface outcrops is also available. How well
these final slope angles must be known and the techniques used to estimate them depends
upon the conditions (Table 4.2) applicable. During the evaluation stage for categories
M and C , the best engineering estimate of the steepcst safe slope at thc pit limits in
each pit segment is used. Since the information is so limited, they are hedged with a
contingericy factor. If the property i s large and has a reasonably long lifetime, initially
the exact slope angles are of relatively minor importance. The cffect of steeper slopes at
the pit limits is to increase the amount of ore that can be mined and therefore increase
thc life of the mine. The effect of profits far in the future has practically no inlpact on
the net present value of the property.
 Before Mining

After Mining

Ground Surface

During the pre-production period and the first few years of production, the operating Potential Failure
slopes should however be as stecp as possihle while still providing ample bench roonr
fix oplirnum operating efficiency. Tlrc minimiz;ttion of stripping i ~ tthis stage has a
tiorirontal Open P i t
signilicmt effect on the ovcrall economics of the oper;ttion. 'The working slopes can
tl~errbe llattcncd until they reach the outer surface intercepts. Steepening operations
then conrnreocc to acllieve the linal pit slopes (llalls, 1070). Cases ilo occur wlme thc
viability of an orebody is highly depcndcnt on llre safe slope mglc hat can he maintained.
Special rncasures, including the collection of drillholc data simply for making slope
dclerminations are then taken.
'There are a number of cxccllcnt references which deal in great detail with the design of
pit slopes. In particular Rock Slol~cCr~gbreeringby :lock & Bray (1977), and the series
of publicstions developed within the I'ir Slope Munrrrrl series produced by CANMET
should he mentioned. This hricf section focusses on a few of the urrderlying concepts, encountering adverse structures (faults, dykes, weakness zones, etc.) within these zones
;~ndpresents some curves extracted lrugely from the work of Hoek (1970a, 1970b) which iocrc;lse as well. Finally, with increasing pit depth, the relative sizes of the individual
mity he used for making vely prelirnirrruy estimates. structural hlocks making up the slopes become s~rvallcompared to the overnll volume
involved. Thus the failure mechanisol [nay change from one of stnlcttlral control to one
4.6.2 Geomechunical background controlled by the characteristics of a granular mass. Figure 4.62 slrows the four lilajor
types of failure occur in an open pit. In this section the discossio~lwill cotlccntrate
Figure 4.61 shows diagrammatically the horizonval flow of strcss through a particular on plnoar failure along major structures and circular fi~ilure.
vertical section both with and without the presence of the final pit. With the excavation
of the pit, the pre-existing horizontal stresses are forced to flow bencath the pit bottom
(and around the pit ends).
'The verlical stresses arc also reduced througl~the removal of the rock overlying tlre Planar failure along various types of discontinuities can occur on the henclr scale, inter-
final slopes. This means that the rock lying between the pit outline and these flow lines is ramp scale and pit wall scale (major fault, for cxarnplc). Bench face instabilities due
largely destressed. As a result of stress removal, cracksljoints can open with a subsequent to tlre daylighting of major joint planes means that the overall slope must be fiatlened
reduction in the cohesive and friction forccs restraining the rock in place. Furthermore, to providc tlrc space required for adequate safety berms. The final slope is made up
ground water can more easily flow through tl~esezones, reducing the effective normal of flattened bench faces, coupled with the safety bcrm steps. The design slope angle
force on potential failure planes. As the pit is deepcncd, the extent of this destressed may he calculated ollce an average stable bench face angle is determined. Since one
zone increases, and the consequences of a failure becomes lnorc severe. The chances of is concerned with final pit wall stability, the analysis in this section applies to a major
 su-octllre occurring in the pit wall, althougl~the same type of analysis applies on the
smaller scale as well. figure 4.63 shows the dilnensions and hrces in ;I rock slope with
a potential failure planc. The Mohr-Coolomb fnilure criterion 113s bccn osctl.
The firllowing delinitions apply:
i is the average slope angle front horizontal (degrees),
(3 is the angle of the discontinuity from the horizontal (degrees),
W is the block weight.
R is the resisting force,
c is the cohesion,
11, is the friction angle,
IV cos p is the nornval force,
W sin p is the driving force,
A is the area of the failure plane.
The factor of safety (Is') is dclined by

1,' .~~'htal1&ceforcetending
available to resist sliding
to induce sliding ~~~~

1:ur the case shown in Figure 4.63 (drained slope) Equation (4.1) becorr~es

1,' = c.4 I W cos 6 tan $

W sin (3
If there is wntcr present, then the factor of safety is expresscd as

1,'
c.4 + (WWsmB
cob p - U )tan 4,
I V

where I/ is the water pressure along the potential failure surface, cb,, is the friction angle
(as affeclcd hy the water), and V is the water force along the potential sliding planc.
I'igurc 1.62. llre most common slope failure tyjrr (ttuek & i h y . 1977)
Typical values fur the cohesive strength and friction angles of soils ant1 rock are given
in Tzblcs 4.3 and 4.4. As the height H of the slope increases the relative contribution of
the cohesion lo the total resistance decreases. For very high slopcs, the stable slope angle
approaches the friction angle 6. Hoek (1970a) bas presented the relationship between
slope height and slope angle functions for plane failure in a drained slope given in
Figure 4.64.
Assume for example that the average planned slope angle i is 70", the orientation of
the potential failure planc (3 is 50" and the friction angle 4, is 30". Thus
x = zJ(i - @)(p- 4) = 2v'EZG = 40"
From Figure 4.64 the slope height function Y is read as

Knowing that

Ihgurc 4 6 3 Dtmenstons and forces in a ruck s l o p with a plenttal falure plane ( H w k . 1970a)
 'lkhlc 4.3. Cuhesive strengths for 'intact' soil and rock (Roknron, 1971).
~ ~-~ -~ ~

Material description c (Iblft2)

~ ~ ~~ -~ - .... -~ -.
Vcry r o l l soil 35

r o l u t l o n for
S M nrck
1.0.4
I l i m l mck
Very hard rock
1 0 " . 0 , 40"
Vcry very Imrd rock

'Llblc 4 4. I'riction angles (degree) for typical rcxk s,ale~als (lioek, 1970n)
-~ ~
.-
1:rrk laact n x k $ Joist 4r

Andcsite 45 31-35
13arirlt 48-50 47
Clulk 35-41
Ihritc' 53-55
(iraoite 50M4
(iraywacke 45-50
1.inrcslone 30-(fl
Monmnife 48-65
f'orpltyc y 40
Uu:inzite 64 44 slope angle function X = 2 j( i - P )( P - 4 )
Smrisamc 45-50 27-18
Scltisf 26-70
Shale 45-64 37
Siltst~ns 50 43
Slate 45-60
~~. ~

Olher materials Approximam 4,

- .~

~- If the plar~nedpit depth is 500 ft, one could determine the limiting (I,' - 2 I ) pit slope
Clay gouge (rcrnouldcd) 10-20 angle. 'The slope height function is
Calcitic shear lone material 20-27
Shale fault material 14-22
l l i t r d rock breccia 22~30
Curnpvcted hard rock aggregate 40
Hanl rock fill 38 F n m Figure 4.64 one finds that

Solv~ngfor i yields
the limiting ( F = 1) slope height I1 wit11 such a structure passing through the toe is
found using
'I'lic general family of curves corresponding to various safely factors is given in Fig-
ure 4.65.
The question naturally arises as to what an appropriate safety Sactor might he? This
Thus
depends on the confidence one ha? in the 'goodness' of the input data and also on the
function of the structure. Jennings & Black (1963) have provided the following advice:
 302 Open pit mine pla~inirrgrrnd iie.sign: I..un~/~~ine~~tals Geotnetr-ical considerutions 303

meu.srrrenrent ojthe sherrr strength of the ,nnteriul.s on thi.7 surfizce rmd the estimatiorr
of rhe iwter pressures in tlte soil porrs a~rdin m y /i.s.srrrc!.s olong the .srcrf(rce.

I f one were to select a safety factor o f 1.2 for the previous example, one finds that for
Y .. 50, X - 13.5. 'l'hc slope angle hecorr~es
i -: 54.6"
'l'be exarnple applies for the very special case of a drained slope without a tension
crack. Oftcn a terxion crack w i l l be present and Illere can be a variety of different

Slope Angic Function X Slope H e i g h t Function Y

A - dralned slope 8 - no tension crack

C - normal drawdown D - dry tcnrion crack

Slope Angle Cunctmn X

t - I,or8zantal water flaw F - water-fatled tendon crack

For permanent srructures, such as earth dams, F should not be less than 1.5 for the
most critical potentialfailure surface, but for temporary cofurructiurrs, where engineers
are in continual attendance, a lower factor muy be accepted. In civil engineering work,
construction facrors of safety are seldom allowed to he less than 1.30. An open pit is a
'construction' of a veryparticular type and it is possible that a factor of 1.20-1.30 rnay
be acceptable in rl~iscase.
The conjidcnce placed in any v d u e calculated us the factor of safety of a slope
depends upon rhe accrcracy wirh which the various factors involved can he estimated.
I'iguce 4.66. Slope angle and slope height functions for different water and rcnaion cnck conditions (lfoek.
The critical items are the selection of the nrost adverse .surface f i r potential failure, the 1970a).
 -Ll!l!qcts SI! ano~dw!01 m p ~ o11! .s ~ n o q ~Lq!
Su!ual~e~ a~lnbalLeu1 adop x a ~ u o 3e 'pueq Iaqlo a q ~u o . ( a I n ) e ~ n jo s sn!plu al!u!ju!)
IFM ~qS!el>su ~ o ueq~ j ~ a d a a ~.Ss qSue rrlqs a{qe~se aheq LFUI '1q8!aq 3 d q s aq) SF
apnl!uSeru jo laplo aims 3141~0s! a ~ n ~ ejo~ sn!pci n s Iewoz!loq aql a q m 'adols aAusuoo
v .sasXpe ~eueldaql Aq palsa88ns ieql UIOIJ saa18ap s Lp~ew!xo~ddvjo sanua~ajj!~)
adois len!~un u! 11nw ue3 uuld U! adois aql jo alnleNn3 1eq1 slsa88ns (c0~61)qao11
~asuels!sa1~[euo!ln!~j p3sealou! aql 01 anp alqels alow am sadols aqJ. .saue1d asnl!e,j
17?!1~310dSSOISU SSallS lCtlllOU 3111 3SI?3JJll! t[J!IlM SaSSaSIS [BJalEl a ~ ! s s a ~ d u ~3311p11! o n 01
spual adols aql jo adeqs q m ayr 'i!d aq, jo suo!~~od ane3uaa JOJ. . u d o ues swalsk
w!or len!uan pun saun[d alnpvj le!~ualoct sso~ous s s m [vur~ou3\11 U! 110!13np3.1 I? 01 3~1.1
an@ sassans 1vsa1~1 JU UO!ICXP[~S a q , ~.sado[s a[qeisun UIOIJ iajjns Alluanf~a~j (11d art1
olU! Inn 23!lS 401qM s~sOU)l\CM l!d e 10 $~0!1lOdX 3 h U 0 3 31~1E13]!\ 3111 1110IJ 31<lI![!l:Al!
s! Lug!qe~s uo amcnmn ileh\ ~ ! djo 133jja aql uo uo!~cu~~oju! an!ll:~!iu~:nf>
all,!l L.ta,j
'(1L.P 3JnsI:)) S U O ! ~ J OI~I l ? h U A l ! 3 U 0 3 PUI! X 3 A U 0 3 lllOq Q~I!u!\:Juo~~110!).10d3hl!q J(1
SaIIon pauanu! jo m.rl>jaql ayl!l u?uo sl!d r l a d ~.sa3!ls [eao!suarn!p-om~ LO pair?u~!xnldda
aq ul!n 113!1{A\ SIIO!I31S 1 1 1 : ~l!d 0 1 pa!lddu 3Al!l[ lyod s!q1 01 pass~iss!p saqa~:~.rdd~? 3~1.1,
 Slope Angle Function X Stopc Height Function Y

A - drained B - no tension c r a c k

C - normal drawdown 0 - dry tension crack

E - llorizontal water flow F - water-fiilled tenrion crack

Slope Angle Function X

However, improved drainage i n llre convex slopes over that available with the pinched
concave shape may provide a stability advantage. Thus, there may be some cancclling
Figure 4.70. Slope angle and slope heighl funcliuns for different waler and tension crack condiliuns (Hock.
of advantagesldisadvantages. Hence, cach pit curvature situation must be carefully ex- IY7h).
amined.

4.6.6 Slope stability duro presenmrio~~ case two distinct structural regions denoted by A and R have been identified and marked
Figure 4.72 developed by f-loek & Bray (1977) is a good example of how structural on the plan. Based simply on geometry (of the pit slopes and structures), the potential
geology infortnation and preliminary cvalualion of slope stability of a proposed open failure types are identified. Each of these would then be examined using appropriate
pit mine can be presented. A contour plan of the proposed open pit mine is developed material propcnies and ground water conditions. Required design changes, additional
and contoured stereoplots of ;rvailahle structural data are superimposed. In this particular data collection, etc. will emerge.
Favorable to Stability
overbur e n r t r e r r
f

4.6.7 Sl(~pcnrm1y.si.s exarrtplc

Itectl (1983) has reported the rcsults of applying the llr~ekKr Bray (1977) approach to
tlte Aftoo copper-gold mine located i n the southc~nit~tcriorof British Colutnbia. For
llle purpose of analyzing the slability of llte walls of the open pit, it was divided into 9
stluctural domains (Fig. 4.73).
f o r cacb slructural domain, a stahility analysis ulas made of:
the relalive frequency of the various kiult and bedding plane orientations, and
- the orientation of the pit wall in lhat particular domain.
'The safety factors were cdculatcd for plane failure, wcdgc failure and circular failure
in each domain. Table 4.5 sliows the results of these stability analyses.
The 'maximum safe slope angle' for lhe pit wall in each domain corresponds to a
calcul;~tedsafety factor of 1.2. T l ~ eresults in 'fiible 4.5 predict wall failure in all domains
if the slopes are wet. Tlie mine, however, lies in a semi-arid area and expected ground
water quantities were small. In addition, horizontal drainholes would be used to reduce
ground water pressures in domains 3 and 6. Prohleois would still be expected in domains
3 and 6. Since domain 3 is a relatively narrow domain and llie probability of a major
slide occurring was small, the design slope of the wall in that area was not flattened. failures 11ad been experienced in domain 3 and several berni failures in domain 6. Tltcre
At the time the paper was wrilten (1983), the pit had reacl~eda dcptlt of 480 ft. Two was no indication of impending major failures. Wnal pit depth was planned to be 800 ft.
4.6.8 Ecorromic u.specl.s of f i n d .slope ut1g1e.s
Figure 4.74 illustrates the volume contained in a amicnl pit as a function of final slope 4.7 ['LAN REPRESENTATION OF BENCH GEOMlf'RY
angle and depth.
For a depth of 500 ft and an overall final pit angle of 45", 1.4 x lo7 tons of rock must Figure 4.75 is a cross-sectional representation of an opcn pit mine. Figure 4.76 is a
be moved. Within the range of possible slopes (20" to 70") at this depth the volume to 'birds-eye' (plan) view of the same pit. No attenlpt has been made to distinguish between
be rnoved approximately douhles for evcry 10" flattening of ttie slope, Flattening the the toes and crests (which are marked in Fig. 4.77) and hence the figure is difficult to
slope of the 500 ft deep conical pit from 50" to 40" increases the inass of rock from interpret.
1.0 x 10' to 2.0 x lo7 tons. This simple example shows that the selection of a particular Several different techniques are used by the various mines to assist in plan reprcsenta-
slope can have a significant impact on the scale of operations and depending upon the lion and visualization. In Figure 4.78 the bank slopes have been shaded and the benches
shape, size and grade of the ore contained within the pit, on the overall economics. labelled with their elevations.
 ! I'igarc 4.77. (:nrs~seclioo fllrougll a tx,nicw of ail olcn pi, with locs ;and c r m r Iitlrellecl

Figurc 4.76. Plan view thcough ltic ponior of the pi1 shown is cmss~secliunin Figurc 4.75 (lws atid cresls f Figure 4.78. ('Ian view with the hcnch faces shaded and the flat scgcnenl elevarion latrlled.
rlcpiclcd by solid lines).

Some companies use the opposite system labelling the crests wit11 deshed lines and
Figure 4.79 is an example of this type of representation for an actual mine. An the toes by solid lines (Fig. 4.82). The Berkeley pit shown in Figure 4.83 is one such
~iltcrnaliveis to draw the crests with solid lines and the toes with dashed lines. The exarrple where this system has been applied.
result is shown in diagrammatic form in Figure 4.80 zmd for an actual property in If there are a great number of benches and the scale is large, there can be difficulties
Figure 4.81. Note that the banks have also been shdded. Tl~isis however seldon~done. in representing both the toes and the crests. Knowing the bench height and the bench
This system of identifying toes and crests is recommended by the authors. facc angle it is a simple matter to construct, if needed, the toes presuming tlrat the crests
 (Fig. 4 . 8 8 ~ )The
. reader is eneouragcd to try this conslructiotl going hack and SortI~from
tocs a d crests to rnedian lines.

Roads are one of the more ilnportant aspects of opco pit planning. fheir presence slrould
arc given or vice versa. Hence only onc set nf lines (crests or tocs) is actually needed. he included early in the planning process since they can significantly affect the slope
When only one line is ~lsedto rcprcsent a bcnch, the most common tcchr~iqueis to draw angles and the slope angles chosen have a significant al'fect nn the reserves. Most of the
the inetlian (mid bench) elevation line at its plan loc;~tiorron h e bench face. This is currently available cornputeril~dpit generating techniques discussed in the following
chapter do not easily acconmodatc the inclusion of roxls. 'She overall slope angles
shown in section and plan in Figures 4.84 and 4.85, respectively.
without the roads may be uscd in the preliminary designs. Their later introduction can
An actual example of its use is givcn in I~igurc4.86. An enlarged view of a section
mean large amounts of unplanned stripping or the slerilization of some plar~ncdreserves.
of the pit is shown in Figure 4.87. The elcvatiorl i;~belis locatcd half way between the
On the other hand a flatter slope angle can be uscd which includes the road. This may
rnedian contour lines. This is the actual location for this elevation and corresponds lo
he overly conservative and include more wastc than necessary.
the bench elevation at that point.
Until rathcr recently, rail haulage was a major factor in opcn pit operations. Because
It is a relatively simple matter to go from median lines to actual bench representation
(toes and crests) and vice versa. This process is depicted in Figure 4.88. The median of the difficulties with sharp turns and steep grades, a great deal of time was spent by
mine planners in dealing with track 1;lyout and design. Kuhber tired llaulagc equipment
contour line in the center will be replaced by the toe-crest equivalent. The road is 100 ft
has presented great flexibility and ability to overcome many difficulties resulting from
wide and has a grade of 10%. The bench height is 40 fl, the bank width is 30 ft and
inadequate or poor planning in today's pits. However as pits become deeper and the
the width of the safety bcnch is 50 ft. 'The process begins by adding the center lines
pressure for cost cutting continues, this ohen neglected area will once again be in focus.
h a l h a y to the next contour lines (Fig. 4.88h). I h e and crest lines are added (Fig. 4 . 8 8 ~ )
'lhere are a nunlber of impowant questions which must he answered when siting the
and the edge of road is drawn (Fig. 4.88d). Fimally the construction lines are removed
roads (Couzens. 1979).
 10OE ZOOE 3
I I

Figure 4.81. Exa!nple of llle mapping prucedure dcrcritrd in I'igure 4.80 (Hardwick & Stover. 1960).
I'igurc 4.85. Resulting plan vicw compmdiog la tltc n>idtxnclr rcprcscc%talionof Figure 4.84. The given
clcvations are lrench lue clcvatioos.

I. Thc first decision to be taken is where l l ~ eroad exit or exits from the pit wall will
be. This is dependent upon the crusher locatiot~and tlte dump points.
Figure 4.86. Example mining plan composite ,nap based on nlidhencli conlwrs (Coorens, 1979).
2. Should there be more than one means of access? This allows certain flexibility of
operation but the cost of added stripping can be high.
3. Should the roads be external or internal to the pit? Should they he temporary or
semi-permanent? 5. How many lanes should the road have'? The general rule of thumb for 2 way traffic
4. Should the road spiral around the pit? IIave switchbacks on one side? Or a combi- is: road width 4x truck width. Adding an extra lane to dlow passing may speed up
nation? lhe tr;~fficand therefore productivity but al an increased stripping cost.
 d. The E d g e o f Road I.iner A r e Added Connecting the Centerline P o r i t i o n r

6. What slwnld the road grade be'? A number of pits operate at 10% both lavoral~le
and urrfivorable to the haul. A gretle of 8% is preferable since it provides snore latitude
i l l building the road and fitting bench cnlries. 'That is, [mvidiog it does not c;luse too
much extra stripping or
7. What should be th Rig111 hand or left hand vaflic in e. The IIxtrsneoua Conrtructian Liner A r c Removed
llle pit?
8. Is trollcy assist fo o? How docs this influence the
layout'!
This section will not try to answer these questions. The focus will be on the procedure
through which baulrond segments can be added to pit designs. The procedures can be
done by hand or with cornpuler assist. Once the roads have been added then various
equipment perfor~nancesimulators can be applied to the design for evaluating various
options.

4.8.2 Design of a spirul road - inside rhc wall

I Step I. The design of this type of road begins at the pit bottom. For reasons to be
As has been discussed in Section 4.3, the addition of a road to the pit involves moving
discussed later, the point where the ramp meets the first crest line is selected with sorne
the wall either into the pit and therefore losing sorne material (generally ore) or outward
care. In this case, the ramp will continue down lo lower mining levels along the north
and thereby adding some material (generally waste). l'his design example considers the
and east walls, thus point A in Figure 4.91 has been selectetl.
first case (inside the original pit wall). The second case will be discussed in the following
section. This pit consists of the four benches whose crests are shown in Figure 4.89.
,Yep 2. The locations where the ramp meets the socceeding crests are now determined.
Botll toes and crests arc shown in Figure 4.90. The crest-crest dimension is 60 ft, the
Since the bench height II is 30 11 and the road grade C is 10%, the horizontal distance
bench height is 30 ft and a road having a width of 90 ft and a grade of 10% is to be
added to the north wall. The bench face has an angle of 56".
 Figure 4512.Addition of ramp width (Stcp 1).

D travelled by a truck going up to the ncxt lcvcl is

Step 3. l l i e crcst line segments indicating the road location will be added at right angles
Point B on the crest of the next bench is located by nieasuring the 300 ft distance with to the crcst lines rather than at right angles to the line of the road. Hence they bavc a
a ruler or by swinging thc appropriate arc with a compass. Points C and D are located length (W,,) whicl~is longer than thc tnre road width (M',). As can be seen in Figure 4.92,
in a similar way.
tlic ;u~glc((3) llrat l l ~ croad 111akcswillr tllc crest lines is

llcncc tlx ;qqxirent road width W,, (Ilm which is laid out), is related to the inte ma1

W,
W, = - - -- . 1 . 0 2 , . 1.02 x 90 - 92 St
cos 0
1:or ~ i i ~practical
st porposcs, little error rcsulls front using
1vtr - N,' = Lv
12incs of length W drawn perpcndicol:tr to flic crest lines frum p i n t s A, B, C and I 1
have been ;al(led to Figure 4.931 lo addition sl~ortlines running p;~rallcl to tlie crcst
starting at tlic ends of tl~cselines h v e I~ccn;~rldcd.1,itic a-a' is rmc suclt line.

Step 4. l i n e C L - ~is extended towards (lie west end of the pit. 11 lirst runs parallel lo tl~c
previous crest line but as the pit end nppm;iches it is curved to make :I s ~ ~ ~ o otransition
tli
with the original crcst line. 'Slris is shown in 1:igurc 4.9311. 'Slic designcr has sonre
flexibility on how tl~istransitirlo occurs. Once this dccision is m;tde tl~cnthe remaining
crest lincs arc drawn p:uallel to tliis lirst one. 'l'lre resrdls are sl~owrrin ~~~~~~~c 403c.

Slep 5. The exIrancoos lines re~mtiningfrom tlie o~igin:tldesign are i~owrcniovcd. ?'hc
resulting crcst lines with the iiicludcd rani11 arc SLIOWO in 17igure 4 9 4 .

Srep 6 . 'l'he ramp i'; extcndul fro!^^ t l ~ ccrest of the lowest !1enc11to the pit l~ottom.This
is sl~ownin 1:ignre 4.95. l'be toe lines have heen added lo ;issist in tl~isprocess. in

Figure 4.95, the slopes have been shaded to help in the visudizalion. The edge of road
@OK) lines shown are also crest lines.

Figure 4.93a. Completing tb new crest lines (Srcp 4 ) ~

 hc11c11inline ;IS dcscrihed earlier will he i~sctl:
I3cnclt ltcigltl 10 St

.Siiy I . l'hc 1lcsig11proccss begins with the of (Ilc hcncl~.A decision

nlust bc irixlc reganling the entrance point lor the ramp 21s well as dircctiott. As shown
in 1:igure 4.06, Illc cnlrarice should be ;rt point A i n the direction shown. Mill and (lulW
locations itre prime hclors i l l selecting the mwp entr;t~~cc point. I:rom this ~lointan
arc or icngth 1, ctlo;rl 10 the plan pn>jcction or the ramp Iengtlt bctwecn hcnchcs is
slruck. 'l'llis locates point U. I'rorn point B an arc of lengtli L is struck locnling [)(lint (I.
CIC.

Si?p 2 . I;ronl c x h of t11c intersection points A, R , C and 13, lines of length

M',. (apparent
vmul widtli) arc constructed normal to their respective crest lincs. This is shown 10
1:igtire 1.97. A short length of line is dr;~wt~
parallel to the crest line from the end in the
121111pdircctio~~.

- =-.x:
,]
Lrl/ ~z -a
~~ a
.

,~~:r-',-~~.~7--r-,
~

- ,
-~

E m
p

' 1

z
~

"'""'
- ~ y T
>
..
~ r
"1-2
.,:=.
r c ~ """a
- a:
Slqj .i,. Ikgi~irritigwith 111e lowcrniost crest, n s ~ n w t hcurvc is drawn conllec%!
rtcw crest with thc old. 'ntis is sl~ownin Figure 4.98.
the

K a n n Direction

P~gure4.05 Addition of entrance nenp snrl trx licrer (Stcp 0)

4.8.3 Uesign ofo .spiral r m p - or~rsirierhe tvull

In the previous section the addition of a spiral ramp lying inside the original pit contours
was described. It's addition meant tllar some material initially scl~cduledfor mining
would be leSt in the pit. For l l ~ ecase described in this section wlwe the ramp is addcd
outside the initial pit shell design, addition;~lmaterial 111ust he rcmoved. The same fortr Figure 45% I'oint of ramp initialion and crest intercepts (Step 1)
Figere 4.08 Drawing the new crest lines (Steps 3 imd 4).
Figure 4.1011, Addition of entmnce ramp and toe liner (Step 6).

Slep 4. l'be remaining new crest line portions arc drawn parallel to the first crest working
upwards lion1 the lowest bench. Srrp 6. Thc toe lines at least for the lowest hencl~arc added and the ramp lo the pit
bottom added. In Figurc 4.100, the slopes have been slraded to assist in viewing the
Sfcp -5. 'Slie extraneou.; lines are removed from the design (Fig. 4.99) ramp.
 In li~yi~rg out roirds the (111cstiwits to WIICIIIC~ to:
(a) spiral l l ~ croad :iiouird tllc pit,
(h) 11;rve ;I numbcr of switcl~hi~cks on osc sidc I,! the pit, O I ~
(c) use s o w co~nhin;rtion
(icl~crillly ((~ouzcns, 1979) i l is desir:tblc to avoid the w e 01' switchbacks in a pit.
Switchbacks:
- lend to slow dowcr traflic,

c;wsc grc;llcr lire wcirr,

CIIUSC vilriot~s~nai~~lcnirrtc~ ~pr~hlc~us.
- prob;thly pose 111oic01 it s:~ICty11i1~irr~l l l ~ i m110 spi1:11r ~ i ~ d(vision
s piol~le~t~s,
ma-
chincry haralling, ctc).
Somctilncs llre conditions ;rrc s11c11thut swilcl~hacksb c c o ~ ~intcrcsting: ~c
wl~clrllrcrc is a gently sloping orc conlsct whiclr provirlcs rt~onlto work in switch-
hacks ;rl little stripping cosl:
i t inay he better to llave son^ switclih;~ckson the low sidc of the pit rathcr than to
acccpl ;I lot 111' stripping on the 11iglr sidc.
'I'lle plirnner intist takc :alv;intagc of s11c11tl~ings.Tlrc gcnclal axiom slrould he to
design t l ~ epit to lit ihc shape <,I' 111cdeposit r:lll~crthan vice versa. I( switchbacks arc
ireccssxy tlie planncr sl~oi~ld:
Ici~vcenough letrgtlr at thc switcl~h;~cks for ;I II:!I x c a :11 l l ~ ctwns so that trucks
~ O I I ' Ihavc to operate on cxtrcmcly scccp gl;ules at the insidc d'cuivcs,
consider tlrc direction of traffic,
- consider problems the drivcrs I I I : , ~ have with visibility,

corisidcr the cilect oS wcati~crconditions on 111~dcsigo (icc, hcnvy win, ctc).

In this section the steps required to add ;I switchback to llle pit shown i t t Figure 4.89
will Ile described. 'She switchhitck will occur hctwcen the searnd and tlrird bcnclles on
the i~orthpit w;rll.

S r q ~I. The design will begin from the pit l ~ o t t o ~Int ~this
. case ihe ramp rnovcs into the
:a-designed pit wall. Figurc 4.101 shows tlrc irrodilicd pit with the crest lines drawn for
hcnclrcs 4 (lowcrniust) and 3. 'l'his is the siune procedure as with the spiral mmp. The
hcnch height has been selcctctl 21s 30 St and llre ro:rd gradient is 10%. Hence the plan
distance 11 is 300 11.

Slep 2. The center C uscd lo construct the switchback is now located as shown in
Figure 4.10'2. There arc three distances involved I,,. L z and I,,. I,* is the given crest-
crest distance. Distances I,] and 14 must now be selected so tltat Pigure 4.102. Conrtruclios lines for drawing llie switcllback (Step 2).

- -
In this particular case I,] = 0.512 = 150 ft. Since I,2 60 ft. then L1 90 ft. The center
C is located at 1,212 = 30 it frorn the 3 construction lines. A vertical line corresponding
to road width W is drawn at the end of L3. with the horizontal line drawn from C becotlres a point on the bench 2 crest. It is noted
that actual designs [nay use values of IS, different from that recommended here. This is
Srep 3. In Figure 4.103 the curve with radius Iiz = 1,212 is drawn from C. This becomes a typical value. Portions of the bench 2 crest lines have been added at the appropriate
the inner road radius. It should be comp;rred with the turning radius for the trucks being distances.
used. A sccond radius R3 == 2 W is also drawn frorn C. The intersection of this curve
 I'igsre 4.105. Tlte crcsl line ior trnch I is added (Step 5).

S r ~ pS. l'hc crcst line for hench I is then added parallel to that drawn for bcncli 2
(Fig. 4.105).

.i'rel; 6. The final crest line representalion of the pit is drawn (I:& 4.106). As c:kn he
seen tlte switchhack occupies a broad region over ;I relatively short length. 'l?~usit call
he logically placed in a flatter portion of the overall pit slope.

Step 7. 7'he toes are drawn and tile lower section o l the ramp (between bench 4 crest
and the pit floor) added (Fig. 4.107).
Two exarrtples of switchhacks are shown in Figure 4.108.

4.8.5 The volurne represented by a ruud

'The addition of a liaulroad to a pit results in a large volume of extra material which
must be removed or a si~iiilarvolume in the pit wllich is sterilized (covered by the
road). Thus even though production flexibility can be ilttproved and thc security of
I'igare 4.104. Thc trvnsilion curve tlnr k c added
~ (Step 4). having several accesses to the pit can lead to other savings such as steeper interramp
slopes, the additional haul roads are associated with significant expense. 'lit demonstrate
this, consider the pit shown in Figure 4.109 which contains no haulroad.
The same pit with the road added, is shown in Figure 4.1 10. The shaded regions show
Step 4. A srnootl~curve is now added going from line a-b tl~roughcrest point CP to line the differences between sections A, B. C, D and E with and without the road.
c-d. TIE designer can use some judgement regarding the shape of this transition line. In plan the length L of the road is
Figure 4.104 shows the results. The lines surrounding point C simply represent edge of
(No. of benches x Bench height) 100 4 x 30 x 1 8 ) =
road (EOR). I, = ~-
-- it
Road grade(%) 10 (4.4)
 'The sections are in;tde normal to Illis axis. They are spaced every 294 ft.
The road ;reas fbr each section ere shown in 1:igure 4.1 11. The sharlcd boxes are of
h e samc area

A = W A x Bench height
Tlicy can be lined up as shown in Figure 4.1 1 la. 'Shesc in turn can be ploued such as
Pigurc 4.107. The lower enlrance ramp and llre lms are added (Step 7). shown in Figure 4.1 11b.
The volurne contained in the ramp is that of a triangul,~solid of width W A ,length I4
and height varying linearly from 0 to the pit deptlr (Pig. 4.112). This can be expressed
Recmse the road is oriented at angle I3 to the pit axis, the length projected along the as
axis is 1 1
v = - W nL2 x 1% depth = - W,,I,cosQ x I'it depth (4.6)
2 2
I:it:i~rc 1.109. I'lan imd section v i e w of a four Irnch pit without rar~ljl.

whicll can he siniplified to

1 (Pit
V = - ~ nW 100 cos GI
2 Grade (5%)
Since tlic apparent road width W,, is equ

w,=- Wt
cos 0
The simplified mad volume formula heconles
The overall length of tllc road (I,,,) is given by
V = -1 100 x (Pit depth)2
-- w~
2 Grade (%)
I,", -= J~,Zt(l'itdepG
In the piescnt case the volume is
111this case i t is
v = -21 --100
10
(120)2 x 90 = 6.480,00 ftl = 240,000 yJ3

For a tonnage factor of 12.5 ft31st, there arc 518.400 st involved in the roacl.
I,,,, - --
6 2 0 0 )+
~ (120)2 = 1,206 St
 The suhgr;~le is rhc irwn~l;rtionlayer. I t is t l ~ cstruckarc which nwst ~ v e n t u i ~ l q11101t
ly
:dl tire Ioxls wllicl, comc onto the wwring surfi~cc.In some cases this hycr will sii~iply
hc the 1n;itw;11 e;~rthsurfiicc. I n u111w ;ind n ~ w eusual inslmccs, i t w i l l the tlic c o ~ ~ ~ p i ~ c t c d
lnck o l soil existing i n a cut scclion or the upper layer of :IU cn~hauh~nenl scction.
She wearing surfi~ccprovides t ~ ~ c t i u nreduccs
, tractive resistance, resists abmsion,
r;~vellingand rbc;~r,tr;~nstnils tire Lo;d to the hasc and seals the h;tse against penetration
of surl;~cc w;ttcr. Although this surfitce may bc ;~sph;iIt or concrete, most lypically il is
ctusbal rock.
'Sl~cI m e i s a laycr o f very high st;rhility ;ind density. It's principal purpose is to
clistrihutc or '\pie;lrl' tlle strcsscs crcated by \vhcel Ll,;lds acting 1111 tlre wc;lling suriace,
srl th;il they w i l l not result i n excessive dcf~~rn~;rtion
nr the displaccmcnt of thc znhgrade.
In addition it i:isul;~tcs t l ~ esubgradc l'roni frost penetration and protects the working
suifiicc fl-vn~any volume change, expansion and softening o i the sohgraile.
'llre suhbasc which lies between the base and suhgmdc, may or may not bc prescnt.
I t i.: used over cxtrc~nclyweak suhgrade soils or i n areas suhject to severe frost action.
They may ;dso he used i n the interest o f economy when suitable suhhase ~nnteri;rlsare
c11c;~pcrt h m base inaterids o f a higher quality. Geocmlly the subbase co~~sisls o f a clean.
gr;~nular inatcrial. 'She subbase provides drainage, resists frost hcavc, rcsists shrinkage
and swellit~go f the suhgr;~dc, incrc;iscs thc slnctr~ralsupport ;rnd dislrihutcs the load.

4.9 R O A D CONSTRUC'I'ION
I n designing the road scclion, one begins wilh the n~;~xirnuni wcight of the haulage equip-
4.9.1 Irirroduction ment which w i l l u e the road. To be as specific as possible, assume that the haulage
lrucks have a inaximum gross vchicle weight of 200,000 lhs including their 58 st pay-
Good haulroads are a key to successful surface mining operations. Poorly designed,
load. The load is distributed as follou,~:
constructed and maintained roads are major contributors to high haulage costs and pose
- 13% con the front tires, and
safety hazards. I n this section some o f the basic design aspects w i l l be discussed. Fig-
- 67% on the dual rear tires.
ure 4.1 13 shows a typical cross section through a road.
The load on cach o f the front tires is 33,000 lhs. For each of the four rear tires (2 sets o f
Generally there are four different layers involved:
duals) the load is 33,500 ibs. Thus the maximum loading to the wear surfwx is applied
- subgrade, hy the rear tires. Although the contact pressure between the wheel and the road depends
- subbase, nn the tire inflation pressure and the stiffness of the tire side walls, for praclical purposes.
- base, the contact pressure is assu~nedto bc equal to the tire pressure. Since for this truck,
-wearing surface. the inflation presure is about 90 psi, the bearing pressure on the road surface is 90 psi
or 12.5160 psi. in lieu of knowing or assuming an inllatioo prcssurc, Keufrnao & Ault Dual Wheel Centerline Spacing
(1977). suggest that a value of 16,000 psf (1 10 psi), will rarely he exceeded. Thc tirc
C O I I I ~ C I arm is m
1:or thc rcar tires

Allhc,ugl~tlie true conlac1 area is approxi~natclyelliplicnl, ollco ibr sin~plicilythe contact

area is conshlcred to be circular in shape. 'The contact pressure is usually assunwl to he
uniformly distrihntcd. Llecause
m2 372 in2
the radius of t l ~ ctire contact area is - -

tnhr.,+h" \ Dare
1.- 1 1 in
;ind t l ~ e;werage applied prcssure is 90 psi (12.960 psO. As one n~ovcsdown, away
l r o ~ the
r ~ road surface, the force of tlie tirc is sprcad over an evcr increasing area and the
bct~ringpressure is reduced. For silnplicity, this load 'sl~rcading' is assu~ncdto occur
at 45". This is shuwn i n Figure 4.1 14. Tl~usat a depth of 10 incl~cshcneatb t l ~ ctirc,
the pressure r : d w would llave increased to 21 i~lcl~cs and the prcssurc i ~ a sdrupped lo
24.7 psi (3,560 psl). liowcvcr, for this lruck tl~creare dual rear wl~ccls.'fire widtl~is
about 22 ins and the centerline spacing for the tires in cad1 srt is ;~houl27 inclrcs. 'I'his
is slmwn diagrarnm;iticdly in 1:igurc 4.1 15. the singlc lil: load ( L T ) .'I'lrus,
As can he seen, t11e bearing prcssurc bulbs from each tire overlap. The grcatest effect is
ohserved along t l ~ clinc separating the tires. This interacliort chmgcs with tirc width, tirc Lr; .- 1.20 x I,?.
separation and depth below the wcar surface. To take this into account, Kauf~iiao& Ault In the mse oi. tlie 58 st capacity truck
(1977) suggest using an equivalent single tire wheel load (LP;)which is 20% l~igllerthan
LC 1.20 x 31,500 2 40,000 lb
' h e conhined subhasc. base and wcaring surface thickness most I,c srrflicicntly large
so tlrat tlre stresses occurring io tlie subgrade will not c;lnse cxcessivc distortion or
displacenrent of fhc sobgrade soil layen
As a first guide, one can compare the requircd wear surface prcssurc to the bearing
capacity of various subgrade materials. 'These are given in Table 4.6.
As can hc seen. any subgrade that is less consolidated than soft ruck will require
additional ~rmterialin order to establish a stable base. If, for example, tile sot~gradeis a
compact sand-clay soil with a bearing capacity or 6.000 psf, tl~enhaselsubbase materials
of suitahle strength would have to bc placed down to increase the distance betwce~ithe
w c x surface and the subgrade. Using the approach described earlier

required thickncss (t) would be

the n~ir~irr~al

Tlre iechniqne oncn applied to determine the working surface, b;~seand subbase thick-
nesses invnlves the use of California bearing ratio (CBR) curves. The CBK test is an
 CALIFORNIA B E A R I N G RATIO (PfRCLNT)

c~npiricallecbniqoc for dctcnnining the relative bearing capacity of llrc aggregate male-
rials involved in road construction. In lhis test tlrc aggregate nralerial wilh a inaxilnum
sizc of 314 inch is placed in ;I 6 i n dia~trete~ tnet:d irrold. 'l'lrc rnatcri;d is colnpactcd
by repc"1eilly drtrpping a 10 lh weight llrrougli a lv2glrl of I X i n Aflcr c o ~ l ~ p a c l i on ~ ~ ,
cylindrical piston Raving ;In end area of :I in2 is pusired into tlrc sutl;icc ;rt ;1 rate of
0.05 inlrninutcs. 'l'hc C1111 is calculated by dividing tlrc piston prcssurc at 0.1 at 0.2 i n
]mret~rtionhy refcrence values of 1,000 psi for 0.1 in and 1.500 psi 101 0.2 in. 'l'lresc
sta~tdardv;iluc>;represent tlrc prcssurcs obswvcrl f w a high q d i t y , wcll gri~lcdcrusllcd
stone rcfcrcnce inaterial. Thc calculaled pressure ratios arc multiplied by 100 to give
the CRR v;ilue expressed as a percent. Figure 4.1 16 sliows design curves based upon
tlrc usc of CRR values. The subbase tlrickness has been plollcd ;~g;rinstCIiRlsoil type
1111 varioi~swl~eclloads.
'li~dcnronstratc the use of tl~csecurves, consider the 58-st c;lp;rcity truck lravellirrg
r~vcr;I haulroad which the subgrade material is a silty clay of nicdiul~r[~lasticity(CER
:: 5). One finds the interseclion of CBR .- 5 and llre 40,000 lh equiv;llcnt single wheel

load Moving horizont;~llyit is found Ilnl the rcqnirctl disttmcc bclweeri the wear sorfi~ce
and the subgradc must he a mioimo~nof 28 inches.
Fairly clean sand with a C1111 of IS is avai1;rble to serve as sohbasc nraterial. Repeating - hcariog capacity failure, and
the process, oirc finds Illat this must be kept 14 inclles away from t11c wear surface. The - rutting failure
base ~rratcrialis well graded, crusllcd rock with a CBI< rating of 80. The interseclion within the layer.
of the 40,000 lb curve and CBK = 80 occurs at 6 inches. This 6 inch gap hetwecn Tire aggregate layer must also possess good wear resistance to minimize attrition
the top of the base and the wear surface is intended lo acconrrrrodatc tlrc wear surface under traffic. Table 4.7 indicates an acceptable aggregate size distribution (gradation)
thickness. If the actual wear surface is thinner than this, the rc~uainingspace is simply Ibr this wearing surface.
added to the base tlrickness (CBR equal to at least 80). Figure 4.1 17 shows the final Particle gradation is the distribution of the various particle size fractions in the ag-
results (Kaufinan & Ault, 1977). gregate. A well graded aggregate has a good representation of all particle size fractions
In most open pit mines, the wear surface is formed by well graded, crushed nrck with from the maximum size through the smaller sizes. This is needed so that particles lock
a maximu~ndi~nensionsmaller tlml that used as hasc. Since traffic loading is directly together forming a dense, compact surface. The opposite of a well graded aggregate
;ipplied to the aggregate layer, the upper most aggregate hyer rnust possess sufficient is one which is poorly graded. Here tlic particles are all about the same sizc. Suclr a
strength and rutting resistance to minimize hot11 distribution might he used as pan of a runaway ramp with the ohjectivc being that of
creating a high rolling resistance.
 'I'llc width crileria for lhc traveled lane of ;I stl-aiglll 1i;ntl segment should he based on
tlle widest velliclc in use.
'I'l~c1'165 AASllO Mntlrinlfir R ~ w dflighwity I k s i g n I C C O ~ ~ I ~that~ Keach
~ S lane 01-
travel s l ~ ~ ~ provide
uld clearance to the Icfl and right ctlwtl to one-h;~lfof the velliclc
widtli. 'l'his is showr: in Pigiire 4.126 for a 12-lt wide truck.
Values lirr other truck widths arc givcrr i n 'fi~hlc4.8. 'l'y1,ic;ll widths of haulage lrucks
used i n open pit mines xrc listed in Table 4.9.
l o r the two-way traffic which is most conunnn i n open pit mines. the rule of ll~unrhis
tlt:11 r r d w a y width shor~ldbe n o less than lirtil- times the truck width (Cnuzens, 1979):

I<o;tilwapwi(llh 3 4 x 'Stock widll~ (4.12)

The use of CDR curves rcquires laboratory tcsls or the assumption of CBK vdues of
suhgrnde, and available base or suhhase nmlerials. 'l'lre trrost economical comhinatioo is t
used. 'The CDR cul-vcs show directly the total thickness needed ovcr any suhgrade soil. Lone I
F

The total subbase and the base thickness is created by pultirlg down a series of relatively
thin layers of the correct nroisture content. Coinpaction is done between layers. Lone 2 Lone 3 Lone 4

12' 1 6' 1 12' 1 6' 1 12' I 6' I

Figure 4.1 18 shows a typical cross-section through a mine llaul road carrying two way
traffic. As can be seen there are tllree major components to he considered:
a) travel lane width,
b) a safety berm,
c) a drainage ditch.
' h e width of each is added togctller to obtain thc total roadway width.
Some ntines llavc two lanes of traffic in one dircctirw to ellow passing for lo;tdcd uphill
traflic. 'l'lie downlrill empty tlaflic travcls in ;I single Imc. A trrle of Ihutnh lor tile width
of sucli n thrcc lane road is 5 times the truck widtl~.
'I'lie steps to be followed in sclccting ;I design width arc (Kauftnnn & Aull, 1977): Crorr-slope
I
Road Centerltne
I
1. D e h e tlte widtlr of all cqoipnrcnt that tilay 1i;;vc t i ) travel tlic l~;iuli~gc
road.
2. Solicit dimensional dala for any anticipated new ~nacltincs.
3. L)ctcrntine the over;rll widtlr or any cquipmcnt conhinations th;rt Itlay he irlvolved
in a passing situation.
4.Ilelincetc the location of road segnrcrrts requiring a greater tbsn nornlsl widtlr.
'l'lrere may be wider stretches of road wlrere tlrcrc is inergittg of 1r;lllic slrc;t~rrssuch
as near n crusher Curves and switchbacks rcqnirc speci;tl considcr;ttiom Ihcsc will bc

'I'hc nml surlacc is often sliglrtly crowned such as shown in Figure 4120, to facilitate
watw ~ t ~ n o f'l'lte
f . cmss slope is expressed in inches per fo~,tof width. Most mine roads
we consltr~acdof gravel attd crushed mck. In tllis case, except where icclmnd is ;I
~m~hlctn, flic cross slope sliould be 112 inch per fool (0.04 ftlft). I:br relatively st~iootli
road su~iiiccssuch as :tsph;rltic concrete which can rapidly sllcd water or roads which
Iwvc iceln~odp~ohlems,a cross slope 01. 114 inch per fuot (0.02 (1111) is appmpriate.
1:or single l;~ttcs,it is necessary to decide wl~etlrerthe left etlgc sltor~ldbe higher tllarr
flic right or vice-versa. Ihr tltrcc-lane surfaces, there should be ;I coutinuuus cnxs slope
for tlic two hncs !laving traffic in the same dircctiott. It s1to11ldbe noted tltat thc use of
;I cross-slopc iwxeascs the steering cffort hy llrc driver. '1'11~s there must he ;I h;rlancc
betwccn stccrability and water drainage.

14x straigtrt sections it was recomnicnded that the left and riglit vclticlc clearances should
be 1t;tll. of tllc vehicle width. In the case of curves tlris distance !trust he incrcascd boll1
due to vehicle overhang ;tnd increased driving difficulty.
'fables 4.10 and 4.1 1 l~rovidethe design widths as a function of tile inner pverr~errt
I radius for various cornhinations of vehicle size, vetricle type and ~oadwaytypes. I L x
- reference appmxin~;lteturning radii arc indicated hy gross vehicle weight categories in
'l'able 4.12.
For cxaniple, if a single unit haulage truck of weight classilication 3 is to traverse a
kblc 4.9. Widths for various sire rear dump trucks (this width includes the safely benn) 100 i t rninirnum radius curvc, the two lane width should he 69 ft. For a straight road
-~... scgrnent the corresponding width is 65 fl. Hence the effect of the curve is to a& 4 St to
Truck size Approx. width 4x width Dcsign width the width.
("%) (rn) 111 it Vellicles negotiating curves are Curced outward by centrifugal force. For a flat surface
this is counteracted by the protluct of the vehicle weigl~tand thc side friction between
the roadway and the tires (Fig. 4.121).
I:or ccslain combinations of velocity and radius the centrifugal force will qua1 or
cxceed the resisting force. In such cases, the vehicle skids sideways. To assist the
vel~iclesaround the curves, the roadways are often banked. This banking of curvcs is
 desired path. Under ice and snow conditions, too slow a speed on such super elevated
curves could lead to sliding down the slope.
'fal~lc4.13 gives recomo~endedsuperelevation rates as a function of curvc radius and
vchiclc speed. The table can also be used to suggest a safe speed for a given radius and
called superelevation. The amount of superelevation (cross slope) can he selected to supcrclevation rate.
cancel out the centrifugal force. The basic equation is There is a certain distance required to make the transition frorn the normal cross-slope
section to the superelevated portion and back again. This is called the superelevation
runout. The purpose is to help ease the operator into and out of the curve. Part of the
transition can be placed in the straight (tangent) portion and part in the curve. The design
wltere e is the superelevation rate (ftlft); f is the side friction factor; V is the vehicle criteria of '1, in curvc and 213 in the tangent is used here. The recornmentied rate of
speed (mph); I2 is the curve radius (ft). If J = 0, then the vehicle would round the cross-slope change as a function speed is given in Table 4.14.
curvc witl~outsteering effort on the part of the operator. If however the operator would To illustrate the use of this table, assume a vehicle is traveling at 35 mph on tan-
maintain a speed different frorn that used in the design, then he would have to steer gent with normal cross slope 0.04 ftlft to the right. It encounters a curve to the left
upslope (in the mse of too low a speed) of downslope (too high a speed) to maintain the necessitating a superelevation rate of 0.06 ftlft to the left. The total cross-slope change
U S . fedcr;~llaw (MSIIA, 1992) contains lllc ft~llrxvil~g
guid;wcc rcg:rrding tlre need for
hermslguadr;~ilsi n open pit mines (Section 57.9300):

'l'lrc: principal purpose of thcsc berms is lo redirect tile vclri~leback onto tlic roadway
and away from the edge. Their elTcctiveness in this regard is controlled by berm Face
anglc, berm facing, t l ~ cangle of incidence, and primarily hy bcfm height. 'The stopping I;igsre 4,122. S~alicrolling radius as a finetion of lvaula& tmck capilciky ((imxlyeikr, lW2)

of runaway vclliclcs is ;~ccomplishcdby r n a l i : ~berrw ~ (Suhscclion 4.9.6) or special

cscapcways. One negative effect o i herrrls is tlrc possibility o i the vcl~iclcsoverturning
due to climbing the sides.
Tlicrc are two principal bernr designs in common use today. 'FIE triangular or trape-
zoid;il shaped berm is generally formed from blasted materials. The sides stand at the Some nieans should be provided on haulroads to reduce truck speed or handle the truck
mglc of repose of the roaterial. The second type is llle boulder-faced berm. t h e , large tlmt loses its brakes. This is particularly true when long, downbill loaded liauls are
boulders, lined up along tbe haulage road, nre backed with earthen material or blasted involved. Currently the most successful technique is through the use of median berms,
rock. also known as 'straddle hems' or 'whopper stoppers' (Winkle, 1976a,b). These are
For the t r i a n g i h berms, the design rule of thumb is that tile height rnust be equal to or constructed of sand or some otlier fiue grained material. The height of tllese berms
greater than the static rolling radius (SRR) of the vehicles tire. ['or boulder-faced berms, is designed to inrpinge on the under-carriage of the truck. Since the typical distance
the height o l the berm should be approximately equal to the tire hcight. Figure 4.122 hetween the road sutiacc to the undercarriage is of tbe order of 2 to 3 fect for the range
shows tlic relationship between the static rolling radius and l~aulagevehicle carrying of available haulers, it is not necessary to build a big barrier providing just anotl~ercrash
capacity. Tire height (TH) is about equal to: hazard.
Guidance in median berm design provided by Kaufinan & Ault (1977) is given in
'I'H = 1 05 x 2 x SRR (4.14) Figure 4.123. The dimensions corresponding to the letters in the figure arc given in
'Ihhles 4.15 and 4.16. The vehicle categories are based upon gross vehicle weights.
 Training the driver to get onto the berm or into the hank jusc ;IS soon as they start
to lose control of their truck and before they build up speed is as important, or more
inrporlanl, than the berm design itself (Couzens. 1979).

A number of rules of thumb regarding haulage road gradients have bcen provided by
Couzens (1979). These are given below:

I. In a pit where there is a considerable veliical coniponent to the haulage requirement,

the grade will have to be fairly steep to reduce the length of the road and the extra
rnaterial necessary to provide the road length. The practical ~mximumgrade is considered
to be 10%. A nun~bcrof pits operate quite well at 10% grades both favorable and
unfavorable to the loads.
2. An 8% road grade is prohahly preferred providing that it docs not cause too much 6. OSlar curves ;Ire constructed to provide an :icce\s road into a niining hcnc11 Sror ;I

extra stripping or onrluly co~iiplicatethe m x l It~yonl.' l ' l i i s grade provides more 1;1titude steeply inclined h u l road. lb prevent the inside (nod lower) side o f this superelevated
in: (a) building the road and (I)) litting i n hcnch entries without crcatirig some locally ;~cccsscurvc fro111 being at a steeper gradient thim the fni~inlh:1111 roi~d,i t i s necessary
over-sleep pl;rces, than do steeper grades. to reduce (flatten) the center line grade of tlic curvc. 'She inside gr;alc shoold not be
allowed to exceed the main road grade.
,elow X?6, unless there I f enough room is available, tlie inside gradient of the curve should in ikcl he flat-
ra length on the grade ter t11a11the main load grade to cornpensate fr,r the increased rnlliog resist;rnce. 'lb
and the co~nplicationsof lilting the ro;~dinto the avail;~hlemom or doing extra stripping acco~nplisl~ tliis the design of n transition spiral is necessary.
would prohably ollSct any increase in ophill h;~ulspeed.
7. Curves i n the llnt h;tul portion just as the trucks arc leaving t l ~ cshovcl arc q u i t
4. I'it geometry is the prime consi~1el;~tionand nmls are designed to fit the particular critical. Ifue I n tlic centrifugal forces intlueed by the curvc, spill rnck is t h ~ o w nto the
sili~:\tiun'Yhns there often w i l l he a nwnhcr o f different grade scgncnts i n h;n11 roads. ootsidc. Where possible, the return lane s h x M he uo the insidc o f the curvc 111 avoid
spill filling itr the path of returning trucks ;~nddnrn;tging tires. This c ; be
~ act:o~nplished
by tlic use o l crossovcrs to change traffic from right hand to left Irand or vice versa i n
the ~icccssaryarea. Adequate warning lights nrost he used ;it night to insntal the s;~fcty
'I'he ]wxcdinl; p a r t s d tliis sectio~~
have de;~lt with sonic o f tlie gcner;tl road design at the crossovers. 'nrc costs o f tlie warnings arc snrall cr~rrr[~nrcd to savi~~gs i n tire
principles. Winkle (1976~1,b)has provided a nn~nhcro f practical tips based upon oiany costs.
years o f practical experience. Some of these have been includcd below.
8 . W;~stc durnps should he designed ior placement at a two pclcenl upgrade. 'l'his is
I. The size o l t h c orchody and the nirlurc o f the overlying topography w i l l 11;rve consider- d m c fur the Sollowing reasons:
able inipact upmi road design. When the webody is small it w i l l likely ha ;dvantageous (a) 'l'he increase i n dump height and volume occurs with littlc incrc;tsc i n haul speed
l o strip i~nnreiliatclyto the projected pit l i l ~ ~ i t ssince
, some inioirrg ineflicicocies oc- or f d crlst. 1lcc;iose o f the rapid dump vlrlunrc iocre;~sc,tlic haul dis1;111ccis reduced.
cur wheo n ~ i r r i ~ rareas
g ovcrl;~p. 'l'his dictates an i~~rrncdiate final mad layout on the (11) Ilcttcr h i n a g c on (lunrps.
backslope which is planned to avoid expensive rnntlification. For very large orehod- (c) Smne idditiimi~lsafety is affordcd drivers backing up k ~ dunq~itrg.
r
ics, particularly where an outcrop o f ore is exposed, i t is highly unlikely that initial (rl) I f eveutual dunip lcachirrg is planned, tlic water dist~ibutionis lcss cxpcnsive.
stripping w i l i cxtcnd Lo tlre final planned perimeter. Ca~efulstudy o f the :opography is
required to ensure proper mpid access. The cost o f rehandling rrraterial dumped within 9. Within the mining areas, roads are huilt of the country mck 211 h a d x a l arc surfaced
eventual pit limits must be weighed against increased haul distances, sharp curves, with the best matcri;il ;~vailablewithin a reasoo:~hlc 11;rnl distance. 111 the case o f using
etc. minething other tlran environmental rock to srirface ro;als within the ore zone, dc~uble
handling costs SI; well as ore dilution must bc considered.
2.Change i n equiprncnt size frequently is a cause o f road modilication, particularly
width. Pit design should incorporate allowance lilt reaso~~able
future equipment size 10. Main roads into the pit are ~ ~ s u a l lplanned
y for extendcd time o f use m d w i l l
increases. justify more cxpcoditurc for subbase conrpaction and surfacing than tcinporary access
roads.
3. When mixed haulage fleets with varying speeds arc uscd or where trucks hauling
from two or more shovels arc using the same haul roads, passing 1;111cs on long grades I I.I S intended for use as a haul road, engineering layout should prcccde constructiw~
should he considercd. o f even the shortest road or ramp. Mine survey crews should p l x e desired stakes for
initial cuts and fills and grade stakes including linish grade stakcs.
4. Short radius curves result i n reduced productivity, high tire cost, high maintenance
cost (panicularly electric wheels) and introduce additional safety hazards into the oper- 12. When shovels are working i n coarse, sharp rock faces, loading should he stopped
ation. Switchbacks are to be avoided unless a tradeoff o f reduced stripping dictates their periodically to allow fine material to be brought i n and used to cap the surfacc o f the
construction. loading area. Similar activity should he perfonned on waste dun~ps.

5 . When curvcs are necessary i n haulroads, superelevation must be designed into the 13. Constant attention to 11;tul road surfaces is necessary. Sofi spots, holes, 'washhowd'
curves. Excessive superelevation is to he avoided since trucks rounding a curve slippery areas, etc. should be repaired as soon as possible. Repairs usually consist of digging out
from rain, ice or overwetting can slide inwwd and possibly overturn. Overly 'supcred' the incoriipetent road material and replacing it with more desirable rock.
curves result i n excessive weight and wear on the inside tires.
14. Grading of roads ol'lcrl results i n a buildup of windrows on road edges. 'l'ltese n m o w volul~rcof each ore benclt U, is
lltc rmrds and place sllarp rocks i n a position lo dao~agctire sidewalls. Windrow buildup
s11011ldbe rcoloved hy loader or ciueful gradcr applicatioo. V,, =~nr211 (4.16)

I n this case il w i l l he assumed that each bench exactly salisfies the required annual
15. 131ading or grxtiog o f mads and dumps should be done when possible at a time when
~xoduction.Hence the pit would iacreasc io depth by 1 hencli per year. 'I'lle surrounding
tr;rf[ic cau he ~oovcdto otller areas. Many tires have been d;rmaged by trucks driving
t ~ has been assumcd to have high strcngtlt so Ihat lhese 90" pit walls c;ln he
~ 1 s rock
Ihrnugl~windrows created by graders ;issigned to i~lrprovemads and thereby reduce tire
safely aclticvcd ;ind maintained. l o this nri~tingschcmc IIC,waste is rcmovcd.
costs.
IIIreality, vertical rock slopes arc seldom achieved except ovcr vcry limited vertical
bciglrts. I t is much Illore common to design using an overall slope angle O. As can be
16. Mai~~lenancc o f haul roads is equally ilnportmt u j good ltaulagc costs as ;we design
seen i n Figure 4.126 the shape of the mined space changes f ~ o i na right circr~larcylinder
ZIIIconstruction.
II As more tires are d;l~nagcdi n sl~ovelpits and dump areas Illan on actual
lti1111r ~ a d s cIemu[)
, around an operating sl~ovelis often assigned to the haulroad rratllcr
Illao the loading function. Road rnaintcn;~nce, to he successful, must ltave responsible
snpervision assigned to this task alone.

Consider the orebudy shown i n Figore 4.124 w h i d l bas the shape of a right circular
cylinder.
I t outcrops at the surC;~lcc and extends to ;I depth A. Tltc volunic of the contained ore
is cxpressctl hy

V,, I - nr2h (4.15)

wl~crcr is the ore r;~dius and I:is the ore rl~ickness.I n concept, at least, one could
remove t!le ore as a single plug and just !cave the remaining holc. In practice, however,
Iltc orcbody i s first divided up into a series of henches of tl~icknessI1 (Pig. 4.125). The

I'igule 4.124. Cylindrical o r e k ~ I y .

 t i ) ;I truncated right c i r c u l ; ~conc. 'She hciglrt of the truncated portion of tlre cone is
Note tli;~t i f ll~ewaste and ore 11;lvc the same density, llrerr Liquatiot~(4.25) and I ~ ~ z I -
tion (4.26) are identical.
If the volumes (or tons) used i n the SII calcr~l;~tion correspond to those (cunrolativcly)
wlrcrc C3 is the overall slope angle. 'l'lle l~ciglrt11, irfllre cone wl1ic11includes tile orebody
renuwed frnm tlre start of nlining up to the moment oS the present c:~lcol;~tiot:then the
<ivcr;~llstripping ratio is hcing ea1cul::tcd. For this ex::!nple the osrrall stripping r:!tio ;!I
11, = h + All h1 7. tan (3 (4.18) the time mining ceases is
'She bzlse radius IL of the circunlscribctl cone is
11 -
-5- =: h
tan (3 tan Q
7. , , (4.19) O n the other iraod :I stripping ratio c;m also he calculated (wer a muclr sliwter time
1Jsit:g thc volumc for~nulafor n right circular conc sp;~n.Assume tbat during year 5, X,, tons of ore and X , tons of wastc were rrlined. l'lre
stripping ratio for year 5 is then

where At, is lhc base area of the cone, 11, is the height of the cone, and li,,, volutnc
of the cone, onc can find the lbllowing voluc~rcs: 'I'lris can he referred to as tlre instant;~neoos stripping r;ltio where tlre 'instant' in this
l'runc;~tcdtip case is I year
If ;it the end of year 4, X,,, tons of ore and Xwqtms 01' waste 11;rd hcerr inineil then
the over;~llstripping ratio up to thc end of year 5 is
Xw4 I X%
SII (overall to a ~ of
d year 5) = - -
x",,~- i X<,
-

Obvi~~usly thc 'instant' could be defined as a longer or sl~ortertiwe period. If during a

given day tire nline moves 5,000 tons of waste and 2,000 tons of ore, the instarrl;~ncous
stripping ratio (for that day) is
5 000
SII (inst;~ntancuus)== '---
2,000
= 2.5

'I'hc determination of h a 1 pi1 limits as will be described in detail in Chapter 5, in-

volves the calculation of a pit limit stripping ratio to he applied lo a narrow strip at
the pit periphery. 'ih illustrate this concept consider the simplc cross-section shown in
Onc oT llrc ways of describing the geomclrical efficiency of a mining operation is through
llle rrsc of tllc term 'stripping ratio'. It refers to the atnount of wastc thal must he reniovcd Figure 4.127. It will be assumed that:
to re1c;rse a given ore quantity. The ratio is rrrost comrnonly expressed as - tlre pit is deepened in bench height increments of 25 fi;
- the minimum pit width is 100 ft;
Waste
s1<.,
-
(tons)
- - overall slope angle is 45";

Ore (tons) - the density of the ore and waste is the same;
however a wide vxicty of othcr units are used as well. In strip coal mining operations - the ore is of constant grade.
for cxan~plethe following arc sometimes seen 'l'he original pit on this section (Fig. 4.127). consists of 6 herrchcs and 11;s a depth of

S I< .: Overburden
-- -- thickness (ft)
Coal thickness (ft)
150 St. The area of ore A, is
A, = A, = 200 x I00 + 50 x 150 = 27,500 ft2
Overburden (yd3)
SR- - The area of waste A, is
Coal (tons)
'Sl~eratio of waste to ore is expresscd in units useful for the design purpose at hand.
For tliis example, the ratio will be delined as
A, - 2.4, = loo x I00 = l0,000 st
2

'She overall stripping ratio SR (overall) is

Waste (volume)
SII - -
Orc (volume)
 i
I!
Ihght, 1I.M. & ( : ~ \Vin<lsor 111X6 The currmt s t m of the an of l p i t design ;wd p a f ~ m r m c10~ A m IMM/II<
Ar,.%, Ncu~tno,z('rinhiwd (;rr,rq, I~lrgc.Ol~en1% M i r t i q (;n{rrom. 0rrnbc.r 1986: 285~29J.Aurt~;tlssi;~it
lnrlitcitc 01' Mining and Metallurgy.
I r t surtrnlary, p i t g c o l n c l r y at arty g i v e n l i t n c is inlluenccd b y m a n y factors. O l r v i u u s l y I:irl~lcr. S.V. 1091. I'errwml colntounicalioo. Hantirchlcgcr Cnrlxlrnlicm
tltc overlying material m u s t Be r e t ~ t i r v c dp r i o r l o l e n l o v i n g 1Im1 ondcrlyirtg.
u p c r a t i n g space i s ncedcd b y t h e equipmen!
i ~ r a t e r k ~ l as r g e l y did;lte
A certain
for efiicicntly r c m o v i n g lire r o c k . 'The slope
the slope angles w l ~ i c l r can b e safely used. 111 addition i h c
i I m r i c , 1 i . A 19'12. Olxa pi1 planning and design - h;*sic cosccptr I n SMI: M r r m g l..'~tgwi~~rrir!,q
21111 liditios (11.1. I l i m m n , crlitnr): 1274-1278. I.itlleto~~,
iioixly~ar1'192 I'ersoaal coe,slneicslioi1.
CO: SMli
Norrrll,nok.

ll;~lls,J.I.. lY/ll. 'The lhsic C C ~ ~ K ~dolx,, ~ C S pit aminir~~~ It,: 1 V ~ mOi ~ lk ~m Mvtm i13.\VJ Vm Rcnsburg,
scquetlciog of tltesc geomctrics i s cnlrerncly important s o hl the desired economic
C ~ K C J~lwmwlxtq!,:
X) SAIMM.
rcsolt (rcvenuc n o d cosls) i s re;ilized. Production rates, o r e reseivcs and m i n e l i f e are I l m t w i ~ kW , X l W 3 <>pcmdVtM;$tin8 M e ~ l ~owl ~ ~P~ml d s m s <or Cl~inu.Mi,x~.! /liv~.v;wc,K m n ? m n Cooper
oftell h i g h l y p r i c c dependent. H e n c e t n i n i o g geolttetry i s a d y n m t i c rather h n static (',up., (;rvrrl ( b ~ n wN. Mcx. V.S. IJurenu of Mincs IC 7817.
conccpt. To ev;rluate 01possihilitics.
t h e m a n y iodividu:rl possibilities and coir~hio;ttiot~s 1l;tcdwick. W.I< k M.M. Stovcr 19(dI. 0po1-l'ir GI~~IIV Mining Mtl1ioil.s m d Pmi.1ii.r~.(i,ppl"v ( X e r
tlrc c o ~ t ~ p ~ rhas
t c r become inva1u;tblc. 11~~~i.wm, Mimni C,qqw (,'i., <XI<..mm Ariz~mo 11,s. IIutci~uv l M i n u I(:7W5.
II,,c~, I , 1'17th ~ < s t i t ~ t~ ik rb~~ga ~ , i ~of i t yC X C W ; ~ I SIO~,CS in ~ W c a I t mint, h r r . ihod ~ ~ ~ i tA 1 ) 0: 9 ~
'f'l~e phnning engineer rrtusl f u l l y underst;~od tire basic geonielric crlntponcnts w h i c h
A132.
arc c o n r b i t ~ e dl o y i e l d the ovcr;rll p i t gcolnetry a1 any t i m e in (Ire lik oS r l ~ ctnine. Ilock, 1: 19701~.1)csbgs chmis li,r exc;rv;!ted sloper. Coslribnlicrns to tllc discu\\ioe of Seclllm 6 l'lar~ning
Olm 1% Mine\ 141: I'la,mi,rji of,flllrri Pi1 MCs-. (1IW.J. V:m 11ei1s11o!g.cdircv) 295 302 Jdtasserburg:
SAlMM
I l m k , I!, ;ml J S. Hray 1'177. / < o h S l o p i<rcginr.erir~g(I1cviscd Secwiil liilitmn) ,402 jpp 1.oralw lnsr of
Minin~ ~ n rMcMurgy.
l
Ili,ck, I: & 1) 1. I'cnl,. 1970 Review of thc rrde of mck mec11;isics resc;,rrh in h e desig,, of cymcasl
n r i ~ , :Is:
~ I ' , , , ~ ~ ~ d i t,rf!lw
~ ~ . ~9th C~~m,nn,n~~enl!h Molills wid M ~ k d l u r , q i ~C:WI
d$ITS.Y. \hi. I,Miwzg tlttd
I'clroirsrrt li~~hrrolojp: 3X9~412.Ln~dan:IMM.
Icl,lliili:h J . l i & 1I.A.l.. Hlack 1963. I'actors aKecling the asglc of slopc in olxwcrsl ininch. P q r r presented
<&I t l ~ cAntn;~IMw1i4tgu f AIME, l l ~ l l & sText% , l:cl~. 24.28, I X ' I : f m p r w ~63 A01 I , ;and k u t , r . ~f 11~.
AlMI.' 2761 I): 42-53.
~ i d , t ~ ~w , nw . LYL J (:. ACIII 1977. l ) ~ , ~ i gifSurjicilc~
n ~ i ~w f u t l o gR~O O ~-YA n r , ~ , ~IISlJM
d 1C 8758
Kill,, Y ( ' , 1)l:. ~ ' ~ m & c s111.<)'Neil 1977. A fonnnl alilnracll t u ccai~rm~ic ;m;ilyris c l l (pi1 slope design lit:
I5rh A l ' W M , ilrirba,rr, Aair.: 405-413.

8947.
Mirles t%rnocli 1972 ?inrcdw Derign Guide jbr M i m Wurte Ernba,rkr,c~lr in C m o d ~ 'Tccllllical
~. Ildlciin
'111 145. March 1972.

I
Moss. A.S.K. & O K I l . Stellet> 1978. Ceorechnology m d pmbahility i s olxn-pit eurinc planning. Is: P m ~
~ c e ~ c , l g,
s,/ tiir. IOZ c~,,,,~,~~~~~~~~III
M,,,~,z~ M~,. C ~ I , ~ sn3~sso.
~ ~ ~ . ~ . ~ :
MSIIA ( M ~ n cSzlfcty atid lbi!ltl~ Administration) 1992. Satety and hcsldl slandxds applicable to surface
- .
rm~raland nuntnctsl mininc and millior oneratiuss, Pan 56. Code of Federxl 1.1egelnlons (CFR 30).
~~~

Itcviscd as of July I, 1792.

Niclwlr, ll.l.., l r 1956. Mudem Techniques of Excuuation: 8.8 to 8~23.I'rincelon. NJ: Van Nomlmnrl.
Katosey. 11.11. 1934. llrrw Cananca devolops newest porphyry c o p p ,?/MI 145(12): 74-87~
Ikmscy, 1.11. 1945. New Cssanea operation now in high gear E/MJ 14619): 72.78.
Uced , A 1 W 3 Stmclural %eoloav
~ ~~
..
-. and ~cosraris~ical
paranmcn or the Aflon Copper-Gold M i m Kmloops.
ll(:CIM lIsllrri,r (856)76(8): 45-55.
Kiew. M. 1993. .Si,c~c$ro~ion S l w e t f i ~!he B~cymr-ErieMurlrl I55 Slinvel.
Rilchie, A M . 1963 I~voluatiooof rockfall and its control. Iliglwa). Ilerrmrclz Record 17: 13~18.
Rolrrlsou, A.M. 1971. Ilic interpretation of gcologicill facrtrrs for usc in slope ilreory In: I'roi. Syaiporiarn
'For mcm infonnntiou scc the end of lhc references. I'fonrzit~gOperi Pir Miner. Johannesburg. 55-70. Asrstcrrlarn: A.A. Iktlkmvt.
In sumtnary, pi1 geomelry at any g i v e n t i m e i s i n l l u c n c c d h y i l l a n y Cactnrs. O b v i o u s l y
f l i c o v e r l y i n g m;~tcri;tl tlitlst h e r e ~ i i o v e dp r i o r IU r e t i ~ o v i t i gI l i i ~ tutiderlyittg. A ccrt2ti11
i g rock. Tlic slopc
o p e r a l i n g space i s needed b y llte eqttiptocnl f o r ~ r l l i c i c r i t l yr e ~ r ~ o v i tthe
tn;rlerials k l r g c l y dictate the slope arrgles w h i c h can he salely used. It1 ; ~ d d i t i o n tlrc
r c q u e n c i n y o f lllcse gcottretrics i s cxtrcriiely important so that l l l c d c s i r c d cconortiic
result (revenue and costs) i s realized. l'roductiotr rates, o r e reserves a n d t i l i n e l i f e itre
o k nhighly p r i c e dependent. l l e t i c e mining geutnetry is a dyn;ioric ratllcr h n st;iIic
concept. Ib evaluate tlie m a n y i n d i v i d t ~ s possibilities
l and combinations of possibilities,
tlrc c o ~ i q x ~ l e
has
r become i n v a l u i ~ b l e .
'I'lic p l a n n i n g engineer m u s l Tully t t t t c l c t s m d l l t c hasic g c o t ~ r o l r i ccritnponert~sw h i c h
n i c c ~ i ~ i i b i n et o
d y i e l d the over;ill pi1 geometry at any tiirie in the l i f e of l l t c nrine.

crrrlmgr olrltc i l , b (b,nnrnmvmlrh Mining and Mcr. i h ~ r r ~ . r543-5511. .~:

h4SllA (Mine Safcly and Hestth Administration) 1992. Safety and 1ie;blih rrasdanlr ;qiplicablc to silrfacc
mcml ;rod oonmetal ,mining and rnilling operations, Part 56. Ccxle of 1:ederaI Rcgulatioos (CI'R 30).
llcvised i s of July 1, 1992.
Nichols. H I.. Jr tYS6 Modem Teclmiques of Ercnvotior X-8 m 8 2 3 . I'rincctun, NJ. Van Norstrand.
Riirusey. 11.11. 1944. How Cnsimea develops newest porphyry copper C / M J 145(12): 74M7.
l<iuusey. R.J. 1945. New Canrneil operation now is high gear E/MJ 146(9): 72~78.
Ilecd. A. I 9 8 1 Stwctaral geology and geortatistical parameters of tlie Afton Cnppe~GoldMine. Kaodwps.
ti<: C I M lIrclleli,t (856)76(X): 45-55.
Kicse. M . 1993. .$wcijfiralirm S l ~ e r t f the
i ~ ~i l u ~ y u r - E r i eModel 15.5 .Sltovel.
Kirchic, A.M. I063 livn111;rtiun of n r k f a l l and its cootml. Iiiglnuoy 8crmn.R Keiorrl 17: 13~18.
Itolxnrtm A.M. 1971, The it,terpretation of geological factors for usc in slope theory. Is: Pmc. Syt,llmsirdm
'l'oi more i n f o n r ~ t i o nsee thc end of the references on I'lmriing Open 1% Mitze.~Johannesburg. 55-70. Atns~crtliiin:A.A. Ualkcrm
11oas~llwwo,I1.M 1079. Pit limit rlqx desigd, m d y l i c a l design In: O p m 1% Mmc l ' l ~ u u r i rand
~~ Il<~.qrt
( I T Crawliwd $andW A , ffustmlid, editors). 161-1x4. SM1:~AIMli.
Savcly. J I ! 1986. 1)esignieg a lirtal w;d1 l h * r l o irripnwc rr;,l,ility. Ihr~.rcr~rccl
a h e S M I Aramil M ~ e r i n g . Summary
New Orlci~ss.March 2-6. 1986 SMII: nrnnrim so. 80-50. Stnmurill geology
D1SCOl)AT p n g m m package
1)un::kio malysis pn>gi:ms
fienpl~ysicrfirr open pi1 silcb
Joint milppisg by lerrcslrinl pholagrammc~ry
Stnmural geology atse h i s m y
M e u l m i c s l prvpcrtier
l,aboraa,ry clasrilication tcrlb
I.al,or;nury tcsts for desi$e pareelclcrr
I n situ licld tests
Selectcd soil tests
Sampling and specimen prepm;llim
(i~oewJwater
Ccrmputcr mimuiil h r secpapc analysis
1)csigc
I'hm shcar awalysir
Rotational shcar sliding: malyres iml coolputel
programs
1:iwncirl computer prognrnr
Mechvnical support
lluttrcrses aud retaining walls
Perimeter hlasting
Monitoling
Waste crnhankcnents
I~nvimnmentnlplanning
Kcclanmion hy vegetation
I . I m i n e wasle
description nmd c a c hirtolicr
I1eclamnlion by vegetation
Vul. 2 - m i n e wa5te inventwy
by ~ d t e l l i t eimsgew
Pit limits

'l'l~etimc has now come to combine the economics iotrtducerl i l l (:h;q~tcr 2 with the
~nineralinventory developed in Chapter 1 under the geometric constr,~iotsdiscussed ill
Chapter 4 to define the mineable portion of the overall inventory. 'l'hc pmcess involves
thc development atid superposition of a geometric surlacc called a pit o111otile mineral
A vertical
invel~tory.The mirleablc rllaterial hcconres th;tt lying within the pit bo~~nd;irics.
sectioo taken tlirough such a pit is shown i n Figure 5.1. 'The size and shape of the pit
depcmls upon economic factors and designlprodnction cunstuaints. With an increase in
price the pit would expand in si.x nssun,iog d l other factors rc~ixiinetlconstant. 'l'hc
inverse is obvioilsly also true, The pit existing :it the end o C mining is called the 'linal'
or the 'ultimate' pit. In betwccn the hirtli and tbc death 01' :to operr-pi1 mine, tberc ;ire
;I series of 'inler~ncdiatc' pits. This chnptcr will present a series of i~rocciluresbased
upon:
(I) Iwnd methods,
(2) computer methods, and
(1) cornpuler assisted h ~ methods
d
1'0s developing pit limits. Within the pit are found mntcrials of dilfcring value. Eco-
nomic criteria arc applied to assign destinations 1'or these materials based on their value
(i.c. mill, waste dump, leach dump, stock pile, etc.). 'Slrese criteria will be discussed.
Once the pit limits have hcen rletern~inedand rules est;iblishcd for cl;rssifying tile in-pit
~nateri;tls,then the ore reserves (tonnage am1 grade) can he c;~lculatctl.In Chapter 6,
the steps required to go from the ore reserve to production rate, ~minclife, etc. will Be
presented. down dip and this will he recovered later by undergroond techniques. It is desired to
know how large the open-pit will be. The final pit in this grcatly simplified case will
appear as in Figure 5.3. The slope angle of the left wall is 45". As can be see11a wedge
5.2 HAND METHODS of waste (area A) has been removed to uncover the ore (;ma B). l'hc locatioli of the
linal pit wall is dctennincd by examining a series of slices such as shown in Figure 5.4.
5.2.1 The basic concept For this example the width of the slice has been selected as 1.25 units (u) and the
thickness of the section (into tlie page) as I unit. Beginning with strip I the volu~nesof
Figure 5.2 sl~owsan idealized cross-scction through an orebody whicl~outcrops at the waste (V,) and ore (V,) are calculated. The volumes are:
surface and dips to the left at 45". 'f'hcrc arc distinct physical boundaries separating the
ore from the over- and under-lying waste. The known ore cxtcnds MI considerable depth
 'l'lre inst:~ntaneousstripping ratio (ISR) is dclined as
Vw 1
ISR, (instantaneous) = - (5.1)
V"1

Assun~ingthat tile net value from selling one unit volume of ore (that money remaining
after ;dl expenses have been paid) is $1.90 and the cost for mining and disposing of the
wastc is $1 /unit volume, the net value for strip 1 is

I f tllc IXOXSS is now repeated for strips 2, 1 and 4, tile results ;we as given below:

As can be seen, the net value changes from (+) to (-) as the pit is expanded. For strip 3,
the net value is just about zero. This pit position is termed 'hreakevco' since the costs
t'ignrc 5.4. Slices used to determine fi~ralpi1 limits. involved in mining the strip just equal the revenues. It is the location of the final pit
wall. The breakeven stripping ratio which is strictly applied at the wall is

Since the net value of t unit of ore is $1.90 and the cost for 1 w i t of waste is $I, one
can minc 1.9 units of waste to recover I unit of ore (Rg. 5.5).
The overall stripping ratio (OSR) for this section is calculdted as
Waste area -
OSR = -Ore area - B
 Pi1 limits 373

I. A slicc is selected.
2. 'l'lrc contained valuc is compared with the costs.
ositivc, the pit can he cnpnnrled. If ncgativc, tlre pit contracts.
n is where the net value of tltc slicc is zcro.

111 the previous scctio~~, the natore of the deposit was srlclt that time was no ambiguity
regarding what wi~smeant by orc and waste. 170r inany deposits however the dislioction
is 111~tc1r
inme subtle. 'l'hc lerrr~'culoff grades' refers to grades for which the destination
of pit rnatcrials changes. It should he noted that 'gmdes' were used rather tlran 'grade'
since tlicre may hc scvcral possible destinittions. 'She simplcst c;tsc would he tltat in
w l d ~tlrcrc arc two destinations: thc mill or the waste d u ~ ~ One ~ p . cntoCf gl-;ale is
needed. For inany operations today there are three possihlc dcs\inntims: the mill, the
leach d ~ m pand tlte waste dump. Each of the decisions
mill or lcacl~?
leaclt or w;rste?
requires ;I cutoff grade. A definition of cutoffgrailc wlticlt is often used (ktvcy, 1979):

11, this C;W

Waste irrca - A = sou' applies to the sin~pleore-waste dccisi6n. 'l'liis will be tisccl i n developing the preli~~~inary
pit lil~tits.'l'l~conly destinations allowed are the waste d u n ~ por forther processing. With
Ore m a :
:. II :
:: h2u' Illis delinition the net value of material as a function o l grade I ~ I L I She~ determined.
llence 'l'hat grade for which the net value is zero is called the breakeven cutoff grade. This
OSK " 0.8 cnicul;ttio~~ will be illustrated using tlie exarnple provided by 1)avcy (1979) for copper.
T!te w i ~ p e rore is n~illecltl~erehyproducing a copper coocentrate. Tl~ismill concentrate
'I'l~isis compared to the instnntaneous stripping ratio at the pit boundary is stlipped to a smelter and the resulting blister copper is cventu;tlly relined.
In tltis example the following will be assumed:
ISR (pit limit) = 1.9
Mill recovery rate = 80%
The OSI< must always he less tltan the ISK ((tit li~nit).
The net value for the sectktn (assurning unit thickness) is Mill concentrate grade = 20%
S~ncltingloss =: 10 ibslst of concentrate
NV =- Ore m a x Net ore value - Waste area x Waste re~novalcost
Refining loss = 5 lhslst of blister copper
U ~ $ 1 . 9 0 - A ~ $ ~16 2 x $ 1 . 9 0 - 5 0 x $ I
:- : $68
'l'l~csteps of the net value co~nputationarc outlined hclow for an ole corrlaining 0.55%
Wltereas tile net value is zcro at the pit limit, it is positive lor tlre overall sectioo. copper. All of the costs and revenues will be calculated with respect to one ton of ore.
In this exantple the quantities, costs and rcvcnues were all expressed in tenns of
volumes. Since the strip width and tltickness is the s a m in both ore and waste, the final Srep I. Corry~urerhe amount of saleahle copper (Ib.s/.sr of or(,).
pit limit in this situation is that position where the lengrh of waste (L,) is just equal to
1.9 times the length of ore (Lo)as measured along the midline of the mined strip. (a) Contained copper (CC) is
Often the costslrcvenues are expressed as a function of weigl~t($/ton). If the density
0.55
of the ore and waste is the same then the ratio of lengths can still be used. If they are CC = 2,000 lhslst x -= 11.0 ib
not, then the different densities must be included in the calculations. 100
As this chapter proceeds, more realistic geometries both for the pit and the orebody
will he introduced. A gradual rather than sharp ore-waste tramition will he included. As (h) Copper recovered by the mill (KM) is
will he seen, even with tltese changes the followi~tghasic steps involved in determining
pit limits remain the same:
(c) Cw~ce~itration
ratio (I.). 'I'hc ratio of concentr;~tionis dclined as (a) I'r(1ducti01i (oper;lling) costs (PC) excluding stripping arc:

.rI-
Ihs Culst of conccn1r;ite ~
Mining $ 1.00
Ibs Cu recoveredlst of ore Milling $2.80
Since the rnill product runs 20% copper ti~creare 400 lh 01' coppcr contained in one ton Gcncral md tidi~iir~k~ti:sti,~~~ $:I57
of concentrate. One ton of ore contains 8.8 lb 01 recoverable copper. Hence (15% of mining and milling)
-
PC - $4.37

'l'liis means tl~at45.45 tons of ore running 0.55'% copper arc required to produce I ton (h) An~ortimtionand depreciation (A&l)). 7'his amount is charged against wch ton of
of concentrate running 20%. orc lo ;icc<wnt for the capital iovesttnellt in n~ine;mi n~illpl;ml, I f the total A&I) is
$10,000,000 xnd overall ore tonnagc is 50.000,000 tons, IIICII Iliis v:~luewould he $0.20.
(d) Coppcr recovered by t l ~ csu~elter(RS). l'be mill c~inccntratcis sent lo a smelter. In this p;iilicul;~rcase. 20% of the total pmduction ccsls will hc used
Since the s~lreltingloss is 10 lhlst of concentrate, the smclting loss (SI.) per ton of ore A&ll : 0.20 x $4.37 = $0.87
is

SL - 10 .~
lblsl of conccntrafc
.- ~~ : 0.22 11, (c) 'fic;ltrncnt, relining and selling (TRS) cosl.
45.45 tons of orelst of cooccnlrate - Shipment or mill concentrate t r j 111c\meltcr Since transpurt costs 01.40 pcr t m of
conccntt.;~lc,tlic cost per ton of ore is
'I'hu\ the recovered coppcr is
$1.40
(:onccntlale transport ::- -
- $0.03
45.45
- Snlelting cost. Smelling costs $50.001st or co!lcenlralc. Slrc slnclling cosl pcr loll
(e) Copper rccovercd by tllc relinery (Rlt). Tile nunlbcr of tons of ore required to produce of 0rc is
one ton of blister coppcr is

2,000 Iblst of hlister coppcr

233.1 - S l ~ i p c n of
t (he blister copper rtl rl~ercliuc~y.Thcre is d transport cost of $50.00/st
8.58 lh of copperlst of ore
of blister copper involved. The cost per ton of ore Bcconles
Sincc d i n i n g losses are 5 lblst of blister copper, the refining loss (KL) per ton of ore 8.58
is I3listcr transport = $50.00-- == $0.21
2,000

ItL .-233
5 lb of copperlst of hlister coppcr
..-. ~

tons of orelst of blister copper

= 0.02 lb - - Refining cost. Refining costs $130.001st of blister copper. 'I'he relining cost per too
of ore is
'l'l~usthe recovered coppcr is

- Selling and delivery cost (S&D). The selling and dclivcry cost is $0.01 11b of copper.
Since 8.56 ib are available for sale
Step 2. Co~nputethe gross value (CV) for tlre ore ($/.sl). The copper price assumed for s m = $0.09
this calculation is $I.OO/lb. Futtherrnore there is a hy-product credit for gold, molybde-
m m . ctc. of $1.77/st of ore. Thus the gross value is - General plant (GP) cost. These costs amount to $0.07/lh of copper. lfcnce the GP
cost per ton of ore is
GI' = $0.07 x 8.56 = $0.60
Step 3. Conrpute the associrrred total co.sr.s (?%) ($/st). - 'lhtal treatment cost is
TRS -- $2.59
 Pit 1inril.s 177

Assrlming tlre rccovcrics and rmit costs renr;~intlie same, the net v;ilnc is $ 0 . 3 0 ,

.Src,[~ 6 . G~,t.scrrrc/(I lrer tinllrc

- f i n ~ d
(:urr,c
~ 'I'lrc IWO points 011 a net value -- grade
curve whicli lrave hce11dclerrrtinetl by ll~cprocess outlined above
I'oint Net value ($/st) Grade (% Cuj
I $2.50 0.55
2 $0.30 0.35
arc plutted in I'igurc 5.6. Assuming lhat t l ~ cnet valuc '%I ('ti ic1;nionship is linear it is
]~ossiibclo find an equation of the for1111) a I hl: rclating net value (1)) to grade (r).
'L'hc rcsirlt is

wbcrc ?/ is lltc net value ($/st of ore) and :c is lhc (x:rccnt copper

Srep 7. Lferernlim file brprzkeom cur<,// jirdc, (for q~plicutio,~ ot tlie pit lirnil). The
hrcnkevcn cutoff grade is defined as that gr& for which the net value is zero: One can
detcr~ninctlrat point by inspcctinp, 1:igure 5.6 or by solving the eqoatiou found in Step
6 lor 11 -: 0. One finds that
r (hreakeven) = 0.17% Cu

SIq) 8. Ilevel(,pin,ing (i stripping r a i o - firurltz curvr. The cutoff gmdc distinguishes that
rnatcrial which can be rnincd and processed with a net value greater than or equal to zero.
Material with a zcro net value cannot pay for any stripping. Thus it must be exposed
at the surfacc or be overlying richer blocks which can pay for the required stripping.
Assurric that thc cost for stripping 1 ton of wastc is $1.00. Ore with a net value of
$1.00 can pay for tlie stripping of 1 ton of waste. Ore with ;I net value of $2.00lton can
pay for the stripping of 2 tons of wastc, etc. ?'he stripping ratio axis has been added in
Figure 5.7 to show &is. The net valuc - grade equation
NV = -$5.20 + $14.00 x (% Cu) (5.4)
can be lnodified to yield the stripping ratio (S11) - grade relationship
Figure 5.7. Net v*lue and breakwen stripping ratio venur ore grade.
SR = -~$5.20+ $14.00 x (% Cu) (5.5)
 Pit limit^ 379

I:nr a grade US 0.55% Cu, the l)rc;ike\wn stl.ipping ratio is

SIC (0.55%) = 2.5
This was as expected since the net vrtluc is 02.50 and the stripping cost is $1.00

Step 9. Prescrrlirrg the ,fir101curves. 'She net value - grade curve should be completed
by the addition of the cost of stripping line (SC). This is shown in Figure 5.8. It should
he noted that no nlaterial can ever have a value less than that uf waste. In this case the
value of waste is -$1.00. The horizontal line (NV = --$1.00) and the NV-grade line
(NV = --5.20 4- 14.00 x (% Cu)) intersect at a grade of
I'qwc 5.10. Pit limit dctennination with huon> in waste (Koslisiemi. 147%

For grades less than 0.3070, the material is considered as waste with respect to milling.
Depending upon the economics, some other treatment process such as dump leaching
may be possible. When using band methods all material having grades less than the used tias been presented by Koskiniemi (1979). 1,ocating the pit limit on each vertical
breakeven cutoff (0.37% in this case) is considcrd as waste. The final stripping ratio- section is a trial and error process. I t will be assumed that
grade curve is shown in Figure 5.9. - I'it slopes:
For the computer techniques discussed later, the portion of tlie curve lying between Left hand side = 50";
0.30 and 0.37% Cu is also included. Right hand side = 40";
- Minimum width of the pit bouom = 100 it;

- Material densities:
5.2.3 Locntiotl of pit limits - pit horfom in wusre
Ore = 165 lblft3;
The application of this curve to locating the final pit wall positions will be illustrated Waste rock = 165 lblft3;
using tlie vertical section (Fig. 5.10) taken through the block model. The basic process Overburden = 165 lhlft3;
 -Relative mining ch;~l;tctcristics:
Waste rock
Overburden
- 'She strippinl:
I;
I; - grade curve of Rgure 5.9 applies;
I.engt11(fl)
~

Ovcrburdcs Wste (1,)

~

O m If,>,)
~ Otc grailc
la,,)
Orc lesgh r
OOO!I,,,)
orc gradc

- rillio~ore
~~ ..
- 'Shc pit bottom is 211 the ore-waste contact.

Ovcrht~rdcn;is defined hcrc means soil, glacial till, gravcl, highly weathered rock, etc.
not rcquiring drilling and blasting prior to rernoval. Waste rock, on the other hand, does
require drillil~gand hlnsting. l'he general procedure will be deoronstrated with rcslrcct
to the left-hand slopc.

.Srcp I. A trial slopc (guess i f ] ) is drawn through the seaion. The lengtl~sand grades
arc cntercd intn a table such as Tid~lc5.1. 'l'ltc purpose will be lo ohtain the average
w: gr;& and stripping ratio along this line. The lengths can si~nplybe scaled off thc
secliot~with cnoi~ghaccuracy. 'I'hc cuto1.f grade is 0.37% Cu.

Ibhlc 5.1. 8cmm in wastc: pit limif ~ I I C I SH I ( 1 . i ~GI)

1 10 296 ?38 9 = 0.82 194.8

~~p ~- .. . ~.
~~~- - ~ .~ . ~ ,

130+?96
slc (actual) = - - Ci 1.79 : 1:
238
Sll (allowable) Ci6.2 : 1: Slep 2. 'I'bc average ore grade is determined. l'he pn~ductsof ore grade x ore length arc
Cwiclusioe: mnvc to tile lcfr. dcterr~~incd The s u ~ uof Ibc ore lengths is found (Clo,).
(l,,jy,,,) and summed (C(l,ig,,,)).
'She average ore grade is found from

I ~ n g t l r(ft) Oregrade Ore length x ore grade

. ..
V"f#"O
~

Overburden (lob) Waste (I,) I (1,j (m)

B ~3. JThe stripping ratio for this line is determined. This must he expressed in the
s m c form as the stripping ralio - ore grade curve. In this case it is required to havc
tons of waste per ton of ore. Since the densities are all equal and lhe relative diggability
of the ovcrburdcn and the waste rock is the same, the stzipping ratio is simply the ratio
of the lengths.

130+385 2 3.3 : 1;
SR - +
Length overburden Length waste rock
Length ore
~~ -. lob
-- 4~ lw
l.,
SIC (actual) .- -----
156
Sf<(allowable) Y 5.6 : 1:
Cunclusion: move to the len.
SIC,!, 4. Uetur~rrinatior~ stripping ratio lix average ore grade using the
of the ;~llov~able 17
iix
SII - ore grade curve (Pig. 5.1 1). lo this case one finds lhat 70
SR (allowable) S 6.2 . I

Slep 5 . Comparison of the actual a d ;~llowahleSK. Since the actual stripping ratio

SR (actual) = 1.79 : 1 143 296 310

p~ . ~p~~~

143 + 296
~~

is much less than that allowable (6.2 : I), the pit slope can he ~rlovedto the left. SK (actual) = % 1.42 : 1;
310
SK (ellow~ble)
s! 7 : I ;
Sle,, 6.A new gucss of thc linal pit l o p e location is rrrnde and the process repeated. Cosclusius: llic pit can k 'Hoatcd' cansirlcrable d c c p i
This iteration process is continued until the actual and allowable stripping ratios are
close.
Conclusion: Guess #4 is the final position of the left hand slope. Note that the block
having grade 0.3 is considered waste since it is below cutoff. calculation becomes

Step 7. Determination of right-hand slope position. Tlie same process is repealed for the ... -
right hand wall of the pit. The results are shown in i'igure 5.10. The final pit bottom where pObis the overburden densily, p, is the waste density, and p, is the ore density.
has a width of about 215 ft. If the mineability characteristics of the overburden and waste rock are different, then
If the wasteloverburder~have densities different from the ore, then the calculation of thc costs involved in their removal will also be different. It will be recalled t11at a single
stripping ratio using simple length ratios does not work. The generalized stripping ratio waste mining cost was used in the development of the SR - grade curves. Assume that
 Guess 112 Guess #I

SIC (;illowable)rr 2 9 5 : I

5.2.4 1~1mrionofpit 1irr1it.s-pit hottom irr ore

I:igure 5.12 shows the case when the orchrrdy continues to

1.cf1hand slope - 50"
I<ight I m d s l o p :y 40"
Minimum pit bottom width - 100 f t
Sitice the pit buttoni is now in ore, the costs for stripping can he paid for hy tlie ore in
the strip long tlie pit bottom as well as that along tlre pit sides. A 50 St wide allocation
is orzalc to both the right and left hand sidcs. The procedure is similar to that described
157+617
(iictwt) = - -Y 2.56 : 1;
SR
I"".,"A
wit11 t l ~ epit bottom in waste. However, now both sides and the bottom must be examined
SIC(;bllowable) s 2.6 : I ; at the same time. The procedure is as follows:
Conclusion: guess if2 is close to the pit shlz kxaion.
Stq' I. Draw to scale a final pit profile using the appn~priateleSt and right hand slopes
as well as the minimum pit bottom on a piece of tracing paper. Supcrimposc this on the
section. Guess an initial position.
the given cost (Cwlton) applies to waste rock and that t l ~ covcrburden removal cost is
aC,lton. The factor a is the relative mining cost of the overburden to that of the waste . S ~ J2. Calculate the average ore grades and stripping ratios for the left and right hand
rock. The stripping ratio formula can be further modified to sides. Compare these to the allowable values. For simplicity it will be assumed that the
densities and mineabilities of the materials involved are the same.
Because of the freedom of the pit to 'float' both vertically and horizontally, thc
ilerative procedure can be quite rime consuming.
If the costlton to remove the overburden is only half that of the waste rock then a = 0.5.
This factor changes the overburden into an equivalent waste rock. If the cost used to
dcvelop the SR - grade curve had been based on overburden, then one needs to convert
waste rock into equivalent overburden. A third possible situation is one in which one of the pit slopes is in ore. In Figure 5.13
it will be assunred that the right hand slope follows the ore-waste contact, the left hand
 Longitudinal Section

Imgtlr (II) Oic gi;ale

.~~ ~~. ~~ ~-~~ ~ ~

o m (I,,,) (!l'nl

Transvcrsc sections such as 1-If, 2-2'. etc. i n 1;igurc 5.14 have been constructed par-
allel to one ar~ollierand nomel to the orebody axis. The infloeoce of these sections is
assunled to extend halfway to the neighboring sections. 'Sliey are of constant thickness
by constmction (Fig. 5.15). A srnall Pace area (AA) at location A at the crest of the pit
represents the same volume as the same area located at the toe (location B).
The pit location proccdures described in Subsections 5.2.3 through 5.2.5 apply with-
out modification to parallel cross-sections and longitudinal sections. As can be seen in
Figure 5.14, radial sectiolis are often needed to describe pit ends. For radial sections such
SK (sllowable) a 2.21; as shown in Figure 5.16, the voluri~erepresented hy an area AA at the crest (location C)
Conclusion: Illis is Ilre tinal pit lkm.atios.
is nmch greater than one at 11 due to the varying section thickness.
A modilication in the procedure used to locate the linal pit limit is required. This is
slope is at 50". and a minimum pit bottom width is 100 ft. In this case the ore along the accomplished through the development of a curve relating the apparent stripping ratio
pit bottom contributes to the cost of stripping the left wall. The approximate position as measured on the radial section to the true stripping ratio.
of the final pit is shown superiinposed on the figure. The corresponding calculatioli is Figure 5.17 is a plan view showing the region at the end of the pit in which radial
given in Table 5.7. scctions are being used.
I'igure 5.18 is isometric view of the sector in question, The exposed ore area is
5.2.6 Radial section.\ identified as A and that of waste as I?. The apparent (measnred) stripping ratio for the
radial section as shown on Figure 5.19a would he
The types of sections used depends upon the shape of the orebody. For the elongated
orebody shown in Figure 5.14, trmsvcrse scctions yield the hest representation in the b
SIC (measured) = - (5.10)
central portion. Along the axis of the orehody, a longitudinal section may be taken. a
Figure 5.15. Iron,elric view of ib pnrallcl scclion

Since tllc measured stripping ratio on t l ~ csection is as shown in I'qr~atiun (5.10) then

As can he seen, this rel~tioosl~ip is independent of lmh the slope ;mgle and tl~eincluded
;1nglc.
Krlucs of SR (true) and SR (measured) ;Ire presented i n Table 5.8 and plotted in Figure
5.2 I. 'l'he steps in thc location of tile final pit linrit on a radial section are outlined bclow:

.Yli?pI. As with parallel sections, one guesses the location of the linal pit slope and
c;llculates the average ore grade 4 and t l ~ estripping ratio. Assume that . = 0.8 and the
l'igum 5.16. Isoetclric view of a radial sec~ measured stripping ratio is 2 : 1.
liotl.
Sky 2. With pasallel sections one would go directly to the SR - %Cu curve to see what
stripping ratio this grade would suppon. In the case shown in Figure 5.22, it is about
6 : I indicating that tile limit could be moved outward. Fur radial sections one must
From the plan projection of the wall surface for tl~issector as shown in Figure 5.19h.
proceed to Step 3.
the area of are is A' and that of waste B'. Since the included angle for the sector is
6 , the ore radius in this projection is a/cos (3 and the thickness of the waste zone is Srq? -3 The measured stripping ratio must first be converted to a true stripping ratio
b/ cos 9.
through the use of the cotwcrsion curve (Fig. 5.21). This indicates tl~atfor a measured
The calculation of the plan projected areas is shown in Figure 5.20. The true stripping
stripping ratio of 2 : 1, the true stripping ratio is 8 : 1.
ratio c m be expressed as
Slq 4. Returning to I'igure 5.22, one finds that the grade required to suppon a stripping
U' (a i b)Z - a2
SR (true) = - =
A' u2
=
(I 4 f)'
- 1
mtio of 8 : 1 is 0.94. This is higher than the 0.8 present and hence the next guess of the
liml pit limit should be moved toward the pit.
 Area A '

Areal

a. Radlal Section

I:igurc 5 . 2 0 TIE ore and waste nrcar involved

b. Plan Sectlon

Ggum 5 . 1 9 I'lan and section views of the radial

sector rl>uwnin Figure 5.18.
 N O * ""I*UoS

.lo as11 aql q211osrll s! ysr!~s!q~4u!n1sr1j~adput: ~ ! daql Soyzsluns!~l o LM :I Isa!stin arl.1.

'suo!lnas sno!.mn a11101 apl!llr aq 01 sluam~cnlj~r? sar!nbar 4u!q1nnr11sS!I~J, ( ~ z ' s%:I"as)
arm a p m I:pp!L satlo 111axr111!at11 smtarlrn 'aldm~:xa JOJ ' ~ ! dmoJ.nn Ltan I:1saY8us L I X U
o q o a s all() laqioot: arm 01 ah!ll!lal raqia8o1 J!I Larll moq au!rnlxa III dnc).18 I: SI! 11ait:n
- p ? m aq lsnm La111 'sr~o!~oas~ ~ ! n p ! n ! paql
! LKI palunol uaaq anl!rl sal!pd I!(] [t!11!1 ax")
 .slopc.s. 11' ;I vcrlicel section docs nor h v c a umtinuous
S1r.1, 2.tlirrtrliirtg ~?/'rli.rcoriti~ruo~f.~
slapc line from the pit botton~lo the surfilcc inte~ccpltlris is itlsr, sllo\v11.

S I ~44.St~roolhir~~.
J 7'hc points l r m ~the scctiws osually prcscnt a vcty irregular pttcrn,
holh vcrlically and l~ori~ontally. 111 snrrx~rl~i~ig
these itnd designing the hottorn bench
several tllings sllould be kept in mind (Koskinieit~i,1079):
- Averaging the break-even stripping ratios for a<ljaining sections. I f onc section is
111over1significantly inward or oulw;itd, nmjm clritngcs it1 strippi~glmiireserves may
result. 'l'hos the sections are carefully cv;~lrr;tletlwit11 cidr cbitngc.
-- Usc of silnplc geometric patterns for casc 01' design. 'Chc simpler the gco~~tctric
slr;~pc.the easier it is to design the rcm;ri~ldcrof the pit.
-- 1.ocation of ramp to pit bottolri.
Watching lor paltcrils thal might Icad to slope stability proble~~ls.
1 ; cxatrlplc
~ lxdgcs
or noses in tllc pit often arc soorces of problems.
Figure 5 . 2 I'lnn view of s pit containing n wide kwh.
Step S. The bnllom hotch is rhe?! rlru~v,r.As has heen discussed in f'haptcr 4, there are
several possibilities for depicting the gconrctry. One way is to show both the toe and
crest lines. Depending opon rllap scalr: and the number of henches, this may or may not
be good. A second possihility is to display just one (either the toe or tllc crcst) since
the position o l the other can he easily oht;iincd knowing tlte bench height ;rnd the bench
face anglc.
'She third possibility is to show tile nlcdian elevation line (Irall the distance up the
hcnch face). 'Chis is the represen1;ttion nwst coln~~tonlyused and that employed here.

S I ~6.J Adiiitir~llof the t~tedifrrt1bre.s for rhe ovrrlyirtg benches. 111 preliminary designs
the roads are often not shown. In such cases, the plan distance between the median lines
1s:
,,:: ~
I[
tan f3
(5.12)
w h c x h.fd is the plan distance between ~riedianlines, H is the bench height and O is the
overall pit slope angle, An overall pit slope anglc is cliosen so that the space required Figure 5.26. Plan view of a pit with differen1nonh and south wall slopes.
for the mad is included. For the cnse shown in Figure 5.24, the slope angle is the same
througlrout the pit and the slope is continuous from toe to crcst and hence the median
lines are parallel and equally spaced. Figure 5.25 shows tbc casc when therc is a wide
bend> par1 way up tlic pit. I;igt~re 5.20 shows tire case w l ~ e ntltc itort11 m d south side Slep 7. li-ur.>fir-,,JIhe pi1 1ir1lir.s lo rhe i ~ l i ~ i d t level
t ~ l p1rrrr.s. Wlleil tire composite

slope ;inglcs are dilTercnt. I f in llic lirlal dcsigns tlie actual njarls are sliowo, tlicn tlie pit plitrr 113s hcen contplctcd, the pit limits are trarsfcrred to tire individual levcl plans
horizontal c1ist;tnce M,, hetwcc~ttllc i~~cdi;tn lines is cqti;tl to (Fig. 5.28). 7'11roi1gli this process. tlie design engineer w i l l lirst check lllc stripping ratios
at the final pit liroit. 'l'hc pit is split into sectors such as slrown i n 1:igurc 5.29, and (Ire
ore-w;lstc !-clationships chcckcd.
Figure 5.30 shows the rliedian lincs and ore grades for a sector taken i n the ccnler o f
wlicrc b , is the level hcrm width. I I is llre hcnch height, am1 0, i s the hcncll f;rcc ;togle. the pit. I f the pit hottom is i n ore then Illis effect is included sintply by ;idding artilicial
A corripositc ultirrl;~tcpit plan with a ro;id iocludal is shown in 1:igtirc 5.27. 'She pn,- rriediiti~lines to this region.
ccdtirc tlirotigli which a road is ;rdded 10 ;I pit has been discusscrl in Chapter 4. i n this case llic average gr;ldc is 0.7 and tllc stripping ratio is

Level Median Lines

Surface Intercept
t'igtrrc 5.29. l'lus ol'tlle ultirnntc pit slawing the sectors (Soderkrg R. Kmml~,1968)

Media
Llne

I'igwe 5.28. Lmel plan of bench

Pit Bottom tion for a parallel sector.
il willr thc ultilnille pit limit SU-
w=warte Block Arrays ( % Capper ) [~"mplsed (Koskioiemi. 1979).
A 1 i d i i 1 1 S C C I ~ O I Iis show11 i l l 1:igure 5.31. lo this case

'I'lle stripping ratio is

'llrc general prvccdorc is to measure and sum the lengths of waste and ore on each level
at tile pit h i t within a given scctor The ratio gives the stripping ratio. The average
grade is the length weighted average. The grade and stripping ratio values fur each sector
are compared to the SR - grade curve. Aoomalous areas are identified and the design
reviewed to see what corrections can be made.

Step 8. Crrlcihtion if ore rese;ves by level. The calculation US final ore reserves and
vverall stripping ratio is done using the level maps. For each level the ore tons and grade J
and the waste tons arc determined within the ulti~natcpit limits. Assuming that the block Totals
size in I'igore 5.28 is 100' x 100' x 40' and that lhe tonnage factor is 12.5 ft3/ton, then
cach whole block contains 32,000 tons. A tabulation of the rescrves on this level is
presented in 'l'ahle 5.9. Ore is considered to bc that material within the pit limits having
n grade equal to or greater than the grade from the stripping curve at a breakeven
stripping ratio of zero. This is generally called the ore reserve cut off grade. Using a costs can he calculated. !For the example presented in Section 5.2.2, the direct inioing
cutoff. grade of 0.37%, the total tons of ore and waste are computed. The average ore cost was given as $1 per ton. If this is subtracted from the total cost then the net value
- grade equation becomes
grade is also obtained.

Step 9. Cdculutiun ofirrul ore reserve mtd overull srripping ratio. 'The ore reserves for
each level arc tabulated such as shown in Table 5.10. From this the ore tons, overall Solving for the hreakeven cutoff grade (sending to the mill or the dump) one finds that
average ore grade, total waste tons and overall stripping ratio can be found. In addition
tonnage-grade distribution curves are often plotted both overall and hy level to help in
mill design and setting of production levels.
Hence for the pit material everything having a grade greater than or equal to 0.30% Cu
could be sent to the mill. This assumes, of course, that the transport costs to the dumps
5.2.8 lks~inurionsfor in-pit rnaleri1~1.s
and the mill are the same. IS not, then the cost difSerences can be included. Such
Once the pit limits have been defined, all of the rrlaterial within the pit outline will considerations can he made only if mill capacity is available. Often this is not the case.
be mined ilrespective of its value. Given mined material the decision must be made The economics of this marginalisubnlarginal material must be evaluated very closely.
regarding its destination. A new cutorf grade based simply upon meeting the processing
 'l'lrc i ~ l o c kinodel rcprcsc~~relion o l nrchodics rather tlran sectiot~rcprescnt;ttion and ihc
slowge 01 the i ~ r l i l r l r r ; ~ t i (111
o ~ ~high speed cotllpt~lm-shais crffcrcd some new possihilities
i u elm-pit planning. 'The use of colrlptitcrs allows the rapid updnlittg o f plans as well as
exploring ;I widc nur~rhcrof parameters tllru~tglrs e ~ ~ s i l i v i t;~nalysis. y Allbough tlrere is
still a gieal deal ol'opportunily for engineering interaction, much ol'lhe talious work can
hc donc by c o ~ ~ ~ p u lBoth c l : of the major co~npuleri~e:ed techniques l o be dcscrihed in this
cl~nptci:1:loaling cone and I.crclrs-Grossln;~~~n, require an initial econorriic evaluation of
l l ~ cblocks.
Mir~cr;~l, rrrcI:rll~~rgiwl and earnrmic hl:~ arc cornhined to assign a net duller v;~loc
ti) c;~ch irrina-al rnodcl block. l a b l e 5.1 I sbows typical milicr;~lblock data itcnls for an
o r c l ~ u l yconl;~iningcoppel; rnolyhdenite, gold and silver. l'he hlock size is 5 0 x 5 0 ~ 4 0IT
a d lhc t m i ~ ~ a gfactor
e is 13.5 f131st. 'l'llc economics fortoat is s h w n i n 'Tkhlc 5.12. A l l
01 1l1c costs w i l h the exception of truck haolagc and mads ;ire expressed as lixed unit
cosls for Ihc itrdicated prodoction quantily unit. A l l mining and p c e s s i n g costs include
opciati~ig,maintar;~nce:~nddcprcciatiotl costs.
The costs for truck l~aulagcand roads may vary because o f liaulage prolilc, length
and lift. 'l'bc casts per lrot~rarc l i n t cstirr~atedand then convcrlcd to unit costs per ton
I x ~ s c dupon an esti~r~ated hourly haulage productivity. The projected Iiaulage produc-
tivity Inlay he obtained using haulage silnnlators. Due to this v;o-iatioo i n the h;~olage
;~ndt u x 1 components, the minirrg costs Tor both ore ;lot1 waste contain a lixcd compo-
ncnl plus a mining lcvcl (bench location) dcpcnderrl cornl~oncol.This is shown i n 'Table
5.11.
Using 'l'ahlcs 5.1 I, 5.12, and 5.13, the r!et value fix the black can he delcrnrincd.
In this i)art~cula: ~ ~ a n ~ pthe l e , ~ n a r a i a li s corrbidcrcd 21s eiltta- n t i l l lced or waste. ~-~ ~~~~

Mill iccd ( c m )
'Slrus lire net valuc calculations are done for ll~esctwo possihilities. The net valuc ~~. - ~ ~
- -~ ~p
- ~

as stripping (NV,,) is formd hy multiplying tlrc block tolltlagc times the stripping Mining ($/st) nL' I b cr,' i d
cost. Processing and olbcr:
O m llsulrge ($/st ore) X
NV,, : l l l o c k tonnage x Stripping cost,, ($/st) Conccnrrsting ($/$I ore) X
Concent>alcrtclivery ($/st conc.) X
S<nelrisg($/st cooc.) X
Ulisler casting loading, and freigltl X
rrlillersl hlmk model data items (Crawlhxl & Dilvey. 1979). ($Is1 blister)
~.~ ~. .-..
Ccneral plim
~
~ ~

%
$/st orc X
Molylidcnilc (MoS2) %i
%/stwaste X X
Gold (Ao) ~LIsI
$Is1 blister X
Silver (Ag) orlst
Keliuing ($1~1blislcr) X
Coppcl concentrittc recovery 91
---
Selling and delivery ($/lh Cu) X
Copper conccnrrale grade % ~

Copper smelting rccovcry %

'Imel elevafian.
Coppr in blister %
Copper mining recovery %
MoS2 coocenrrnte recovery W As can be sccn i n Table 5.13, the stripping cost is made up o f two items:
MoS2 conveniun recovery %
Gold cooceetrale recovery %
- M i n i n g cost ($/st waste), and
Cold relining recovery % - General plant cost ($/st waste).
Silver conccntratc recovery <Yo W i t h regard to the second cost item (general plant), there arc many 'overllead' types of
Silver relining recovery M costs which are independent of whether the tnaterial being rr~ovedis 'ore' or 'waste'.
 I'ir limits 403

Ntt Value SR
I $/ton I 51 / I

Althuuglr, in the end, the 'ore' must pay for a11 of the costs, tl~creis some logic for
allocating general plant costs to the waste as well (see Subsection 2.4.1).
'The net valuc as mill feed (NV,,,r) requires the calcul;ition of tlre revenues atid costs
(exclurling any stripping) for tile block. 'l:ible 5.14 summarizes flre calculations. The
mill l e d and stripping net values arc camp;~redfor e;&h hlr)ck and the most positive
vi~lucis assigned. This net value then b e c o ~ ~ the
~ c sonly piece of hlock d a b used directly
in the mining simulators.
Grade 1 % Cu )

In the section on manual techniques for determining the linal pit limits, it was slmwn
t11at lix a single pit wall, the line having the slope angle defining the wall was ~ ~ ~ o v c d
hack and forth until the ;rctu;d grade and stripping ratio matched a point on the SR-
gradc curve. For the casc wllen both walls and the pit hottom were in ore, a geometric
ligure in the shape of the minimum pit was constructed and moved around on the (norrn;dly hy measuring lengths of ore and waste) and calculated the wcightcd average
section (vertically and borizontnlly) until the stripping ratios and gradcs lneasured dong grade. Through the use of the SR-grade 'nomograph' one could examine pit expansion
the periphery matched tl~at0om the curve. For the casc of 45" slopes and a 100 ft When using the conrputer, it is more convenient to use the nel values of the blocks
mininlum pit bottom width, the figure to he 'floated' is as shown in Figure 5.32. If directly. Figure 5.33 sllows the type of net value-grade curve wlricl~is acttially used.
this figure is revolved around the axis, the solid gcnerhted is called the frustum of a Consider the simple example shown in Figure 5.34. This case will he examined using
conc. Had the minimum pit width been zero, then the figure would simply be a cone. both the manual mcthod based upon grades and stripping ratios, and that in which net
With sections it was most convenient to use the two-dimensional representation and not values are assigned to the blocks. Three potential pit linrits havc been superilnposed on
consider the effect of adjacent sections. This was at least partially done later tlaough the grade block model of Figure 5.35. A pit slope of 45" is assumed. The average ore
the smoothing on plan. grades and stripping ratios are givcn. The final pit is represented by casc 3.
Although there are other techniques for determining the filral pit configuration, cur- Using Figure 5.33, the grade block rnodcl of Figure 5.34 can lie co~wertedinto an
rently the most popular is through the use of this 'floating cone'. Several changes in the economic block model. The rcsult is shown in Figure 5.36. By examining the net values
nianual process are necessary to accon~n~odatc the computer. In the manual process, a of the blocks involved in a particular mining sequence, final pit limits can he determined.
net value - gradc curve was developed. Knowing the cost of waste removal, this curve Mining is stopped wl~enthe net value is negative. The net values for the t11ree cascs
was changcd into a SR - grade curve. The user then simply evaluated stripping ratio exarnir~edin Figure 5.35 are given in Figure 5.37.
 Section X Slice I: S&e: Slice 3:
NV r t 4 NV ; t 2 NV :0

Case 1: p = 1.33, SR = 0.67

Section
- - X
Case 2: g = 1.2, SR : 0.67

I:igsrc 5.38. Bluck model lor lix;ir~q,lc I (Marncs,

1982).

Figure 5.35. Trial final pit limits based on t l ~ cnlanual prucedure. Case 3 is tile linal lirnit.

rlgure 5 36 Colrespndlng eco

The principles involved in determining the pit outline, givcn an entire 2-dimensional
n o m ~block rncdel I array of blocks will now be demonstrated. The examples were originally presented by
Ban~es,1982. Figure 5.38 shows the sample section to he considered with the net values
given. The blocks are cquidimensional and the slope angle will be 45". This means that
slope is formed by going up one and over one block. Figure 5.39 shows the steppcd
Slice 3 has a NV = 0 and would define the final pit on this section. As can be seen the cone which will be used for determining the final pit.
manual and economic block approach gives equivalent results. The nct value approach The following steps are used:
is by far the easiest to program, particularly when considering a three dimensional array
or blocks, i Srrp I. The cone is 'floated' from left to right along the top row of blocks in the section.
1 If there is a positive block it is removed.
Slep 2.After traversing tl~elirst nlw, tlrc apex of tile cone is ~nr,vcdto the seciml mw.
Stsrling Srom the left hand side it 'floats' fro~nlefi to rig111 slop~ingwlrcn it encounters
the lirst positive lilock. 11. ihc sum of all tl~chlocks firlling within tllc cone is positivc
(or zero), these hlocks arc rctrroved (mined). If the sum is negative the hlocks are left,
and the cone ilo;rls to the ncxt positivc hlack on this row. The sunming and mining or
leaving process is repeated.

S r q 3. This floating conc prr~cessmoving irom left to right and lop to bottom of the
sectiw~continues until no more blocks can be rcrnoveil.

I l'he profitability tor this section is fr)und by sum11i11gt t ~ cvalues of the blocks
S I ~ 4.
removed.

Step 5 , l'lic ovcrall stripping i;rlio c:w lie determined frrm the nun~bcrsof positive (~ik)
and ncgalivc ( - - )hlocks.
Thcsc roles can now lie applied to t l ~ csection shown i n Figure 5.38. 'Shere arc Soor
pi~siilivcblocks i n the model hence there arc b u r a~rrespondingcones wlrich nlust be
cvslu;,tcd. tlsing a top-down role, tlrc block at row 1 /column 6 worzld initiate tlrc scarcll.
Sincc there arc no overlying hlocks, the valtte of the conc is the v;tluc of the block: 1.
'She value is positive, so the hlock is inincd (Fig. 5.40). Block
I'igure 5.41. Sccood iricrccuesrd c m c - lixaneple I
'l'l~cnext inclc~nentalcone is that (lclined by the hlock at low 2/column 4. The value value
(tlsn~cs,1982).
of tliis conc is

Sincc this value is positive, the cone is 1niou1 (Fig. 5.41). 14ir t l ~ cinciemcotal cone
de(inct1 by the 1,lock at row 3Icolurnn 3, its \,slue is

Again, since the value is positive, this cone is m i n d (I'ig. 5.42). 17ioally, the value of
tbc increr~~cnlal
conc dclinal by the lilock at m w 3/column 4 is

Olock
Figure 5.42. Third iscrerncnral cone - Iixan,ple I
'The value of this conc is negative; tl~ercforc,the cone is not mined (I;ig. 5.43). Fig- value (Barnes, 1982).
ure 5.44 depicts the overall final ultimate pit. The total value of this pit is

The overall stripping ratio is

SK (overall) - 3
7
-
I
In this simple situation, the linal pit is 'optimal'. Over the ycars, considerable effort
has been spent in trying to develop procedures which when applied would yield the
'optimal' pit. 'l'lre optimum would might be delined as one yielding one of the following,
for example,
- n~aximurnprofit,
- lnaxirnuln net present value,
El
Block
Value
Figure 5.43. Pourtf> iscrcnrcnlal cane -
(Barnes. 1982).
Example I
~ / /

- maximum extraction.
Althor~gl~ many contend that tlre dctcrmination of such an 'oplirnum' pi1 is 1;lrgcly
of ac;~demicinterest clue to clranging prices, costs and poorly clelined gl-adcs, none-
the-less efforts continue in this directiotr. H;rrncs (1982) has prcscnted ihrec problems
rcprcxnting lloating cone silo;rlions not leading to an optimum pit.

I'rohlenz I . Mixing conhimrriorrs o/p,r,/ilahlc blocks

This pmhlem occurs when positive (ore) blocks are investigated individually. A single
arc hlock may nut justify the re~nov;ilof the necessary overburrlen while conrbioations
(11 these blocks with overlapping ones are prolitable. Johnson (1973) lras lahcllcd tbis I'igwe 5.~10.Second incrrmcntnl c m c I\niui,ple 2
(Ilnrncr. I')K2)
'the ltlrrtrml support pnhlcm'. Tlris is rlcn~onstratedin 1:iglms 5.45 to 5.48. l'lre conc
dclincd by thc hlock at row 31column 3 has a valuc of
1 1 1 - 1 1 .2'.2-ll()--J

Since tile value is negative, the cone would not he mined by tlrc sinqilc incving cones
~iiethod(Fig. 5.46). Sinrilarly, for the conc delined by the block at row 31colulnn 5 , tile
value is
-1.-1-1-1-12-2-2.1.10:.-1

Again, this cone wr~uldnot be nlined ((Pig. 5.47). Therefore, using tlrc siirrple cone
analysis, nothing would he mined. liowevcr, due to the overlapping (rrrutoal suppon)
portion oT tlre overburden cones, the value of tlic cornposite union is positive

This situation (Fig. 5.48) occurs oticn i n real-world mineral deposits, and a simple
moving.concs approach
.. misses it.

Pmblerrr 2. Extending the ulthmte pit beyond the optimal pit limits
This is the situation where the moving cones algorithm can and oftcn will include non-
profibhlc blocks in tllc pit design. The inclusion of non-profitable blocks will reduce .
tile net value of the pit. This situation occurs when profitable ore blocks, or profirable
i
combinations of ore blocks, cause a conc defirrwl by an underlying apex to he positive;
i.e., thc positive values are being exteilded downward to carry waste below their cones.
The two-dimensional block model shown in (Pigurc 5.49 assumes the niaxilllutn pit
n
Block
Value
Figure 5.48.True optimal pi1 - l?xanbple 2 (Barnes,
1982).
 Prohlem 3. Comhirrorio,~o/'/~robl(wsI orld 2
'rhc most common and most diflicnlt situatio~rinvolving il~csetwo problenrs is their
si~ii~~ll;~neous occurrence. 'The two-di~ucnsion;~lhlock model shown on Figure 5.52 as-
;,
sun~es 45" pit slope. Tl~ereare three positive blocks, and thcreforc threc possible
i n c ~ ~ ~ ~ r cCOIICS.
ntal
'The value o l t h c cone defined by the block at row 2lcolumn 2 (Fig. 5.51) is

The valuc of tlrc a m e defined hy the block at row 21colu1nn 4 (I'ig. 5.54) is

slopc to be 45 degrees. The value of ihc conc defined by the hlock at row 3Icolumn 3
(Fig. 5.50) is
-1-1-1 -1-~+5.2-2.1.5~-1.1 I

Tlie facl that the value of this cone is positive does not irnply that the cone should be
mined. As shown on Figure 5.51, the block at row 2lcolutnn 2 is carrying this cone.
Tlie proper design includes only the block at row 2lcolumn 2 and its three overlying
blocks, row l/columns 1, 2, and 3. The value of the optimal design is

T.L.
-1-1-1+5=t-2
,.r .,.,.',...',,, "-..',
;c "F"'.,,.p,l ,-,, ,,,,, <,c $I,,< l;,r',<y c"
umock
"due
Figure 5.54.Second
1982)
incremental conc for finarnplc 4 (names,
 In 1'165, i.crc11s and Gross~nannpuhlishd a paper entitled 'Optin~umdesign of open-pit
mincs'. I n what has beco~nea classic paper they described two numeric rnctllods:
- :I simple dy~?srnirpmgrarnming idgoritlnn for the two-dimeosional pit (or a single
vcrlicd sectinn of a mine).
- a more el:ihor;~te graph algorithr~~ for thc general three-dirnension~~l
pit.
'l'lris section will discuss the lirst method with tllc second being described i n Section 5.7.
'She ei~sicstway ol' presenting the technique is through the use of an cxa~nple.l'hc
n~ethe~natics which accompany the actual orechanics will be given at t l ~ csame time.
l'l~iscx:tmplc was originally presented by Lerchs Xr Gnrssm:rnn (1965) and elaborated
upun by Sairrsbury (1970). The orebody is as shown i n Figure 5.57.
The following apply:
NV,, $4 x I O ~ I ~ I O C ~
NV,,,r $12 x 1 0 ~ / b l o c k
=L

Slope angle :: 35.5"

licncli height :- 40 ft
'l'onn;~gefactor - 1 12.5 ft3ist
For easc in mlcul;~tionthe values $12 and -~-$4will he used. At the conclosim~.the
factor of 1.000 will be reintroduced. 7b apply this technique the grid (block geometry)
-
is selected based upon tbe slope a n ~ l e .The slolre is formed bv rnovinr!" un
. one hlock
Yet, the vduc o l the cone delined by the Rlock at n,w l l c o l ~ ~ n:m
i(Fig. 5.55) is and over one hlock. Hence for a bench height of 40 ft and a slope angle of 35.5" orre
linds using Equation (5.14)

This woold appear to imply that the pit design sllowrl on Figrrre 5.55 is optimal; however,
tl~isis not the case. 'She optimal design is shown on Figure 5.56. l'he value of this pit where a is the ratio of hlock heightlblock wi&h, I1 is the block height, II is the
is block width, and 0 is the slopc ,angle, that

'l'his value is one nlorc than the 'initially appxcnt' pit.

I n spite of these problems, tl~creare Imwcver a numher of very positive aspects of
the technique wl~ich:tcconnt of its widespread use and popularity (Barnes, 1982):
I . Since the method is a cornpoterization of rnanual techniques, rnining engineers can
use the method, understand wlrat they are using, and (cel co~nlbltablcwith the results.
'l'his grid system has been superimposed on the section in Figure 5.57. In Figure 5.58 the
2. Computationally, the algorithm is quite simple. Develop~nentand implementation
net values have been added. As can be seen, the boundary blocks contain both ore and
of a moving cones computer program does not require sophisticated knowledge in op-
waste elenicnts. A weighted averaging procedure has been used to obtain the block model
erations research or computer science. The computer code could be developed in-house,
of Figure 5.59. The hlock positions will be denoted using an i,j numeration system. In
rather than purchased frorn a software company; thus, a more custom-fitted product can
keeping with the no~nenclatureused by Lerchs and Grossmann, i refers to the rows
be provided at an operating mine site.
and j to the columns. The first step in this procedure is to calculate cumulative profits
3. The moving cones technique can be used with generalized pit slopes. The singlc
for each column of blocks starting from the top and moving downward. E k h vertical
requiren~entis an unambiguous rule for dctennining which blocks overlie individual ore
bk~cks.
4. It provides highly useablc and sufficiently accurate results for engineering planning.
-
colunln of blocks is independcnt of the others. This process is shown in Figure 5.60 for
column j 6.
 Raw Cumnl Value Revised Value

I i=l 12 I2
i=2 12 24= 12+ 12
i l l 8 ?2=12~iI2cP,
i=4 0 12=12+12t8+0
i=5 -4 28=12+12+Xi~l-4
i=6 -4 24: 12+ 1 2 + R + 0 - 4 4
I ' I ~ W C 5.57. Orrtrody gcornclly b r lllc lrc~l~s~(imss~ni~es
2 ~ 1 )ermnplc (Sainslwry, 11)70: llrrclls & G8oss~ i=7 -4 20= 1 2 + 1 2 + 8 + 0 - 4 - 4 4
1065).
~>litr)n.
i=8 -4 16=12+12+8+0-44-4-4

Columns

-
and mk, is the net value of block (k,j). Applying the equation to find thc v;llue of the
column for j = 6, i 3

1:igure SSP. Fiml econonlic block tnodel (Ixrcbs & Grossmann, 1965). The new table of values obtained by applying this process to all columns is shown in
~
a
<. Figure 5.64. The next step in the process is to add row i 1 0 containing zero's. A zero
,,.-,
is also added at position (i = 0, j = 0). This revised tablc is shown in Figure 5.61.
L> 6t It is now desired to develop an overall cumulative sum as one moves laterally from
'The equation which describes this proccss is
IcCt to right across the section. Beginning with the extreme top left hand rcal block, the
i
values of three blocks are examined:
M,j =: mkj (5.15)
k~=,
1. One directly above and to t l ~ eIcft.
2. One on the~left.
where Mi, is the profit realized in extracting a single column with block ( i ,j ) at its base 3. One directly bclow and to the left.
 O f the Ihrec, Illat block w l ~ i c hwhen its valuc is added to the hlock i n question yields
1. Beginning with Block 1.i(the upper lelt hand corner of the section) the most positive sum is sclcctcd. An armw is drawn from the original hlock to that
the neighboring blocks in the Row above (Row O), the same row hloch. 'This sum is substituted for that originally assigned nod hecomes the value used
(Row 1) and the Row below (Row 2) of the column to the left of
column aare examine
Ibr s~~hsequet~t wlculatinns.
P'igore 5.62 shows the process for hlock (I, I). This process is continued, working
,,., ,: 3 , . , ., clown tlre lirst colunrn, tben down the next column l o the right, until dl lrlocks have hcen
trcale~l.I t slrould he pointed out that the reason some of the hlocks on the scctirin have
not been lillcd i n is that they fall outside of the hounds o f tlrc ultimatc pit. Figure 5.63
shows the resulls when i11c process has been completed through column 7.
2 Ol these three. the largest pohblwe block 1s chosen One can examine the relationship between the values i n tlic current t;~hlcto the initial
hlocks (Kg. 5.59). I f one follows the m o w s beginning at t l ~ cvaluc 32, t l ~ cpit which
results is indicated by tlre shaded line (Fig. 5.64).
Superimposing the same pit on the block model one linds that tlrc cmtn~lativevalue
of the hlocks is 32 (Fig. 5.65). Moving up to the block cont;iining t l ~ cvalue 60 i n
1:igorc 5,64 one lollows tlre arrows l o outline the pit. l'lre value obtained by summing
the hlocks is ; h o 60 (Fig. 5.65). Therefore the technique provides a running tola1 of
the valuc oS the pits delincd by following the ;,mows. At t l ~ i spoint in the calculation,
3 In thls case it is Block 0.0
the optimum pit lras a value o r 84. Figure 5.66 shows t l c results wlrcn the s t ~ m n i n g
process is completed. 'The optimum pit is that which has the maxin~umcmnulativc value.
To dctcrmine this, one moves from right to left along row 1 w t i l the largest value is
cna~nntered.l'lre arrows are tllen followed around to give the opti~nmnpit outline on
the s e c t i ~ ~ r .
Tltc pit is slrown i n Figure 5.67. 'I'hc value is 108. l'he relationship between the
@Ii
3 values i n Figure 5.67 and the actual block vdues can hc sccn hy am~parirrgFigures 5.67
I . The sum of Block 1.1 and Block 0.0 is found and Substituted for the ;rnd 5.68.
oiiginal valuc ol Block 1.1 in the Tigun. in this case it is -4 +- o 'ti) complete the analysis one calculates:
or -4. An arrow is drawn between Block 1.1 and the selected
block. This process is continued moving down column 1. When Net value = 108 x $1000 z- $108,oW
completed, column 2 is begun wo*ing from the top down. 36 blocks x 10,000 tonslblock = 160.(HH) tons
Total tons :
:

i Tons ore = 20 blocks x 10,000 =- 200,000 tons

Tons waste = 16 hlocks x 10,000 = 160,000 tons
16
Str~ppingratio = - = 0.8
20

'l'hc expressions used (Lerchs & Grossmann, 1965) to calculate the 'derived' profit
(as given i n Fig. 5.66) are
1
f 0~ i = O

+
The maximum is indicated by a m o w going from (i, j ) to ( i I;. j - I). P,, is the
~naximulnpossible contribution of columns I to j to any feasible pit that contains ( i . j )
on its contour. If the element (i,j) is p a t of the optimum contour, then this contour l o the
lelt of clement (2.3) can be tracul by following the m o w s starting from element (i, j).
Figure 5.61.I'rogrcssinn of sunrnring prw-css through column 7 Any feasible pit must contain at least one element of the firs1 row. I S the maximum value
 I ' i t . 4 19

Figure 5.66. llie summing process bas progressed through thc entire scction (1.crcBs & Gnrssmann. 1965).

Fignre 5.69. Ilre floating cone used to evnluatc the final pit limits

of I' i n the first row is positive then the optimum contour is ohtained by following the
arrows from and to thc left of this element. If all elements of the first row are negative,
then no contour with positive profit exists.
Figure 5.70. Sitention after lloxing down two n w s

I'igwc 5 . 7 1 Situation after fluxing down lhrcc rows

l'igun 5.72. Silualion after floaring down four mws.

TI11s
' , same section (Fig. 5.59) can he evaluated using the floating cone technique.

The 'stepped' cone of Figure 5.69 has been used to lloat over the section. Figures 5.70
tl~rougl~5.73 show the intenncdiate pits with the final pit given in Figure 5.74. As can be As shown in Figure 5.75, one can also examine the pit limits by considering the
seen the result is the sane as when using the Lerchs-Grossi~~anu approach. An advantage lengths along t l ~ cperimeter. Consider the left-hand side (LI~IS)of the pit. The horizontal
of the floating cone procedure is that a variety of slope angles can be modelled. segments are considered first lo detennine the vertical position. When the pit is slightly
 ~~ ~

-8 .8 5
~-

a. Scclion 1 U=1) b. Section 2 (1=2)

Examining the verlical segtnents to lind the correct horizontal position is done next.
Wlrerl llic contour is slightly insidc the correct position tllc s w r is

Wlvx it is sligl~llyoutside, llic sum is

c. Section 3 0=3) d. Section 4 (j=4)

't'hcrekrrc the correct posilion is as givcn by the 1lo;rting cone and I.crclw(irossmann
procedures. l'he same procedure cnuld he fdlowcil on thc rig111 hand sidc.

'flrc two-dilncnsion;il dyoa~nicprugrarr~rrlingalgoritlin~I'm dclcllnining tllc optimal con-

liguration of blocks lo he mined in cross-section was prescntcd in the prcvioos section.
The technique is elegant yet simple. Like all otlicr twoiliniensionid lechniqoes it has the
drawback that extensive erfort is usually required to smoo~hout the pit boltom and the
pit ends as well as to make sure that tlre sections lit with one anoll~er.As indicated by
Johnson and Sharp (1971). this smoothing sxJ&o!ni results ir: ;in opirnal tlirec-dir~~cosiooal
pi!. The rr~udificationwhich they proposed to the basic algoritlini, as described in (his
scctiorr has been refcrred to as the 21/& ;ilgorithm (B;trt~cs, 1982). An over;tll view u l
the block nmdel to he used is shown in Figure 5.76.
-
Tlrc column of blocks representing in tlre longitutlinal section (i 4, j = I)
2 Level l
-3 Lcvcl 2
1 Level 3
-7 1.evcl 4

I'i,:ure 5.78 Analysis ulscction I

This process is repeated for each of the other sections. The resulting longitudinal section
is shown in Figure 5.79. The 2-D algorithm is now applied and the optirnal contour
bccarrres that given in Figure 5.80.
 Section j=l Section i-0

~ ~

Section i=2 Section j=S

i -* I___)
~- ~

-1 -1 -1 0 0 -1 -1 -1 -1 -I -1 .1 -1 -I .I -1 - 1 1 -2 -2 4 -1 0 -1
h -1 -1 -2 -2 .2 -1 .2 -2 -2 4 -2 .2 -2 -2 -2 4 -4 -4 -4 -4 2 3 1 -2
1 -2 2 3 5 4 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 4 -3 -3 -6 3 -2
4 -4 -4 5 7 20
-4 -4 -4 .., -4 4
12 4 -4 - 4 -4 .4
-4 4 ~ 6 234 20

Section j=3 Section j=10

i____) i -4

h
0 0 0 0 0 - 1 . 1 0 0 0 0 0
2 -2 -2 - 1 1 0 1 -2 -2 -2 -2 .1 k
3 -2 -3 - 3 3-2 -3 -4 -1
.d 4 -4 - 0 4 -4 -4 4 -4 3
2 1
-4
,,
3 -3 -3 -3 4 G 5 -4 -4 .4 - 4 .4 4 -3 -3 -4 -3 -2 4 -4 -4 -4 - 4 -4
4 -4 - 4 4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 4 4 .4 4 4 -4 5 7 20 12 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4
-4 -4 -4 -4 4 -4 -4 .4 -4 -4 -4 .4
~ - ~ -~

Cross-section representation Section is4 Section j = l l

i- ~ ~

-4 -4 -4 4 -0 -4 -3 .4 -6 2 1 -4
k 4 4 4 4 -4 4 -4 -4 4 4 4
1 -4 - 4 4 4 4 4 -4 -4 4 4 -4 -4

Section j=5 Section i - I 2

-~
i -__f 9 -+
o n 0~~
~

.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -4 -4 - 4 -4 4 - 4 -4 4 -4 -4 -4 -4
k 2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -1 -2 -2 -1 .( 0 k -4 .4 .4 4 -4 .4 3 q 4 .4 .a .q
2 .2 .2 2 -2 2 Z -2 2 -2 -2 -2 5 5 4 4 -4 4 -4 -4 -3 .4 4 -4
3 -3 3 -3 -3 3 4 -4 -4 -3 -3 -3 6 -5 -5 -4 -4 -4 -4 4 .4 -4 -4 -4
- - ~
~~ -

Section j=6
i d

-5 -4 4 4
k -G -5 -4 -4 -4 4 -3 4 -4 -4 -4 -4

Section j=7 Section j=t4

i
-~
-+
-1 -1 -1 -I -1 .1 -1 .I .1 -1 -2 -2
k 2 -2 .2 2 2 -1 -2 .2 -2 -4 4 -4
4 4 -4 - 4 -3 -2 -1 -1 4 -4 -4 4
4 -4 -4 - 4 1 8 1 -4 4 -4 -4 4
~~ ~--- ~ ~

I'igore 5.82. Lllock sections fur u narc cornplicaled example (Johnson & SBurp. 1971).

Figurc 5.81. Optimal longitudinal pit

sections (Johnson & Sl~arp,1971).
 Pi i i . 427

17igure 5.77 slrows the 5 scctioos of a block rnotlcl. Reginning wit11 section 1, the 'l'hc data ;rnd solution fcx u somewhat wore co~nplic;\tedproblem arc given in Fig-
optimuri pit outlines are determined, given tliat one innst mine to a given level I;. 111 urcs 5.82 mrl 5.83, respectively. 'Slrc block heigltt lo lcngth ratio along the longitudinal
this case tlme are four levels to be evaluated. 'l'hc rcsk~ltsare sllown in Figure 5.78. sec(icni (the ttxis of mineralizetion) is I to 2 while for the cross-sections the block height
Each outline is fbund using a slightly modilicd version of lire I.erclis-<irc~sso~ar~r~~
2-D and length arc equal (I to I). Hence to ~ ~ x ~ i n t a im;~ximum
n pit slope of 45 degrees.
algoritlum T11e net values for each of tlre four pits on this sectior~arc tlicn determined. tire pit slope can c:ieiigc b y two blocks per section aloilg the length hlt by orlly block
As can he seen these are: pcr column itcross the width.
Level I : SII= 2
I m c l 2 : S12: - 3
Level 3 : SI3= I
Isvel 4 : Slq 7 - 5.7. 1 l,,lr<,~f,,<~liotl
l i r cmrrbinc all of the transverse (ik) sections, ;I lo~~gitudirralsection will now be inkcr~.
In vicwing Figure 5.78, it is seen thtrt tile decpcsl mining on scctim 1 (3 = I ) occurs Wlrcir cvnlu;~til~g based upon reserves expressed i n the firm of a
final pit di~irensio~~s
-
at co1u1111ri =- 4. A c o l o ~ n[ z~= 4, :j 1 (section I ) \ of blocks will now he forn~ed
represenling the net value of the cross-section as ntincd down to the various levels.
g x l c l~lrrckn~odcl,tile ovcfitll objective is to find a grouping of hlocks st~clrthat a
sclcclcd para~rreter,for cxarnple:
- ~mlit,
'The net value for tlic material conlaioetl within t l pit
~ is found by suntming the hlock
- ~nctalcontc111,Or
v;~lucsalong tlie final ctmtour Here it heconrcs
- nwginal va111c

is n~axi~nized. I n preceding sections, some 2-dimcnsiooal approaches have hcen dis-

Now that tlic hutlon~levels for e:rch of tlie tr;msvcrsc sectio~~s have been determined, cussed This is i~owcvcra 3-dimcosional problem and to obtain a true optimum such an
m e goes h:sk to tlicse sections and selects the ;ipproprii>tcone. Sl~cscarc so~nmarketl i~ppmaclris rcquiretl.
h r ;I!) ott1iogon;tl scl of hlocks tlrere exist two basic gco~rietriesof interest for ap-
i l l Figure 5.81.
~proxi~nati~~g an open-pit. They are:
tlrc 1-5 pattern, where 5 blocks x c removed to gain access to one block on the level
below and
blocks (Icvel. k
~ ~
- tlre I-$ pattent, where 9 blocks arc re~noved to g : i i t ~access to one block on the level
7 8 9
~~ hcIo\v.
Sections ti) 'f'l~egeometric configurations and equivalent graphic rcpreseotations for these two
1 .................... 0 0 0 geometries are slrowrr in Figure 5.84. The nodes represent the pliysical blocks. l'hc
2 .................... 1 0 0 a r n ~ w s(directed arcs) point toward those blocks irnn~ediatclyabove which must first be
3 .................... 3 2 1
4 .................... 3 3 2
5 .................... 1 1 0
6 .................... 1 0 0
7 .................... 0 0 0
x .................... 0 0 0
9 .................... 0 0 0
10 .................. 0 0 0
I I .................. 0 0 0
12 .................. 0 0 0
13 .................. 0 0 0
14 ............
~ ~~ ~
0 0 0

Optimal pit yields 27

I'igurc 5.84. Kcprcsentation of tllc 1-5 and 1-9 block conslrainrs (Lnurent et at.. 19711.
removed bekre the underlying block can he mined. Filch block has a weight associated tl~clower nrldes to lhc ncarcst overlying neighbors. 1411 the 3-11 reprcscntations shown
wit11 it. In general, the weight assigned is equal to the vdue of the parameter being in 1:igure 5.84 tl~crcw11t~k1 he 9 edges for eacl~underlying hlock in the 1-9 model an11
~naximized.Often this is the net econoinic value. The weight may he positive or negative. . this 2-D model there arc 3 edgcs for cacl~underlying hlock, The
5 ihr l l ~ c1-5 I I N I ~ ~ IIn
Lcrchs & Crossmaon (1955) published the basic algorithm which when applied to ;I ne;lrcst overlying neighbors for node zas shown i n Figure 5.8% ;ire nodes zl, 2 2 and
3-D directul graph (block model) would yield tile optimum fionl pit outline. This section :c?. 'The pliysical connection of node zs to node can he expressed eitiier as (xs.zl)
prcsents in a sinrplified way, the hasic concepts. They are illustrated hy ex;~mples. or (:r:l.:c5). In 1:igorc 5.XSc. the nodcs hwe hcen connccled by 6 edgcs:

' n ~ e r eare ;I nurnhcr of terms and concepts which are rakcn from graph theory (Lerchs
& C~ross~n;~nn. 1965; Laurcnt et at., 1977). The ai~thorshave tried to sirnplilj therr~and
yet rctain their basic meaning.
1:igurc 5.85a is a scction through 11 simple 2-1) hlock trtodcl. As can he seen it consists
of 6 hlocks.
Ihch hlock is ;~ssigncda numhcr ( r , )which indicates its location within the hlock
nod el. In the case shown in Figure S X a , the hlock location arc zl. z2, z3. zq, z5,
and 1:6. One would know from the conslri~cliorrof the block nod el that the block
designated as rl would actually have center coordinates of (2000, 3500, 6800). If tltese 'l'he set containing all edges is given the symhol fi?
wcre 100,000 hlocks in the hlock n~odel,tllen :I:, wnuld go from zl to z,(x,,(xm.
The file of node locations may be expressed by

Figure 5.85b sl~owsthe 6 blocks sioiply redrawn as circles wl~ilcmaintaining their posi-
tions in 2-11 space. For the graph theory application each of tlrese circles is now called a
'node'. Straight line elements (called 'edges' io graph thecrsy) are now atklcd connecting
-
i;,-uplr: A graph i : -.(X, E ) is defined by a set of rides .r, c t ~ ~ ~ n e chy
of elernenis c;~lledcdges eij (z,,zj).
t a onleral
l

'I'hc nml step is to indicate which overlying blocks (nodcs) must bc rcmovcd prior to
pairs

re~rwvingany given wdcrlying block (node). This adds the required sequencing (flow)
from the lowest most to the upper most blocks (nodcs). To accomplish this, arrows arc
attached to the edges (lines) connecting the nodcs (blocks) pointing in the direction of
rcmovd This has been done in Figure 5.85d. By adding an ar~~owheacl (direction) to an
cdgc, the edge becomes an m,

An iuc denoted by (zk,zl) nleans that the 'flow' is from node zk to node zr (the
;~rrowhe;alis on tlie zl end), The set containing all arcs in given the symbol A

'The graph (G) consisting of nodcs {XI and arcs {A) is called ;I directed graph
Directed graph: A directed graph G = (X, A) is defined by a set of nodes z, connected
by ordered pairs of elements ar, = ( z k , x , )called the arcs of G.
One can comider the entire set of nodes (blocks) and the arcs connecting them (the
dirccted graphs G(X, A)) or only a portion of it. A subset ( Y )is referred to as a directed
snbgraph and represented by G ( Y ,Ay). An example of a directed subgraphs is shown
i n Figure 5.86. There are a great number of these subgraphs in the overall graph.

Subgraph: A directed snbgraph G(Y) is a subset of the directed graph G(X, A). It is
made up of a set Y of nodes and all of the arcs Ay wlrich connect them.
 lit l i t . 41 1

Branch Tk,

(.>clr: A cycle is a clrain i n which the i n i t i d ;rnd linal no&x coincide

'lil t l ~ i spoir~till the discussion we have considered ( I ) llrc p11ysic;ll locatim o l the I'rrrl~: A path is a sequence o f arcs such that the terrnin;d 11nc1eof each arcs is the initial
I,kxks i n space, (2) tlre co~~nection o f the blocks \vitll one another and ( 3 ) the 1ict tliat node 0 1 thc succeeding arc.
overlyiug l~locksmust be rc~novcdprior to inining lower blocks. Notliing 118s l)ccr~ Ih illustrate the process, ;I discussion bascd upon a tret: ;uialogy is used. l'lle terms
said r e g d i n g tire values of the i~ldividualhlocks. I k c h block ( : I : , ) has an associated 'trec', 'root', 'bri~nch'and 'twig' are defined below:
wcigl~t(w,,,). 'I'lris is slrown i n Figure 5.87 fur the blocks i n Figure 5.85a. Although we
I~avcused net value as the assigned weight (m,)t this point i n the book other measures Tree: A trce '1' is a connected end directed graph containing no cycles. A trec contains
o f wort11 o r conlcnt can also be applied ( [ m l i l , niincml content, elc.). one more node illan i t does arcs. A rooted tree is ;Itree wit11 ;I special node. the rool.
b ' ~ n ra~inining view point, the subgraph consisting of tlrc I, ~I
I>locks. :XI,I l and
22,z
x 5 could form a plrysically fc;nihle pit. 'The sohgmplr consistir~g<,I'i h c k s :CZ, ~ 1:1:4. and /<,Jo~: A ruol is one node selected fro111n tree. A tree may have only ollc rrlot
: I ; , could Ibrm aoottm. A third possibility 01a feasible pit is lirrmcd by t l ~ csix blocks
xl. : c ~:c>, . x4. x 5 m d q .'There are niany other fc;~siblecu~nhinatio~~s. 't'l~csubgr;~phQ, ~ : 1 11,-~mclz:I f a trce is cut into two parts by the clirnination o f one ;ire the part of the
;md :q,is 1101 feasible since one of the o v c r l y i ~ ~blocks
g rr has not heeo included The tree nut containing tlic mot is called a branch. A branch is a trce itsell. TIlc root of llrc
term 'closure' is used to indicate a feasible subgtaph. hranc11 is tlrc nod; of tile brancl~adjacent to the arc a,,.
I h c h arc a, of a trec 7'defines a branch Tkr.'The weight MTkr of ;I hrancl~7 ; 1 is the
Closure: Closure from tile viewpoint of a mining cnginccr is simply ;I subgraph Y sum o f ;dl weights associated with nodes of T,,. A n exanrple of a hmncb is shown i n
yielding 11 feasible pit. Figure 5.88.
Each one o f these feasihle pits (suhgraplrs) Iras an ;~ssoci;~ledtotal weight (value).
The ch;rllcnge for tile mining engineer is to find that nnc pit (snhglq~h)out o f the great 7ivig: A twig is a branch of :I branch
111;1ny possillle which yields tlrc maximurn valtie. I n graph tlrcory this is referred to as
finding the dircctcd subgraph o f 'maxin~urrrclosure' As 'twigs' and 'hranclics' are ;~ddedor cut from the 'tree', the value o f the tree changes.
The I~rchs-Grossmanalgorithm is based upon a normalizing procedure i n which a
M~z.n-i,ntrmclosrwe: Again from Itre viewpoint o f t l ~ cmining c~~ginccr, ~n;~ximunl
closure oumber o f rules arc followed. 'These w i l l be dernonstratcd i n dclail i n the next section.
is tliat closure set, out o f all tlrose possihlc, w l ~ i c yields
l~ the m;~xi~nnm
sum o f block
weights, i.c. w11ere Mu = Cmi is a maximum.
5.7.3 Tbo r1pprouc11e.sto tree construction
A pmcedure based upon the application o f graph theoly is used to identify and sort
through the various feasihle pits i n a structured way to find that yielding the nraxitnurn The algorittnn starts with the constructio~~ of an initial tree 7'. This trec is then trans-
v;~lue.This corresponds to the optimuni pit. To hetter follow the discussion the following formed into successive trees T1,T2,. . .,T" following given rules until no further trans-
definitions are introduced. formation is possible. The maximum closure is then given by sumniing the nodcs of a
set o f well identified hrar~chesof the final trce. There are two approaches which may be
Circnir: A circuit is a path i n which the initial node is the same as t l ~ efind (terrnioal) used for generating the initial tree.
mde.
Approach I Con\tluct an arbitrary tree l ~ a v m gone connecllon to the root
Citrrin: A chain is a sequence o f edges i n which each edge has m e node i n connnon
wit11 the succeding edge. Approach 2. Construct a tree with each o f the nodes connected dircctly to tlrc root
 I' i t s 413

bXo (root)

'The si~oplcstof these is Approach 2. Uoth approaches will however be applied to the
sinrplc cxample shown in Figure 5.89.
Although clcmcntary, this is an interesting problem s i ~ ~ thc
c e floating cone approach
would suggest no mining at all. By inspecti<,nllowevcr one would strip the fWr waste
blocks to uncover the two ore blocks. l'he net value ibr tlle tesulting pit is expected to
he -I 4.
'She step-by-step approacl~used to ~let~tu~sti;rtcthc tcchrtiqucs involved has been
;ulaptcd h m that presented by Laurent et aI. (1977).

5.7.4 The nrbitrary tree q q m ~ a c h(Apprimi~I )

This appro~~ch (including the common normalizing procedure used with 110th Approaches
I and 2) will be presented in step-by-step Lashion.

S1q3 1. Begin by adding a root nodc zo to the rlircctcd g~q111and construct a tree of
your clroice keeping in mind the cornrection possibilities Step 3. Beginning at the extreinities each branch is worked hack toward the trunk,
sunrming the weights supported by the individual arcs. The objective is to add the words
From node zs: (375,xl) 'strong' or 'weak' to each of the arcs. Table 5.15 sun~ntariz~s the labelling criteria.
(37~~22) We will begin on the left hand side of thc tree. Roman numerals have been used to
(~5~x3) denote the segnrcnts for the discussion. For arc I, the direction is plus and the weight
is negative. 'l'hus the label to bc attached is 'weak' (Case 2). For arc 11, the same is
From node 26: (376, 52)
true. I b r arc V. the direction is plus and the weight negative. The label is weak. It is
(376.53)
( ~ 6~. 4 ) -
also Case 2. When examining arc IV, the direction is minus and the cumulative weight
is positive ( I 0 - 4 6). Thus the label is weak (Case 3). Continuing to arc Ill, the
dircctiorl is plus and the cuirlulative weight is positive (10 - 4 - 4 = 2). The label is
The one choscn is shown in Figure 5.90. Each of the nodes (blocks) is connected to one
'strong' (Case I). Figure 5.92 presents the resulting direction and label For each arc of
of the others by a directed arc (arrow). One node is attached to the root.
this initial tree.
Srep 2. Each of the arcs is labelled with respect to whctl~erit is directed away from the
Step 4. 'l'be figure is now examined to identify strong arcs. Two actions arc possible:
root (plus) or towards the root (minus). This is done in 1"g ure 5.91.
41
 ' I / I S 415

Action 1. A stroq-minus arc: 7'hc arc(:r,,,:8:,) is replnccil by a duolt~~y

arc(~~.:t:,~).
The liranches not conncctcd to the root, the IKX is said lo be ~rorrnalizcdand the pruccss is
node 2 , is connected to the n w . over.

Action 2. A strong-plus arc: 'I'lic arc (:c,, z,) is replaced by tlrc dutnmy arc (w,zr). The Slq> 7. 'The trraxittrrun closure consists of those nodes connected by strong arcs to the
riodc is connccletl to the roo root. Lo this cuso lirc closure is
I n llris cxarrrplc llicre is one strong arc I l l . Since it is a 'strong-plus' arc, action 2 is
takcn. 'l'he arc connecting n d e :r:s (10) to iwde rl (-4) is rcnrr>ved.An arc connecting 4 4 1~ 1 0 4 4 ~ 1 0
t -1~4
the root :iqj lo node :q ( 4 ) is drawn insrc;~d(Fig. 5.93). This becomes tree 7".

S ~ q 5.
i "1'lcc '/'I is examined in the sanlc way ;is hcli~rel;d~ellirrgthe arcs as to whell~er
they :ire 'pli,s' rir 'n~imis'and 'wc;~k'or 'stnrng'. l'l~ishas bcen done in I'igure 5.94.
The step-hy-step procedure is outlined below.
Slq, 6 . Atry strong hl-anchcs ol the new lrcc not ditcctly connected to the root arc
Slcp I. Ikgin hy adding a root node and coooccting arcs hctwecn the root and c;icl~of
idct~tilicd and tlic procedure discussed ill Stcp 4 is ibllowcd. If there are no strong
the otlier nodes. For tlrc example problerrt, this initial tree 7'' is shown in Figure 5.95.
Note that all of the arcs arc 'plus'.

Slqi 2. The set (graph) of directed arcs is now split into two grwps. 'fl~uscco~rncctcd
to tlrc mot hy strong-plus arcs are i~rcludcdin group Y ? T l ~ cothcis ; I I C i n gnwp X-1'".
I n tlris case nodes 2 5 and 2 6 a e in group Y", 'Their sutn is 20.

@ Figure 5.94. 'I'm 'I" with lakls attached '

I arcs.
"
Figure 5 . 9 6 Selection of directed arc (z5,zl).
S I ~i.IOne must now look at the possible connections hctwcen t l ~ ctwo groups. I b l -
lowing the sequcocing constraiots there arc 6 dirccled arcs which can he drawn:

One of these is sclcctcd. Itr ihis case il will hc t l co~mcction

~ ( x s , z l ) . 'The directed
;tic (:I:[),:xs) is removed and tllc directed :IIK (:rs,:cl) (1r;wn. 'Sliis is shown in I'igurc 5.96.

S l r p 4. ?'he normalizing process is i~owfollowed. Each arc is labelled with respect P

to 'plus' or 'rr~intrs' and 'strong' or 'weak'. 'S~Krcst~ltis shown in Figure 5.97. 'The
arc(connectinn) between rr(1 ;lnd 2-1 is still skong-plus. tlencc the rnetnbers UC the Y
group are :XI.zs and 16. The value of Y (closure) is 16.
weak.
PIUS
/
weak-
plus
I
SIC,, 5 . One now returns to sten 3 to seek adrlitional cormections hetween the Y and
X - Y (X wilhout Y) groups. There arc 5 feasible arcs

e added to ttle tree and :trc ( T ~ ~ . dropped.

Z~) This is shown in

Slrp 6 . 'l'lrc new tree is now norn~:~lized.

'She result is shown i n Figure 5.99. The nodcs Here we will cl~ooscto add arc (xs,x3) and drop arc ( : r ~ ~ q(The) . choicc (xs,z3)
included i n Y arc zl,xz,zs and :c6. The closure Y is 12. is an interesting one and will he cvaluatcd later.) The resulri~rgmrrnalizcd tree is
shown in Figure 5.100. The arc (zo,z6) remains strong-plus and ller~ccthe nodcs in-
cluded within Y are s.,, 22, z,, s ~ and
, r6. The over+ll closure is 8 .
,i, ., ,i-
,
i ,
,.
1

S I ~8.IIlcturning to Step 5 there is on'e possible con~ieclioriremaining: arc (x6.z4).

Arc (i:0.x4) is dropped and arc (z6.x4) addcd. The tree is normalized as bcfure with
the result given in Figure 5.101. All of lhc nodes are now attached directly to thc root
weak- weak-
weak-
by chains l~avingone strong edge. There are no 1mrc connections to hc tried.
slrong Slep 9. 'She inaximum closure now is the cur~iulativcsum of the nodes involved. In this
strong case it is t 4 .
-plus
As was indicated, at the stage shown in Figure 5.98, it is [lossihlc to select connection
I'igure 5.97. 1.abelling of lhe resulting arcs.
(zs.xl). We will now return to this point and consider this option.
 wcak

9
wcak-
$9
plus weak- ~

@ weak-

9 9 9 9 Swp 9.. 'I'lwe is one possiblc conncctio~rhetwec~:tlrc two gmups, that otrc being tl~rougli
weak- weak. arc (>:o,rl). 1 ; the
~ tree in 17igurc5.104, arc (.I:(~.:I:~)
lins hcrti dropped arrd arc (sh,:ci)
added. 'l'lre not-malir,ed trce is shown. As can bc seeti all of the notlcs arc connecicd
to tlic root tlisough a chain containing one strong ctlgc. There arc rro morc possihlc
conncctioos. The closure is the sum of the nrrdcs which is 14.

Thc prcccding problem was a simple case itrterrdcd to firmiliarire llrc reader with tlic
;rlgoritli~n.I n this cxarrrple, the process of 'cutting' the trce during nortxalization will
9q1 7'. Arc (q.23) will bc added and arc ( ~ ~ , ldroppal.
:~) The normalized tree is 11c dc~~;onstr;rietl.'Tlte problem is as shown in Figurc 5.105. 'fhc initi;rl tree is as shown
sltown in Figure 5.102. As can bc seen, the arc (q1,21)has now hecorne weak-plus. in 1:igore 5.106.
The initial choiccs for connection arc the same as before. 'l'hcy will be done in the
The only member of the Y group is now 26. The closure is 10. following order:

S l q ~h". One now considers the possiblc connections bctween tlic X-Y and Y groups.
'Shcrc are two possibilities:
(26, 24)
(~6~23)
Selecting (z6,z3) one obtains the normalized tree in Figure 5.103. l'hc ~rlcmbersof the After thcse 4 iterations the normalized tree would appear as i n 1;igorc 5.107
Y group arc 2 6 and s4.The closure is 6.
 Senml~F~rm AssigmdW&hts
-10 -2

10 20

l:igu~e 5.105. 'Tile cr;,nrplc urcd It, deiuonslr;tlrtree clllliup.

strong-plos and not conriected directly to the root. It must he cut in onler to normalize
the tree.
As discussed earlier the arc (z,,z,) is replaced hy the dunmy air: (ql.zr). In tl~is
case 2, I- z5, :cl = z2. Thus the new arc is (io,zZ). This is shawn in Figure 5.109. The
resulting tree is in normalized form. All of the connections l~avebcen trial. l'he linal
closure is 20 - 10 - 2 - 2 = +6. It can he scen tl~atif Case I in 'l'ablc 5.15 had been
weak- strong woak- written as 'cumnkdtive weight = null or positive' ralber than just as 'cu~nulaliveweight
minus weak- plus
- - positive', then both nodes X I and XJ would have heco included in tile maximum
weak closure as well.

Figure 5.108. The arc (r",z3)is droppcd and arc ( z 6 ,q )

added.
Figure 5.1 10 shows a more complicated directed network to bc malyzcd using the
1.erchs-Grossmnnn algorithm (Laurent et al.. 1977). The results arc shown in Figure
5.1 11. The interested reader is encouraged to select tlre upper two layers to work as an
The Y group is shown to consist of nodes 2,. xd and x*. There is one remaining con- exercise. As can be seen, the two blocks at the pit bottom -+-I0and 10 would contribute
nection to he madc between the groups (x6, 22). 111 Figure 5.108, arc ( ~ 0 . ~ is
3 )droppcd a net of O to the section valuc arid hence have not been mined.
and arc (x6,:rz) added. The tree is then normalized. As can be seen the arc (xs,xz) is
 Pi! 1i1nif.s 443

4. Rock slope stability.

5. Sizc and shape of base peri~nctcr.
0. (:utaff grades.
7. I)eptl~of pit.
8. tinit working costs.
'l'hc trial base pcrimcter is dcti~ledby a series of sllort chords (Pig. 5.1 12).
The coordioatcs of the chord end points arc read manually ;uid t l m entcrcd into the
cornputcr or arc read and entered directly using a digitizer. Such ;I lile of clockwise read
pe~imctcrpoints is given in 'Table 5.16.
At evccy horizon, proceeding in ;I clockwise order, cacl~ilelining pcrit~lclcrchord is
considered i n turn. For each, the dclining end wordinales are locatcd.
'Ih il11nIr;ite tlle basic orelbod, consider the portion o f tlie pit hasc rlelincd hy chords
11111 ;tnd I l l l shown in I'igure 5.1 13.

Bare Perimeter

Point ( I )

5 8 COMP117'I:R ASSISTED MIST1100S

1:airfield Rr Leigh (1969) presented a paper 'A computer pmgram for the design ofopen-
pits', which outlines a pit planning procedure i n use by lllany mines today. 7'liis section B~sector
will describe, using the material of 131irfield XI I.eig11 (l%Y), tlie hasic logic involved.
'The cornpotcr tecliniqucs using sections do not solve tllc problem of end sections or
the smoothing oS perimeters and conseqoently h;lve definite limitations. The projection
of volun~csin the form of cones also has some of the sanm limitations. 'The approach
~lescril~ed here is the projection of plan areas, spccilically the projection of perimeter
outlines.
'I'lie process begins with the development of a block toodcl. Each block as a minimum
would be assigned location coordinates and an index character dependent on the rock
type or grade type.
Tlic second step in the process is the selection o l one or more base pcritncters from
which to generate the pit. These delir~ethe final llorizontal extent of the pit at, or close Old P e r i m e t e r
to, the elevation of the pit's final base. Each perimeter so drawn bccotncs the trial base
from wt~iclian overall pit is generated.
'She infortnation that is required to carry out these calculations is: 1
Y d l = Expantton Dtrtance [ Normal to Old, Lower Perhmeter)
1. Size and shape of ore body.
2. Ore and rock types present.
3. Grades of ore.
 Horizon 2

A
H o r ~ z o n1

'l'l~ecalcu1;ition of the new coordinates o l I on lcvcl 2 (I2) is given helow:

~..-
13isectorof angle I ~ ~ =I[]A~ J ~
t.cngl11 of IIA = VcotO

'Cooirlinalc paits arc cunncoed icading itom Left lo rigln imil lap lo tmllr,#ni n lhc lublc.

'l'hc ctiordinate pairs H I , l 1 and 11 ;n-c pn~jcctedoulw;lrc!s ;iod ol~wardsto tlic next
upper horizon in a direction noroial to llre pe?i~ncterat tliat point. 'l'he next upper liorizon
occurs ;I( a specified distance above tlic current lmrizon. 'I%c actual interval is determined
by llle requirernenls of the job at liand and is sonic Lractiooal part (usually one-half) of
tlie bench height. The slope angle used is that permilled i n the particular rock type or
at tlmt pit position. If tlie slopes at the cllord ends arc diflerent tlic~ithe rncari value is
used.
1
Slope of chord I = - (permitted slope at point (I) a. z 50"
2 (5.17)
+ perlriilted slope at point (I i 1 )) 'Ihc horizontal distance 1114is given by

Sufficient infornlation is now available:

(i) the coordinates of the chords defining the cutmen1 perimeter,
I I A = VcotO - 10cot45" = 10 nl
Using the bearing angle, one can calculate the distances dx and dy
(ii) the average permitted rock slopes of these chord locations,
(iii) the elevation difference to tlic next upper horizon, dx 1.1 I I A s i r l a = 10sin50•‹= 7.66
to generate the pit perilneter on the next upper horizon. With this information the program <Iy = I I A c o s a = lOcos50"=6.43
works clockwise around the perimeter, considering pairs of adjacent cliords in turn.
Consider the case where adjacent cliords HI and IJ have the same permitted rock Hence the coordinates (z2,y2)of 12 become
slopes 6 and I is to be projected from Horizon 1 to l~lorizon2 through a vertical heighl x2 -- 21 i d x = 510.36+7.66 = 518.02
V. l'he situation is sliown in plan in Figure 5.1 13 and in isometric view in Figure 5.1 14. 112 = ?,I - dy = 840.98 -6.43 = 834.55
 'l'hc j)r~~glanr theti c i ~ ~ r t i n ~ arc~~11ii1
tes the pcri~ncterand considers m c h pair of chords i n
t11r11illld C~~~CIIIBICS the c ~ o r d i l i i l l e01
~ tllc projcctcd chord clld poillls 011 tile next upper
horimo.
WIICII the pcri~ncteron the ncxt upper horizon has t1111s hccn generated, the area
lying within the new pcri~neteris scanned and, hy rcfercrlcc to tlrc n x k typc ~rratrixaud
:qq)ropri:~tc vertical interval, the volumes and tonnages ol-the various rock types hctwecn
llte lower and ilppcr horizons arc calculated. ?'lie principle adopted i s sn;~logousto that
n f ohtnining ereas b y gl.ilp11 paper r a t l w than hy planimeter Vdurnes arc calc~~lated
down to the previous horizon on which a peri~lreterwas gerreratcd.
'Slre program worksaround the perin~cter;lnd considers each cho~cli n t u r n For each
c l r d , the e l e ~ t ~ c ~ tarc;! t a l hetween tile cllortl ;lnd tlrc tlnis o f thc orc body is cvaluated
i n terms o f tlre types < ,I ihlling within the strip (see 1:ig. 5. 1 16).
rocks
I j y r c f e ~ r i n glo tlm current rock matrix as stotcd i n t l ~ c' n ~ c ~ t ~ oor fy the ' computer,
llic zone hetwee~tthe chord and axis is sc;lnnetl. T:;~clt rock typc present is identilied
; ~ n dc m ~ n t c tin l terms of blocks. Then, hy rcCcrcocc to tllc cell dinrensions and the level
intclval, t l ~ c~iunrbcrof blocks is convcrtcd into a vdunrc. I n tlris way all thc elen~cnts
witllin the pit pcrimctcr arc evaluated and progrcssivc tolsls rrf c;rch rock type are huilt
rq,. ' l i h l c 5.17 slrows the type of ~ ~ u t p which ot is rhtaincd.
I3eforc conti~ruingto project the perimeter up to the next hr~rizontwo clrccks are ~rladc
~ r t ~ out i f IICCCS~II~. I h t tlle pcrimcter chrmls are checked to ensure
i l ~ r di ~ d j ~ b s t l l r ccirrricd
that the cllorrl length is maintained within a specific range. It tllc chord length exceeds a
Wlren adjacent chord slopes arc not the sa~lic,(Fig. 5.1 IS) :,I, 'msr;iging' ~rretlrtxlis certain pertnittcd rnaxitnum, an intern~ediatecoordinate point is introduced ;it the cholrl's
used i n order l o smooth out simp clxr~~ges
i n slopc. toid pain. On the other band, i n certain circunist;ulccs, tile c l ~ r r r length l may bccornc
v c ~ ysmall ;tnd on Surthcr projectirm the clrd points may ;rctually reverse their order. This
( i ) i'lrc: m c k slope of any chord is the mc:w 01' thc slupch :IS ohldi~rctlat tlre chord end w i l l give rise to fin~higuooscalculations resulting i n ;I h i ~ d l ydistortccl perimeter, so in
poitlls. order to avoid tlris situation points are druppcrl out as chwrl lengths bccornc less than

I I U ~ ~ HIII, sropc
F OC~ - el, =
1
2
~i~et)
a ccrt;rin permitted mininrum. The program tlrcn scans tlrc perimeter and cllecks for thc
dcvcloprncnl o f sharp angles between atljaccnt pcrirr~etcr-ch~nrls,whiclr arc compared
with ;I given ~rrirri~iiurn angle (set will: the input data). I f the acute chord angle is too
I
I:or chord l t J 1 , slopc = 8 ( 8 , I 0,)
'I - 2 shiirp, perimeter points are adjusted until tlre angle hccoir~eslarger than the permitted

(ii)'She horizontal distance 1A (where A is the loidpoint 01' A'A") is the rncan o f the
distances BC and DE.
Since
I],(:
= VcotOb
DIE :: V c o t B d
Then
I
IgA = -(BlCi-DIE)
2
or

2 2
The new coordinates of 12 are given By

N e w coordinates of I2 -- (zt 11A sin a, !/ - 11A cos n)

 A. E x t e n ~ i o nt o Working Pit

C . Do~bleBase Ptt

1:igorc 5 1 17. Mo:c con:plici~tcdpit crpaarions ((ioklcr h r < r i a t e r . 1981).

T11e basic pit design rnethod described so fadevelops a single pit from a single base.
flavirig completed a design for a single pit, tlie user can contin~~e to add on additional
rnini~~ium. 'f'his part of the prograni obviates the pmhlcm of t l ~ edcvelopl~ie~it of s k u p pits either as incremental expansions to the first pit by incorporating a new base which
pit-perimeter curves. joins tlre lirst pit, or by specifying a second basc lying outside the first pit thereby
Having carried out these checks the program continues to the next horizon wliere the creating a double base pit. The same procedure is adopted. A trial base perimeter for
cotnpletc cycle is repeated. l l ~ e oso on until the linal pit pcri~rieleris reached. t l ~ csecond pit is input to the computer in the same for~n,and the program repeats the
Table 5.18 is a typical final sunrrnary output from the pn)grarn. Tlie following are cyclc of projection from level to level until the surface is reached.
givcn: 'l'he pcrirr~eterof this second pit will probably encroach on that of the first pit. How-
(i) Pit perimeter coordinates. ever, with the aid of its memory the computer will take into consideration t l ~ efact that
(ii) Volume and tonnage o( ore. one pit has already been generated. As soon as encroachn~entoccurs the complete vol-
(iii) Volume and tonnage of waste. ume hounded by the first pit perimeter will be ueated as being mined out and hence air.
(iv) Stripping ratio. This prevents any duplication that would otherwise occur. Tliird and further bases can
(v) Average grade of mill feed. be added by similar means. A second or further base can represent:
(vi) Total working costs. I. A working extension to the first pit (Fig. 5.117A).
In cases where working costs and revenues are required addikional input to tlic coruputer 2. An increll~entalexpansion of tlie pit to test the sensitivity of the first pit to prof-
is necessary. Costs are fed in under headings: 'fixed costs per rock type unit' (that is. itability (Pig. 5.1 170).
drilling, blasting, loading), 'depth variable costs' (that is, twnsporl from various working 3. A second pit which may merge with the first at the upper bcncl~cs(Fig. 5.1 17C).
levels), and 'fixed cost per unit of rock' (that is, supervision, services). A typical computer assisted pit design is shown in Figure 5.118.
 ,,Cross Stction 196

Eastinp I ft )

I n the ~naonalinethod of pit design using sections described i n an earlier section, it

I'ipu~! 5.1 18. A lypical pi1 clerip (Mnltii. I9XX)~ will he recalled lllat the final pit limits were ohtaincd through an ileralivc p:ocess by
which the pi! sh;rpe was 'floated' around on the srction wtil the actual stripping ratios
and average ore grades nratclred a point on tlre SR-grade curvr:.
Such a trial pit for this section is shown in Figure 5.120. The pit bottonl has a width
5.8.2 Compurer assisted pit & s i p 11u.sed rrport sectinrrs
of 120 ft, the slope of the right hand slope (KHS) is 60" whereas the left hand slope
Open-pit design computerization wlriclr hegarr in tlrc early 1960's was driven largely hy (IHS) is rcdoced to 57" to include the presence of a 60 ft wide ramp segment. The
Ilrose irrvolved in tlrc mining ~Clargc,luw grade dcpr~sits.'Itre choice of a hlock rnodel str;~igIrtlitre approximations for the slopes are used to simplify the process. Once the
to represent porphyry copper depmits, for examplc, was appropriate. The block size ' l i d ' best position is determined then the functional mining parameters suclr as:
could be inatie still quite large and yet he srrrall with respect to the size of the deposit - 11re ramp(s),
and tlre scale over which the major grade changes take p1;se. The ilistirrction between - working bench heights,
ore and waste was made on the hasis of cut off gr;dc rather tlran on a sharp boundary. - herin widths, and
There are a nu~rrbcrof irpplications wlrere block nlotlels are less strtisfactory. Steeply - bench face angles
dipping, relatively narrow vcinlstrata form deposits being one cxamplc. Here the ore is arc added (Fig. 5.121).
contained within definite, well defmed boundaries. Grade variation within the ore zone 'l'lre design is then reexamined. Often significant changes occur betwccn the simplified
is such tllal an average ore grade may he assigned. In such cases, the use of vertical and actual pit designs. When the 'final' design on this section has been located, the areas
sections still plays an important role. One computer assisted teclrnique for dealing with of overburden, orc and waste are obtained by planimctering. Overall stripping ratios,
such situations has been described By Luke (1972). The cxa~nplcwhiclr he presented ctc. can tlren he calculated.
lorms the hasis for this section. Design changes such as varying
Figure 5.119 illustrates the topography and geologic interpretation of a single cross- - minimum pit width,
section through a steeply dipping iron orebody. A thin layer of overburden (alluvium, - slope angles,
sand, gravcl) overlies the hedrock. There is a sharp tra~rsilionbetween the ore zone and - positionlwidth of the ramp, and
tlrc adjacent hanging- and footwall waste zones. - limiting stripping ratio
would require the entire process to be repeated.
 Crorl Section I96 ;~ccol~~plisl~ing and to actively participate in computer-sssistcll design. 'The output of the
proccss is a functional mine plan together will! a working set of cross-scclions. This
section will discuss via an iron-ore example, originally presented hy l a k e (1972) llle
logic involved i n the process.
'The process begills wit11 a description of the topography and the geologic data. 'The
topographic relicl and the overhurdcn-bedrock contacl arc dclincd by a series of straight
line scgnients. The end points of each segrnent making up the intlividual contour line
(string) are dclincd either hy hand or using a digitizer. I n this case the surface relief will
he denoted as the surface contour and tlie top of bedrock as the overburden contour.
T11c values for cross-section 196 arc given in Table 5.19.
1:mm t l ~ ccross-section (Pig. 5.1 19) it is seen that there are four n~aterialtypes present.
Sincc they adjoin one another, they can he delincd by four zones. If, for cxample, 21 pod
of h;~ngingwallwaste cxists io the ore then live zones would be needed. These zones
111ost hc described. lo tliis sirnple case tlie ore-footwall and ore-l~angingwallcontacts
can 11c dcscrihcd using end point coordinates ('ljble 5.20).
'She ~~verhurdcn zone lies between thc surface and the overburden contour lines. The
loolwall (I~angi~~gw;tll) waste zone lies to tile left (right) of tlie ore-hotwall (hanging-

,Crolr Section 196

Eartinp ( ft )

Figure 5.121. I'relirninary pi! design for example cross~section(Luke, 1972)

Ijblc 5.20. End pints for zonc lines (I.uke. 19

~~~~ ~
~

Corrlputer techniques have been developed to assist in the preparation of the sections x2 u,
and in making the necessary calcolations. In this way a luge numher of potential designs -. ~~ -.... .~
can he evaluated quickly and inexpensively. Since the procedure largely follows the Ore-lix,Lwall cotmcl 5298 1112 5550 440
Orc-hasgiogwall cornact 5558 I Oh. 440
rnmual process, it is easy for the mine planner to understand what the program is ~ ..~
~ ~~~
wirll) zone linc and below the overlr~lrdcncontour line. 'Shc ore zone lies betwcetr tie 'I'he wall and pit h o ~ t o mspccilica~iooslirr the trial pit are given i n E h l c 5.22. Tbc
contact lines and beoeatli llie iivcrhurilcti contour linc. I b c l i zone cc>rrcspondsto ;I p;lr- design specifics the location o f lllc r;onp as 10
ticular rnatcrial type whiclr i n lorn 11;is certain prrqrertics. 111tlris case the area oC each -- IcSl or right wall.
e i l . w i l l be c1i;lngcd l o a volulrie hy
~riatcrialincluded i n t l ~ cpit w i l l lirsl he d c l c ~ ~ ~ r i n 'I'liis ~.i~nq) elevation when i t crosses the section, and
tiiultiplyiog b y tlre g i w x section thickticss ( i s 100 St). Ib convert this vohr~neinto tlie ramp n d t t i ,
desired m i l s oS tons, cubic yards, cubic y m l s o f eqoivslcnt rock, etc., certain factors arc !:or the section shown it bas hcer~dccidcd tlinl tlie ramp slioulrl h;we
required. A t;rble oC such hctnrs is given i n 'l'X>le 5.21. I n tliis case thc factor of 11.5 localion := left wall,
is used to c ~ ~ i v cvolume rt (St3) into long t m s o f cruilc we. 'l'he factor o f 27 convcrts elevation = 896 St, and
volume (fi3)into cuhic yards of rock w:~stc. Since lhc ovcrbrtrtlcn is much easicl to widtli :~ 60 St.
rctnovc ihan tlic rock waste. B laclor o f 2.4 is first inlrt~ducedto convcrt volurne o f I n nlatio;rlly superimposing the pit onto the scclion, llie designer wo111dlocale the pit
ovcrhurden (St" into an eqkriv;~lcnt vdrrrric (1'1 ') o f rock waste. 'The Saclor or 27 is tlrcrr 1,uttoru ;tml tlieri using scale and pnrrractor conslrocf the pit walls. 'The ram13 w o r ~ l dhe
used to convet1 Ct' intu yd', l.lic over;dl Saclor is the 111<xluctoS tliese two ((14.8). p s i i i i o i c d at tlic proper location. 'She salirc procedt~reis followed willr the conipnter
'l'l~e pit design can now hi: sr~pe~~ilri~rosed upon tlic lrasic oi;itcri;~l-geonietry model. As cxccpl that end point coordinates of the segments are determined. I n addition, lhc coortli-
clone eadicr tlic pit is delincd b y ;I c r i c s oS co~iticctedslraiglit segments. 'l'he widtlr and w t c s or llic inlersedions belween llic string making up tlie pit alrd the zonelconloul- lirlcs
~ r o s i l i o no f the pit Irolto~iii s lirst (lccideil. 1:or I:igr~l-e5.120 orre can see Illat the width arc dctermincd as well. Once this b;ts been done, tlic arcas irrvolverl in each z ~ i n cc;in
is 120 11 and tlic bottom elcvaliori is 640. 'l'lic ctid poilrts o r this segment form the toe hc obtained. 14rr tlie orc zone (Zone 2) using a plaoiltietcr m e tnighl srart i n tlrc k l w c r
pvsitiions o f tlic l c l i and light Imnd slopes. 'Sl~ewalls ;Ire clelincd by: left corner (Fig. 5,122) and proceed around the loop i n a cl<ickwisc inotion eventually
I) Bench height. The hencli c1cv:ttion diClbrcrr~i;ilO N the 111tim1tcwall. returning l o tlie starting airner.
2) Bench widtli. 'I'hc satne basic process is followed knowing the end point coordinates o f tlre scgrnenls.
3) Wall angle. T l ~ cbedrock w;dl m g l c l i o n i I x n c l i l o b ~ ~ ~ i cnot l i , llrc overnll slope I;igurc 5.123 shows tlrc end point locations and 'l'able 5.23 gives the coordinalcs.
angle. 'So ilcrironstmte llic process b y which areas are Coonil considct tlre area excav;itcd (A)
4) Valid bench c1ev;rtion. 'l'bc clcvalion of iiny ~ x i s l i r r gIrcrtir i f tlie pi1 is under current Srwn t l ~ chottorn bcocti i n Figure 5.124. The fortouln used is
development, or the e1cv;rtioti 01 llre lirsl pmposeil hc~rcli.I:nm this spccilied beneb.
tlrc elevation of s~tccessivcbenches i s dctcrminal from tlic bench height.
5) Overburden angle. She w d l angle tliirl can he n~aiolaincdi n overhrtrdcn.
(1) Toe position. 'l'lie ( X , 1') coordinates fur tllc inrlrc;~tcdintersection o f the pit wall
arid pit floor.

I
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Ill
II
Table 5.22. Pi1 wall swcificarions (I.okc. 1972) 12
I3
14
IS
16
17
I
 wlrcre Yt. X I are coordinatcs of initial point of segment and Y2, XZ the coordinatcs of
linal point of scgt~~enl.
In tl~iscasc, going clockwise around the figure arc linds that

Crorr Section 196

1
Ar :- - (680-1- 680)(5,500 - 5,620)
2
= 81,600
The total area is

A = A, + Az -t A, + A, = --8.280 + 108,680 - 8,280 - 81.600 = 10,520 st2

Using the formula for the arm of the lrapczoid one Linds that
1
A,,, ~= - (bi - t ~k)h
2
1:igure 5123. Ore a m calculation based on tile scgnmot end p i n t s . wl1ere
bl length of lower base = 120 St
-2

b2 = lcngth of upper base = 143 ft

h = height = 80 ft
Substitution yields:
1
A
'"-
-2
(120+ 143) x 80 = 10,520 ft2

5400 5600 The results from applying this line integration method to zones 1. 2, 3 and 4 in Fig
L'igum 5.124. Figure used for the example urc 5.122 are given bclow
Eastlna ( f t ) citlculslion.
%one Matcri;rl type Coi~rpotctlarea Section tllickness Volume Crorr Section 196
(fi2) ((0 (fr')

Ilsing the scaling factors tlrcsc v;rlues arc convcrtetl into those desired:
I:ootw;rll rock w s t e - - 54,759 yd3
Ore 760,870 long tons (It)
Hnngi~~gwall
rock w;istc = 101,448 yd'

Tire n~ata-ialtol;rls arc:

Ore 760, 870 11
5200 5'

'l'h~m~glr tile rise of this pit generator, a v;riiety of pi1 loc;rlions can be tested. In llic
manual procctlurc dcscrihed in Section 5.2, t11e lenglhs of the lines i n ore and wastc were
compared. Here the ratio or waste to ore lyiug hetween two srrccessivc pit posilions will
bc c;~lculated.Two such positions arc sl~owrrin Figure 5.125.
Thc k i t hand wall was moved 25 St to tlie left and the right hand wall 15 Ct lo the this r~~odilicatiorr
of the pit is desirable. f i e f'orn~nl;~
presented by Luke (i972) for ose
left. For fhis new position the (ore),, and (waste),, tolals arc: i:l guiding ttle changes is

(ore),, - 787.366 It
(wa\te),, = 172,687 yd'
'l'lre change in the ;mrouol of ore hetween these two pits is WIICK!
A7' = ?; .. 'I;,
Aore = (or) .- (orc),, -- 787,366 760,870 = 26.496 it
A W - . - w,- w,,
Similarly, the change in the amount of waste is .
,
I z ~ : mils of ore,
Awaste . (waste),, - (waste),, - 172.687 163,244 - 9,443 yd' W - . units of wastc,
SKI, = incremental stripping ratio,
I b r this change in geometry the iocrenrental (or differential) stripping ratio (DSR) of subscript b refers to the current best position.
the increment is equal to subscript t refers to the new trial position.
Awaste 9,443 'l'lre optimization can be done under a variety of constraints. One ctrnstraint, for example,
DSR = = = 0.356 might be that the pit floor level must remain at a given elevation. When SRI, is the only
Aore 26,496
constraint, then the pit can lloat hot11 venically arid horizontally aroulrd the section.
This value must be conlpared to the break even (or limiting) stripping ratio (SRI.) as Figure 5.126 shows pits for section 196 under different SRI, constraints. figure 5.127
applied at the pit periphery. Suppose for cxarnplc that slrows the tons of crude ore as a function of stripping for the different SRL scenarios.
SRL = 0.8 Table 5.24 presents an overall stripping ratio sununary. Such results are very useful
for nranagement in examining production decisions.
Since 1:igurc 5.128 presents the final floor elevations for ;I series of adjacent sections in
DSR < SKL which a limit of SKL = 0.8 was imposed. Using this plot, decisions regarding bottom
 Optimized Floor
Elevation

Croll Section Number

Functional Floor
Elevation
I ft 1 SRL = 0.80

Earting ( tt )

I'igsre 5.126. 1% pn,lile lor lime SKI. velucr (I.lrkc, 1972).

192 194 196 198 200

h$$Section Number
Figare 5.128. Plot of optilrrurn pit flmr elcv.llion Venus cmss-section position l o thc pit (Luke. 1972).

Figure 5.127. Curve of reserve level ver-

a u minimum stripping (Lute, 1972).
Incmrnenlnl stripping Crude ore Wsrw Stripping
ratio (SRL) (lo6 tons) (lo6 yd3) ratio
~.~
~..
0.33 26.0 2.08 0.080
bench location at various localions in the pit can be made. Having decided this clcvation 0.50 42.0 5.87 0.140
the sections c a n then b e rerun t o obtain an optimum location. With regard to section 196, 0.67 58.0 11.30 0.195
0.80 70.0 18.20 0.260
the pit bottom should b e a t 520 St rather than 480 ft. As can he seen, this use of computer
I.W 76.0 2470 I1 125
assist, greatly enhances the information base from which the mine planner can makc
decisions.
('HAlYl hI< 6

Production planning

I n tlris c h a p t e ~some of the pn~ductionplanning activities involvecl in :in q l e n pit mine

will lbc discussed. Specifically, attention will he devoted to mine life - procluction ratc
dctermimtions, push back design and sequencing, as well ;IS providing some gencml
goi(l;mcc i-cgardiog Both long and short range planning activities.
'l'l~c h s i c ol>jeclives or goals of extraction planning have hcen wcll stated by Matit-
icso~l(l()K2):
- 'li) mine lhe orebody in such a way lhal for a c h year Ihe cost to produce a kilograni

01 i!lclal is ;I inini~rufm.
- lh inai~~lnin
.
. i.c... a .nllilosonl~v
, of mininc the 'next hcsl' w e in seuuence.
opcralion viability willlin the plan through tltc incoq~or;rtionof a&qt~ate
equipruent operating nrom, haulage access to each active hcnch, ctc.
- 'lh i n a ~ r p o r a ksufficient exposed ore 'insurance' so ;IS tn counter tlrc possibility o f
,is-estimation of ore lormagcs and grades in tlre resclve model. 'l'his is particukuly true
11 the carly years which are so critical to economic success.
- 'So defer waste skipping requirements, as inoch as possible, and yet provide ;I
relalively stiinolh equipment and manpower huild-up.
- X I ilcvelop a logical and easily achievable st&-up sclietlule with due recogoi~ion
to manpower training. pioneering activities, equipment depluynient, ioirastrucfure and
logistical support, rhos minimiring thc risk of delaying the iniliation of positive cash
Ilow flom the ventnre.
- '1.0 rwximire design pit slope angles in reponse to adequate geotechnical inves-
tigations, and yet tl~rougllcareful planning minimize the adverse impacts of any slope
instability. sl~ouldit occuc
-- lb pmperly examine thc econo~nicnterits of alternative ore production ralc and
cutoff grade scenikrios.
T o tholuughly subject the proposed mining strategy, equipment scleclion, and mine
cleveloprucnt plan lo 'what if' contingency planning, helhre a comtnitntent to proceed
is ~ n x i c .
Planning is ubviously an ongoing activity throughout the life of the mine. Plans are
111adewhich apply to different time spans.
'l'here arc two kinds of production planning which correspond to different rime spans
(Ct~llze~ts. 1979):
 - Opemtional or sbort-mngc production planning is necessary ihr ll~efunction of ;in pit limit determination is
oper;tting mine.
$1.00 t $2.80 I- $0.40 I $0.17
- Long-range production planning is usually dotre for feasibility or budget studies. It g(% Cu) : ~~
~ ~ ~~

supplctnents pit de i 1 ~ 1is an inrp(~rt;~nt

elctnent in t l ~ c , , 0.78(1.00 0.30)
decision making pt
Couzerrs (1979) has provided some very useful alvicc which should he firlnly ke(1t
in mitrd by those involved in the longer term planning activities:
It is noted that the costs chosen at this stage rniglrt he considered as 'typical'. No at-
t c ~ ~ ~hasp l been made to include c;~pitalrelated c m ~ snor a 'prolit'. Using the float-
ill); cmrc, 1.crclr.s-(in~ssmm or ;rnoil~crtcdn~iquc. ;I lin;rl pit outline is gctreratcd.
In guiding the planner, Couzcns (1979) 11;1s proposed the lollowing five planning 'conr-
niandtnenls' or rules: 'I'l~c inlcrscctions are transleired onto tltc crrtrcsp~,ndinghc~~chcs of tlrc gfiale block
I. We must keep our ul~jectivcsclearly (lelincil wldc realizi~~g tl~atwe are dealing n ~ r ~ ~ lAe l tniocr;il
. i~tventaryusing appnlpri;~tegmle class interv;~lsis created bench
with estimates of grade, projcctioos of gcology, and gocsscs ahout economics. We must I 11ccI1. 'Sllcse are later cotnbincd lo forto :I inincr;d invenlo~yTor tlrc n~aterial
bc open to change. willrin t l ~ cpit. 'Tahlc 6.2 is tlrc result Sur the cxamplc orclx~dy(Ilcwlctt, 1961, 1962,
2. We must COIIIIIIUII~CB~C.Ir l~lannir~g
is not clc;tr to tlwse whu m ~ s make
t decisions 1963). 'Slie nuniher of torrs in eaclr grxlc cl;lss interval (0.1%) ;\re plottcd vcrsrls gmde.
' .I
11s. IS srinvn i n Figure 6.1. 1:roln this curvc ;I plot of total (ctmulative) tonnage
and to tl~osewho most execute plans, i1re11the pl;mning will bc cill,cr ~nisonderstoudar
igtwred. ;11~1vc;I givcn cutoff grade can 11e constructed. 'llre rcsolt is givcn i n Figure 6.2.
3. We trrust renmnber that we arc dealing with volonm of earth that must he moved As can he seen, lhc curve is of the s11q1e typical h r a low gr;trlc copper orebody.
in sequence. Geometry is as i~npoflt~nt to a plaoocr as is ;withmetic. Vigurc 6.1 sl~owsthe straight line expected wlicn a lognor~n;~l plot is m& of the
d:,t:,.
4. We nrusl rctnember tlrat we are denling wit11 tinre. Volon~esInus1 be tnoved in lilnc
O n e can also dclcrtnillc the average gr;tdc nf llrc inaterial lying above a given cutoff
to re;~lizeour production goals. l'hc productive 11sc of time will ilcternrinc el'liciency
grxle. 1:igurc 6.4 presents the results, l';thle 6.3 cotrt;iins the data used i n constructing
and cost efictivcness.
I%p,u~cs 6.2 ;~nd6.1. 'I'lrcsc two curves ;ire very irscftrl rvhcrl crmsidcring various plan1
5. We must seek acceptance of our p1;rns such tllat tl~cybccotw tlrc cnrnpany's goals
and not just the planner's ideas. size - mine life options.
At this mint two destination ot,tions will hc considcrctl for the inaterial contained
This chspter will focus on the longer terrli p1;xt:ning ; ~ q ~ c cI,~rth
t s during feasibility
sttdies and later productioo.

6.2 SOME BASIC MINE l.1I'E - PLANT SIZE CONCIY'rS

'Ib introduce this very important topic, an exanrple pmblc~nwill be considered. As-
sutnc tliat a copper orebody has hcen thoroughly drilled out and ;I grade block tnodel
constructed. Table 6.1 presents an initial estitnate for tlte costs and recoveries.
Since they will be refined later, this step will he called Assumption I.
'rhe best estimate price (in this case $l/llr) is ;tlso sclccted (Assumption 2). From
these values an economic block model is constructed. 'She break-even grade for final
 100.0 I I I I I I -
2
.
-
Cumulat~ve .
Tonnage Tonnape
1 106 tons ) I los r
o.o
,k

1.0

0.10 .
.

0.01 I I I I I
6 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2 . m . s

\
Cutoff Grade ( % Copper )

c Tonnage
(u 10m" u l a ~ i v e ~ ~

Cutoff Grade I X Copper )

I'igun: 6.2. Cumulative tonnage Venus culoflgri~lelor flit Silver HcII O pitC
X ~ ~ Figure 6 4. Average gradc vcnus cutoff grade.
 Tonnage
1 106 tons

3 \,
-I

-I
I

=I
I

_1_111-
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Cutoff Grade 1 % Cower )

I'lxure 6.5. Mill rconage for a 0.4c u t d i grade.

- Dcstination A: Mill.
- Dcstination B: Waste durnp. ' I k next question is with regard to the size of plant to be constructed. Ari equivalent
'I'hcrc arc o t l m possible destinations which can he considered later This destination qixstion is ' h i r a t is the expected life of the property?' Althuugh there are several
stipulation becomes Assuriiption 3. Since a11 o f the rnakrial will everitually have to he ways oC approaching this, the one chosen here is market based. It will be assumed
rc~riovedfrom thc pit there is no qucstion concerning mining or not mining. For the sake (Assumption 5 ,I h a t a market survey has suggested that 5.000 tons of copper metal can
of this cxample it will be assumed that the rnineral distribution is uniform throtrghout bc sold cvesy year. T h e yearly and daily production rates as well as the mioc life can
the pit. This is gcncrally not true and there will be big11 and low grade areas of various now bc c o m p u r d .
extent. Assuming rhrdt:
A cutoff grade must hc selected dificrcntiati~~gorc (that going to tlie mill) and waste Mill recmrery = 80%
(that going to the dump). Assumption 4 will be tlial l l ~ emill cutoff grade is 0.40% (thc
Combinad s ~ n e l t e d r e f i ~ ~ recovery
ery = 97.5%
same value used in the pit limit determioation). 1:nm I'igorc 6 . 5 one linds that there are
7.8 x lo6 tons of ore with no ;werage gradc (Fig. 6.6) o i 0.92%. Operarinz days = 250 dayslyr
 The rcquirccl nrinc prmluction ratc (I(,,,;,,) is:

( I ,,,,,,, .
Mineral
-- .
reserve (tons)
-
Mine lilc (yrs)

Average Grade
( % Copper ) 3.5 ll,,,;,,t= 1 I, 100 tpd
'l'lrc 1ot;rl an~uontof copper recovered is
(:upper recovered - 55, 500 tons
;urd tlic ovc~;~ll
stripping ralio is

Knuwing tlic mining and rnilling rates and t l rriinc

~ life
Milling = 2,801 tpd
M i 11,000 tpd
Minc l i l i . ~11.1
- years
unc can tnnw go hack lo Assumption I and improve ibc operating cost cstim;rtes. lising
tllcsc viducs m e can recalculate tile cconomic block v;tlucs, llic lirlal pit lilrlits, the
$:!:ides-tonrrages, etc. Eventually a solution will be found which cl~at~gcs little fnxrr run
1 0 ru,r.
Culoff Grade I % Copper ) Knowing the plant sin;, tire required capital invcstn~el~l can bc dclcrmined. The cash
Il<)wsarc calcrrlateii as is the net present value. Obviously otl~clcconorrric indicators
such as t ~ i ; r I profit, internal rate of return, ctc., could be calcr~latedas well. One [night
then rctorn to Assumption 2 and examine the sensitivity with price.
It will he recalled that Assumption 4 dealt with tire mill cutoff grade which was
chosen as 0.4. If a mill cutoff grade of 0.2 is assunred instcad thc process can be
we ohtain the following nill ling rates (Il,,,ill) repeatcd maintaining the 5,000 ton copper outpot. As 1:igurcs 6.7 :rnd 6.8 show. the ore
tonnage and average grade become
Ore tonnage = 10.8 x 10"ons
Average ore grade = 0.77% Cu
With the same assumptions as before the milling rate, n~illlinioeli(e and mining ratc
bccome:
Mill rate:
Knowing the inill production rate and the ore reserves the rriilll~ni~re
life can be calcu-
lated: 5,000 x 2,000
Il,,,ill ;- ----
Ore reserves (tons)
q2$
x 0.80 x 0.97 x 2.000
Mine life (yrs) =
Ore moduction rate (tnv) = 836,800
tpy
It,iil 1- 3,350 tpd
Milllrnine life:
= I 1. 1 years
10.800,oOo
Mill life = = 12.9 yrs
836,800
 Tonnage
( 106 tons

Cutoff Grade ( % Copper )

I'igurc 6.8. Avcragc mile feed grade for aO.3 wn,ff gmdc.

and the overall stripping ratio would drop to

cutoff Grade [ % Copper

pigsre 6.7. ~ i m
i ln a g c lor s 0.3 cutotf grade.

A summary of the results for thc two mill cutoff grades is give11in Table 5.4.
These would be expected to yield different economic results. The i~~crernental financial
analysis approach to this type of evaluation will be discussed in Section 6.6.
Mining rate: 'Shere are a number of iterations which must be pcrfor~r~ed as the various assumptions
are examined. In this simple example, there were five assumptions made in order to
proceed:
&,,in, = 9,550 tpd - Assumption 1. Cost-recovery values.
- Assumption 2. Commodity price.
'She amount of copper recovered increases to - Assumption 3. Destination options.
- Assumption 4. Mill cutoff grade.
Copper recovered = 64,500 tons - Assunption 5. Yearly product mix.
 111real life, rates of output arc strongly limited or inllucnced by pnstical pmhlen~s.
One of the niust iniport;int of these is working sp;&c. A mine may be able to increase
outpul as it gels older solely because its ever expanding workings offer niorc points of
attack.
In 2111 open pit tlic working space lirr cq~~iptnicnl ;~ndhcncc tn~axinnlriiproduclioo
rate lends to vary with the area (ft2) exposed while lunnage viiries with volulne (ft3),
'l'hus one might cxpect the production rate for gmups of more-ur-less sin~ilarlyshaped
orebodies to he proportional to tlie two-thirds power of the orcbody tonnage. The lilc
would then he propoltional to the cube root of that tonnage.
Taylor (1977) studied many actual projects (sonic opemting and others only p l m ~ e d )
involving a wide range of orehody sizes, and sllapes (otl~erthan thin dcposils of very
large l:ttel.al extent), for which the total ore reserves wcre reasonably wcll known before
major design co~nmeaced.He found that the extraction rates seerrrcd proportional to the
three-cln;irlcrs power of the ore tonnage rather than tlie two-thirds power. ?'be designed
lives were proportional to the fourth root of the lunnagc.
('lca~ly, ;i 1;1lyc nuniber 111 cuml>inations 111ustI1c c o ~ i ~ i ~ l e~r l~~da,n01
y which could 'I'llis lcad to the fomiulatioo of 'Taylor's nde, >; simple md useful guide that states:
provide s;itistactory rcsulls. Because of the inmy uncertainties :issocialed with tlic grade,
Life (years) % 0.2 x gExl,ectcd r m tonnage (0.1)
to~inagc,price, and cost data, the inleaning of some sort of 'opti~nurn'solution is tenuous
St hest. lo this equation, it is immaterial whether short or metric tons are used. I1 is inore
convenient to use quantities expressed in millions and except for special conditions, the
pr;~ticalrange of variation seems to lie within ;I factor of 1.2 above and helow. 'The
rule can thus 11c restated as:
.. . . ~ ..~..
~
+ 0.2) x 6.5 x $?onnage
~

'I'aylor (1977, 1986, 1991) Ins, w e r the years, ptrlvidal sonic very prac1ic:il ilnd use- IiSe (years) Z (I in milliwx (6.2)
ful advice regarding mine life. This section is birscd on extr3clions from liis writ- At a preliminary stage, 'ore tonoage' could reprcseut a rcilsooallle though not oplinlistic
ings. In theory, it is possihle to calculate an 'optiniu~n' ratc of cxtr;~ction fio111 an esti~nateof the ore potential. Latcr, it could comprise the total of rneasured and indicated
orehody. To do this, l~owcvcr,krrowlalge or precise assurription of rlkc total tonnagc ore, including probable ore, but excluding ~ossihlcor conjcctml ore.
;ind its sequential grades (including tlie effects of varying thc cutoff grade), and of This empirical forrnula generates (be values presented in Table 6.5.
CIII costs end product prices tl~roughoutthe pro~ecl lifc is required. This infonnatioo
is unavailable for early studies and inay indeed never rcach high certainty or even be
tnccess;try.
le as a function rrf or
.,
I:ven with certain knowledge of everything, i~plirnizi~~g theory yields different answers
de(~cnditigon what quantity is selected to be n~;~xirni~.cd. The rnaximizcd qu;mtity might Median
11e total prolit, total cash flow, the net present valuc or the internal rate of return. Fur- OIC life
thcrn~orc,the peaks of such curves are rather Hat. 'l'hos wt~enallowing ibr the practical (lo6 am) (years)

i~~accuracies of data, the calculated results cmnot be considcrcd critical. Mence, althougb
valid, a highly mathematical approach to mine life (lctermination is seldom of practical
use. Other ways must be found to provide a reasonable first approximation for oiine
life.
Too low a production rate sacrifices possible econoroies of scale and defers possible
~ ~ r o l i too
t s far into the future. Conversely, too high a rate may drive up the project's
cq~it;rlcost beyond any ahilily to repay witlni~iIlne shortened life. Too high an output
n ~ a yhe unsalable, while too short a life for a large enterprise may be wholly undesirable
on social grounds. One 11azxd of short life mines ~iierilsspecial mention. Since base
nietal prices seem to move in cycles of four to seven years' duration, an operation of
rider four years' life may find itself depleting all its ore in a trough of the price cycle,
and he left with neither ore nor time to recover.
 'The rtllc provides an apptopriatc pnwisiond output rate (br prelinriiliiry economic
appmisals and will deline a r a g e o l rates for comparative valuation at the interinediate
stage after which a preferred single rate c;ln bc sclccted for use in the feasibility study.

6 4 SEQIJI:NCING IIY N1:S I I:D 1'11 S

(IfIhc Carious techniques used tr, ilevelop mining scqucnccs, lllc most common is to
prod~ucca ncsl of pits corresponding to various cutoff gr;~dcs.I'ro111 ;I practic;il poinl of
view this is accomplished hy varying the price o l the metal (commodity) being extracted.
'I'lre final pit litnit is generally dcterl~~incd
using ihc most likely price. h r prices lower
tl~anthis vnluc, successively sm;~llcrpits will he produced 'The pits will n~igratetoward
t l ~ carea oS higlrest grade andlor lower1 m m n t of stripping. This will be illnslralwl hy
way of an cxarnple.
'l'hc lopogwphic [nap irrr a ~nr~lyl~det~t~rnprospect (Suriel. 1984) is shown in Figure
6.9. As can be sccii, the trr;~jorityoS the depr,sil x c a has inoderate surfacc relief with
t l ~ cexception oC some steeper topography in the north-central project area. 'The relative
position of l l ~ edeposit is southwest of (he hill. It is slrowil by the dashed lines on the
lignrc.
A grade block irn~delhas been prep;tred t~sirighlocks 50 h x 50 St x 50 St. The
lonrnge factor is 12.5 ft"/s 11coce each block conlains 10,000 lons. 'The following data
wcrc tlscd in prcp;rring the gradc block inodcl and irr running the floating cone.
Mining cost - $0.74/st
I'rocessing cost -. $I.K9/st ore
General and ahinistr;uivz ((;&A) cost $0.67/st ore
Mill recovery = 90%
Selling price -- $6/lb contained nrolybdcnum (K0.B. rnill site)
'The ore grade is expressed ill t e r m 01. Yo MoSz. Sincc one pound of MoSz conlairls
0.60 ihs Mo, the equivnlcnt price is $3.24/1h M o S z ~
In determining the linal pit lirnits, the costs and revenues involveti in mining and
processing I ton of tn;rtcri;~lcontaining X % MoSl are first determined.

- X

-
Revenue ($/st) - x 2,000 x 0.90 x $6.00 x 0.60
100
64.8X
Equating costs and revenues
64.8X = 3.30
I ,
one finds that the breakeven grade (X%) is
A..~
X = 0.05% MoS2
This cutoff grade corresponds to a com~nodityprice of $6/lb contained molybdenum.
Using these costs and the $6/lb price one gencrntcs the pit sl~owrlin plan in I'igure 6.10.
It can be refcrred to as the $6 pit or equivalently the 0.05% cutoff pit.
 For this example two smaller pits will be created. ! f a price of $2/lb Mo is selected
instead, then by redoing the hreakcven analysis one finds that

'l'he $2 pit is shown in Figure 6.11. For a price of $l.SO/lb Mo, the hrcakeven grade is

I:igurc 6.12 is a plan view of the resulting $1.50 pit. The tl~reenestcd pits arc shown
on section 18000N in Figure 6.13.
With this approach one would begin (Phase 1) with the mining of the 0.20% MoS2
($1.50) cutoff pit. Phase I1 involves tile material in the 0.15% MoS2 ($2) cutoff pit and
finally, Phase 111, the 0.05% MoS2 ($6) cutoff pit. Pits intermediate to these can be
found by selecting the appropriate price. As can be seen in Figure 6.13, barren material
overlies the orebody. All material down to the 4400 level will be stripped and sent to
a waste dump. Its rcrnoval requires drilling and blasting. Tliere is also sonre low grade
m;rtcrial running 0-0.05% MoS2 below this level. The grade-tonnage distril~utionfor the
overall pit is shown in Table 6.6. There are 102,970.000 tons above the 0.05% cutoff.
Tlrc average grade is 0.186%. The grade-tonnage distributions fur the 3 mining phases
I'igore 6.1 1. Pit ourtioe l b r a 0.15 cutoff ( S u k l . 1984). are given in Table 6.7.
 'She ;werage grade of the ~uaterialabove 0.05% for each of the 3 plrascs is:
Phase I: 0.225%
Phase 11: == 0.182%
I'hasc 111: g -:0.176%
An initial dccision has hcen nradc to mine llte arebody over a period o T 15 ycars. 'I'llos
the average milling ratc will be ofthe order 01.6.9~10('tonslyear. Assut~ringthat tltc inill
opcmtes 250 days1ye;tr the daily milling rate is 27,500 tpd. lo reviewing the level plans,
it is seen that 57,700,000 tons of rock ovcrburdco (the Phase I and I'ltasc I1 overhurdcn)
must be retrrovcd in a prc-production period in ortlcr lo lt;~ve6 inonlhs ore supply
avnilahle a! the time of pn~ducrion.This leaves 182,400,000 tons to he mined (ore and
wiste) during the production period. Assuming thal the ntine also works 5 days/wek.
l l ~ edaily mining ratc is

'l'lte s;tnte eqtripn~crrtllccl will be used for tlic prcstripping as the production mining.
Owing the first yc;tr or stripping tile average daily production ratc will be assu~nedto
t)c I / 3 that maintained in later years due to eqt~ipnlentdclivcry, personnel training, and
lilnitctl working pl;lce. 'l'hos the time required lor thc prestripping is

?' 5.4 yrs

'li~
complete the stripping in 5 years tl~eactual wastc lninii~grate will he
Yea! 1 - 18,000 tpd
Years 2 to 5 = 50,200 tpd
Wit11 this milling rate, there are approxinrutcly 2.4 ycars of reserves in Phase I and
4.8 years of reserves in Phasc 11. Phase I11 represents the reserves for years 7.2 thioogll
15. The following data will he used:
Total material to be mined = 240, 100,000 tons
Ore grade 1 0.05%MoS2 material -: 102,970,000 tons
Talk 6.7. Mineral inventory by plvase.
-...
~ . .... ~- ~~ ~ . .~ ~,~
Average ore grade = 0.186% MoS2
Ibss (10')
Gradc 1% MoS2) - ..- Mill recovery = 90%
Phase I Plrme II Phase Ill Price = $3.24/1b MoSz
Mining ratc = 48,600 tpd
Milling rate = 27,500 tpd
Operating time = 250 days per year
Total material to be pre-stripped = 57,700,000 tolls
Pre-stripping period = 5 years
Stripping rate year 1 = 16,200 tpd
'Wse average grade i s 0.30%
Stripping rate years 2-5 = 48,600 tpd
This example is continued in the cash flow calculations of Section 6.5
 In Section 0.4 the concept of ~ ~ c s t cpits
d was discussal with respect 10 ;I rnolybdeoun~
~rrehody.111this section the example will be continued with consider;~tionof the result-
ing caslr llows. 'l'hc basic ideas involved with cash flow calcol:~tionswcro infmduced in
Chaptcr 2. 'l'lx specilic applica~ion,however, has been lelt to this section. Each state,
province, and counlry hits specilic rules and regulations regarding taxes, tlepreci;itioo,
depletion, royalties, etc. Even for a given state these rules cllange with lime. Therelixe,
the i~iilllors11ave selected t i sonlewl~atsinq~liliuleximple originally presented hy Suriel
(1984) to illustrate the calculations involved. Hopefully the reader can adapt the pmce-
durcs to fit the application at hand. The example applies roughly lo an orebody located
i n the State ol' Colorado in the year 1983. Certain aspects of the laws in effect at the
li~nesucll as rnini~numtax and invcstnrenc tax credit l~avcbeen lefl out since they add
unnecessary complication to the ex;nn~ple.11 bas been assumed that the rnining comp;tny
is a division of a profitable corporation. Costs i~~volvcd i n the devcloprncnt of this new
mine will be expensed whenever possible.
In the mine life two periods will be considered:
- pic-production period, and

production period.
'I'c~daytl~ercis generally a third period, the post-production or closure period i n which li-
19. Nct cash flaw
11a1recla~netiontakes place. l'l~isis not covered here. The pie-procluction period which is
asso~ncdto require 7 years, can he broken down into 1 different and distinct cxpendilnrc
categories:
- detailed exploration,
Lbtm I und 2: Project year m i l Cde,rdolir, ?cur. '1'11~ lirst calendar year in which major
property acquisition, and
cxpendilurcs occur is 1084. ]:or the cash flow calco1:itions this is sclccted as projec;
insiast~ucture
.- and rninc deveiopn~ent.
ycar 1. I)isa>unling will be done hack to the heginning of ycar I984 (project year I).
A representative schedule of activities is illustrated in 'E~blc6.8. The lirst two years
are used for detailed exploration work. Property acquisition takes place in year 2. The
I h e 1: C q ~ i t u le,rl~e,rditurc,s.'l'lre 'capital' expendilures inclrrde a variety of different
following 5 years are required for infr;~stmctureand mine development. Hence, the pre-
types of items ranging frorn hanlware (mine and mill equipment) to royalties ;u~dprop-
production period requires a tolal of 7 years. I'mduction is expected to take place over
-fly taxes. 'I'hey occur at varying times in the cash (low t;thle.
a period of 15 years.
The basic line ite~nsin the prc-prodt~ctio~~ cash flow calculation are given in Table
Line 4: Properly iriilnisitior~co,sr.s $2,00O,O00. It lakes place i n project y a u 2. This ex-
6.9. A brief discussion of each line item will be presenled below. The numerical values
penditure is a pri~narycomponent of the depletion ;~ccountwhich controls unit depletion
fbr this example have been inserted in Table 6.10.
;~llowance.

Line 5: Xoyrrlfie,~.In addition to receiving S2.000,OUO for the properly, the original own-
ers will receive a royalty. Normally these royalties are a celtain percentage of the net
smelter rewrn (NSK). In this case the royalty is 5% of the mill return. No royalty is,
therefore, paid during the pre-production period.

L,& 6: Explorittion. As defined in the U.S. tax law, exploration costs are those incunsd
prior to any tlevelopment of the deposit. llrploration refers to the aaivities perfor~nedin
order to dctcr~uincthe location, size, extent, quality, and quantity of a minerd occurrence.
'I'l~ereader is encouraged to compare this interpretation with Illat appropriate at the
specific location and time. The U S . Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows the firm
to choose betweer~two separate methods in accounting for exploration expenditures:
cnpitalizc explorntim costs into t l ~ cdepletion accoont ia~d;~lloc;itethem w c r time as
pmiluction occurs, or treat exploration cnsls as ;~nt~u;ilcxpcnscs. Ihr this exnlnple. the
cxploratiim costs ;we l~mkcndown as follows:

I h simplify the cxan~ple,these htwc beell fully expcnscd in the years in wl~ichthey
occurred.

l,i,r~7: Ilevelqmorr. In this exa~uplcsire devcloprr~entconsists of three indivirlual line

itclns:
(a) Site prcp;~r;lIioo.
(b) L're-[~n)ducli~rn stripping.
(c) 1'l;rnt site cleaning and tilass cxcwalion.
Gencl-;~lsitc preparation (cost - $1,729,000) as well 21s the plmt sitc clearrirlg (cost
01' pre-pnxhtction stripping
- $859,000) will occur i n project ye;lr 3. 'l'l~ctotal a111our11

is 57,700,000 tons. Since the expected cost pcr ton is $0.74. the total cost is $42,698.000.
The stripping schedule is as follows:
Amount stripped (tons) C:ost ($)

[ire 8: Mirre arid , d l hsildings. There ,?re 7 ilerrls which fall into this catcgory. ' k y
are indicated helow together with their cost and the project year in wbich the expenditure
is made.
Item I'rojcct year Cost ($1
1. Concrete foundation and detailed cxcavatioo 4 $4,836.000
2. Open-pit rrrait~tenancefacilities 7 $6,623,000
3. Concentrator building 5 $13.057.000
4. Concentrate storage and loading 7 $139.00
5. Capital cost of general plant servicc 6 $1,711.000
6. Tailings sloragc 7 $1,775,000
7. Water supply 7 $1,411,000

These items, considered as improvements to the property, will be depreciated (straight

line) over a 20 year period beginning in production year 1. Capital gains and losses will
be ignored.

Line 0: Mine and mill equipmenr. There are 6 items which fall into this category. They
are indicated below together with their cost and the project year in which the expenditure
is made.
Item l'rojcct y c x ('ost ($) maintainal during thc production period and recovered at the end o l project lifc. I n this
case, the nnioont of required working cnpit;~l is $12,383.000.
1. Open-pit cquiprncnt 3 $ 10,000.0llo
2. Crusl~ingplant, coarse ore slmlge iind c o ~ ~ v e y ~ r5s $9.98 I,OltO
:3. Grinding section and line ore storage 6 $16,535.000
4. 1:lotatioo sectioii 6 $6,985.0llll
5. Thickening and filtering 0 $1,775,000
Lbrr 13: C m l ~,gow,rrred dire ro trc* .sr~virg.r.As iiidicnted earlier, the ~niningcompany
6. Elcctric power supply and disrrihution 7 $2,'~99,000
i s one division oT ;I large prolilahlc corpi~r;~lion. I'hc corporate sltuctilre en;~bles the
crmipany to expcnsc most costs wliencver possible and generate tax savings d u ~ i n gthe
The open-pit cqoipnicnt is hrokcn down as follmvs:
pre]m(luctioo period. The fcdcl;il tax c ~ t cis 40 pelccnl.
(21) Shovels (3-1 5 yd') = $3.000, 000 'Ib illusuatc this asslrmc that tlie carporation has ;tn incolic sllbjcct 10 Sederal tax, prior
(h) Trucks (12-150 ton) :
: $5, 000,l100 to including this mining ventore, o f $10,000,000. At ;I lax rate of 46%. the corl~oratiorr
would pay $4,600,0110 i n federal tax. Ilowcvcr, i n prrrjcct year I. the mining division
(c) Drills, graders, dozers . $2, 000, 000
incurs ;in cxplor;~tionexpense 01 $1,500,000. I f Iliis is considered as an expense o i the
The equipment i n categories (11) and (c) will he replaced every 5 years. Since tllis llcct corpomtion, then the taxahle incwrie of llic ciwporaliun would drop from $IO,O(K),000
w i l l he used for tlic stripping as well as the production mining, there w i l l he ;r capital to $X,51)0,1)00. T11c tax on this amount is R3.910.000. Hcncc, thcrc is a tax savings of
expense o f .0;7,000,000 in project years I, 6 and 1I.'She slrovcls ere expccted to last the %(~00,000ior the corpor;rtioci. This Ins hecn iocludcd on tlic cash llow table lor the
lifc o f the mine. Straight line dcprcciation ovcr a period o f 5 y e m is osctl. 'l'lrcrc is no mining company ( X d ~ l c6.10) undcr 'Casll gcncrated dkle to tax s;~vings- 1:xploration'.
salv;~ge.The equipment will be pot into osc i n t l ~ cycar porcb;wxI, hence, depreci;itk,n Similar 'lax s:wings' occur wit11 regard to dcveloprncnt, depreciation and propcny lax
w i l l hcgiri tl~cn. when they are iipplicd ;~gsinstotlier incornc.
Items 2 tlrroogli 6 w i l l he depreci;~tcdovcr ;I 7 year period (st!-:light line, no salvage)
hcgimiing i n production year I n . exploration expcnses rcsult in a tax savings n i 8690,000 (0.46
I,irrc 14: I ~ ~ x / h , i ~ r i oTile
x $1,500,l100) in pr<,ject year 1 and $460,000 i n project ycar 2.
I,i~re 10: I'ropcrry rru. 'This tax, sometimes called ad valorem tax i s one 01. thc most
common types o f state tax. Property tax i n Colorado is nssessctl on: (a) personal am1 Stripping, site prcplrri~tioo,ctc., costs are mul~ipliedby tlie tax
1 . i ~15: L)~vclr~ptrirr~r.
rcal properly and (b) on: saies. bate and i~icludctlhere.
Colorado tuxes personal and rc;d property at 30% of the actn;il v;~lue o f the prop-
erty. In this case personal propelty is tl~atlisted i n line 9 and real property i n line 8. l i z e 16: Ileprrcinrion. Straight line depreciation of the miuing equipment begins i n
The taxable value for real and personal property is deterrilincd by its base year value. project year 3. '1'lre yearly amount is multiplied by tlie tax mte.
'The tax is tlicn rletcrmined by multiplying t11e total assessed value By a rate called
the 'pro ~ n i l l e 'levy, or i n the U S . simply t l ~ e':iiill' levy. I n Colorado the 'pro tnille' Line 17: Properry ray. The property tax is the assessed value rnul~ipliedby the lax rate
lcvy varies horn county to county. I n this case study that used i s 85 (comspond-
ing to that applied by Jefferson County). T11is means that 111c appropriate factor is 1,irle 18: E)i,c(dcus11go~erutcrl.Tlie items i n lines 14 t l ~ r o u g l17
~ are summed and entered
X 5 / ~ o *ori 0.085. T l ~ enssessctl value for the calculation o f the property tax on ore sales I1el.c.
is: (a) 25 percent o f gross pmcccds or (b) 100 percent o f net pmceeds, whichever is
greater. 1 . b ~19: Ner cash jloiv. The total capital cxpendilurcs (line 12) are subtr;~cted from the
Gmss proceeds arc defined as tlie gross value o f tlic ore produced r i i i ~ ~ utreatnient.
s total cash generated (line 18). This is the net cash ilow.
reduction, transportation and sales cost at the mine mouth. Net proceeds is equal to The basic line i t e ~ i ~i ns the production period cash flow calculation are givcn i n Ta
the gross procccds minus all costs associated with extraction of the ore. In Colorado, ble 6.1 1. A brief discussion o f these w i l l he presented below.
royalties nre not deductible for either case. The pro mille lcvy is applied to the assessed
value. Litre 1, 2, md 3: fl,nducrio,i, project and coletrd~rycar. T l ~ cfirst ycar of production is
1991 w l l i c l ~is the eighth year of the project. I n doing the discounted cash flows and
Litre 11: Working capital. This represents the amount o f money rlcccssary to cover op- NPV calculations, they w i l l be brought back to the beginning of tlie project.
erating costs during a portion o f the project's life. Working capital consists o f cash.
ir~ventories(parts, supplies and concentrate) and accounts receivable. Working capital Line 4: Revenue. Revenue is calculated by multiplyiog concentrate tonnage hy the price
was estimated at four months o f operating costs. 11 was allocated to the last year of of molyhdenite concentrate at the m i l l site. The molyhdenite concentrate price is esti-
tlie pre-production period before production star( up (project ycar 7). The account is mated at $6 per pound of contained molybdenum. Concentrate tonnage is equal to ore
tonoage irrultiplied by werage grade, the mill recovery, and by the concentrate percent
of Mo. (MoSz cost;rios about 60% Mo.)

Litre 5 : Roy,rlry. Thc royalty is 5 percent of the revenue

Line 6 : Ner revetrue. 'l'his is thc diCference between revenue and lhe royalty payment.

Lirte 7: M i r ~ i qC O . C ~'She
. miniog cost depends soinewhnt on the production rate as can
be seen in Figure 6.14 and in Table 6.12. Because 57,700,000 tons have been mit~cdin
the pre-production period, 182,400,000 tons rcmaio. The length or the production period
has been selected as 15 years, and the mine will work 5 days per week (250 days per
year). Thus the mining rate is 48.640 tons per day. R o m Figure 6.14, the mining cost
of $0.77/ton has been selected.

Lirre H: PI-ocessin,g cosr. The mill will also run 5 days per week, 250 days per yea. 'l'lie Figure 6.15. Milling cost versus milling copacily (Suticl, 1984)
mill cutoff grade has been selected as 0.05% MoSz hence thcre are 102,970,000 lons to
be processed. The milling rate is therefore 27.460 tonslday and yearly ore production is
6,865,000 tons. The lnilling cost selected fro111Figure 6.15 and Table 6.12 is $1.93/ton.
I,iw '): (ietwrd m r l r~r/trri,~i.srr~,riv<,
co.rr. 'l'l~iscost 112s heen wolpntcd per ton of wr:
~roccsseil.Its value as can he scen in 17igtm6.16 ;md 7';iblc 6.12 is $0.67hnn. In sornc
q)er;~tionsthere is ;t <;&A cost att;~chcdto waste rernov;~las well. This 1rz1s not hcen
done hcre.

1,ine 10: Properly f,u-. 'She propcrty tax is compulcd in the same way as was discussed
For the prc-pmduction period. 'I'lle assessed value is 30% of the initial cost sod thc pro
millc rate is 85 (0.085). The value st the end oSthc pre-pioduction period is $77,827,000,
Applying the 30% assessed valuation ;lnd the 85 pn) rlliile lcvy, thc annual property
tax is $1,985,000. This annual value will he cnnied througllout the production period.
The hook value has not tteen used and the effect of replacement capital has not been
included.
'The gross revenue from annual ore sales is $82,742,000. The net revenue after sub-
tracting rrriniog, processing, and general costs is $57,683,000. Note that royalties have
not been subtracted. Applying the two rules (25 percent ol'gross proceeds or 100 percent
of net proceeds) onc finds that the greatest arrlount (which becomes the assessed valu-
ation) is $57,683,000. Applying the 85 pro milk levy, this contribution to the property
tax is $4,903,055. Thus the total annual property tax is $6,888,055.

Lir~cII: Severance lux. A severance tax is lcvicd for removing or 'severing' the min-
eral from the earth and the statekountry. Colorado imposes a such severance tax on
molybdenum. it was imposed on production at a rate of $0.15 per ton of ore.

Line 12: r)epreciuriorr. The depreciation allowance is a deduction over a period of y e a s

for use, deterioration, wear and tear of depreciable assets used in generating income
for the project. Depreciable assets for a mining project are grouped into either personal
or real property. Mine and n~illc q ~ ~ i p n ~ are
c n t amsidered personal property. The t m r l tons mined during the year divided by renlaining rcsaves. The adjusted hasis is reduced
value is $48,275,000. 'The open pit mining equipment is dcprcci;~tcdover 5 ycars. 'She each year by the depletion allowance claimed.
initial investrncnt is $10,000,000 in p j c c t year 3 wlrile rcplnccnmt equipment (trucks,
drills, ctc.) at ;I cost of $7,000,000 is porchascd i n projecl years 8, 13, and 18. l'hc
rcmaindcr of the wine and mill equipn~eot(initial cost 01 $38,275,000) is dcprcci:~tcd
over a seven year period heginning at the stxt of production. flc;~lpropcrfy, including Adjusted basis :- Cost basis -t Adjustn~cnts
mine and mill buildings and inrprovcnrents, arnwint to $29,552,000. A twenty year lik Cumulative depletion allowance claimed
is used for real property with depscciatioo heginning at the stall r ~ fplodnction. Thus
the depreciirtinn per year is $1,477,600. '1'11~ depreci;~tionby class and ycar is sltowo i n In this case the cost of the propcrty was $2,000,000. I?ir lllc first ycar, (1,865,000 tms 01
Tahlc 6.13. ore arc wined. 'The initial ore tonnage is 102,970,000. llencc, lor ycar I the allowablc
cost depletion would he
L i m 13: S l u e itrcnme r r u . 'She state tax is 5% of the inel income. I n conqiuting the net
incrmle the iollowing dcductir~nsare allowed:
- royaltics,

operating costs. Tlrc greater of the cost and percentage depletion values is clioscn. 'Thus, one chi~oses
- - depreciation, $17,293.000 to be (lcductcd. However, according to tire tax rules one must recapture
- property tax, tlre exploration cxpensc of $2,500,000 hy educing the acnount of depleti~mcnrncd.
- severance Lax, and Hcncc, i n ycar 1, the allowed deplclim deduction is $17,293,000 $2,500,000
depreciation. $14, 793.000.
I:rx production y c a ~ s1 thmugb 7 tlre state irrcon~ct w is $I.H(~4.000.1;or ycars 8 t l ~ n ~ o g h 111 y c x 2 the statutory depletion allowance is $17,293,000. 1:or the cost depiction
IS it is $2,138,000. calculatioo the adjusted basis is

I,bze 14: Net irlcome afrer tints. 7'11is is the net rcvcwe (liw 6) winus lines 7 through
13. The cmst basis is $2.000,000. 'l'lrc cumulative depletion already t;lkc~(tlrroogh project
ycar 8 ) is $14,793,000. Ilcnce the adjusted basis is
I.~,MJIS: Ik~nletim.In orrlcr :o rccognizc that ininer:>ls, rril, and gas are nun-renewable
assets which are depleted through production, tllc U.S. governrncot permits a depletion Adj~justcdbasis 7 $2,000,000 . - $14,793,000 :- $ 12,793,000
allowance to he deducted prior to the calculation of fcderal taxable income. I'or rni~reral
resources the depletion allowance is calculated and clainred by either of two rrlethods, The cmt of the propcrty was fully recovcrec! through depletion in production year 1 and
whichever gives the largest amount of pre-tax deduction. It is per~nissit~le to change hence only statutory depletion is wed for the remaining mine life. 111production ycar 2,
methods from year to year. T11e two ~nctl~ods for calculating the depletiun allowance are a full dclilctiin 01$17,293,000 is taken since all previously expensed exploration costs
statutory depletion and cost depletion. lravc 11cco recaptured.
For statutory depletion, the anrourtt which can he deducted is the smaller of: (a) 50 per-
cent of net incorne or (h) a cenain percentage or net revenue (revenue rninus royalties). I,im 16: liurable irrcorne. 'This is the net incorne after cost (linc 14) minus depletion
For the (a) calculation, net income is defined as rcvenues minus royalties, operating (linc IS).
costs, state taxes, and depreciation. For (b) the percentage depletion for molybdenum is
22 percent. Note that the amount of depreciation varies throughout the life of the mine. I.bte 17: Federd irrcome tar. In this case the federal incomc tax is 46% of the taxable
For the first 7 years of production it is $8,146,000 per year. The annual net income incume.
during this period is $35,418,000 and hence. the allowable depletion on this basis is
$17,709,000. Line 18: I'rofit. Tlrc prolit is the taxablc income minus the federal income tax
Tlre annual net revenue is $78,605,000. Taking 22% of this number yields $17,293.000.
I A e 19 arrd 20: I>epreciarion und deplelion. 'These two items which had been previ-
The lesser of these two numbers is $17,293,000.
ously considered as expenses when computing taxes are now added to the profit to
Cost depletion is based on the cost of the propcrty, non-expensed exploration costs,
arrive at :I cash flow.
number of units of nrincral sold during the y e a and reserves avnilable in the deposit
at the end of the year. Cost depletion is calculated by multiplying the adjusted basis,
Lbre 21: Cushjlow. This is the sum of lines 18 through 20.
(equivalent to all property acquisition costs plus capitalized exploration costs) by the
Table 6.14. Cash flow during mine picduction life (S1,WO).

1. Production year 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
2. Project year 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
3. Calendar y e a 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 199s 1999 2000 2001 2W2 2W3 2001 2W5
4. Revenue 82,742 82,742 82.742 82,742 82,742 82,742 82,712 82,742 82.742 82,742 82,712 82.742 82.742 82,742 82.742
5. Royaliy 4.137 4,137 4,137 4,137 4,137 4,137 4,137 4.137 4.137 4.137 4,137 4.137 4.137 4,137 1.137
6. Net revenue 78.605 78.605 78.605 78.605 78,605 78,605 78,605 78.605 78.605 78.605 78,605 78,605 78,605 78,605 73.605
7. Mining cost 9.363 9.363 9.363 9,363 9.363 9.363 9.363 9.363 9,363 9,363 9,363 9.363 9.363 9.363 9.363
8. Recessing cost 13,249 13,249 13,249 13,249 13,249 13,249 13.249 13.249 13,249 13.249 13,219 13,249 13.249 13.249 13.249
9. General cost 4.633 4.m 4 . m 4.600 4 . m 4.m 4.600 4.600 4 . m 4 . m 4,600 4 . 6 ~ 4,600 4 , m i.600
10. Property tax 6.888 6.888 6.888 6,888 6.888 6,888 6.888 6.888 6.888 6,888 6.888 6,888 6,888 6,888 6,888
1 I. Severance ?ax 1.030 1.030 1.030 1,030 1,030 1.030 1,030 1.030 1,030 1.030 1,030 1.030 1.030 1.030 1.030
12. Depreciation 8.346 8.346 8.346 8,346 8,346 8,346 8,346 2,878 2,878 2,878 2,878 2.878 2.878 2.878 2.878
13. State income tax 1.756 1.756 1,756 1.756 1.756 1.756 1.756 2.030 2.030 2,030 2.030 2,030 2.030 2.030 2.030
14. Net income after cortr 33,373 33.373 33,373 33,373 33,173 33,373 33.373 38.567 38.567 38,567 38.567 38,567 38.567 38.567 38,567
15. Depletion 14.793 17,293 17.293 17,293 17.293 17,293 17.293 17.293 17.293 17,293 17.293 17,293 17.293 17.293 17.293
16. Taxable income 18.580 16.080 16.080 16,080 16.080 16.080 16,080 21.274 21,274 21.274 21,274 21,274 21.274 21.274 21,274
17.Federalincometu
18. Profit
8.547 7.397 7,397 7,397 7.397 7.397 7,397 9.786 9,786 9.786 9,786 9.786 9.786 9,786 9.786
10,033 8.683 8,683 8,683 8.683 8,683 8.683 11,488 11.488 11,488 11.488 11.488 11,488 11,488 11.488 154.035
-2
19. Depreciation 8.346 8,346 8,346 8,346 8,346 8.346 8.316 2.878 2.878 2,878 2,878 2,878 2,878 2.878 2.878 81.446 6
20. Depletion 14,793 17,293 17.293 17.293 17,293 17.293 17,293 17,293 17.293 17.293 17.293 17,293 17.293 17.293 17,293 256.895 3'
21. Cash Row 33.172 34.322 34.322 34.322 34.322 34.322 34,322 31,659 31.659 31,659 31.659 31.659 31.659 31.659 31,659 492.376
22. Capital expenditures 7,WO 0 0 0 0 l.oW 0 0 0 0 7,000 0 0 0 0 21.000
23. Working capitd 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8.353 8.353
24. Net cash Row 26.172 34.322 34,322 34.322 34.322 27.322 34,322 31.659 31,659 31,659 24.659 31,659 31.659 31,659 23.306 463,023
 Grde Net valudblock No. of blocks Net value 6. Using the above data thc col~rpntcrwill include all blocks of 111;lterialin the ore
reserve which are capable of producing more tlran the rrrini~~~urn pre-determined prolit
(after tnxes) ;lftcr paying for lllc stripping costs necessary lo uncover tllcm.
'There are no real dilliculties in assessing tile revenues to be produced fro111 a hlock or
t11e production costs involvcd in p~oducirrgits inct;ii ibr sale, including such coosidera-
tions as cost variations (luc to varying haulage distnnces i~ndrock types. It is, however,
extrcmcly dilticult ti) eslirnate unit depreciation and required mini~muvprolit pcr ton
accr~ratelyhefore the ore reserve tonnage is known hcc;wsc hoth
.rhere .,Ite
. . . . . ..
5 0 .~hsouated waste blocks each carrying ;I value of $20. 'Thos the appnrcnt -- depreciation, and
total net value for this period wt)ulrl be $500. At first glance tlris might appear good. - rcquirctl minirnuln profit
Howcvcr whet, a cash flow calculation (now including t l c;~pital ~ cost and pn,fit) is will vary with plant sizc and total ore tonn;1ge. I n nnlcr to estil~t;itcdcpreci:~ti<in;,nil
~~racle, it is f c ~ r dthat the tlesired GIIC (if return is 11111 Imv. 'The required net valuc 211 profit
stel, 3 is $1,100 rather tb:~n $500. Since there arc 60 ore blocks involvctl, this worrld - - ;In ore reserve tonnage,
mean an average ':~ssess~nent' af $IO/t)lock. I f this is done tllcn tlic na~diliednet val~tc - a production rate, and
distrihutirm becomes a n effective tax rate
Gratlc Net valucA~lock No. of block.: Net value must be assurncd. An itcr;rtion process is used until convergence hetween the ;~ssomcd
and lin;rl values is achieved.
'The resulting pit is shown 21s l l x 'Mining Period I ' pit in Figure 6.17. A second
pit outline can be produced by eli~ninati~ig tlic required prolit (profcost) assessed each
hlock. 'l'hc depreciation cost would rc~rrain,however. Ry eliminating the prolit cost
clement and kccping the other costs and rcvenl~cstlic sawe, ll~cpositive block values
would increase. I k l i positive block would Ile ahlc to c ; n l y urwc stripping and the
pit wo18ld increase i n size. , h i s is shmvlr hy the 'Minilag I'criod 2' pit. The 'no-pmfil'
Clearly lllose blocks with grad,: are not contrihoting their lhir share o l the capital c o i ~ d i t i oonly
~ ~ applies when determining the pit limit. 'The average ore grade of the
invcstnrcnt and profit. Thus the cr~toffgradc should be r;~thertlrm (11. The nulnber o i materid between t l ~ cMining Period 1 and 2 limits would be higher Illan the pit limit
ore hlocks would drop fro11160 to 50. If the plant size is not cliir~~ged,tl~istrarrslatcs illto cutofT. itcncc ;I profit is realized. 'lir increase the size of the pit futhcr, the depreciation
a shorter property lifc which clranges the cash (low which in turn would a k c t tlrc $10 cost would havc to he dropped from the economic block nrodel calculMion. This further
average block asscssnlent. IS the mine life is maintained constant, then the sizc o l the lowers the grade required to produce positive v;tlned hlocks. The pit expands to the
mill plant should be reduced. 'This also i~ffectsthe casll flow. For tlris situation, pcrh;~ps limit shown hy the heavy shaded line (Mining I'criod 3 limit). As indicated by 1Ialls
the average assessment per block would drop to $S/hlock. Tlrc number of blocks would (1970), plant capacity cannot be dclihcr;ttely constructed for this ore. The ore l~owever
increase again and the process would he repeated.
One way of liantlling this problem early OII is to include a cost item for wpital and
profit arnongst those used to generate the economic hlock nrodcl. These costs would
llren be covered up front.
'l'he alternative sequence of steps is listed below (Halls et ;11., 1969):
I. The meral conten1 oS a block, together with forecasted sales prices and estimated
full-scale plant ~netallurgicalrecoveries is used for determining the revenue.
2. Production costs through to sales and stripping costs are estimated. Mininp Period 2
3. 'The amount of depreciation to be added to the operating costs is calculated on a
straigbt line basis by dividing the estimated capital expenditure by the estimated ore
reserve tonnage.
4. A minimum profit after tax, related to rninirr~urrracceprable return on investr~ient
is assigned to each block.
5. The net valuc for each block is calculated. The 'cutoff grade' used to separate ore
froirl waste is that grade of material which produces a revenue equal to the production
costs tl~rolrghto sales together with depreciation and ~rrini~rrurrr pmfit.
I:igure 6 17. Economic pit limits as a funcrion of includcd costs ( I t a l l r el st.. 1970).
is worth pmcessing in ao essentially fully depreciated plant. Even tltooglr a specific corprate retom is the optimom ore reserve fur the assumed lire. 'I'lic process is rc-
profit a x t has not been attached to each hlock in Mining I'criod 3, there will still he p e a t ~ lusing utlrer redistic lives for the pmpcny. 'These stndics provide o m 11asiz
an overall pmlit since the average ore grade in the period is higher tltan the crltonl The for tlrc selection of 21 depreciation life (deprcci;ttion) for the pmperty. As discussed
Mining I'eriod 2 pit encloses those reserves which sltould he considered when sizing e;~rlicr,the actual mine life may he longer th;m this since once the invcsted capital
tlrc plant, 'The linal pit outline would be the same ;IS prodoced hy the lirsl procedure lras hccn fully (lepreciatctl, the cutoff grade drops (8mI the rcscrves i~rcre;~se). This
clescribcd ill this section. Here lwwevcr the reserves contained within specilic nrineable rnctlrod of optimizing ore reserves and pl;lnt size for a new property involvcs three
pits are used rall~crthan a certain pottion of thc ovcrall reserves. There are a number steps:
of objections (Halls, 1970) which have been raised concerning the requirement that Step I . Calculate ore inventories osing arhitrary cutoff y : r t l c .
each ore Block irrespective of grade contribute an equal portion to profits and capital Step 2. Prepare a linaocial analysis fur each ore inventory.
payhack: Step 3. Select that ore inventory which is the opti~numorc rcsclve by incrcrnctrt;ll
linanci;d an;rlysis.
(81) 'l'lie only practical way of determining unit depreciation for use in individual block I k l l of these steps is outlined hclow.
cv;rluation is the straight-line method. In the financial evaluation of the ore reserve, the I n step 1 , ;I series of arbitrarily chosen, but rc;rson:~hle,cutofl grades ;Ire chosetr.
ilcpreciation method employed will be the one which rah~ccsthe impact of taxation to For an open pit copper mine cutoff grades i n the range (I.? to 0.7 pcrccnt cq~~iv;dcnl
a mini~t~~tnt. Also it is virtually irnpossible to irrcoq~oratci n the cutoff calculatiorts the copper niiglit hc chosen, Using the expcctcd prodacrirw costs and recoveries, the price
unit depreciation which would apply to rcplaccmcot capital needed throughout the life ncedcd for hreakevcn with the selected cutofC (0.7, for example) woukl he calculntcd.
of the mine. Note that no capital costs ;rod profit is inchided in thcsc calculatio~rs.'1'11~ pricc together
with the costs arc tlcn used to obtain an cconolnic b l ~ na~dcl.
k A tcchniquc to providc
(h) l'lic use of a miniinutn after-tax profit Sor each block does not ensure that the ;I pit, s r ~ 3 ias the floating cone, is ;ipplicd. This would he tlrc 0.7% cr11oI.f grade pit.
sutntnalion of the profits from each block will illcel thc corporate investtrrent goal (except 'The inventory of nxrterial contaittcd would he creatcd. Onc s i ~ hcx;~mplcis shown ill
possiihly i n the case of an ideal mine, where the annual cash flows remain the same 1:igurc 6.18.
throughout its life). 'I'hc total tonmgc contained is

(c) In the case of pn)pcrties which can commence mining in a high-grade portion of
tlrc pit, or where tax;ition henelits are allowed in the initial stages of pn~ductioo,the
accurate estahlishnrenr of a prolit kctor to ensure that such inclement of investment
yields at least a minimom corporate return is an itapossibility.

An alternative procedure based upon incternental linancial (ulalysis will now be dis-
cussed.

The incremental financial analysis approach described in this section is based upon
material originally presented by Halls et 81. (1969). 'The rate of return on the total
investment is important for assessing the potential of a property as a whole. It does
not however indicate the profitability of each capital increment. Only by consider-
ing a series of potential pit expansions and evaluating the yields and returns from
each is it possible to ascertain that every increment of capital can pay its way. This
evaluation process is termed incremental linancial analysis. For a new property, the
financial returns of alternative ore inventories and associated plant sizes for a given
mine life (for example) are compared. One hegins from the sinallest tonnage ore in-
ventory and plant size. Each progressively larger tonnage ore inventory is consid- I I I I 1 1 I I 0.4
ered as a possible expansion. Tho additional cash flow developed from each expan- 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.1
sion is determined as a rate of return on the additional (incremental) capital required Mill Cutoff Grade [ X Copper )
for such an expansion. The largest tonnage and hence the lowest gmde ore inven-
tory in which every increment of invested capital yields at least the minimum desired I'igare 6.18 Pit rnaterial inventory for a 0.7 cutolT gradc pit.
 uthcr variations can be applied. The Sullowing d;tta arc required to complete the financial
cv;rIu;ilions:
( I ) the estimated capital costs, hnlken down into the ycars in which the money will
if the mill cutoff were 0% Cu then this entire ;~~noutit woukl be proccssctl. I'or v;trions he spent (including rcplaccmcnl capital).
mill cutoff grades, the total tons and gr;r(les arc as give^^ in 'I'ahlc 6.15~ (2) tlvc cstirnated qreiatirig cusls (iir caclt pmductiurr rate,
All material bas to he retnoved from tlic pit and the costs of dcpositing it on surface, (3) the nret;rl recoveries, based on inet;~llurgical lnbor;~torytesting after discounting
whether waste or orc ,ye virtually the same. Thercfnre some n~atcrialwbicli is below lor comnercial operating conditions,
the mining cutuff grade, hut within the conli~lesof the pit rmy be pri~ccssctlat a pmfit. (4) ttre long- and short-term estimales of ~ ~ i c tsales
a l prices,
Another mining cutolTgradc would now be selected, for cxarnplc 0.6%. 'She bmakcven (5) the legally applicable dcplction and depreciation allowances which will minilnizc
price would be calculated and llic lloatin~:cone run on the deposit itgain using this price. Iaxatiun, a~id
A t;~blcsimilar to Table 6.15 wor~ldhe consl~wclcdfor this conditiou. An idcalizml cross (6) tlic current ;~ndfo~cc;lstedtaxation riIt6S.
section slrowing the series of pits which iuight be pr~~duccil is shown in Figure 6.19. Tllc c;~sliilows h r each ore inventory ;IIC c;~lcul;~tcd on a year-by-year basis. Any one of
In step 2 a lina~rcialevaluation of each ore inventory is prepared. 'So do this the tonnage ;I nunthcr of liti;~nci;~l techniqoes which consider the time value of money can be utilized
and grade to be mined Srtm the inventory each year nrust he &xidcd. Lane (1064) has in deternrining tlie rates of return for h d i total inveslment and i~~creniental invest~ncnt.
discussed ooc way of doing this. His :~ppro;~ch will be the topic of Scclio~r6.7. Ilere the ' l ' k discou~itetlcash flow (UCl:) ~i~ethod will be used here.
samc life, 25 years, will be used to evalualc all invcotorics. lo practice several realistic 111 step 3, tbc diflrrent pit expansions arc cotnprcd. 'ti] illustrate the process, consider
lives nright be tried. I~urthennorcthe ~~nxlucliim rate will be held constant. Obviously tlic pit gcnerxlcd will1 the 0.7% Cu cutoff. Two mill cutoffs are coosidcrcil: 0.7% and
(1.6%. Tbc capit;rl invcsl~ncntsfor mine and collcentrator arc:
Mill cutoff Capital cost
0.7 $43,500.000
0.0 $46,832,000
I'hc incrcnrental c;q~italcost is $3, 332,000. 'l'lrc anmini cash ilaw for each after taxes
15:

Mill cut~iff Annual cash flow

0.7 $7,550,000
0.6 $8,323,000
The incrcrncnt;~lnonual cash flow is $773,000. Tl~csccast1 flows occur over a period of
25 years. 'l'lle net present value of these iocrcmental cash flows is given by

where i is the interest rate.

'Slresc are achieved through the incremental capital investr~rentof $3,332,000

The interest rate (i) which makcs the sum of these equal to zero is called the rate of
return. In this case

'I'hos there is a 23.1% effective rate of return (ROR) on the incremental investment.
Since this exceeds the company's desired rate of 12% the mill cutoff grade of 0.6%
would become that used in future comparisons (0.5%, 0.4%. etc.) for the given mining
Figure 6.19. Pit o u t l i n e canespandi~bgto dillcrcnt mining calolf grades cutoff (0.7%). This process would continuc until ROR values are less than the hase.
'I'l~cincren~cntalfinancial malysis 11roccss dcscribcd in the prcvious section will now
be dcmonsll-;rted step-by-step using an example ;ldapted fri)n~IMls ct al. (1969).

n entered into the co~npiiterfor ;I l h t i n g colic

I. Prices and costs arc cstimnted. 7'licse a
analysis or are used to gcncrete a stripping ratio - grade curve for a 11;iod an;rlysis.
This is a hrcakeven ao;dysis such that

I<evenoe - Costs

'I'bc revenue is calcul;~tedby

x
Recovery (%)
. -.- - - ,y
Grade
.
('%)
x Price ($/lb)
101) 100
l'he costs are given by
Costs ($Am) - Mining ($/st) i Milling ($/st) I G&A ($/st)

wlrcrc SRS is relining. smelling, selling cost ($/lb).

Sctling liquation (6.3) equal to (6.4) yields
Mining ($/Ion) I Milling ($/ton) I (;&A ($/ton)
2,000 lbs x Rscovery (%) Gmle-~
(%I) (6.5) One would generate ;I pit with this as the culoff.
. - (Price .- SRS) x - - ... .
St 100 100
~ ~

'fiihle 6.:h shows that for a pit hascd upon a 0.3% Cu pit limit cutoll; tlic tonnage
wodd be 1,410,000,000. The averagc grade would he 0.31% Cu (all malcrial). If the
Solving for the cutolf grade one linds tb;~t
~ ~ i icutoff
ll grade wcre 0% then tllc entirc alllourit would he sent to the mill. If only tliosc
blocks l~avirrga gradc of +0.3% were sent to the rnill, thcn the mill tonnage would hc
390.000,000 hiivirrg an average grade 01- 0.73% Cu. This would be the largest pit.

11. the expected p i c e is used then the n~nxin~urn

(ultimate) pit will result 3. One could consider smaller pits as well since the biggest pit would not necessarily
lcad to the desired linancial result. This result could be trieasurcd in NPV, total profit,
2. The gmdes and tonnage in the pit ore determined, This becomes the reserve of material return on investoient, etc. Other pits can he generated corresponding to different pit
to be mincd. h i t cutoff grades. As can he seen from !?quation (6.6). this is a simple matter of just
Assume tlie following values: cli;~ngingthe price. For a lower price, the cutoff grade must go up. In Table 6.16 the
following results were obtained.
Mining cost = $0.45/st
Milling 4- G&A = $1.25/st Pit limit Total tons in Avg. grade
Price = $0.40/lh cutoff grade pit
SRS = $0,05Y/lb (% Cu) (x lo6 st) (9% Cu)
Recovery = 80%
(Note lliet for simplicity the GXA has been applied only to the mill (i.e. the ore).)
Then the mining cutoff gradc beconies
Grade (%) = 0.31%
 I
For each of tl~escultimate pits all the t~iatcrialwt~nldhe ~nincd.One rnmt dccide wlletllcr I
it should go to the (lump 11s to the nrill. iI

4. Each of the potential pits is cnnmined with respect to mill ;rnd dump n~atcrisl.Consider
the pit dcvclopal assuming a liaal pit cutoff gr:idc of 0.7%. The mill cotnfl corild he
set at 0.3%. 0.4%, 0.5%. 0.6% or 0.7% 'l'lre amount of ~nalcrialto he ~nillcd;ind the
average r r ~ i l lgrade for each of tllcsc scenarios is given hclow.

Scenario Milled tons Avg. grade SR

( 1 06) (7"Co)
7-7 XO 1.20 4: I
7-6 92 1.13 3.35: 1
7-5 105 I .Oh 2.81 : 1
7-4 115 1.01 2.48: 1
7-3 130 0.93 2.08 : 1
I
The total amount of tnaterial to be n ~ ~ v cist 400x
l 10" tons and hence an ovcrall stripping I I I 1 I I
5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
ratio SK can be calculated.
Tons Milled Daily ( T )
5. A mine lik can he assumed. I n this case 25 years is chosen. The nri~~elnrill
will wr~rk
300 d;~yslycar.'I'hcreforc thc daily mining and milling r;~lcscan he c;dculatcil. I'or the
scc~~;trio
givcn ;hove (scenario 7-7) o m finds that:

Scenario Capital cost (lo1$)

80 x 10"
Ore mmng rate = 10,667 tpd
25 x 700
320 x 10"
Str~pprngratc = -- = 42,667 tpd
25 x 100
Overall mining rate =- 53,334 tpd 7. ' h e mining, milling, and G&A operating costs can also be estitnated using the curves
developed by O'Hara (1980). In this case the following apply:
The results for pit 7 are give11in the table hclow.
cost = $0.45/st
Ore tni~lir~g
Scerrario Milling rate Mining rate
Stripping cost =- 0.451~1
(W) (tpd)
Milling + G&A = $1.25/st
7-7 10,667 53,034
7-6 12,267 53,334 Mill recovery = 80%
7-5 14,000 53,334 The smelting, refining and sales cost are estimated at 5.9$11b.
7-4 15,333 53,334
7-3 17,333 53,334 8. One can calculate the gross revenues for the various scenario's. A price of 406llb is
used.
6. Each of the different mining and rnillirig rates has a certain associated capilal cost.
O'Hara (1980) has presented a curve, Figure 6.20, which could he used for estimating. Gross revenue ($1~1)= Recovered copper x Price
In the present case (Halls et al., 1969). the costs which were used are: Grade (%)
= Milling ratc (Vday) x dayslyr x x 2,000 x Price ($Ill))
100
 (This cash llow analysis is sin~ilarto th;~tilonc hy lialls in 'l'ahlc 6.17.) '1'11is cash flow
1 .I)1 mrlysis 11as been (lone for all of the scenarios.
Gmss revcnoc IS. 333 x 300 x x 2,000 x 0.40 $29, 734. 000
100
! 14. (:;rlcul;dc tl~cinternal ROIL It is assurncd that there are 25 unilorn~[~ositivcci~sli
Rccovcred copper 74,334,384 ibs :37.167 tons
llows (in yc;irs 1 thmogh 25) which will he compared with ilic neg;rlivc casll llow in
9. 'l'l~eopcl.;rling costs can he simil;~rlycomputed. Scenario 7-4 will hc continued. year zero (capital expense). 'f'be intcrest rate which makes the sum (NPV) zero is to lie
delcrlriinetl. 'This is the internal KOK. For scenario 7-4 the situation is
Mining cosl (ore I w;rstc) . 0.45 x 53,334 x 300 : $7,200,000
Milling f <;&A = 1.25 x 15.333 x 300 $5,750,000
SIIS - 0.059 x 74,334,384 - $4,386. OOO
111 tlris
case tltc value of llalls ($Y,353.000) r;rtl~erth;m $9,369,250 has been used
Solving lirl i, one l i d s th;rt

'l'hercforc the rate of return on the invested capital is 17.4%

'l'lre results of this calculation for all of the pit 7 scenario arc somm;rrizcd below:
I I . I'erccotagc dcplction is computed for copper as 15%~
of tire gnlss revenues. It c;lnnot Sccnmio C;rpit;rl Annual cash flow Internal RO11
cxcccrl 50% of the tax;~hleincome. investment ($10') after tnxcs ($10') ("/.)

12. 'X~xcsarc computcd at ;I rate of 52%.

13. A cxlr flow a~nlysiscan now he inark of t l ~ cv;~rioiissce~rariw'I'liis will he illus-

11;rlcdwith scr:n;wio 7-4.
Cash flow :rnalysis for scenario 7-4
I. Gross revenues = $29,734,000 If tlre co~npnny'smininrum desired ROR is 12% thcn all of these meet the criterion.
2. Operating expenses = $17,336,000 'The one clrosen is scen;aio 7-3 due to the fact that the total profits would be highest.
Mining = 7,200,000
Milling = 5,750,000 IS. An incrernerttal financial analysis is now performed on tlrese data. As can be seen
SRS = 4,386,000 tlie increase in the annual cash flows in going Srorn scen;uio 7-7 to 7-3 is due to an
~-
= 17,336,000 irlcrcase in the capital investment. The question is 'what is the rate of return on tlie
increment of capital necdcd to go from one scenario to the next?' These increments in
3. Net revenue = $12,398,000
capital and annual cash flows are si~nimarizcdin '1'ahle 6.18. One now goes ll~roughtlie
4. Delxcciiation = $2.1 13.380
calculation oC determining the rate of return on the invested incremental capital.
5. 'lhxahlc irrcotire hcforc depletion = $10,284,620
6. Ikpletion = $4,460.100
15% of gross revenues = $4,460,100
50% of taxable incomc = $5,142,310
(choose 15% of gross revenue since this is smaller) Examining the change between scenarios 7-7 and 7-6 one finds that
7. Taxable income after depletion = $5.824,520
8. Taxes 0 5 2 % = $3,028,750
9. Annual net income after taxes = $7,255,870
(linc 5 minus line 8)
10. Cash flow after taxes = $9,369,250
(line 9 plus line 4)
W1'16 PZP'E8 088'81 WZ'IL 089'19 9LL'l9 (pauyai) ruoi jenuuv
uo!lmpold i d d o g
EL'O 6LO PSO P80 60 66'0
06E Off 065 $92 SEZ 561
 normally used i l l mining to discriminate between ore and waste i n the hudy ol'a deposit.
m ~ either
y be lefl in place or sent to waste dumps. Ore is sent to the trcatmcnt
plant for further processing and evcotual sale.
'I'lic choice of cutofr grade cno directly affect profits. 'l'his chapter will exn~nincthe
principles wliicb determine the best cboice of :i cutoff grade under different circun~-
stmces.
A mining operation is considered to consist of tlirce stages:
- mining,
- concentr;iting, and

- relining.
li;~chstage h;is its own nssociated costs and ;I limiting cap;~city.'The operation as ;I w h r k
will incur cor~tir~uing fixed costs. The three niost importmf cconumic criteria wlrich can
Ilcpc;!ting this pn~cessfor the others o ~ i ctitids he applied are:
Case I: Maxittiun~present value.
Case 11: Maximum total profits.
G ~ s c111: Maxi~~inm irrimediate prulit.
The maximum present value gives tlie economic optitnurn and is that gcncrally q~plicd
lacking special circumstances. If is the one which will be used in this hook. As has hccrl
sitown by $,;me (1964) the second and third correspond to tllc application o l special
discount rates in tile lirst. Case 11, oiaxirnurn total profits, corresponds to a discoont rate
Now it can he seen that the opliwnm scen;~riois 7-4 rather tltan 7-3. The niilling rate of zero percent whereas Case 111 is for a high value.
w o ~ ~ he
l d 15,300 tpd. I n this chapter, attention is focussed on cl~oosinga cutoff gr;dc to tn:~ximizc the
prcxnt value of tlie c;sh flow from the operation.
~ i cof tlre ollier sceoarios with rcspect to the 1)cst current one. For pit 7, the
10. l l x a ~ ~ r iall
hcst scenario is 7-4. !:or pit 6, sceliario 6-6 1i;rs a liighcr total ore tonnage than 7-4 with
an :~ccept;tble rate ol' return on tlic ;~dditionalcapilal expenditure. It rhos Becotncs the
best current alternative. Plan 6-5 is better ihan 6-6 end 6-4 is bctlcr than 6-5. I'lan 6-1 Figure 6.21 is a diagrammatic representation of the elelnents and syrrrbuls used i n thc
is not acceptable. I'it 5 alternatives are compared against 6-4. As can he seen from the model.
mblc, tlie ovcrall best plat1 is bctwecn I'hn 5-4 and Plmi 5-3. The economic cutolf (mill capacities, unit costs and quantities involved in the cval-
Delinitions of the ~riaximu~ii
cutofl) for thc pit is 0.34% Cu. uation are presented below.
'l'his lends to the following operation
Ore reserve == 253,000,000 tons I. Maximum capacity: M is the riraxirnunl amount of material (ore and waste) that the
Mill rate = 33,580 tpd milie can produce in a given time period (for example 1,000 tonslyear). It is theref~~rc
a restriction on the rnaximum rate of progress through the orcbody.
Mining rate = 116,600 tpd
C is the riiaximum amount of ore which can be pot through the concentrator in a given
Average ore grade = 0.864% Cu time period (for example 500 tonslycar), assuming unrestricted availability of input orc
Mine life = 25 years from the mine. A concentrate of fixed grade is produced.
Capital investment = $95,500,000 Ii is the maxir~rumamount of final product produced in the time period (for cxample
5M1 lbslyear), assuming unrestricted availability of concentrate from the concentrator.
:'he inaximurn cno he due to a restriction on refinery throughput or a market limitation.
6.7 LANES ALGORITHM
2. Costs: rn are the mining costs expressed in $/ton of material moved. These are as-
sumed to be the same irrespective as to whether the material is classified as orc or waste.
The unit mining costs iwlude drilling, blasting, loading, hauling, ctc.
In 1964, K.1:. Lane (Lane, 1964) presented what has become 21 classic paper entitled c are the concentrating costs expressed in $/ton of material milled. The unit cost c
'Choosing the Optimum Cut-off Grade'. This section will describe his approach and includes c ~ s h i n g grinding,
, floating, leaching, ctc. It also includes some liaulage if ore
illustrate it with an example. As has heen discussed earlier cutoff grade is the criterion is trucked farther than waste (if not, this can become a credit item in calculating c).
514 Open pit mitre plm~nirrfim d desifitr: I:rorrlr~nrenruls

Since the revenue IZ is

Material
1
M t N E
&+I
Uarimum

M
Unit
&
m
I< = sQ,.

the prolit I' is givcn by

(6.8)

Ore
CONCENTRATOR C c
p - . I( - 3' -
- sd).. - (mQ,,, + cQa t - rQ,. -I-/7') (6.9)

Concentrate 1 Comhirring terms, yields

REFtNERV r* i

Product / 'l'his is the basic profit expression. Ir can be used to calculate the prolit from the next
~arket Q,, of oraterial mined.
Othecamt
Fixed cortr f
Selling price s ?b introduce the reader in a soft way to the pro11le111being explo~cdi n detail in this
section consider tire following example. A linal pit has been superin~poscdon a ~nirreral
Recovery Y
inventory. Within the pit outline are contained 1,000 tons af material. I'lrc grade dis-
tribution is shown in Table 6.19. ?'be associated costs, price, capacitics, quantities and
recovery are:
Costs
r includes all costs iocurred at the product and selling stages such as smelting, rc- nt = mining = $l/ton
lining. packaging, freight, insurance, etc. 7'hese are expressed in terrns of $ per unit of
product. For copper it would be Wlb.
j , the lixed cost, includes all costs suclr as rent, administration, maintenance of roads
c

f
=.

-
= refining -
concentrating = $2/ton
$5/lb
fixed cost =: $300/yea
and buildings, etc. which are independent of production lcvcls (within normal linlits of
variation) hut which would ccasc were the mine to be closed. It is expressed in terms
of a fixed cost over the production period considered (for example 1 year). Other costs Price
s u c i ~as head office charges, depreciation, etc. arc not included. s = $25/lb
s , thc selling price, is expressed in terms of selling price per unit of product. It is a
gross figure provided all selling charges are included in r. If not they must be subtracted
Capacities
from s.
?, the
, recovery, is an overall figure for the concentrator and tlrc refincly. It is that M == 100 tonslyear
proportion of the mineral contained in the original ore feed retained in the final product. C -= 50 tonslyear
H = 40 lhslyear
3. Quantities: ?' is the length of the production period bcing considered (for example
1 year); Q,. is the quantity of rnaterial to be mined, Q, is the quantity of ore sent to the
concentrator and Q, is the amount of product actually produced over this production Quantities
period. Q,,, = amount to be mined (tons)

6.7.3 The basic eqrca1ion.s Q, -

Q, = amount sent to the concentrator (tons)
amount of concentrator product sent for relining (Ihs)
IJsing the definitions given in the picceding section, the basic equations can be devel-
oped. The total costs 'l: are Recovery (Yield)
y = 1.0 (100% recovery is assumed)
,f .
--mQ,,, + cQ, + rQr + f/l (6.7)
'I'lkcce arc ;I great oumher ol' possihle wine, co~~centrator and relinery operating c o n h -
nntims. Wl~ichis the optilnum? In this section the basic eqwtions will bc dcvelopcd
i l l ;~dilitimto d c ~ n o n s f ~ ; ~ tthe
i ~ ~process.
g Ilowevcr. prior to bcgi~rnirig the tl~corcti-
cal ttcauncut, it is considered useful to briclly consider just o ~ r co i these oper;ttiog
co~nbirratims.'The tot;d anamnt o l inaterial to be mined Q,,, is 1,000 tons. IS thc mine
is opcrntcd at cnpacity (100 tnnslye;~r)tlicr~the pit would be mincd out over ;I time period
01 10 years. Assuming t11;1t the grades (Table 6.19) are cqually distrihotcd tlrrougl~out
the pit aml a concentrator cutol'f grade of 0.50 Ibslton is osal, then 50 tons of material
11;rving an average grade o l 0.75 IhsAon would he sent to the concentrator every ycar.
'l'lrc otl~cr50 tons would bc sent to the waste dump. Sincc the cr)nccnlrnlor capacity (:
is 50 torrslyear, tiis is an ;&ceptafrlc situation. The concentrator pmduct bcco~nesthe
relioery Secd. 111 this case it would he 17.5 lhslycar (0.75 Ihslton x 50 tooslyear). Since
t l ~ crelincry can hal~dle40 ibslye:~r, it would he operating at below its ratal c;~pacity
I!. 'l'lis ct~~nhination of niining rate and cutoff grade would yicld ;I yearly prolit I:,
(11'

'I'hcsc prolits would continnc for 10 years and hence the tot;~lprofit would be 52,500.
'I'l~eNPV assuming an interest rate of IS% would bc 'I?) find the grade which ~naxinlilcsthe pn,lit under this coostr;~iotone lirst takes lllc
(leriv;ltive of (0.12) with respect lo {I.

'TIE lirst qocstion to be asked is whcther some other co~nbin:~tior? of mine production
r;rk ;find co;~ccntmtorcutrff grade would yicld a bettcr pn~litfrom this deposit? 'The Ilowevcr the quantity to bc mined is il~depcrrdentof the grade, lience
I q c r question is wliether the valrious plant capacities (wid1 t11cir associated costs) arc
optimum? 'The procedure describctl i n tlris section is n way of determining tlrc cornbina-
tion yiclding 111cmaximum profit lor a given set of operating constraints. 'I'he constraints
way tlierr be changed (mine, concentrator and relining capacities, ior cxa~nple)and the Equation (6.13) becoo~es
proht corresponding to this new i-olrrl~ioationdetermined as well 8s Irow the various
cq~acitiesshould he utilimd over the life of the pit.
The quantity relined Q , is rclatcd to that sent by the mine for concentration Q, by
-
Q,- gyQr (6. 10)
where j is the average grade scnt for concentmtioo, and g is the recovery.
Taking the derivative of Q, with respect to gradc one finds that

Substituting Equation (6.17) into (6.15) yields

The lowest acceptable value ol' j is that which makes

Thus l l ~ e
cutoff grade !I,.. hascd upon ininirrg constraints is the v;~lucof g which mitkcs
(S -- r),":, ~-~<: 0
-:

'I'bus

(h. 19)

Substituting the values from the example yiclds

$2
'
,
a = .--- - 0.10 lbslton
' 1.0($25 - $5)

Substituting (6.23) into Bquatirm (6.10) yiclds

Cirlcalnre crirr(fg,-irdc n.s.srr~~~L~g
lhul llrc c o r r c o ~ r r i h g,-(Ire i.s ~ l r eh)overrring ct,,rrrrrrirrt.
I f the concentrator capacity G is the controlling fitctor i n t l ~ esystem, then the tiwe
required to ~ICI and process ;I 0,block of material (a~nsidcringthat mining continues
sin~ullancouslywit11 processing) is

Differentiating \vith respect to I and selling the result c c p l to zcro gives

Si~bstitvtingEqualion (6.20) into (6.10) gives

I'= ( S - r)Q1 - cQc - 7nQlrL- f Q,:

-
C
Rcan-anging terms one finds that

IMicrentiating with I-cspect to g ;lad setting the result equal to zero yields

As before
One can now calculate the amount o f rr~alerialwliicb would he concentrated nod refined
under the various constraints as wcll as the timc rcqoired. When the mining rate of
100 tonslyear is the constraint

Thus
Since the cutoff gradc g,,, is 0.10 lbslton, a quantity Q ,o f 9 0 0 tons having an average
gradc o f 0.55 lbslton would be sent to the concentrator. The total amount o f product
rcli~icdand sold Q, is
--
dQ,. - c+t,
-
dQ, s - r " 91/
Substituting these values into the profit equation gives
The cutoff grade when the concentrator is the constraint is
I',,, - ($25 -- $5)495 - $2 x 900 - $1 x 1,000 - $300 x I 0 = $4, 100

"-i4c -
C+
y(s - r )
The same procedure can be followed with the other two limiting situations. The results
arc glven below:
 Profit

'10.7 lhslton
Q, = 600 x 0.7 x l .O = 420 1hs

-
1,: .~(25 - 5)420 - 2 x 600 - 1 x 1,000
$2, 600
300 x 12

- 0.16 lbsltoo
g -: 0.58 lbslton
Q,. = 0.84 x 1,000 -1 840 tons
Q, : 840 x 0.58 x 1.0 487.2 ihs -
,1,,. 487.2
- 12.18 years
~-
-
40
= Cutoff Grade ( Ibrlton 1 \

In summary, for each operution takcn as a single constraint, the optirnum cutoff gratlcs
are.: I h r both tl~emine and mill to he ;it their rcspcctivc capacities, tlien

g, -
g,, = 0.10

gT = 0.16
0.40
Q,,,
Q, -
7 I00 torrs
50 tons
As can he seen from Table 6.21. the cutoff made should he 0.5 Ibslton. This balancing
The total pn)fits assuming the sirigle constraint of mining, concentrating or relining cutoff bctwccrl mine and conccntrator is expressed as g,,,,. For the concentrator and the
are given as a function of cutoff grade in Table 6.20. The values have bccii plottcd in refinery to be at full capacity
Figure 6.22.

Step 2. Determinulion of the ecor~orniccutoflgrude by Dnlmcirq tile operalions

In the first stc.p, it was assullied that only one of the operations w;~sthe limiting factor
Q, -
Q, = 50 1011s
40 tons
The relationship between Q, and L), is sllowr~in Table 6.22.
t r ~production capacity.
In examining Tablc 6.22, it can be seen that the required balancing cutoff grade g,, is
A second type of cutoff is based simply on material balancc. To hc able to calc~~late
this one needs to know the distribution of grades of the mined material. 'She average
grade of the treated rnaterial can he found as 21 function of the chosen cutoCf. 'The
average grade, and the number of units ir~volvcdare givcn as a [unction of cutoff grade The linal halancing cutoff is between the mine and the refinery. As seen in 'I'able 6.23
in Tahle 6.21. (assuming 100% concentrator recovery) n cutoff grade of 0.4 yields 42 lbs of product
 are based upon capacities, costs and the price. The objcctivc is to tind tllc cutoff gradc
wl~icliprorluces tlrc overall maximum prolit i n light of the tnining, corlcc~rlratingand
whcrcas 0.5 yields 37.5 ihs. 'The desircd Lcvel 01 4 0 11)s lics helwcc~ltlrcsc two. Irrrer- rclining constr;liots. 'i'he local optimums for caclr pair of operations arc first considcrcd.
polating one linds Illat
The corresponding oplimunr gradcs lor eaclr pair (G,,,,., C,,:, and C.',,) are selccted
using the following rules:

In summary, wwhcn the operations are taken in corrrhination, the opti~nunlcutoff grades
are:

91.p 3. I~ererrninirrgrhe overdl r~prir~r~or~of rlce six c a r Q g r u I c s

'I'herc are six possiblc cutoff grades. Thrcc (g,,,,, g,:,, and g,,,,) arc hascd simply upon tllc
grade distrihulion of the mincd m~tcrialand capacities. The other three (g,,,, g,, and g,.)
 'l'hc overall optim~rorcutoff gr;ule G isjust the middle \wIrlc of (:,,,,, :ml (:,:.
G,,,,, 111
oar c x m p l e tlic six possihlc cutoff grades are:
g,,, ~: 0. I I1
J 0.40
=
9, =~ 0. I0
y,, 0.50
, 0.456
y,, . 0.60

Consirlcr the111i l l groups of three:

Applying t l ~ crcspcctivc capacities to thesc qi!;lntitics one linds that

Since ilie concc:rtrator rcqoires the lmgcst time, it controls tlic production capacity. Ttrc
tot;rl profit is
Group 3 y,- =~0.40 -
Clloose the rriiddlc v;rlue G,, 0.40
g,, = 0.60
arid tlrc prolil per year P, is
Considering the tlrrec middle values
, 1 0.40
G,,,,. -: 0.16
The net present value of these yearly profits assurning zrn interest ratc of 15% is
L",,-= 0.40
one clrooses one numerically in the middlc (I -t i)IZ - I 1 . 1 5 ' ~- 1
NPV I:, = $216.70 = $1, 174.60

-
I
$1 t i)I2 0.15(1.15)12
C 0.40 ibslton
L, ?i . lo summzrry: the concentrator is the controlling production limiter; concentrator feed =
From Tzrhle624, the average grade g, of the material sent to the conccntrator for ;I 50 toos1ye;rr; optimum mining cutoff grade = 0.40 lbslton (constant); total conccntrator
cutoff 01' 0.40 lbslton would be feed = 600 tons; average concentrator feed grade = 0.70 lbslton; years of production =
12 years: copper production/year = 35 lbs; total copper produced = 420 Ihs; total profits
/,-= 0.70 lhslton = $2,600.40; net present value = $1,174.60.
I ~ 100%
I recovery the quantities arc
Q,,, --
Q,: 600 tons
1,000 tons
The previous scction considered the selection of the cutoff grade with the ot~jective
Q , == 420 ibs being to rrraxirnize profits. In most mining operations today, the objective is to maxi-
mize the net present value NI'V In this scction the Lane approach to selecting cutoff
 Assuming inlercst (disco~~nt)
rille 11f 15% one h d s that

t
1111

v
v - PV,, I PV,

The questiioo to be raised is 'Could (lie NPV he increased using a cutol'f gr;ldc which,
insread of hcing lined, varies throughout the life o i the mine?' 11' so. then 'Wl~atshould
be the cutolT gr;ldes as a function 01. mine life?' These questions have heen addressed
hy lime ;in11 are l11c subject of this section.
Asstme that just prior to mining increment Q,,, (shown lo coirrmence at lime I 0 -
i n Figure 6.23 for simplicity), tlrc prescnt value of all rcm;rining prolits is V . 'This is
crrmposcd of two puls. 'l'l~elirst, PV,,, is from t l ~ eprolit I' realized at lime 'I' by mining
the qnantity I,?,,,. 'She second, t'VLv is obtained from profits realizcd by ~niningthe
n~acrialremaining after time 1'.These prolits arc indicated as 1'1 occuring at time Y i ,
1'2 occuring at h e Y i , etc., in Figure 6.21. 'The value of all these r c ~ ~ ~ a i n prolils
i n g fof
mining conducted after 1 = 7' as expressed a1 lime 7' is W. 'She prcsenl values of W
and I', rcslrcctivcly, discounted to time t = 0 are givcn by

grades n~exiniizingNI'V sul?ject to rnini~lg,c~~icentri~ring imd rr:fining c~nstmintswill

Iic discussed. wlwe (1 is rllc discaunl mte.
I ' i i i llic exarnplc of rlle prcvioos scctioo ;I lixetl ~iiinibrgc ~ l o f grxle
f of 0.40 1hslto11 The p w i t value at time t ;. 0 is therefore
was nsctl. One foiud lllal

1 83.3 tonslycar
C . 5(i to~~slycttr
Q , = 3.5 lbslyeal-
J = $30O/year
-
Since the present value at time t =- ?' of rhe remaining reserves is W , the difference v
hctwecn the present values of the rcniaining reserves at times 1 0 and t -- 1' is
lifetinre 12 yc;m
7 , ...v . . w (6.30)

'The yeally prolit would IIC liqoarion (6.29) can he rewritten as

W I I' - V(1 4 dlT
Applying tlre binolninl expansion to the term (I I djr one linds tlrat
when finding rl~er r ~ a x i ~ r ~total
u n ~ profit, the profirs realized in t l ~ cvarious years are
simply summed.
'rile total profit is, tlmeforc For d s ~ ~ i a l(1
l . -I- d)"' can be approximated by
(I i dlT Y I + Td
Combining Equations (6.31) and (6.33) results in
'The net present value for this ~~niforni
series of prulits (Cllaptcr 2) is calculated using W+P:V(ll-l'd)=ViVTd
Colnparing L:.qmtions (6.30) and (6.34) one linds t11;lt Sohstituting Equation ((1.44)
into (6.42) yields

i n time 'I' is given as hclbre by

'She p ~ ~ lI'i tobtained tl~roughthe minii~gof Q,,,
Ilie average grade g, is delincd as the mining cutoff (hrertkcven) grade !I,,~when

Combining Equations (6.35) ;rod (6.36) yields

Setting Equation (6.45) equal to zero and solving for g, = y,,, one linds that
One would now like to schedule the mining in soch ;I way that the decline in rc~nnin-
irig prcsent value takes place as rapidly as possible. 'l'his is hccnosc h e r profits get
discounted more than tl~osecaptured earlier. In exwoining liqwtion (6.37), this mc;m S~~bstitoting
tlie v;~luesfrom the example yiclds
that 11 should be m~~xirriixetl.
As in the previnns section one lirsl takes the derivative
US v with respect to grade. Setting the derivalivc equal to zero, one can solve fix the
~rppropriatccutoff grades suhjcct to mining, concentrating and relining coostr;~ints.

( a ) C d c u l n r ~c r r ~ q /grade
l /hm rlre mini~tfiRIIP is 111~gilverninfi c ~ m ~ r a i t l r .
le~.sswni~rg
'I'
CJ
t
(6 48)
'I'lic lime 'I;,, is given by
C
w k r c (2,. is tire total number of tons which will he sent to the concentrator, m d C is
the tonslyear ca]tacily.
Eclu;rtion (6.37) beconics

1)iSSercntinting (6.19) with respect to grade y givcs

Since the total amount of ~nalcrialQ,,, is fixed,

However the qu;rolily wined Q,,, does not dcpcnd upon the gr;lde: mQ,,,
= const

Thus the cutoff grade affects only Q, and Q,..

Substituting as hefore
Qr - Q&y
one litids that

'The relationship hetween the quantities refined Q,. and tlrose sent for concentration Q, I,, =
I(S ( +-
- T)~,Y- c
f +dV )]Qc-dm
is
Ib iuake v, as large as possiblc the term

where g, is the average grade of ore sent for concentration and y is the recovery in
concentration.
'l'hus slloold be as Large as possible. At breakeven (the cutoff grade), the term is zero. Thus

c - f f-C^
+dV
Sr = (6.52)
?/(s - r )
(c) Cdcalote c~rr~fJgrrrilensswt~irrgthe re/inbrg r-r~teis ihe governirq corr.str~ri,~t.If the Sr?p 2. Iletcrmit~a~iorrof ,She economic crrtr$J~rrrde ljy ldarrcin# the operrrlions
refinery output is the limiting factor then the time 7' is contn)lled by tllc rclinery, This step is ex:~ctly the same as tllat discussed in the previous section. Hence only the
results will be presented here.

where I,),- is outpot of the refinery and Ii is the relininglsalcs capacity per y e x
Substituting into liquation (6.37) yields

st el^ 3. Ikrurninir~gthe riptir~rurnof flie six c~tlr//gririIe~

l'here are six possible cutoff grades. Three ;se hnsctl simply upon tllc grxle distribution
of the ~ninetli~~aterii~l
and capacities.

The otlicr three are based upon capacities and costlpricc. S~tbstitutingi n the k n ~ w n
values one linds that
g,,, - 0.10
'I'hc total amount of material in the pit is lixed, tlmehtc bi4V 2+3+15V
, : ' -L ~. ~~~ ~p

~ I L C ) ,:;~ , COllSt ( - T) 1.0(25 - 5)

the expression for V.. one fi~idsthat

Maxinl~~ing

Solving yields

In summary, tl~isfirst type of cutoff grade determination is based upon finding the grade
for w l ~ i c lthe
~ net increasc in overall present value is zcm. l'he expressions are as in Of these, two of the limiting econornic cut-off grades arc not known initially since they
for~ilulas(6.47). (6.52) and (6.56): depend upon knowing the overall present value. This in turn depends open the cutoff
grade. Since tlie unknown V appears in the equations an iterative process must be used.
An optimum grade will be determined for each of the three pairs of operations. 'l'his
will be followed by finding the optimum of the three final candidates. For the mine
and the concentrator considered as a pair, there are three possible candidates for the
optimum cutoff grade G,,,. These are g,,, g,, and g,,,. Tlle following rules are used to
select G,,,,.

As can he seen, the expressions for g, and g, contain the unknown value of V
This sirr~plcsorting algorithm yields tltc middle value. 'Treating the concentrator and
rclinery as ;I pair, the optimum G,.,. is found from

As tltc lirst step in the iteration pmccss, it will hc ;tssu~iiedthat V I 0

Applying these n k s to the cxaolplc v;tlnes
$,. : 0. LO
qc 0.40
g7 0.16
'I'ltcse are both less than the m a x i n i ~ ~values.
t ~ ~ 111 meeting the refincry c;rpacity of
,,,,,. =0.50
! 12,. =- 40, tlrc required concentrating and mining capacities arc:
! / 0.60
, - 0.456
onc linds tliat
G,,.,. - 0.40
'l'ltus tlrc concentrating capacity is violated. 'L'he result is lh;~tthe concentrator is the
, , -: 0.40
l~mlc~lcck.
G,,,, ~ 0.16 11, llic f u r l l ~calculations
~
'The ovcr;ill optimum cutoff gradc G is tire middle value of G,,,,., G,,,,, and C,.,: Q,,. = 83.3
G middle value (C,,,,, G,,,,.. G,.,.) y,. = so
111 this c a x Q,-
~= 15

The profit irom time period 7' is expressed as

Slr?p 4. Crdculntion of quantities For ?' - 1 y c x one linds tlrat

The next step in the procedure is to deternrine the maxim on^ quantities Q,,,, Q, and

mined (Q,,, -
QF which could bc produced and not violate the capacities. Assume that 100 tons are
100). The gradc distribution of this material is as shown in Table 6.24.
I'rorn Table 6.25, a cutoff gradc of 0.40 would yield an average feed grade of 0.70.
Since the total atnoun1 of ntaterial to be mined from the pit is Q = 1.000 units, the
riurnber TL US years required is
Each of the capacities must, however, be considered. A mining capacity (Q,,, = M )
of 100 tons would mean 60 tons to the concentrator and 42 product units. Both the 1,000
rL = -- - 12 years
-

-
concentrator and refinery capacities are exceeded. In meeting the concentrator capacity
(Q,: SO), the required mining and refinery capacities are:
83.3
The present value V corresponding to 12 equally spaced payments of
an interest rate of 15 percent is
['= $216.7 using
5
== - x 100 =: 83.3
1JTrL
6
Q.. := 50 x 0.70 = 35
This value 01. V Beconies the second approximation of V (the first was V = 0) lor use ,~
Illis becomes the tliinl cstimate for V to be used i n calculating !I,. and g,.
in tlic formulas to calculate 9,: and 9 . .
, ,
.,.30!)+O.!5 le--
~
x 1 254.7
~ -.0.588
-
20
2
'I, -- --
3004 0 l S x I= = 11 257
20- - --a-
'The six possible values are:
'1'11~ new six choices becomc

'I,,,, . 0.50
g,., = 0.60
'1'11~optimum pairs arc:
g,,,, . 0.456

Applying tlic rulcs to sclcct the overall pair uptimutn yields

and the overall optimum (C:

Ilcnce in year I
- 0.50) is the same as l ' i u ~ dwit11 the 11rcviousestimate.

'llrc overall optinrurn is the middle value Optimum cutoff p d c = 0.50 Ibslton
Quantity ~nined= 100 tons
Quantity conccntrated = 50 tons
Iktnrning to the grade distribution Tablc 6.24 one finds that the average grade is 0.75. Quantity refined = 37.5 lbs
If the niining rate Q,,, = 100, then Q, = 50 and I), L 37.5. Both the mine and the Profit = $250
concentrator arc at tlieir rated capacities.
The rcserves ~riustnow be adjusted to tlmsc given in '7':ihlc 6.25 and the process is
The prolit in ;I given year is
repeated assurning V == 0, c;~lculatingg, and g,., ctc.
1' = ( S - mQ,,, - fl'
r)L),- ~-cQc - 't'lilough year 7, it will be found that the optirriurrr cutoff grade rcmains at 0.50 with
- 20 x 37.5 - 2 x 50 - 1 x 100 - 300
the qu;rntities reined, concentrated and refined being 100, 50 ;ind 37.5, respectively. 'The
;innu;ll profit is $250. The reserves going into year 8 are iliosc given in Table 6.27. The
= $250
balancing grades remain at
The number of years is g,,,, = 0.50
(2 1,000 g,, = 0.60
rL=- = --= l o years
4? 100 g,,,, = 0.456

The present value becomes The first approximation for the economic cutoff grades (V z= 0) is
g,,, 0.10
:

g, = 0.40
g, = 0.16
 Substituting this into tlie forrnolas Sor 0, and 9 , yields
0,: = 0.486
!I.. -I 0. I93
Cornliining thew with the olhc
0. I0
g,,,~~.:
g,,,? = 0.50
1 0.60
. 0.456
yiclds

'I'lle overdl optinruoi cutoff is i: = 0.486 and the average grade ;ibove cutoll drops to
30 0.743:
30
30
RO
30
30
30
:10
30
30 30 0.95 28.50
Total = Zk7 Total ;: '1512 Avg = 0.743 Sum - 114.57
T'hcre are 154.2 ore tons out of the 300 Ions rcmairiirrg to be mincd. Sincc tlie concen-
trator capacity is 50 tonslycar, tile mine life would be
The optimum values of the pairs arc 154.2
G,,,, -
G,, = 0.40
7~ = -= 3 08 years
50
'She yearly mine production bccorries
G,,,, :0.16
The overall optimum is 0.40, and the quantities are
Q,,E= 83.3 and Q,.= 37.15. Calculating the prolit one finds that
Q, = 50
g,:7 35
'She corrcsponding present value is
The profit is $216.7 as before. The number of years hecomes
300
n = -= 3.6 years
83.3
The present value V becomes Repeating the process with this new estimate of V yields
g, = 0.486
g,. = 0.193
'nrese are the sarnc as before. Hence clre v;~luesihr year 8 arc The other pxsihle values are:

g,,, = 0.10
g,,,<:~70.50
g,,. 10.60
g,,,, 0.456

The optimum pair values are:

'The rcscrvcs are those given in 'Sable 6.28. I n year 9, the initial valoes f i x a cutoff o f C,,,, = 0.462
. 0.462
= O.l83

Tlre nriddle value or lhesc is

C 0.462
'The prolit would he $216.7.
13;rsed upon this mining rate, l l ~ creserves would last Ex;rnrining the rcscrvc distrihution suggests lh;rt there are 109.05 tons out of the lol;il
202.7 Ions which ;KC above cutoff. The average grade o f this rcmiining ore is 0.73 1:
202.7
L : - = 2.43 years Grade Tons x (;r;alc
83.3
and the present value is 0.48 3.70
0.55 11.15
0.65 13.18
0.75 15.20
0.85 17.23
Rccornpoting 9,. and y, we obtain 0.95 19.26
-
Avg = 0.73 1 Sum r= 79.72

Sincc the m;ixiniom concentrating rate is 50 tonslyear the life is

'llic ;mount o f product i s

The present value is

Iterating again does not change the values. The new distribution is shown in Table 6.29.
 The optimum vduc is C 0.437. Examining thc reservc distrilwtion suggests llmt there
;

arc 62 tons of llrc I 10 tmts remaining which are abovc this cutoff.
'lbns Grade ' ~ ~ I Ix~ Grade
S

'She average gradc is 0.718. 'Shc numher of years would be

I n ycnr 10, the initial values fur a cutoff of 0.4 yields: Ihe r.itc ol mnmg and rcllning would he

Q,,, = 83.3
.
&,. 50
CJ,. :.: 35
and the profit would hecome
Prolit - $216.7
Ifnsed open tlus mining rate, the reserves would last

'The present value is

Further itcialion yields no change. In year 11, the grade distribution is shown in Ta-
ble 6 10
Calculating g, and g, and using this approximation for V yields
- 0.437
g.. = 0.172

The other possible values arc:

g,,, = 0.10
,q,,,c = 0.50
g,., = 0.60
g,,,,. = 0.456

The optirrtuin pair values are:

G,,, == 0.437
G,, = 0.437
C,,,, =- 0.172
 'l'lie initial values (V = 01, yield a cutoff uf 0.4 and 'I'hc nct present value is calculated using the yearly prdits.

Qrrt =~=21
(2,: -= 12.6
QF= 8.8
'IPie time would be the largest of
Swp .7. R q ~ e i i t i mof ilte iremiion prm:e,rs
lo 'l'al~le6.31, the present value column reflccts t l ~ ccurrent approxi~ilationto V as each
years cutoff gradc was calculated. 'l'he {lrcsenl value of%1.258 olrtailicd using the yearly
[ x d i t s should be the siilrle as that shown in the iahle for yea1 1 . Since the values .uc
not the s;ime ($1,258 versos $1,255). the process is repeated I'ronl the heginning using
V --:$1,258 a s tlic initial estinrete lbr V. Using a computer Ibis iterative [~rocedureis

which is again controlled by the conccotrator. 'l'l~cpmfit is

'The present value is

Solving for g , and 8,. yields

g, -
g,. = 0.161
0.402

Combining with the others

g,, = 0.16
y,,,< == 0.50
~ ~ ,-

y
,, =: 0.60
Optimuu~ Quantity Quantity Net pmcnt
= 0.456
yrsLr cutoff gradc mined concentraled value
Year (IhdlO") (Ions) (tons) (9.)
one finds tllat ~ - ~ ~ . ~
I 0.50 50.0 1,257.8
G,k,= 0 4 0 2 2 RSU 500 1,196.5
3 050 50.0 1,1260
G,, = 0.402 4 0.50 50.0 1.044.9
G,,, = 0 161 5 0.50 50.0 95 1.7
6 0.50 50.0 844.5
T h e cutoff grade is 7 0.50 50.0 721.1
x 0.49 50.0 579.3
9 0.46 50.0 420.6
10 0.44 50.0 245.5
T h e distribution is only slightly changed and lurtlrer iteration is not warranted II 0.41 12.5 52.8
544 Open pir mine plrr,r,ring rmd de.vipr: k'~md(z~nenrr~l.s

completed in fr;~ctioosof a second. The final rcsr~ltsare shown in Xthle 6.32. The NPV 'Today there are nxmy mom possible destinatia~~s as our ;111ility to 11andlc and treat
is slightly higher than tlie $1,255 which would havc heen obtained by mi~intaining;I ninteri;~lshavc i~iil~roved. Leach dumpslleech pads arc ;r colnrnorl destination. An active
constant cutoff grade o i 0.5. stockpile is ;I less common destination.
In sumnary: .
'I'll' I S. s. ~,~ t i owill
n deal with dtenmte dcstin:~tions lo tlrc 11ril1 ;~ndwastc ilunrp. l'licsc
- Initi;~llythe n i i ~ ~
and
e the concentrator ere in halaocc, both operating at c;rpacity. In will he discussed with respect to cotoff gradc. Ilowever t l x n:atlcr sl~ouldrcrne~nhcr
the lust few years, the concentrator is the limiter. tllal lllcse simply arc ;I way of assigning nialcri:ll ~ l e s t i n a t i ~ ~ n .
- ' h e cutoff grade begins at 0.50 Ibslton and drops to 0.41 lhslton at the end of 111i1re
life.
- Mine life is slightly more than 10 years.
- 'Total copper produced = 380.9 Ihs. For copper minerds and some others as well, thc leach dnnip (or pad) is ;in alternative
- 'Total profits = $2,518. &stinntion to the nrill or waste dump. Althi~ughthis section will i11cos on copper, the
-- Net pnsent v;rlue = $1,257.80. ;1pproac11used is typical. Two cutoff grades innst be ~ l c t c r ~ i ~ i ~ ~ c d :
This net present value should he comp;ucd to that of $1,174.60 obtained with the fixed I. dump - leach cutoff.
cutnl'f gr;~de. 2.Le;~chdulnp mill ct~tc~ff.
In one coppcr leaching process, sulfuric acid is percolated thmugl~the rluntp. 'The copper
is takcl~into solution as c~rpricsulfate or cuprous sulfate. The collcctctl solution is ll~en
run thmngh ;I p;~cl~uca t:mk containing shreddcd iron where the iron goes into solution
and tlrc coppcr is precipik~tcd.Thc re;rctioos arc ~ i v e nbelow:

.I Ire term 'cutol'f grade' is n rather poorly dclincd tcrnl i n the mining literature. A ~najor
~

reason for this is Illat ll~ercare many diffcrcnt cutoff grades. I'urthcrrriore the values
cl~;~ngc with tirne, mining progress, etc. A cutofS grade is sirnply a grade used to assign
;I ~lcstinationlabel to a parcel of nratcrial. Thc precipit;iled copper is then scnt to the smelter. A full discussion of r:oppcr recovcry
The destination can change. During the cval~mtiooof litla1 pit limits, the destinations fkm dump material is f k beyond the scope of this hook. 'She rate of recovcry and the
to be assigned are: <~vcrallpercent lccovery depend upon both the ore and w;~!;tcminerals ptcsenl, thc type
- - to tlic surl'acc, and of sprinkling and collection system, thz size distribution of the particles involved, the
- lelr in the ground. way the material was placed, etc. Here the results presented hy Davcy (197%) will he
Once the destination 'to the surface' has been assigned, then the destination label 'where 11sec1for illustrative purposes.
on the surface' lnrrst be assigned as wcll. In the distant past there were really only two Fur copper mineralization type 1, no recovery is expected when the coppcr content is
surface destinations: below 0.2%. IJsing mineral dressing tcnnioology, this would be the 'Fixcd 'Tails' limit.
to the mill, and 'Thus, when considering ~uaterial destinations, the waste dump leach dump cutoff
- to thc waste dump. criteria would he:
A gradc was used to assign the location. The distinction between destinations was Waste dunip destination: copper content < 0.2%
called the mill cutoff grade. In more recent times, the potential future value of ~nalerial t.c;~cli dump destination: copper content > 0.2%
carrying values has been recognized. Hence the lean (low grade) ore dump lras beco~ne
a destination. Thus the 3 destinations require 2 distinguishing grades: There will be another cutoff grade above which all material should be sent to the mill.
To determine this value one must look both at the total copper recovery through leaching
Destination Assignment and the recovery as a function of time. For copper mineralization type I, a fairly uniform
- to the mill

- to the lean ore dump I mill cutoff grade

distribution of tlie various grades may he assumed for the low grade niaterial having a
head grade of 0.4% copper or less. In this case
Head grade < 0.4%

- to the waste dump I waste cutoff grade the percent recovery is expressed by
Hcad grade - Fixed tails limit
llecovery = -
Head grade
x 100%
'Table 6.33. Racavc~yfactor as a (usclion or year for thc leach erarnplc (lhvcy, 197%).
Ycar Recovery f:kctor
. ~

I 0.40

IS tlre head grade is better than 0.4%,

Head gradc > 0.4%
I;or ye:w 2 lhc result would be
then the copper recovery hy lcaclring is 50%
Recovery =: 50%~ ((r.57b) Ycar 2 c q ~ p e rrecovered ==0.30 x 5.5 lbs = 1.65 lhs

Four cxamples will he used to dcmo~rslratcthe ilsc of tlrc recovery fortn~~l;~. 'IBble 6.34 su~nmarinxlhe overall recovery.
1. Ilcad gradc = 0.45% Cu .lir ~lc~nonstratethe application, consider the following exalnplc lor 21 leach ore running
0.55% Cu. Tlrc costs of mining and iranspotiing the mineral are assumed to he the same
Recovery = 50% for hoth tlre ~trillirrgand leaching alternatives. Since tl~ematerial will be removed from
0.45 ! I c pit in any case, tl~escare considered as sunk costs. An interesting exercise for tllc
I<ccovcrcd copper =: --- x 0.5 x 2,000 z 4.5 l1,slton
100 rcatlcr is to calculate lhc value of potential leach material w t m deciding the ulti~rratcpit
2. Hc;rtl grade = 0.40% ni:(. li~nits.As c;rn he seen in Table 6.35, the net v;tlue pcr ton oS material when co~tsidcrcd
f<,rdump lcaclrirrg is $2.07.
0.40 -- 0.20
llecovery = x 100 --:
50% 'l'l~es;~nrcprocess is repeatcd for the ~rrillirlgalternative. This is done in Table 6.36.
0.40 As can he scen, the net value is now $2.75/ton of material treated. Obviously, the
0.40
Recovered copper = x 0.5 x 2,000 : 4.0 Ihsllon destination o: the material slro111dbe the rnill.
100
'l'lic ptoccss illustrated in Tables 6.35 and 6.36 is repeatcd until a Breakeven gradc
3. Ilcad grade = 0.30% Cu Between leaching ;~ndmilling is found (see Figure 6.24). In this particular case it is
0.45% Co. Material carrying grades above this level sl~ouldbe sent to the mill. Material
Recovery = 0.30 -0.20 x 100 . 33.3% grading between 0.2 and 0.45% copper should go to the leach dump.
0.30
0.30 In this simplified calculation, two imponant co~rsiderationshave bee11 left out. The
Recovered copper L- -x 0.331 x 2,000 2 ibslton
I00 lirst is rlrc cost of capital associated with the mill. Inclusion of these costs will increase
4. Head grade = 0.15% Cu thc i)rcakeven gradc. However, possible by-product credits front gold, molybdenurn, etc.,
which would be realized by milling and not leaching have no1 beet1 included. Obviously,
Ilecovery =. 0% ;I inore detailed analysis would take into account hoth of these factors.
Recovered copper =- 0 Ibslton It may also be that the mill capacity is taken up with higher grade material. In such
a case another destination, a stockpile, might be considered. Cutoff grades are involved
'The copper is rccovered from the ton of l~laterialover some period of tinre, normally
several years. The amount recovered per year from the ton tror~rrallydecreases with time in the decision as well.
as slrowrr below. IS these cutoff grades x e applied to the tonnage-grade curve given in Figure 6.25,
one linds the following.
Yearly recovery (Ibs) = Recovery factor x Total lbs to be recovered (6.58)
Class of material Grade % Tons Average gradc' (Yo)
The l'aclors are given in Table 6.33.
For a copper ore running 0.55% (Ircad grade), the aorount of copper in situ is 11 Mill ore > 0.45 7.4 x lo6 0.96
Leach ore 0.20 < g < 0.45 3.4 x 10" 0.33
Ihslton. Of this 5.5 lhs is expected to be recovered over the 5-year period. For year I,
one would expect to recover
Waste < 0.20 20.0 x lo6 -
'See Figure 6.26.
Ycar 1 copper rccovered 0.40 x 5.5 111s - 2.20 ihs
z~:
 'Table 6.30. M i l l i n g cvdtmcios of 1155% copper feed (Ifavcy. 1 9 1 9 ~ )
~ ~~ ~~

I. blillin,: C W ,
o[,cr:,ti,,~; COS,
<; & A cmt (15% ofo]xrating)
M i l l rccovery = XO%
M i l l conccotr;ttc .- 20% Ca

'"'..~
-
- -
- Srsclliilg cort/lon
R C C C , V C ~ 97.574
~
l'reight (srnclfer
of leach tnsteri;kl

rdinery)
- ;
JI)).I1'1
$11.16

($O/ros o l blirlcr copper)

5.5 x 0.98
- Fleiglrt cost = x $50 = $01351
2 m
1:eliniog
($130/ton of blister copper)
- Kcfining cost =
5.404
2<XXl
-
x $130 $ 0 3 J I
- Rccovcry = 99.774

Sclling and delivcry

(S(l.lJlllb Cu)
cost 1 0 . 0 1 x 5.39 $U.O54
Ciewral plan1
llctining curt
(X0.07/111 C")
(8l3fI.lKllton of blister copper)
cosl = 0.07 x 5.39 = $0.38

3. '1'0t.d prOductiot8 cost

11. Revenue ($/ton of leach marerial)
Cost = $130 x "
l l e c o v e ~ y= 99.8%

2000
= $0.56 =: $0.56

I.Total value of i n siru saleable copper Selling and rlelivcry

(price $1 .W/lb) ($O.Ol/lb of c u p j ~ r )
5.39 lbs x $ l / l b = $5.19 Cost = 8.56 x 0.01 = $0.09 - $0.09
(discount rate i = 0%) Gescral plant
(%0.07/1b o f c o p p r )
2. IXscounted valuc
Cost = 8.56 x 0.07 = $0.60 $0.60
(discount ralc r 12.5%)
Recoverwl ~ircusnted 4. l h t a l production cost = $5.81
Year capper (Ibs) value ($)
R. Rwenues ($/ton)
I 2.15 1.92 n c r c are a total of 8.56 lbs of capper recavcd. A price o l $ I / l b w i l l lx used.
2 1.62 1.28 Ilcece
3 0.75 0.53 Revenue = 8.56 x $ I / l b = $8.56
4 0.54 0.34
5 0.32 U
L C. Net value ($/ton)
$4.25 'Ilx net ~ u l u eis givcn as thc revenue minus rhccorla. It has been assumed here
that tl>em is nu appreciable time r c q u i n d in the p m e s r i n g chaitl so rliat
3. In general no by-pmducrs arc ncovyed.
discounting is not used.
4. I t has becn assumed that casts and priccs havc inflated at the rmic rate.
Nct value rr- $ 8 5 6 - $5.81 = $2.75

.
Net vnluc -
C . Nct value (Yron) of leach material
Kevenue - Costs
= W.25 - $2.18 = $2.07
. .~ -~ ~
. ~~
 18

I6
Net Value L /
14

Tonnage
I2
I 106 tons )
10

Percent Copper ( % ) 2

0
Cutoff Grade ( % Copper )
In this particular case, the actual protlucfion results wcrc
Class of material Tons Average gfiide
%, c u
Mill ore 7.5 x 10" 0.93
Lcach 6.4 x 10" 0.35
Waste 16.9 x 10" .- deeper higher grade ore, then the breakeven cutoff for the mill destination could he even
lower than 0.3%. As indicated, because of mill capacity restrictions and the requirement
for rapid capital payback, the mill cutoff is 0.7%. Therefore a large amount of material
6.8.3 The stockpile allerriafive which, it produced later in the life of the mine would go to the mill, is now below
As has been discussed there are a series of cutoff grades which are applied during the cutoff. One possibility is to stockpile the material lying between 0.3% and 0.7% for
life of a mine-mill complex. k u l y in tile life, tl~ereis a desire to recover the capital later treatment by the mill. An alternative would be to send the material to leach dumps
investmerit as early as possible. Since the mill capacity, in terms of tons per day, is for a quicker return of the costs expended in the mining. No rehandling (with its added
normally fixed, it is better to use this capacity with higher rather than lower grade cost) would he required. Also there would not be a cost associated with the storage areas
material. Hence the initial mill cutoff grade may be fairly high. As the mine-mill complex ttlemselvcs.
matures, the mill cutoff will normally decrease. Assurnc that for a copper operation the There are, in summary, a number of disadvantages with ore stockpiles (Schellman,
set mill cutoff is 0.7% Cu. The mining cutoff (hascd upon covering the production costs, 1989):
smelting, refining, sales, etc.) could he 0.3%. If the material has to be mined to reach 1. A rehandling step is nqessary. The costs involved niay be significant.
Average Grade
I % Copper ) 3.5

this surl;rce ore enjoyed a cost advantage of at least $2.50 Canadiadton over ore that
Iiad yet to be exposui in the pit. At the then low coppel price, the 0.27% grade had a
lrigl~crnet value than the new 0.87% C Core. ~
A icach ikI1IIp is ;I brrn of' stockpile since cutolf grtidcs imvc hceir used to select
the r~lateriallor placement. Generally no rehandle is involved. 'hilay a nunibcr of such
'waste' dumps arc being retreated with improved technology and there is reason to
hclicve that this process will occur even for thc 'waste' rlufnps bcing created today.
'I'lrcre arc a nurnher of advantages to baving stockpiles:
I . 'They can be used for blending to enstire a constant head grade to thc mill. Normally
recoveries are higher when such fluctuations are low.
2. l'hcy can be used as a buffer to rnllkc up for prductioti short falls due tn various
Cutoff Grade 1 X Copper ) rC:ISOIIS.
3. The ~uetalrecovery is generally far bigher in the mill Illan in ihc: leach dump. 'Thus
rcsourcc utilization is better. Sincc the overall rccovcry is higl~ertlre overdl costs get
spread over a bigger base.
4. The presence of a buffer offers more flexibility in exanlining design options. 1%
exali~pleone haulage road might be used instead of two due lo the production security
providcd by the buffer. Steeper pit slopes nright be considererl.
2.Space is required lo accommodate the various qualities. Often such space is scarce In the future it is expected that the use of stockpiles will play a inuch more irnportant
near the operations.
part in the life of mines.
3. Over time sorlle niaterials hecorrre nrore difficult to treat.
Computeri-~edtruck dispatclring has siinplified the changing of destinations. As can
4. Additional expense is incul~edin tracking the various qualities of material (sarn-
be seen in Figure 6.27, the dumping points are the concentrator plant, the tlme waste
pling, production control).
dumps (71, 57, and 67) and the sulfide stockpile. The addition of new dumps would
120r these and other reasons, stockpiles have not been popular with most mining
not jntroducr major changes in t l ~ eloading-haulage operation. Strategies regarding the
operations. There are sollie exceptions however.
number and types of stockpiles as well as how to best incorporate the stockpile into the
Taylor (1985) justified the use of the stockpile system througll thc use of some actual
overall operating plan (when and how much to draw as compared to primary production)
examples from mines. At the Craigmont copper mine, a substantial sub-grade stockpile
must be developed.
that averaged about 0.6% Cu was accumulated from the initial high grade open pit. Lane (1988) has provided a rather complete discussion regarding use of the stockpile
The operation then moved underground, where sublevel caving yielded a daily output
alternative.
of about 4,500 tons at 1.8% Cu. For many years the stockpile provided the remaining Schellman (1989) recently modified Lane's algoritliln to include the stockpiling option
1,500 tons per day that were needed to supply the mill. Another practical example is the with tlre grades below current mill cutoff being segregated. The optimum time to draw
Gibraltar copper mine. A cutoff grade of 0.3% Cu was tlsed in the early years and more
upon the stockpile as well as the tons and grades moved have been determined for three
than 100,000,000 short toas, grading down to 0.25% Cu, were stockpiled. In 1982-83
options. His approach will be illustrated using the data given in Table 6.37.
 I'il CutolT @anlily Quantity Ouanlity
Year incretncnf grade #mined cancenlratcd rclincil I'mlil

Cnpacitics:
Mine
Mill
Rctincly
Corls:
Mining $0.50/luuof n,ale!inl from pi1
Mill $O.Mlilosof orc to ,,,ill
Refining $50.liltos of pnnluci
Fixed charges $4 williodycrr

There are a total of 600 x 10('toris to be mined (100 x lo6 tons in each phase). The
capacities and costs used in applying the standard Lane approach described in Section 6.7
are given in Table 6.38. The results without stockpiling are given in Table 6.39. As can
be seen the total profits ( P . ) are $484.2 x 106 and tlie net present value (NPV) is
$150.33 x 10'. Of the total tonnage mined 319 x 10"oes to the mill and tlie remainder Alterrzative A. M i l l feed coming sinrultuneously from the mine und stockpile
281 x 10' tons to the waste dump. The cutoff grade in the final year is 0.23% Cu. In this alternative, the analysis of whether or not to send material from the stockpile to the
In the proposed system, a series of stockpiles are generated with material which is mill is done taking into account the profit generated by the lnatcrial in the stockpilc and
below the cutoff grade for each period but above the lowest cutoff grade for the whole the profit generated by the material in the push back (pit increment). If the profitability
project. Considering only increment I in the preceding example (Table 6.39). all material of the ore in the stockpile is greater than that of the ore in the mine, ore from both
below 0.5% 'md above 0.23% will he sent to the stockpile. For tlie second increment the stockpile and the mine will feed the mill. The coruparison is established between
(year 6). material below 0.53% and above 0.23% will be sent to the stockpile. the same grade categories for both alternatives. If, for example, at the mine the rnitieral
Three different alternatives for l~andlingthe stockpiled material will be considered. grades between 0.4% and 0.7% and ar the stockpile it grades between 0.4% and 0.55%.
 unly iltc mineral between 0.4% and 0.55% will bc ex;tntinctl. If the prolitt~hilityo f
Chtoii Qu;~nlily Quantity Ouanrily the s~ockpiledore is better, then ore bctwccn 0.4% ;roil 0 5 5 % will be scot from the
Year gc;ale rnincd concentrated relisal I'mlil stockpilc. Ore with grades between 0.55%, irnd 0.7% will he sent from the mine. Mined
ntateri;rl hetween 0.23% and 0.55% would be sent 111 fhe stockpile.
~

Tltis stockpile system is dynamic, in the sense that, lor some delermined year, the
t lIl.0
2 10.l1 stock pile is receiving w e f r ~ mthe ~ n i n c and
, sending ore k1 lllc inill. When the mining
1 10.0 of the particular pus11 hack is completed, then the process continues. 'She stockpile would
4 10.11 be considered as ;I new push back.
5 10.0
6 6.3
6 3.7
7 10.0
8 Ill 0
<9 10.0
Ill IO.0
II 6.4
II 1.6
12 10.0
I3 10.0 Alf~rrruliv~ C
14 10 0 111 this itltert~tive,material is not sent to the riiill from the stockpilc chiring the mining
15 10.0 o f the pit. Material is stockpiled until all the material i n t l ~ epit is cxlrauslcd. Only at
I5 9.0
I6 6.4 11i;rt ~ n o ~ r t cdoes
n ~ the stockpile start to work as if it were ;I new push hack.
I6 3.5 The llrrec stockpile alternatives will now he applicd to tlrc earlier cxanlplc. T11c a1s1
17 10.0 involved with the stockpile is assu~nedto he %).225/lon. 'T11is is 45% 111the original mio-
iK 10.0
I9 100 ing cost. Tllis i l ~ ~ n r e n r cost
a l is $O.2O/ton lo cover nt;iteri;~lire-h:rndling ;mi $0.025/lon
20 2.2 Ibr increi~scdpit supervision, sampling, etc. 'She results i n m irltern;rlivc A ;are given in
70 7.8 'liihle 6.40. As c;~nbe seen lhc total profit is significantly l~iglrcrthan the no stockpilc
21 66
21 3 2 ;~ltcn~ativc. The NPV is only slightly higher bec;rusc tllc itiajw c ~ n t ~ l h ~ ti~ccurs
i u n L i r k in
22 10.0 t11e life of the properly. Table 6.41 i s a year-by-year brcakdow~roft!~cstockpilc content.
23 10.11 This is theoretical since one clearly would not keep so many sep;rr;ltc grade categories.
24 10.0
25 3.7 The results from alternative H arc shown in 'Sable 6.42. As can be seen the NPV
25 6.3 ;tnd the ondiscounted profits are better than without stockpiling. but not as good as for
26 7.2 ;tltcmative A , This is because the stockpile only starts to send ore lo the mill in year
26 2.6
27 loo 28. In the previous alternative, the ! k t lime that the srockpilc sends ore to the mill is
28 10.0 in year IS. Moreover, using material from the stockpile in years 28 Illrough 35 n u n s
29 Ill0 lh;~talmost all of the rnaterial in the stockpile is used. At llre end of year 40, mining
30 5.5 lhe remaining rrlaterial in the stockpile is not econo~iiicallyp~alilahleeven thougl~there
30 4.5
3I 7.8 is rnaterial in the stockpile between the grades of 0 2 3 % and 0.26%.
81 2.2 Alternative C (Table 6.43) has a better net present value and a better ondiscountcd
32 10.0 profit than witl~outstockpiling. This alternative also bas a sliglltly higher net present
33 10.0
34 10.0 value than alternative B, but smaller than alternative A. I:ronl an operational point of
35 100 view, this alternative has several advantages. It is not necessary to blend material as in
36 10.0 the production schedule generated by alternative A or to stop the n ~ i o eproduction for
37 10.0
38 100 8 years and then start to produce again, as in alternative H.
39 10.0 'She stockpile option should always be considered in opcn pit mine planning. The
40 10.0 potential contribution to the NPV depends upon each particular case. It is particularly
41 too
42 too dependent upon the spread between the highest and the lowest grades in the project
43 10.0 cutoff grade strategy. If that spread is signific:ml, the slockpile alternative should be
44 8.2 considered for the project.
-
"'Mineral from srwkpile.
 Csloll
gmle
('Yo CU)
~ ~~

0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
0.50
11.53
IKI
0.53
Ll.53
0.53
0.53
0.47
0.47
047
0.47
0.47
0.45
0.45
0.4 1
0.4 1
0.4 1
0.39
0.37
0.35
0.35
0.34
0.31
0.32
0.31
0.3
0.27
0.26
0.26
0.26
0.26
0.26
0.26
0.26
0.26
0.26
0.25
0.25
0.24
0.23
...
"'Mineral Imm stmkpilc.
Ctilnff Quallily Qurnlily
grxlc mind c~~~~ctw~lcd
(% C's) (lll"tl,ns) (lo" am)
I'mduction schetluling is a very ilrr[x)rl;~irtpxrl of the rnioing pmcess. This will be
derno~rslmtedtbrougl~;I simple example. Coi~siilcrlhc property shown ill 1:igure 6.28 in
wllich 10 ore blocks arc overlain by 10 wasre blocks.
A prodncliol~rate of 5 blocks per yew (irrespective of whether tile blocks arc ore or
waste) will be ;~ssun~cd. 'nit [let v;rlue for an ore hlock is $2 and the cost of renmving
tlrc waste is $I/hlock. 7'hc tot;ll cost i~~volietl i n w:~sceremov;~lw d r l be $10 and !he
use v;~lucis $20.
I f hot11 ore ;ind waste could he mi~letlinrt;~trt;~uco~~sly, the I I ~ present
I v:~lucwould he
$10. Iluwevcr clue to p~;~ctical conslfiri~~ts.they c;lono. 'I'hcrefurc ;I number oCscheduling
scenarios most he considered.

2. One yc(u ofprc-,s~rippirr~

.S~:e,r~~r-io fi>ilowed by /mlr ore (.< blo~:k.v/yerrr) m ~ dwnsre
(2 blor:ks/vear.) rnirrir~::
This ;~ltcrnalivewould require ntinirrg 5 blocks of waste ill ycar 1. In ycars 2 and 3 three
blocks of ore would be mined for every 1u.o blocks of waste. The final year would have
1 block of waste and 4 blocks of ore. 'l'he seq~~errcir~gis shown in Figure 6.30.
'l'hc net present value is now

Scerrorio 3. Miving qf wwrrsfeis rnnbrfnirred orre block drend i>fo,r

Comparing scenarios I and 2, there was an improvcmenr i n t l ~ cnet present value when
the lime lag between stripping and mining was shortened. In this third scenario, the
stripping will be kept only one block zihwd of ore mining, to make the time lag even
shorter. This is shown in Figure 6.31.

Pigum 6.28. Simple sequencing example

 ,,,,,,i,,,4 -.
.

I I! W]W I.wlw!wIWIwI!!T
~ ~ ~~ ~p ~~,
~p~

~~~~~~ ~~
n
77n
77

,,Y
, 0

~ 7 1 0 1 0 ~ 1 0 1 r ~ J o l o jv,o J7 o
J
2
,,
5 i
,
,
,, 717I
,
,,
, i
iI,
ii
,ii
,i,iii
,if, iifv JJ
,/, 1 year
~~ -$j

Year 3
v, $4
Your .i
v, - $1 0

Tile net pre$ent value 17

, D ~ ~ ~ ~ - [nnnzr
~
W W W W W W W
= $0.91 - i $2.07 t $1.88 t $2.73 = $7.50
-
0 0 0 0 0 0 0-a Year
v, -
1
$1 no

Srenuria 4: Slripping is mninroinc~dotlr Irrrlf block al~eadof ore rnining

A major improvement in the NPV was observed between scenarios 2 and 3. To explore
this further, consider the situation wlien the stripping lead is cut to one-half block
(Figure 6.32). iI
The NPV is I

This would appear to be tlle rriost favorable alternative of the four scenarios. However,
suppose that in reducing the stripping lead it is found that the operating costs for hot11
ore and waste increase by $O.OShlock, pcrllaps through lack of sufficient working spacc
or through neglect of drilling precision bccause of time pressures. Hence the cost for
waste removal incrcases to $1.05/hlock and the net ore revenue drops to $1.95/block. t:igsre 6.31. Mining sequence - scenmio 3
 ,m~-..l 1-~
'11~-71+-j~-
W W W W W W W W W rJm77r
W ,

J,m
7,l,

"
~-j~nu
rTm~
1,,5,1711
~-

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0, ,
,,
,n,
,
I

W W \ n / W W W W s
/,,,

-. . .....~~.
~
--

,,,,,,,"N,, ,,,,,iA

m/:
~~~
Year 0

Yc"~ 1
v, - $ 1 75

IS there 11x1 bccn no additional cost tl~cn

m(l sccn;~rio5 would have heen the most favorable.

I n summary, this very simple example has de~nonstraredsome important aspects of
lprmlucrion scheduling. The NI'V is dependent upon
I . 'She tilrrc interwl bctwecr~stripping a ~ ore
~ d mining. It is highest when the 1c;id
tiwe is short. With added costs associated wit11 shortening the lead time, howcvcr, there
The actti;il NPV IS
may or may not hi: an inqm~vementin N I T
2. 'l'lle pmduclion rate. h r the same unit cost, tl~ehighest NPV is ;ichieved witir the
highcst pruduction rate. With added costs will1 increasing produdion rate, there may or
~ o a yttot be an iniprovemcnt in NPV.

In thls case scenario 3 remains the inost attractive.

Scennrio I Mining rare douOled Several mining areas or niine phases, typically tl~reeor more, are active at any given
It has been suggested that with the purchae of inore equipment, the mining mtc could be time during the life of a mine. Of these, one or two would be in the process of being
increased to 10 blocks per year There would he ; ~ nincrease in the equipment ownership I stripped, another being mined for ore and the last nearing exhaustion. This section will
costs to he charged against hoth ore and waste l~oweverThe resulting values are: <lcscribe a procedure which can be used to l~elpsupcoce the phases so that the desired
ore stream is produced. The proccdure and the illustrative example have been adapted
Waste cost = $l.lO/block
from Mathieson (1982).
Ore revenue .- $l.9O/block The hypothetical deposit is shown in section in Figure 6.34. The orebody, located
Stripping will be kept one block ahead of ore mining as in scenario 3. in ruck type 2, is overlain by waste (rock type I). The planning scheduling will be
The scheduling is shown in Figure 6.33. described in a step-by-step malner.
The NPV is
I. The phases are first designed. The slope angles used are selected based upon initial
NI'V = -$2.50 $5.50 ..
- + -- -- geotechnical investigations. For this example it is assumed that the orebody is of uni-
$2,27 i-$4.55 = $6.82
(1.10)l (1.10) form grade. Hence the phases A tflrough I: (shown in Figure 6.35) have been designed,
As can hc seen scenario 3 remains the most favorable. subject to access constraints, to progressively mine tile 'next best' ore in terms of annual
stripping ratio.
 Ttwusitndr of loos
~~~.
~~ ~ -. ~

'K plwc
. --
'H' phase
p ~ ~ ~.
~ ~ - p ~ p ~

Waste Ore Wmc

A 15.MX) 900 2.7W I 08 I .OX

11 5,500 1.000 3.IlNl 124 2.32
C 7.51Xl 2.NN 7.600 3.04 5.36
D 12,800 3,800 12.500 5.00 10.36
li 18,200 4,900 IS.IM) 6.04 16.40
I; 22.000 4.500 I3.1XXI 5.20 21.60
Total 81.000 17.100 54,000 21.60

'Assuming an a!,sunl milling rarc of 2.500.000 tons

2. The ore-waste tonnage inventory by bench and plrase is determined. The detailed
results from the first 3 phases are given in Table 6.44. At this point the mining en-
gineer would 'mine' the ore on each successive bencti gradually stepping, in ordcr,
through the phases to meet the required annual mill production. Such an ore schedule
would typically be done using a hand calculator or ;m interactive desk top computer
I program. Each phase would have a different ore life since they were defined on operat-
I
ing rather than schedule constraints. The first trials would be bascd upon a fixed cutoff
i grade.
i
I I
3. For this simple example the overall phase quantities given in Table 6.45 will be used.
Normally those broken down bench-hy-bench (Table 6.44) would he considered.

4. Tl~esephases will be mined in sequence and no inter-phase blending will be considered

in this simple schedule. Each phase contains a tonnage of ore which must he exposed or
dcvclopcd prior lo the exhaustion of ore i n ~ mthe previous plr;lse. A 2.5 n~illionton per
ycar milling rate is asst~nred'This is divided into lhc ore tons available i n each phase
1 0 iletcrininc ph;~selife. A saw-tooth plot of ;lv;~ilahleom versus time is inade such as
is sllown i n 1:igorc 6.36a. This illustr;~testhe avnilahility ;ind depiction o i ore fsoin tlm
v:~riws

5. I'hc planner is now able to dcline the points in time at which ll~ewaste stripping
mast hc con~plefctlibr any given pliasc in order lo sustairr rlre ore supply. For phasc A
ore fxoduction lo commence, llrc IS inillion tons of waste lying above the lirst bench
must have lirst heen rcnroved. Ihring thc mining 01 Phase A there is in1 additional
900,000 tons of internal w;rstc assurnctl to be cveuly distributed and 'locked-up' with
t l ~ core. In order f k the l111asc 13 ore tn be availnl~lc,21,400,000 Ions of wasle must
be re~novcd'l'l~ecun~nlativew;~stctons vcssus time plot is shown i n Figure h.36R. 'The
vcnicnl steps in tlre plot correspond to the rcspcctivc ovcrhurclelr slrippiog qo;lntitics
ihove t l ~ cfirst ore hcnch of each plr;~se.'l'hc l;~ltcrsegments r q ~ r c s c ~the
~ l prqyessive
mining of irllernal waste.

6. I'hc ncxt slcp is lo arrive at a 'smoothctl' stripping sclreilule which exceeds the
rninimom A possible schedule is shown as the straight lint supcri~lrposedon Figurc 6.37.
I t consists of ;I I year prc-production period tolalling 20 million tons f<rllowcd hy a
c<rnsl;rntstrilrping rate of 5 inillion tons pci year thr(~ughyear IS. Beyond this only the
internal waste of phase I: scnmi~rs.

I'lre (1et;riled prcprorlnction stripping schedule is shown ill 1:igurc 0.38. It comists (112.5
n~illi(~n tons during the first ycar when thc crews nre hcing trained and equipment is
heirre delivcrc~l.1)uring yeus 2 and 3 the stripping ratc is 5 nill lion tonslyear. Finally
in y c x 4 the rate is increased to the total inaterial rate (ore plus waste) which will he
sustained nearly throughout tlrc remaining life. It can be seen from the figure that the
required slripping is cornplcted prior to the required time by various amounts.
Phase Early completion (nrontl~s)

TIME ( Y E A R S )

r'igun, 6.36. Developed ore and stripping schedules.

7. l'bc ioilial curve of developed ore versus time is now adjusted lo reflect the early phase A, the ore in the phase simply becomes available earlier. The cross hatched areas
completion of the stripping. This construction is shown in Figure 6.39. The cumulative indicate contingency ore available in the case that the stripping schedule falls behind.
stripping a d developed ore curves are used. For phase D one moves horizontally at The nrodilied developed ore curve represents the predicted inventory balance with time.
the required culnulative stripping level to the actual stripping curve. Then one proceeds A further acceleration of stripping is somnetimcs done in the trial scheduling process to
venic;~llyto the dcveloped ore curve. As can be seen there are approximately 2 mil- guard against possible surprises in mineable KCSerVeS. This can help to avoid:
lion tons of ore from phase A remaining. Due to the early dcveloplnent of phase B, - an unexpectd crash stripping program,
an additional 3.1 million tons of ore hecome available. 'She construcrion is simply to - a forced reduction in mill f e d ,
extend the slanted portion of the pllase B ore reserve upward until it meets the vcrtical - a temporary lowering of the cutoff grade to sustain planned concentrate production.
line from the stripping graph. This process is repeated for phases C through F. For
 3 -101 2 3 4 5 6 7 E
TIME (YEARS)

Figure 6.39. Constmction showing siodification of ore availability

8. With this thorough understanding of the orehody and its development options, (Ile pit
planner prcsents 11is/her findings to management.

9. Final mine plan period maps are drawn up to test the viability of the plan. Some
Figure 6.38. Preproduction stripping schrdulc. refrnen~entsin the rimnlping and phasing strategy, etc.. may be needed hut major changes
are unlikely.
 10. 'Ti, this point, a scrics of logical pit development plrascs have been defined based
1111 tlrc 'ncxl hest' profitable ore ;tnd ;I fixed cutoff. 'The plan can now he line tuned.
Allcrna~ivcore ;iod waste schedules h;~scdo n variat~leprodnctioo rate and cutofr grade
slr;ttcgies c a he ~ ile~clopcdusing the computed tonnage - grade inventories within each
s~~cccssivc phase. Such schedules can ll~enbc cornpared econornic;illy tl~roughst;tnd;ird
i n t c r ~ ~KOl<
; ~ l ;tnalysis. A visual comparison can be achicvctl hy pl~itlingcun~nl;~tive
operaling cash {low with tinre.

I I . Once 21 'linnl' production schedulc I I ; heen

~ decided upon, the planner generates a
scrics 01' period end plans. These ntigl~tbe for cx;~n~plc:
(:I) cnd of prep~oditctio~t,
(h) years 1-5 in yexly incre~ncnts,
(c) YCBIS I(). Is, C1C.
'I'licsc plms would be based on hollr the phase designs and the paper schedules. 'Tl~ey
woolil ci~nstitulea vital test on the mineability of the proposed plan. Shovel and drill
d c ~ ~ l o y ~ iand
~ c o:my
l intcmal tcrnporary ramping would also be co~tsidcrcdin detail.

111lr~idr~lim
111 1974, ilwnan (1974) descrihcd ;tn algoritl~m Tor dctcrmirring the optimum lnining
scqr~c~icc and pit limits pattcrncd after one originally pl-csenlctl by l.erchs & Grossroaon
(1005). The process will be derrx~nstl-atcdthrough the use of a 2-~lintension;dex;mple.
Figure 6.40 is a schematic rcl~resentatio~t of a slice through a hlock rrrodel.
AII index oumhcr reprcscnting the row and column position for cach block is assigned.
'The first s t y in thc process is to convert the grade block motlei intu as ccorto~nicblock
model. 'To assign the appropriate costs and revenues a decision most be n~adeat tl~is
point reg;irding the destination of cach block. Three possihiiitics might he:
mill,
-- leach dump, and
- - waste dump.
'The nct hlock value is detemiioed by subtracting the mining and processing costs from
the revenues. The mining costs we for the hlock alone and do not i ~ ~ c l u dstripping e
costs. 1:igore 6.41 shows the resulting economic block model. At this point a constraint
relating to the tir~alpit slope is introduced. Black Number
~ - l 3 l O Value
~ k
I : 771e pi1 wall s l o p mrry trot uceerl I : I rrf m y poirrr.
Co~r.srruili,~t
Applying tlte floating cone procedure introduced in the previous chapter one would
arrive at the final pit shown in Figure 6.42. This same result will be achieved using the Pigurc 6.41. Sclrccnstic of the ore deposit showing bluck ntrrnkn arid block values (I<om;m. 1474)

technique described in this section. The problem is to determine the sequence in which
the blocks sl~ouldbe mined so that the net present value for the section is a maximum.
the inverted triangle containing all blocks of positive value. This triangle shown in Fig-
seq~rence.To begin the sequence optimizing process, the economic block
The ~[~rirn~urr ure 6.43 has heen constructed in accord;uicc with constraint 1. An alternative procedure
model is scanned to determine the maxinium outline which tlte future pit could assume. woi~ldbe to select a hypothetical block (a hlock that does not exist) lying on or below
Obviously all of the positive blocks on the section must he included and the pit limit the lowest level or positive blocks. To simplify the discussion, the triangle approach has
slopes obcycd. The objective is to identify the location of the last hlock which might been used. There are 36 blocks included within the triangle. If each hlock corresponds
be mined. In this example, the last block has been selected as the bottom vatice of to a unit time period (of unspecilied length), 36 time periods are required to mine all of
 S ~ l ~ u n a01t ithe
I'igure h.42 ~ OIC depwil will, the l i ~ pit
l lintits 8s ddcbn~i$lerlusing Ihc lluating c o w

,.....,.
sqxrioqmsed. Block Number
Numb..
.
1:igarc 0.44 tllocks which initst lx retr~ovedprior lo inioing bhxk 36.

The thinl option (shown in Figure 6 . 4 5 ~ )of rnining block ( 7 5 ) in pcriotl 35 means
that both hlucks (8,s) and (6.5) had heen tnined cerlicr. 'This requires thal two scparatc
entries he n1;ule on level 5 thus violating coltstraint 2, llcncc this is no! an oplion.
In titne period 34 thcre are several chiices for the block to be rninctl depending upon
rlle block mined in pcliod 35. If the last two blocks mined are (6,s) and (7,h) tltcn the
possible sequences for the last 3 periods are

Diock Number
If%Biock Val".
I On the otlter hand if blocks (8.5) and (7.6) are mined last then the possiblc scqncnces
are:
I'igurc 6.43.Schematic of the ore dcpxii showing the i"aegle contaiaisg the maximsnr pit euperilnpuscil
(Roman. 1974).

These 6 possibilities are shown in Figure 6.46.

the blocks. Block (7.6) as seen in Figure 6.44 is the last one to be mined. It is mined in Sequences 2 and 4 however involve mining the same 3 blocks in just a different
period 36. In order to mine block (7.6) one must first mine blocks (6.5). (7.5) and ( 8 3 . order. An economic evaluation is perforn~edto determine the most attractive of the
At this point a second constraint, one regarding sequencing, will be introduced. two alternatives. 'The least attractive is dropped from funher consideration. Choosing an
Constraint 2: Each mining level ,nay be entered nr only one point.
With this constraint in place there are only two sequencing options for the mining of
blocks in time pcriods 35 ~ l 36:
~ d
1 Sequence 2: (8,5) -
interest ratc of 10% and discounting to the beginning of time period 34 one finds:
(6,5) 4 (7.6)

Option 1. Mine block (6.5) followed by block (7.6) (Figurc 6.45a).

Optiott 2. Mine block (8,5) followed by block (7.6) (Figurc 6.45b).
Pigure 6.46. I'orsilrle sequences for mising hlmks 14. 35. and 36.
Scqucncc 4 is llie 1e:ist attractive of tlic two aid is dmpped. 'Slrc five block coinbinatiolrs
ftx periods 34 lhrooglr 16 which inus1 he irrcluded when sequencing the remaining
33 periods are:
Scqucnce Mining order

'I'he mmaining cltoiccs for sequencing the fiiral Sour hlocks aftcr eliminating duplicate
co~nbinalio~lsoS blocks hy the prcsctit value ;tnalysis arc:
Mining order
(8,s) +
(9.4) - *
(7,5) ->
-
( 7 3 + (6,s) (7.6)
-

(8,5) (6,s) ( 7 6 )
+

(5.4) - , (6,s) - + (7,6)

(8,s) -+
(4.3) -
( 4-+
. -.(5.4) (6,s) --p (7.6)
(5.4) ( 6 5 ) + (7,6)
(7,s) + (8,5) ~+(7,O)
(10,3) - (9,4) + ( 8 3 + (7.6)
'This proccss is continued until all 36 blocks have been included. In this find stage the
various sequences will just he permutations of the same combination. Consequently the
optilnoin sequence can he determined through a present value calculation. Figure 6.47
slrows the section wit11 the 36 blocks numbered in the order that they are to be re-
moved.

Ll<~ter~?iiti<~tior~
of lhe opliniun~pit
Once the optimum sequence has been found, the pit outline can be developed. 'She
procetlore lor determining wlriclr of the 06 blocks in the optimum seqoeoce x e actually
to be mined is as follows:
1) Identify the last hlock in the optimum sequence with a positive value. Drop all
blocks after this one.
2) Examine the remaining sequence of blocks and identify the latcst negative block
scheduled for mining. If there are a number of negative blocks in a row select the exliest
i n the row. Determine the present worth for the sequence extending front identified
negative block to the end.
3 ) If the present value is negative, drop all these blocks from the optimum sequence
and repeat step 2. If the subsequence has a positive present value, replace the subsequence
hy an equivalent block value at the end of the sequence.
4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the first mined block is included in the subsequence.
The final present value is that of the optimum pit.
 plorirrrn~
I'roo'ucn~~~z

a. ulock Number and Sequence a. Block Number and Sequence

Block Number
a equ. ,c. NU
.,.
Block Number
sequence N.be.

b. Block Value and Sequence b. Block Value and Sequence

L'igurc 6.47. Schematic of the dcposit showing the oplirnum block mining sequence (Roman. 1974) Rgurc 6.48. The linul pit outline and optimum mining sequence (Roman. 1974)

Applying these rules to the example problem, it is seen that blocks 31 through 36, to 3 0 ) discounted to the beginning of period 26 is
which are all negative, are dropped by inspection. Continuing along thc sequence it is
seen that two adjacent hlocks (13,l) and (4.2) corresponding to mining periods 26 and
27 respectively, are negative. The net present value for this subsequence (blocks 26
Since it is positive, this subseq~~cncc,
relcrred to as subsequence SSI is ret;~irrcd.'l'l~c
next swilcll between negative and positive blocks occurs s f k r I>lr,ck 21. 'l'hc net present
value ibr the subsequcncc SS2 tbrougli to the bcginni~~g of pied 21 is

It is positive and 11c1icerevainetl. This process ofc;~lcolatingnet prcscnt value is continued

until the first block to be mined is included. 'nlc final pit is sllown i n I'igorc 6.48. The
overall NI'V for the pit on Ibis section is
NPV (overall) - $12.60
Simply summing tllc values o l the blocks included withi11lhc outlimxi yield

N s would he the result if tlic pit could be mined insmlt;~ncouslyat time zero

Tinre value offmorrcy it1/Itzettce

In tlie prcvious cx;ur~ple,a 10% disaxmt r;klc was ;~pplicrlin astiving ;it llrc optimunl
scquencc ;~ndpit. l'he queslion arises ;IS I I I the inlluence this rate has both on the
seqr~cr~ce end the final pit. Figure 6.49 shows the sectiirn 11) he rwxl will1 t l ~ erriaxirl~um
pit superi~npoxd.Using rlle tecl~niq~~es and constraints picviausly described tlrc pits
corresponding to l l ~ cuse of 5% 10%, 20%, end 50% ~lisc~rnnl rates arc sliown i n
1:ignies 6.50 tlimugll 6.53 rcspeaively. As car! hc scen. ;I delinits clfcct is obscrved, At
first glance it would appear that the reduction i n pit s i x bctween discount rates of 5 %
and 10% is irlcorrcct since the strip of blocks

Figure 6 5 1. Mining sapcnce and pi1 h i 1 for an irncresl rate of 10%(Koman. 1974)

e d a positive value ( ~ t - I ) .However when taking saluencing into account

when s u ~ ~ m Itas
the discounted value of this strip (at a rate of 10%) is

For higher discount rates this suh-sequence is even more negative.

The rate to be used depends upon a number of factors, the principal one being that of
company policy. In the early stages of a property, a high rate of return is generally desired
in order to repay the il~vestnrcntas quickly as possible. Later when the investment has
I'igure 6.49. Ily~~lhetiwl
dcvnit rhowing hhxk values and mimimum pit lirnitr (Komm, 1974) been repaid. anotller value may apply. Thus the procedure outlined is not intended to be
used just once in the life of a property and llle derived sequence to be followed without
 .I[1'1c.il1y end continu;tlly along any direction will require more computer time and storage
I

to evaluate. On the otber hand. adding constraints on tlle mining sequence tends to
sintpliSy the prohlcn~.If in tlie problem of sequencing the 36 hlocks comtraint 2 is
drop[)ed, the requiml corr~pulertime increases hy a Sictor of 30 and lhc storage by 20
11111,:s.
Rather tli;ln attempting to provide an overall optimum seque
corl\isting of many thousands of blocks, the miuc plan 111ay h
a serics of pl~ases.'l'lic sequencing procedure can then he applied to each of the phases
in tarn. In this way a series of sub-optimi-iatio~~s is realized. Being sub-optimizaliiins,
due csrc should bc taken in putting tl~csephases together, but it is possihle in pr;ictice
t u build up :I gr~odmine plan in this way.

I);~glclen (1985) lras applied the Lagrangian parametrization technique for optimum
opcn pit minc production scheduling. A full discussion of the procedure is heyond the
scope of tliis tcxthouk. An ultirnatc pit limit contour is first obtained using Lcrclis-
(i~ossntann's 3-11 ;tlgorithrn. A series of constraints si~clias: (a) mining capacity, (b)
milling c;q~:~city,(c) mill feed grade, (d) geometric (i.e. slope limitation), are then inlro-
<1rrcci1.
'l'lre program searches thmogh the set of candidate blocks and selects lllose yielding
a ni;txiolnm net present value for the deposit while meeting the constraints. 'The results
of applying tliis pmcedure to a small high grade copper deposit are included hcre to
clc~n<mstratc the effccl of changing constraints.
The gr;vlc block model (25 x 20 blocks) for benches 1 tl~rough6 of tliis deposit is
slmw~iin Figore 6.54. The pit limits obtained using a 45 degree slope constraint have
hccn superirnposctl. Each of the blocks has plan dimensions 100 ft x 100 St and the block
(bench) heiglit is 45 St. The assumptions made in tlie developnient of the economic block
uodel iae given in Table 6.46. The level by level statistics of reserves in the ultimate
pit limit contour are give11 in Table 6.47. The tonnage f'actor for both ore and waste is
12.0 ft3/ton, hence there are 37,500 tons of material per block. The overall material in
the pit consists of

Material Block Tuns Grade

Waste 505 18,937,500 0
change. Rather with changing conditions, it can be rerun on the blocks remaining at any
Ole 63 2,362,500 3.68% Cu
given time and a new optimum sequence developed.
Total 568 21,300,300 NA
Surnrnuty If all the material in the pit could be m i n d instantaneously then the net value (revenoes-
The described sequencing procedure is quite simple. Although the examples were 2- costs) would be about $57,632,000. It will be assumed to he mined over a 3 year period
dimensional in nature, programs containing the algorithm have been written for tlie instead. A discounting rate of 12.5% will be assumed. The precedence (order of mining)
true 3-dimensional pit problem. Changes in constraints on the mining sequence em and slope constraints which apply nre respectively
be incorporated relatively easily. In theory, tlle size of problem which can be handled - In order to remove a given block, overlying blocks in the cone of influence must
is unlimited. However as was seen in the 2-dimensional hand example, the nuntber be removed first.
of sequences to be considered increases rapidly as tlie number of hlocks contained io - Pit slopes may not cxcced the given maximum values (45" in this case).
the deposit increases. A relatively large and fast compoter is rcquired to perform the - Tlie bencli faces are considered to be vertical.
calculations for even a small deposit. A deposit for which ore characteristics fluctuate
 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
l o o 0 o l o o o o o l o 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 -0 - od

Pigurc 0.54. (iradc block m d e l with final pit limits superimposed. l l l c nurnlxr I dcnutcs waste with gnde Figure 6.54. (Continued)
0 (D;rg&d;llcn.19x5).

Consrruinr example I 2. Mine 21 ore blacks in period 2.

'l'he lint schedule will be made subject to the following ore mining (milling) capacity 3. Mine 23 ore blocks in period 3.
constraint: The problem is to schedule the operation such that the above restrictions are not violated
1. Mine 19 ore hlocks in period I . and, at the s a n e lime, the total discounted profits before tax are ntaxi~nized.The resulting
 Milling casts $2 20 1"' tun of irrc
Ssrclring. rcfisiog and starketing $0 25 per 11, 01 Cu
GkA $0 I 5 per ton clt ore

According to the schedule, very little stripping is required in ycar 1; the amount of
stripping is inore than doubled in year 2; and most of the stripping is done in year 3.
No cost adjustments have been made to reflect this scl~edule.The net present value of
Figure 6.54. (Continued) this schedule is

schedules are shown in Figure 6.55 and in Table 6.48. In Ftgurc 6.55, the nuinhers
indicate the period in which each block is scheduled to be mined.
The average grade of the ore mined is 3.7% Cu in the first year, goes up to 4.4% Cu Imposing yearly ore tonnage constraints on the system together with discounting reduced
in the second ycar and decreases to 3.0% Cu in year 3 (Table 6.49). the nct present value by $11,190,225.
 Bench 1

Ycar Ore era2 Ore Twnagc k~ul SR

(CX Cu, Wi,StC
- ~~~ ~ -

I 3.67
2 1MI 7X7.5iUl 5.175.000 5,962,5011 6.6
3 3 75 862.500 11.625.0(Kl 12.487.500 13.5
Total 2,362,500 IX.937.51XI 21 ,1130,tK)O 8.0

C.h.slrtzirrr e.u;im$e 2
I'or this cxamrk.. an additional restriction on mill feed grade is imposed together with
the ore mining =pacity constraints of the previous example; specifically:
1. Mine 19 ~ r blocks
c averaging 3.7% Cu in year 1.
2. Mine 21 ,:re blocks averaging 3.7% Cu in year 2.
3. Mine 23 ,;Eblacks averaging 3.7% Cu in year 3.
As indicated in %ire discussion of the ultimate pit reserves, the average gradc of the total
reserve within litr ultimate pi1 contour was 3.68% Cu. Hence, this new restriction is to
force the o p r m r m to mine as close to this avcrage grade as possible.
The optimum solution to the ahove mining system is depicted in Figure 6.56. The
numbers on thc afferent benches indicate the years in wliicli the block will be mined.
The summar: statistics by bench and year are given in Table 6.50. Figure 655. I'rop,rcd mining sequrnu: for years 1. 2 ond 3 under c~mrrraisrsct I (Ihgdillen. 1Y85).

All of the ci:mnaints are satisfied except for the average grade reqitirenient in year 2.
Bench 3
Bench 5

L'igure 6.55. (Continued).

f'igurc 6.55. (Continued).
Bench 1 Bench 3

jj.
0 0

Bench 2
 I n year 2 the average grade is 3.6% as conipared to the required 1.7%. l'hc reason for
this is a lick of available blocks. 'lU11e 6.51 s u ~ r t ~ ~ ~ ; ~tltc
r i zresults.
cs The NI'V for this
sclrcdulc, $45,920,335, is sligl~tlyless than that ohtaincd i n the previous c x n q k
This reduction is c;~oscdhy blending some of tlic low gr;ale irtaterial wit11 high grade
in period 2.
'f'bese example studies can be expanded to include otl~crconditions lo dctcr~nineh e
effects arrl costs of different constraints o n the system.

6 10 I'IJSH HACK IXSIGN

6.10.1 Irmwluction
'l'ltc lint step i n the practical planning process is tu break the ovc~mllpit resclvc into
nwre nlan;tgeahlc planning nnits. Thcsc onits ;ire commonly called sequences, cnpan-
sior~s,plrases, working pits, slices or push b;lcks. In the hcginning quite coarse divisions
covering periods of several ycars may be used. They are a preliminary atlcr~tlrtto re1:tte
tlrc geometry of tttining
to
the geometry of the ore distribution.
I'lr;~se planning should commence wit11 mining that ~ ~ o r t i oofo the orchocly wllich will
yield tlrc inaxirrtom caslr flow. Succeeding phascs are odered with respect to tlrcir caslr
Ilow contribution 1:vcrrtually the ultirrintc pit limits are reaclred.
By studying tlic ore grade distribution (particularly as depicted o n bencll plans) and the
topography the mining engineer can, in rnost cascs, arrive at a logical pit development
strategy in a rclativcly short time. f;igurc 6.57 sh)ws a two di~r~errsional representation
of the phases used to cxtlact an ore reserve (Mathiesoir, 1382). The exlracrion sequence
p~ocecdsfro~nthat phase having the highest average prolit ratio (AI'R) to tlte lowest. In
this case tl~eyproceed in alphahetical order A to ( i .
Revenue
Profit ratio =
All costs
Tlte incremental profit ratio, computed at the fi~valpit boundary is I
A basic overview of the steps involved in phase planning (Mathieson, 1982) are
indicted below. Tltesc will he expanded upon in the succeeding sections.

1. Before design work is initiated some prelirni~taryjudgements most he made regarding

- the probable msximum ore and waste mining rate required in a given phase,
- the sizc and type of equipment to be used. This determines the required minimum
operating bench width necessary,
- appropriate working, interramp, and final slope angles.

2. Using the constraints given in step 1, the mining engineer then proceeds to design a
series of phases in some detail, complete with haul roads. He ensures that ramp access
to each active bcnclt is provided. The transition between phases is carefully planned.
Figure 6.56. (Continued) The designer is not constmined by having to include a certain quantity or number of
years of ore supply in each phase. ' R e variable ore and waste quantities by phase will
be subsequently scheduled.
 Minimum Phare diffemrces 1,ctween operating ;old ultirnate pit skrpes. Of p;~rticulnrinterest should be
Operalinp
-+ Wldth P
locating high ore grade and low stripping zones on level plan maps and cross-sections.
- Marrual pl;~noitlgmethods are essentially trial and error approaches.

! 2. 1'l;inoing goals typically comprise one or inore 01' thc following:

j - Maxilnize NPV economics.

- I'rovidc slahle cas11 flow pallerns.

Ilnifornl are gr;de, grade decline curve, or high gr;aling. I:requcntly high gratlirig
is used during thc initial investment pay back period. 'The lcvel(s) o l ore grade will be
rc1:tlcd to tlic cutolf criteria.
- Uniform stripping ratio or classic stripping ratio cwvc.

- Unilorln total tonnage r;lte (ore I waslc).

APR :Average Profit Ratio

~ IJnif~rn,orc tonn;~gcrate.
liuilbrm or var-i;~hlcrate of product outpol.
profit ratio =! v
m
IPR = Incremental Profit Ratio ah cortr I
3. Opxtting design criteria for push back design:
- Operating and rcmn;rnt bench widths.
- S l q ~ e s l x t w c e noperating benchcs :~ndmads.
- Overall operaling slope.

Ilmd widths and grades.

3. Once complete, the phase designs are transferred onto thc hencl~plans. Bench by
- Hcnch heighl.
bench tonnages and grades arc evaluated. A tonnage-gradc inventory Sor each phase of
Snnre typic;il v;~lncs;KC 21s fbllows:
tlte logically dcfincd pit development sequence is t l ~ c lav;til;lhle.
~
Ilctr~n;~nt bench width equd to bencll height.
- I'ush back widths nomi:rlly 200-500 ft depending on size of pit iuld orelmiy char-
4. The last task is to detcrmine annual mining schedules hascd on mill fecd or product
rctpirerncnts. actc~istics.
- Mioimuw p~lsh back widths (single cut passes) about 80 it for srnall cquiprnent and
It may be neczssary to repeat this process several times before an adequate plm is 135-150 ft for 25-30 yd shovels and 150-200 ton trucks.
developed. -Road widths 50-80 ft depending on width of equipment. Maximum road grade 8-
The dcveloprner~tof phases rrvakcs it possible to determine tlle amount of pre-produc- 12 percent.
tion stripping required. Although the naturnl tendency is to keep the amount of such
stripping to a minimum since it appears as ;I major negative cash [low early in the 4. I,;tying out of one to several push backs. Evaluating whether they satisfy the goals.
individually and collectively, is a more or less cut and try process. Nornially a push
mining process, it is important that enough work he done to (1) expose a sustaining ore
supply, and (2) keep the mine in a condition that allows it to be operated efficiently hack is laid out according to the operating criteria in plan and cross-section views.
at all tirnes. Sometimes the preproduction work is contracted. IIowever, io new large 'l'hc plan view approach is used here. The operating criteria are expressed in geometric
tonnage truck-shovel mines, the pre-production period provides an opportunity to build pramctcrs (Cect and degrees). A useful tool is to make a scilled bench crest and toe
an organizatio~~ and to gain operating experience. pattcm including operating bench and road widths.

5. The push backs are shown on plan view maps as a progression of nrovelncnts of
6.10.2 The husk manual sreps hencll level toes and crests from initial topography to ultimate pit limit (see Fig. 6.58).
New levels are created as the push back progresses at the pit rim and at the bottom.
Tlris series of steps in manual push hack design has been provided by Crawford (1989a).
New hottorn levels are established on the basis of miui~numlevel size atid ore grades.
Normally, new bottom levels are encouraged by the need to hold stripping at reasonable
1. Start with ultimate pit limit design.
levels. lo addition to pit geometry, ore/waste interface lines for the selcctul ore cutoff
- Develop detailed data of ore grade and stripping distributiorrs for various cutoff
must be plotted.
grades in zones around the designed pit circumference and in pit shell progression
between the beginning surface topography (or pit surfice) and the design pit limit. These 6. Calculations of volumes of ore and waste are done using a planimeter to nleasure
data should include locations of ore zones (these vary with cutoff) and the impact of the j
! areas. and the average grades within push backs are determined. The volu~~les
of material
 6.10.3 Mrinrrol prrsh h a d rlcsigrr ext~nrple
'I'lris scction describes the construction procedure itrvolvccl i r i designing :I push back
to[:ctlrer with llic layout of the main haul:~ge nmd. An initial Phase I pit (Figtwc 6.59)

I
!
already exists (Mathieson, 1982). 'Ihc ihll~~wing
- The bench toe lincs are shown.
Llcocl~Ircight = 45 it.
information applies:

'lbc-toc dist:urce = 40 ft.

- I<oad widtlr -. 120 ft.
Road grndc = 10%.
1:..IILIUI cxi~mi~iali~rr
of the 11e1ichplans and tlre sections llavc i~idicatcdthat the push back
s1111uldinvolve the south and cast purtiori of the pit. Tlre notlh ;~ndnortheast sections
of the pit togctlrer wit11 its portion of the haulmad will remain nnclrangcd. l'hc li~ral
pit dcsigt~fix I'liase 11 must conli~rmwith this cuncot geo~rrctry.It has becrr decided
t l i i ~ lthe wiiltl~of the push back slrould bc 320 ft. 'L'liis is a nn~ltiplcof tlic hasic 40 St
dimension and i~~ovidcs tlrc desired
tonnage for ttre phase, and
operating space.
1:igure 6.60 sl~owsttte basic push hack area and the region w h e ~ eno changes will occur.
'flrc toc of tlie hottrm he~iclrhas been descrihcd by a series of straight line segriicnts.
It is trot rlecessary that they be straight li~rcshut tlris facilitates the construcriorr for tlis
cxiimplc. In 1:igurc 6.61, that of the I'hase I pit involved dircctly i n the pus11 back
has 11cen ICIIIOVC~. Sectors A and H will be modilied for a srriooth transition into the
new pit. 111 Kgorc 0.62 the initial constmction lines arc shown. I,ines a-b and c-d are
drawn ;it the desired push back distance of 320 St pxalicl to ihe existing pit hottcxn
to be re~rrovcdfrom each bench are based on the average of tlre areas crrcorrrpassed hy lines. Li~res&:I and 11-c which form the pit corners are drawn at 45". They are parallel to
the nrovements of the bench crest and toe from initial to ncw position by a push hack, tlic corrcspoodiog lines of the current pit and at a distancr of 320 St. Line d-c has bcco
and the average bench height for tlre zone coveral. Ore ittrd waste volumes are calculated (l~awnas slwwo recognizing that the pit will becorne more elongated in the east-west
separately. The average ore grade is determined 11y averaging the block values within direction on that side. In Figure 6.63 the initial attempt at a pit bottom desigrr is shown.
1 The transitional sectors A and B havc been removed from the drawing. To assist in
the ore zones. in multiple push backs a push back serves as the initial location for a
sobscqocnt pesh back. The calculated values arc evaluated against the various goals for
1 constructing tlre upper bench from this base pit, lines have been drawn at the ends of
i
:~cccptat~ility
of the individual push hack or series of push hacks. i the line scgnierrts perperrdicular to the segment. This is shown in Figure 6.64 Frorn
each corner a line bisecting the angle described by the two radiating lines is drawn.
7. l-:or plan view calculations, the planimeter is used to dclermine t l ~ eareas of crest
and toe movernents; corntnonly called crest to crest and toe to toe calculations. If the
pit geometry is sufficiently regular only the toe to toe calculatiotr rrlay he necessary. To
achieve accurate results, the calculation of volunres for new levels at the pit rim or at the
bottom, along irregular pit rim elevations, for roads, at the ultimate pit intercept and for
irregular bench heights require special planimeter techniques. The key is to divide up the
volumes to be calculated into rectangular, parallelogram type solids with Bat tops and
bottoms and reliable average heights. The areas to he calculatul must he closed polygons.
'The gcornetric layout prior to calculation is critical for accurate results. All the henchcs
and roads must be described in the form of crests, toes, arid average heights. Each
bench and its related parts are calculated separately. Frequently, the drawing of a few
cross-sections is helpful to keep the plan view drawing from becoming too confusing. Figure 6.59. The Phase I pit with haulage
mad (Malhicron. 1982).
 No Change-

I'igurc 6.61. ' 1 1 initial

~ design lor the bot-
lotn of llte f'hasc I1 pit.

------ Figurcs 6.67 and 6.68 show the extension of the road down to the pit floor. lo Figure 6.68
i t can be seen that material in sector C must be mined to allow the road to daylight. A
straigllt stretch having a length of one road width (120 ft) is added (Fig. 6.69). From
t'ignrc 6.61. The push back section removed. Scccors A and B arc irmritioit rcgioos.
I this point (g), three segments g-h, h-i, and i-d have been drawn connecting to segment
d-e. This provides the trucks with smooth access to the pit bottom and facilitates future
road extension as the pit is deepened. As before, the bisecting lines are drawn from
This is shown by the heavy lines in Figore 6.65. A series of lines spaccd at 40 ft (the the segment corncrs (Fig. 6.70). In Figure 6.71, the parallel bench lines are added and
toe-toe distance) are drawn parallcl to those of the pit bottom. They are extended to the lower design is completed. As can be seen in Figure 6.71, there is no access to the
join those of the existing pit (if appropriate) or to the corner lines. The drawing of the upper henchcs on the southeast side of the pit. This is corrected in Figure 6.72 by the
lines for the right hand side of the pit bas been delayed pending the extension of the addition of a road. The intersection of the Phase I1 pit with the surface topography is
haulroad. In Figure 6.66, haulroad extension is showrr. Due to the 10% grade and lhe also shown.
45 ft bench height, the distance between the adjacent road elevation lines shown is 450 Ft. With a workable design completed, one can now examine the tonnages involved. This
is done on a bench by bench basis. Figure 6.73 shows tl?s resulting bench geometry
 Production plrrrrtrinfi 609

/ I \ along the south sidc of ltic pit.

To save time. the contiguous blocks of the same grade are first identilied. The area
changes between the Phase I and Phase 11 pits. Figure 6.74 is the grade block model involved is deterrnined using a planimeter. The number of square inches obtained is
for bench 3835 with the toe lines for the Phase I and I1 pits superimposed. The next wrioen on the bench map (see Fig. 6.75). Next the areas of the individual whole o r
step in the process is to detern~inethe grade-tonnage distribution for each level. Each of partial blocks are found. Thesc values are also entered on to the map. A summary sheet
the co~npleteblocks in the block model has plan dimensions 100 11 x 100 ft. For these, such as shown in Table 6.52 is prepared for t l ~ ebench. The planirnetered areas (inz) are
since the scale used is 1'' = 200 ft, the block plan area is 0.25 in2. llowever, in viewing converted into square feet (ft2) using the scale factor and then into tons via the bench
Figure 6.74 it can be seen that height (45 ft) and the tonnage factor (12.5 ft3/ton). Hence
-- the toe lines create many partial blocks.
- there are often several adjacent block with the same grade.
2M) ft x 2 w ft x 45 ft = 144,000 tons
1 in2 area =
12.5 ft3/ton
 Figure 6.69 I'inill segments added Figure 6.71. Koad lo pit b t l o m
to the pi1 botlom.

This conversion factor is applied to the areas in Table 6.52.

The total area on this bench involved in phasc 11 mining is 17.57 in2 hence the tonnage Expressed in this form it is quite easy to summarize thc overall results from the entire
is push back. Applying one or more cutoff grades, the amount of material falling in each
category is found.
Tons = 17.57 in2 x 144,000 tonslin2 These results unfortunately may be unacceptable. For example, the overall stripping
= 2,530,080 tons ratio might bc too high, the average grade too low, the tonnage too low, ctc. Another
Sonietinies grade classes are used. In Table 6.53 an interval of 0.05% Cu has been push back design must then be done in the same fashion. I:veotually an acceptable plan
employed. will emerge.
 I1 is obviously possible to evaluate v.uious push back options without going lo the
trouhlc of including tlre haulroads. IIowcver, a considerable ;onount of material is in-
volved in later adding such a road t o the design and the results can chiknge markedly.

1irixle I'lnn a r m Tbos (:iailc l%,n area Ibss 5.10.4 7imc period plans
(% fit) (in1) (10') (9% Cu) (ic2) (109
~
.
Mirst of tlre pi1 p!anner's work (Couzerrs, 1979) is done o n plan o r lxnch rnaps. These
028 0.15 5.8
0.10 0.15 131.0 strow:
0.31 0.24 34.6 0.65 0. I 6 23.0 - tnpograplry o r surface contour,
0.3'1 0.08 11.5 0.66 0.25 36.0 - localiorr o f ore,
035 0.25 16.0 0.67 1.22 175.7 - geologic boundaries, and
0.36 0.65 93.6 0.68 02.3 33.1
- design limits.
0.38 0.06 8.6 11.70 0.56 80.6
0.3') 0.55 79.2 0.71 0.07 10.1 I'it composite maps sllowing the shape of the mine at tlrc cnd o f each planning period
0.40 0.27 18.9 11.74 0.25 36.0 should be kept up. These enable the planner to:
0.41 0.20 28.8 0.75 1.53 220.3 - avoid conflicts between features o f the plan,
0.42 0.30 43.2 0.76 0.53 76.3 - provide a picture of the access at each stage of developnrcnt,
0.45 0.25 36.0 0.78 0.17 24.5
-- illustrate the actual working-slopes, operating room and spacial relationships be-
0.~6 no1 1.4 0.80 0.25 36.0
0.48 1.33 191.5 0.81 0.02 2.9 tweeir ore and waste.
0.49 0.70 I W.8 0.82 0.50 72.0 'The transition from phase plans to time period plans slrould be made as soon as the
0.50 0.82 118.1 11.83 0.25 36.0 phase designs are complete enough to set the overall pattern. T h e yearly plans:
0.53 0.21 30.2 0.86 11.25 36.0 -Enable definite production goals t o he set in space as well a s in quantities o f material
0.54 0.25 36.0 0.88 0.37 53.3 to b e moved.
0.55 0.04 5.8 0.89 0.44 63.4
0.56 1.20 172.8 0.W 001 1.4 - Allow better economic evaluations than the phase average provide.
0.58 0.20 28.8 0.9 1 0.07 10.1 - Give a better definition of the relationship of the phascs to cach other as they
0.60 0.04 5.8 0.92 0.32 46.1 overlap in the complete mine operation. They show actiral operating slopes and haulage
0.61 0.21 30.2 0.93 0.37 53.3 routes.
0.62 0.96 138.2 0.94 0.21 30.2 Figures 5.76, 6.77, and 6.78 show such a 3-year progression of benches in a n open
.. ~~~~.
,

pit mine (Couzens. 1979).

 37w
a. Bench 3700 I e. Bench 3880

/-
b. Bench

-
f. Bench 3925 I

b_j_Ob~t

c. Bench 3790 I

d. Bench 3835 I
I I
u(

I ? ,

Figwe 6.73. A m mine by bench be-

tween Pllnrcr I and 11. Figure 6.73. (Continued)
h I6 O [ Jpil
~ fninc p l m n f ~ ~(1r1d
g i1c.sig11: / ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ l ~ ~ r ~ r ~ ! ~ ~ r ~ ~ l , ~

h. Bench 4015
I

't'bc ~nidbcnchcontours have been plolted. The 11;1olmads,stripping areas and part of
the waste dumps are also shown. In this syslern the labelling of elevations is as follows
(Couzens, 1979):

(;I) Outsitle 01' tlre pit the contours are lahelletl wit11 tllcir !me elevalions.

(h) lnside of the pit:

- l'lrc labeled elevations refer to the bench toe elevations.
-- Tllc elevations of bench centerlines are one-half t k bench height above the bench
toe elevation. Thus it is the fiat areas between center lines tlrat are labelled.
- - 011 ramps, the bench centerlines cross the ramp halfway between benches. The
labels are positioned at would be the actual bench elevation on the mad.
- For more explanation of the labelling, (see Section 4.7).

At an operating rnine there will be a number ofdifrerent plans covering different periods.
The engineering staff is generally responsible for:
- annual ore reserve estimation,
- yearly or multi-yearly plans regarding the progression of the pit, changes in haul
roads, ctc.,
- quarterly plans, and
- monthly plans.
l'igure 6.76, Bench composite for year I (Courens, 1979) l'rgerr 6.77. k w h cornpesife for year 2 (Couzens, 1979).

The operating staff develop:

-weekly plans, and
--daily plans Once phase plans have been developed, equipment fleet requirentents car1 he examined
within the longer range framework. (Couzens, 1979). A graph showing the total tonnage movenient and wastelore ratios
can be prepared. On such a graph, the planner can see what must he done to adjust
 Producttan Y e a r Scsle
%" I- r+ mb. :+ a-? ,b.

cumulative Ore Tonnage Scale

- good ore exposure, and

- good operating conditions.
'The amount of waste to be removed was determined by these cwiditions and as a re-
sult the wastelore ratios vary. For the heavy stripping perioil, years 2-13, the average
wasteli~reratio is 1.76. One attempt at replanning has heeo done in 1:igure 6.80. 'The
peaks have been redistributed both earlier and later from their origioal positions.
Figulr 6.81 illustrates a type of production scheduling graph. Thc various relation-
ships between total tonnage movement, ore requirements, waste ratio, and shovel shifts
are shown. A presentation to management of this type makes it possihle to commu-
Pigurc 6.78 Bench conlposite for ycar 3 (Cuuzens. 1979). nicate the mining schedule better than just bare slatements of tonnage and wastefore
ratios.

or smooth out the production. Figure 6.79 shows such a graph for a trial mining plan 6.10.6 Other plnriuing corzsideratiorls
before smoothing has occurred. In &is case the n~illingrake was constant and the plan I)urnp planning is also a paxi of the mine planners job (Couzens, 1979). ?bere are a
was worked out to achieve: nornhcr of factors which enter the scene at this stage:
- a good blend of ore,
- length of hauls.
 I-;-

o :
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 30 more years

Production Years

OK ,*<a

Production Y e a r Scale

bc impouridcd. treatcd, or rccycled? Water itffects thsting, cquip~nentopc:ation a i d

n~aintennnce,road construction and sometimes even ore quality. It is diflicult to operate
with much water in the pit. Water also has an adverse effect on slope stability. To
rnamlge the water, ditches, draius andlor dewatering systems may have to bc included
in the planning.
-- the required lifts,
lu s u m n a y , mine planning includes a rather wide spectrum of activities. It must be
-the relationship between dumps and property constraints, other iostall;itions, drainage, done carefully and thoroughly if the mine operation is to be successful.
etc.. and
- rcclamatioo and environmental requirements. 6 I I THE MINI': PLANNING AND DESIGN PROCESS - SUMMARY AND
Pit planning should include an estirnate oC where the dunips ace going to be at each CLOSING REMARKS
stage. Tliis should be done in connection with tllc haulage study. T11e planner can look
at the trade-off between an additional lift and a longer haul. Dump planning can have In this last section of this last chapter of P'ut I, it is appropriate and necessary to try
an important hearing on pit planning, particularly in the haulage layout, scl~edulingand and provide a perspective or helicopter view of the mine planning and design pro-
equipment estimating areas. cess. The individual component parts described in the preceding chapters and sections
Water management planning forms a part of overall mine planning. In new pit design must be knit together if they are to furiction as a whole and produce the desired mine
it is important to estimate the amount of expected water This can he done by looking design.
at rainfall records, drill logs and hydrologic reports. 'rable 6.54 developed by Crawford (198Yb) is a very useful summary of the steps
Streams or even dry arroyos coming into the pit area may have to be diverted in order which one goes through with a new orebody. In examining an expansion of a cur-
to avoid bringing surface water into the pit. rent mine. some si~nplificationsarise due to the availability of better initial data. The
For environmental reasons the planner may have to consider what llappens to water steps arc, however, basically the same. The iterative nature of the planning and de-
that is removed from the pit. Can it be discharged into nat~~ral drain;ige or must it sign process has been very aptly termed circular analysis by Dohm (1979). 'The pro-
 Flnanclal
Optlmlzatlon

Ore Reserve
Analysls

Equipment and
Facllltles

cess and the included components are simply ;md tather elegantly presented in Fig-
ure 6.82.
Except for the si~nplestcases, there are often a large nomber of different comhi-
nations which are both possible and redistic. Of fhcse, there is a strlall subset which world's mineral requirements at reasonable cost under ever more strirlgenl regulatiotls
would be acceptable. Eventually one must arrive at R 'hest' few. i3ased upon te.chnical, will require the best minds and mines. Gliickduf!
political, company cultural, or other reasons, one of these is eventually selected and the
dcvelopnient phase is entered.
'I'he rapid advances which have bceti made in the power, speed and friendliness of
computerized design tools over the past few years havc produced major cbangcs in the Anooymuus 1990. Orelvxly modcling and mine planning soClwarc. M i , ~ i , ~Engirrcrring
g 42(X): 976-981.
Appiah, PB. & J.R. Sturgul 1992. Optimal mine operating strategy for a nuclusting pace. Inr. I . Sutfoface
activities performed by mining cngineers in modern mining cornpenies.
Mining orid Rrclmnario,t 60): 121-128.
Largely relieved of routine l~unlbercrunching antl drafting, the desigdplanning en- Arioglu, E. 1988. Exarninatiun of empiticat formulae for preilicring opticrlunr mint output. i h m lrrrrn. Min.
gineer can focus on the task - problem solving - for which helsl~chas been edu- Meloll. (Sect. A: M i o I r d w l r y ) 910): AS4-ASS.
catefltrained. Creative alternative solutions must be identified, developed and evaluated CLxnes. K.J.& L. Benmnd 19%. Operational ordwarre clasificaliun at a surface gold mine, kr, lourno1 of
and recomtnendations made regarding an action path, if companies are to survive in a Surfare Mitting nrul Heclancnlion 4: 26-29.
very competitive world. There should and must be solne time for dreaming, perhaps not Ilelobgrairliclt. W . R.G. Tmmbly & R.K. Dnvey 1979. Computer-;irsistullong-ninge mine planning practices
the 'Iinpossibie Dream' but of innovative solutions to tllc tough problems facing mining
-
at Ray Mincc Division Kconecott Capper Cor~ration. C6mpurer Merlmds for the 8 J r . (A. Weiss, editor):
349.358 New York: SME.
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Lkcirio,~~Making in the Mineral Indtmry. CIM Spcivl Volunrc No. 12. Montreal: 261-269.
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~ ~ t ~fizgin~eritzg
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ttsxlcl. 1'mi.rriGag.s A P W M 21. (A. Wciss. editor): 521-528. SMB. ,,
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I n ~ i r w ~ i n 42(4):
h. 343-344.
lIs11. C.1. 1'487. L)iscassion of 'An oxn-nit . . vrxluaios
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NO.
1 ; K G . 1980. Relationship between om rcscrvc. mill feed ;~ndrcal amsages and gradcs. lo.sor. of
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~. M i m Mernll. (Sect A:
Min. Industry) 95: A203-204.
 toes and c m l r 31 1-317
hcscfils. workcr 140
benn
~ncdias257.351353
parallcl350-35 1
sufely 255-256
HingbsmCanyoc~Mine X111.99~
101. 161
hllrck
dirncnrioes 2 14
wcrsgc n s w s l investnwm c o s ~ gnide assigsrnem 214.248
(AAIC) 12')-130 grid 216
;Ivcragc :cpmlilrario (APR] MI.602 !tmlclr 21&222
;woinlapoir weiebl59 aize214
A,\l, fon.ul;, 129 versus point reprerestation
A A l C f ~ ~ r m o130
ln 214-216
at-n?isc-rcvenul: (AMR)79 block mntlclling
basic smcltcr rrlurn 77 ~srigningvalues 4tXl-402
bearing czlpacily 34 1-342 ecanomic400-442
bcmhcumposites 168 hl~rkseqaescing
Ileilcl,. geo,,,crry I.agrangias prrucncsiratios
rltcrrmivc designs 257.259 589-594
back break 253 set dynamic progranuning
bask widlh253.254 576489
bench fluor253 briuxh 431
bcttcl, width 253 brenkevcu grade
crest 253.31 1 k t w e e n milling and leaching
~1253,284 ~
547-550~..
deliaitians 252-259 (is:&l pit lirnilr 376-386, 391
face angle 253.254.287 breakeve$,stripping ratio
hcigh1253-257 calculation 369-373
tncdirn linedj13-321 rlcfinilion 171
~

overbreak 253 Bureau of Land Management

plan representation 31 1-321 (ELM) 28
safelylcatch hcncl! 254-255. California bearing ratio (CBI1) 341
282-284 043
sclcclion259-26C capital cost, inclusion i n h l m k
1% 251,311 nlnlel497-500
working bench 253,254,284 cash flow
calculation praceas 53
calculationr 484~497
can>poncnLSs3
deliailion47
 I.crchs~C~mrsmran, 2'&D
nlgorithm422-427
I~rclts-Gmrsmann.3.1) algariths~
description 427-433
example 433-442
L ~ r c l ~ ~ ~ G r n s s3-1)m aalgorill~s,.
~~n
tcnns acid casccpts
i x t s 428-43 1
IOS tei.hsique 2211-225 hrandl 43 1
I,,COIIIC t i l X clraiu 431
fcdi~al489.4'15 circeil431
s w r 494 closure431
,~,~rm,c,~I81 li,,;u,m,I m l y ~ i s cycle431
h;!s>crStX1~504 dimclnl graph 430
pl;~sl\irir~~:exa,splc504-512 grapll430
~sdrner,i;thles or llraxinlulll closure 431
co*, 97 1uh4 1
I N K 97 mot 43 1
pnxlacer price 99 s e b g ~ q420
~l~
p,o<l"cti"ity It11 tree ~utling4411-441
illrt;lnl;,ilcailr rtrippisg ralio tree 431
urlcu1;~tion368~373 tieeconstruclion 432~439
cxamplc 3 0 - 3 7 3 twig432
minerals 173 islcrmci1i;ae v;lluation report lcvel plans 396-397
r w k s 174 coiucst 13 linear i n ~ e q m l r ~ i n218
n
lechniqncs iordetcnnining hcc~ioes12. 14 logging, drill Cole 145
173.174 l l t l ~ l l l lIkvclll%c
l SCTY~CC(IRS) hu, dcfinilion 55
dcple~ion clcrcriplic,s 402-4M dcvrlnp~t~cnl definilim 54
cost 50 cxample 403-408 rnplor;~liosdelinition54
cxamplc 52-58.4'14-495 1ni~risgcolrlbinations408-410 I I I t C l l > ~ ! i l l i111151
~~
pcrccnlage 511 . , ~~roblemcomhiwtior~r 41 1-413 isversc distance 220
rater 5 1 1Ewinnweai;~I1mp;a.l Scaic~ uspn~litahleextensions410- irwerrc dlsrmcc m a power 220
"nil 50 mcut ( I l S ) 29, 37 41 1 uwcrw disli!c:c(l squsr~tl(IDS)
d~pic~ii~cio~~ Linvirc;ssicmrl I'mtectiou FOH, delinition Nl 220~225
cxmnple 48'). 493.494, 51XI Agency (El'A) 33 Ioiecasting. price 68 1,sc.s 218
rkr;iigbI lisc47-49 National Environmental l'dicy freight rates a - 6 1
ilevclopmeet ACL(NEPA) 29 friction anglcs 300
definition 2 csv~roomcstrlplasuisg icisgcknefils 135
IUS delinilion 54 ieitirlev;kluiltinn 373') Irooi. mining 265-267.270-274
dcvclopmcr,l. studies seclions 157-162
pcrnurr and ;approvalr 411~42 IronLd cuts 274-276
conceplual 12 t y p s 147-149, I51
rlrrlcgy 39-40 i w m wonla 44 ' conccpr 238-242 8eate"al destinations
fcasil~ility12 learn40
"reliminaly 12 geologic planning information I62 cirmplc242-248 considentions 544-545
etluilllllelkr llcet rr'qoiretncms 620-
rle Wijriim tncdel235-237 gcosriltistics prdclicul considerations 248 cutorfgrade (s) 373.544~545
621
Jirccrsnted cash llow (DCI:) 47 cells 230 in pit tnatetials 399
1.21 M;~nclm.Man o f X l l l
dircountisg 47 cxamplc 230-235 Icsch dump u1l;malive 545~55Il
lagdistaoce220-230
drstributi~mr lag distance 229 stockpile allemalive
1;agiasgc multipliers 241
grade 224 log n u m ~ sdistribution
l 228 550-564
1;mdfunn reclamation 36
Iognritlmic 226 nugget e f f e ~ t 2 3 2 Mittheron (splterical) model 2 3 4 ~
Lases rlgo"lltn,
nonnal22h rnngcofsmplc influence 229. 236
applied to stockpiling553-564
douhle kochcs 255-256 771 medianliner. bench 314-320.394
cqurlion dcveloprnent 5 17-525
drill hole m i l l recovery 93,373
illuslrativecnarnple 515-516
iron clrc cnample 178- 186 mill(e) levy 488.492
model clefinition 513-515
log 163-1(* ,let present value maxinlimlion
mine development plmses 5
tmolyhdenum example I66 mine life
525.544
plolliug 159-I(fi grade conccpls466.476
leachisg
drive~hycuts 276 anirutmpy 221,234,238 example, small copper dcposic
copper cxamplc 545-550
dropcut 260.265 assignment 176-248 466-476
cnvimnnicstul arpccts 35
DsR (differential sttipping m i o ) contours 196-205 tnolybdenucri ntincexamplc
t y p s 35
459 slatistical assignment 222.248 478-483
Ixrchs~Grormvann,2-11 algorithm
R y l o r s rule476~478
413~422
 Index 605

IprcsCIII ~ ~ I " ~ . ~ i l l ~ , l l a l i l , , ,
sericr of equal u u i f b m pay-
rscnu45
r i s ~ B : p y r n r n 45
i
prlcc
culrent 3nlilimI 54~541
cco~~onreiric s m l c l s 75 cutiiug hcight 254
saw-tooth n r c ~ l i n ~
plotr
e 573~
f o r e c ~ i ~ i n68-75
g cligging radius 258.262~2M
575
llirloiicll dalr 61.70 slxciRciaions 258
slcps 579~576
trend analysis 70-75 swing angle 274~276
pi1entcasions 449-450
pilgcnerator. R'IZ442 lrcnds 6 3 ~ 7 0
pi1 limit detcrn~inarinn prke~curtr e l a l i o n r l ~8i ~1 x 2
colrlprller assislcd 450-461 prisnl, voluwcof 192
itorling cone 402-4 13 I'ruducer Price Index 99
hand methods 368-399 pmdaalion, definition 2
Ltrchr~Grosrmaon2-1) 41 3. pmductios pl;mning
422 goals 465
I.crchs-Grnsmmann nrle~/coo,nland~~~en~s 466
types 465
2h-~422-427
Lerchs-Grossmann 3-D 427. production scheduling, sinlplified
442 example 563.569
RTL pi1generalor 442-450 productivity
calculation 136 s l o p angle
pi1 limits, haud methods
dulir~iriortW k r i c l r 253-254. 287
cornpilrironofseclions 393
index 101 f i n d 2cJ2-3 II volsmcs,calculalionof
cutoff vmade ~-371
profilcost, inclusion i s block model imcrnaep288-292 f#sstnmmofaconeI93
example. pit bottom and one
497-500 overall 287-295 prism 192
stde inore385-386
profils 2 slop. design charts rightcircularcoae 193
example, pit hotlom i n a m 384
pmject phrrer 2 circular305-307
385 warre durnpr.desig61 33-35
p r o p n y cvalualion, greenfield de- planar 301-308
example, pit bottom i n waste water zeanngcscal
p 4 l s 624 slop. failure modes
378-384 Clean WaarAcl(NPDFS) 32
3-Veffects 304-308
g m m d walcr 32
 pklsiliug 622.023 IlaIcs 168%172.191 W o k Ilrcakdows Srntcwre (WBS)
swfacc 12 volanm 192-196 20-23
I;#ilisgsasdrlis,c pmcls 35 welgl,ls iund ~ecssarcn.w i ~ s ivarkir~gbench253,284
wcdgr ibilure298 svoirtlupois 59 worhirtg capital 488
wcigbsd iaveragc &cs tots 5 5 Work Clarsilicmion Slruclure
u c d s 190. I92 troy 55