Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design in Weak Rocks

Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design in Weak Rocks outlines the challenges and solutions for planning and operating open pit mines in ‘weak rocks’. Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design was published in 2009. It was recognized that the Guidelines were focused primarily on open pit slopes in hard rocks and did not address the challenges that are often associated with open pits in ''weak rocks''. While open pits in weak rocks tend to be shallower than hard rock pits the pit wall failures can still be large. It is therefore critical that the presence of weak rocks is recognized early in the design process, since they often cannot be treated in the same way as hard rocks. This recognition may require a different site characterization and design approach. This book has been prepared to address open pit slope design in ''weak rocks''.