Ultimate Pit Limit

• Ultimate pit determination in each period of time is

a function of financial affairs. This function is well
defined by Break-Even Stripping Ratio (BESR).
BESR= (Revenue per tonne of ore - production cost per
tonne of ore) / Stripping cost per cubic meter of waste
• Revenue per tonne of ore= grade* recovery* selling
price
per tonne of ore
Production cost= mining cost + processing cost
• For an open pit operation, the value of metal
is Rs 210 per Kg and recoverable grade is 1.2
%. Production cost per tonne of ore inclusive
of mining and processing but excluding
stripping is Rs. 2000. If the break even
stripping ratio is 3.43 m3/tonne, what will be
the stripping cost.
• (Ans. Rs. 149 per tonne)
 Importance of Ultimate Pit
• As the first step for long or short-range planning, the limits
of the open pit must be set.
• The limits define the amount of ore minable, the metal
content, and the associated amount of waste to be moved
during the life of the operation which is important in
deciding the size of the various HEMM.
• • The size, geometry, and location of the ultimate pit are
important in planning waste dumps, access roads,
concentrating plants, and all other surface facilities.
• Knowledge gained from designing the ultimate pit also
aids in guiding future exploration work.
 Importance of Ultimate Pit
• Ultimate limits of an open pit, which define its size and
shape at the end of the mine’s life, is the pit with the highest
profit value.
• The shape of mining area at the end of mining operation or
final limits of a mine must be designed before starting the
operation.
• According to the designed final pit limits, mining operational
parameters such as width, length and depth of mined pit,
opening track ways, location of waste dump, stripping ratio,
mine life, mineable ore tonnage, waste tonnage and
production scheduling can also be determined.
 Importance of Ultimate Pit Limit
1) For delineating line on the original ground to show ultimate boundary of mine/
quarry.
2) Safety with slope
3) Percentage Extraction
4) Limiting ground Damage & in turn, controlling Environmental damage ( for EIA ).
5) Controlling cost
6) IBM made it mandatory (The UPL Plan forms an essential part of Mine Closure Plan to
be submitted to IBM & DMG office of concerned state as per Legislation for Mining
Lease Grant / Project Expansion etc. )
7) Locating Processing Plant & Loading Sites.
8) Locating other surface infrastructures
e.g. , Mine Box –cut
Mine Office, Stores, Maintenance sheds
Explosive Magazine
Waste Dump yard
Electrical Sub-station All w.r.t. Contours ( Topography of the area).
 Factors affecting UPL
1) Geological Conditions
(i) Dimension & Shape of Ore body
(ii) Quality distribution of ore, Cut-off grade etc.
(iii) Geological disturbances- fold, faults & joints pattern of rock
2) Shape & area of Lease boundary
3) Surface features:-
( i) Topography
(ii) Water logged areas- ponds, lakes, rivers, natural drains etc.
(iii) Rails/ Transmission line/ Other Civil structures/ pre- existing mine/
Farm lands/ forest & slope of ground etc.
4) Productivity & life of lease /mine deposit
5) Safety in Mines- Pit slope stability & proposed haul road designs , Box-
cut location etc.
 Technical / Legal Norms/ Parameters of Pit
limit Design
1. UPL to be well within Lease Boundary only leaving aside 7.5 M 0f boundary
strip inside
2. Ultimate Pit Design to be made in such a way that existing Mining Pit
provides access to adjacent lessees.
3. Shaft/Box-cut or top of any other access to Mine should be such that:-
(i) Its RL should be 5 mtrs. above HFL ( highest recorded over 40 yrs. time
period).
(ii) Located on Barren Land ( i.e. not on the ore body upto cut off Grade or
even subgrade ore).
(iii) Advancement of Mine Faces should cater the Qualitative need of the
ROM Feed to Crusher/ Processing Plant keeping consideration for
maximization of Mining Life.
(iv) Distance from water logged area min. 60 mtrs.
(vii) Distance from civil structures / OH lines / rails etc. Min. 45 Mtrs.
 Technical / Legal Norms/ Parameters of Pit
limit Design
4.Barrier between 2 adjacent Mines: min. 15 mtrs.=7.5 Mtrs. on
each side x2.
5. Surface features:-
(i) Historical Monuments : at least 2 kms. Away from crusher/
processing plant
(ii) Villages : at least 1 km away from pit limit boundary. Reason:
Blasting- Limit of PPV for any civil structure.
(iii) Agriculture lands : No waste dump wash/ Plant slimes should
flow through such field.
5. Forest area: At least 7.5 Mtrs. barrier.
6. Flora & Fauna Considerations- elephant Corridor in Kudremukh
caused closure of project.
Manual Method of UPL Design
Manual Method of UPL Design
 Net Value Calculation
• Cu grade- 0.5%
• Cu Price- Rs. 350 per Kg
• By product Value- Rs. 100 per tonne of Ore
• Mining Recovery- 90%
• Milling Recovery-95%
• Refinery Recovery-91%
• Amount of copper contained per tonne of ore = Grade x
Overall Recovery x1000 Kg
= 0.5x0.9x0.95x0.91x1000/100 = 4 Kg
• Gross value per tonne of Ore= 350x4 + 100 = 1500 Rs
 Net Value Calculation
• Cost of Mining- Rs. 350
• Cost of Milling- Rs. 200
• G&A cost- Rs 100
• SRS Cost- Rs. 100
• Net Value per Tonne of Ore= 1500-750
• Rs. 750 per tonne of ore
 Manual Method of UPL Design
• The following basic steps involved in determining
pit limits remain the same:
1. A slice is selected.
2. The contained value is compared with the costs.
3. If the net value is positive, the pit can be
expanded. If negative, the pit contracts.
4. The final pit position is where the net value of the
slice is zero.
ISR = BESR
 Opening up of open pits-box cut/ initial
cut/ aceess cut/ramp

• Opencast mines are opened up by an initial or opening cut

from which the first working bench is developed. A box cut
serves as the first step in the development of an open
pit/open cast mine.
• The main objectives of box cut are
• to reach the ore body,
• to provide a smooth entry into the pit and
• to facilitate the development of working benches
 Opening up of open pits-box cut/ initial
cut/ aceess cut/ramp

• This cut generally looks like a box having walls on all

sides having floor and open at the top.
• It consists of a single rectangular cut/ trapezium
shaped dig or cut made in the surface of the earth,
forming a box shape.
• The floor of the box cut slopes down at a suitable
gradient commensurate with the transport system.
• The gradient should be the steepest feasible to
minimize the cost of haulage throughout the life of
mine as well as to reduce the cost of excavation.
 Opening up of open pits-box cut/ initial
cut/ aceess cut/ramp

V= 0.5 h2/i (W +h/tanα )

 Opening up of open pits-box cut/ initial
cut/ aceess cut/ramp

• The box cut is initially excavated down to the floor level of the
first bench from the surface.
• Once the box cut is established upto the first bench floor
level, the development of the first bench is started. For this, a
level opening trench is then excavated to form the first bench.
• The opening trenches are extensions of the box cut at each
bench in the lateral direction.
• The opening trench is generally narrow, the width being just
sufficient for the turning of the machinery used in the
excavation of the opening trench and extends along or across
the property depending on the type of the deposit.
 Opening up of open pits-box cut/ initial
cut/ aceess cut/ramp

• Once the first bench is developed over a

considerable area, either the existing box cut
is widened and extended or a new cut is made
to reach the next bench floor level for
development of the same, and the process
continues for development of the mine
benches.
 Types of Box Cut
• External box cut
• When the box cut is placed totally outside the mineralized zone, it
is called an external box cut. This is applicable only for shallow and
gently dipping bedded deposits. The cut is generally located at the
middle of the rise most side.
• Internal box cut
• When the box cut is located fully or partially on the mineralized
zone, it is called an internal box cut. This is applicable for all types
of deposit. The cut follows a direction that is usually oblique to
both the strike and dip direction. Generally, the direction is so
chosen that the haul road ramp formed by this cut and subsequent
cuts will not have unnecessary steep turning at any position.
 Comparison
• Internal
• Located inside the mineralised zone
• Located on berms on one side of the pit
• Saves lot of extra excavation required for construction of box cut,
• cheaper method
• Suitable for deep mineral deposits
• Certain amount of mineral left under the berms have to be left unmined.
• External
• Located outside the pit limits
• Extra waste required to be removed for its excavation, costly method
• Suitable for shallow deposits
• Complete extraction of mineral deposits within pit is possible
 Methods of drivage of box cut
The choice of method of drivage of box cut depends upon:
• Its cross section, width and gradient
• Local topography
• Availability of dumping space besides the site of cut
• The type and working dimension of excavating machine
• Production desired
• The various methods of drivage of box cut are:
1. Sidecasting without transport of overburden:
• Dragline excavators are most suitable for making a box
• cut owing to their deeper and wider reach. The earth
• and rocks removed from this cut are dump aside at a
• fairly safe distance above ground.
 Drivage of box cut by Shovel and
Dumper
• Power shovels have to load the material standing on the floor of the
box cut on to dumpers on the surface as their horizontal range of
dumping not being sufficient for side casting.
• Loading by power shovels is possible only down to a certain depth
depending on maximum dumping height of shovel.
• For excavating below this depth, the floor of the box cut is first
levelled off at this horizon and the road extended from this surface
down to this level.
• The box cut is then further deepened, the shovel now loading in to
transport vehicles on the intermediate level B2.
• When the required depth of bench is reached, the box cut is levelled
off, track or road extended to the bottom of the box cut and the
ledge B2 broken.
 Location of box cut-factors to be
considered
• Distance of mineral processing plant and
waste dumps from site of box cut
• Dip of mineral deposits and stripping ratio
• Areas of high grade mineralization
• HFL of the area
• Presence of geological disturbances
• Size of mine
• Access to other parts of the mine
• Bench height
• It is the vertical distance between the crest and toe of a bench.
• It shall not be more than the maximum digging height of the
excavator excavating the bench incase of hard formation, and
shall not be more than the maximum digging height of the
excavator excavating the bench + 3m in case of soft formation.
• From the operational point of view, the bench height is
decided based on the following criteria:
(a) Optimum height for loading efficiency of the excavator,
(b) One pass drilling
length should preferably be more than the bench height,
(c) and the blending requirement dictated by the geological
parameters
• Bench width
• is the horizontal distance between the crest of a bench and
the toe of the immediately upper bench.
• As specified by the DGMS, it shall be more than the bench
height, shall be more than the maximum width of the
largest machine + 2m, and shall be more than three
times the width of largest size dumper that is plying on the
bench.
• From the operational point of view, minimum width of a
working bench should be equal to 0.8* bench height
+dumper width + shovel dimension + 4m.
 Layout of Open pit Mines

• Many factors govern the size and shape of an openpit.

• 1)Topography, 2)Geology, 3)Grade,
• 4)Localization of the mineralization, 5)Extent of the
deposit,
• 6)Property boundaries, 7)Production rates,
• 8)Road grades, 9)Mining costs,
• 10)Processing costs, 11)Metal recovery,
• 12)Marketing considerations, 13)Bench height,
• 14)Pit slopes, 15)Cutoff grade, 16)Strip Ratios (SR).
 Advancement of working faces
• Once access has been established the cut is widened until the entire
bench/level has been extended to the bench limits. There are three
approaches which will be discussed here; they are as follows:
1. Frontal Cuts
2. Parallel Cuts – Drive by
3. Parallel Cuts – Turn & Back
• The first two apply where there is a great deal of working area available,
for example “at the pit bottom”. The mining of the narrower benches on
the sides of the pit is covered under the third approach.
• Frontal Cuts
• The shovel faces the bench face and begins digging forward direction.
The shovel first loads to the left and when the truck is full, it proceeds
to the other truck on the right.
Diagrammatic representation of a frontal
cutting operation
Two shovels working on the same face
• Parallel Cuts
• The shovel moves across and parallel to the
digging face. For this case bench access for the
haul units must be available from both the
directions. It is highly efficient for both the
trucks and the loader.
Parallel cut with drive-by
Parallel cut with the single spotting of
trucks
Parallel cut with the double spotting of
trucks.
Parallel Cuts – Turn & Back
Open pit Mining Sequence
 Classic Open Pits Characterized by Oval
Shape, Benches, spiraling roads

• Characterized by a series of stair-step like

benches that each act as a working area
• Pit shapes tend to be more configured to
geology of the deposit more than equipment
needs/convenience
• Many pits are ovals shaped and fits the
geometry of disseminated metal deposits