MAY/2009

ROCK SLOPE
MANAGEMENT AT
SOSSEGO MINE
Guilherme de Rezende Tammerick Vale
Pete Stacey SMGL
William Crosby MREL Group

DIOC-Diretoria do Departamento do Cobre

GALOY - Gerncia Geologia e Planejamento de Longo Prazo
LOCATION

Carajs Mining
District
PA-150

46
Pojuca
Gameleira Serra
Liberdade 55 Pelada
Breves

PA-275

Aguas
Claras

1 SOSSEGO MINE
MASTER PLAN
North Oxide Ore
Waste Dump Stock Pile Sossego Pit

Sequeirinho Pit

Primary
SW Crusher Sossego
Waste Dump Waste Dump

Explosives
Factory

Taillings Dam

SE
Waste Dump

Plant

2 SOSSEGO MINE
OPEN PITS
Sequerinho Sossego

85% 15%

3 SOSSEGO MINE
SOSSEGO MINE GEOLOGICAL MAP

4 SOSSEGO MINE
SEQUEIRINHO PIT STRUCTURAL MODEL

granite

granite

shear zone
fault
faults related to shear zone
foliation
ore
5 SOSSEGO MINE
SEQUEIRINHO PIT STRUCTURAL MODEL

S56E/55SW
JOINTS T
N40E/55SE
N60E/55SE
SHEAR ZONE P
MAIN SHEAR ZONE

6 SOSSEGO MINE
 SEQUEIRINHO PIT HYDROGEOLOGICAL
ASPECTS

9.291.200
9.288.600

9.290.400
9.290.000

9.290.800
9.289.000

9.290.200
9.289.800
9.288.800

9.291.000
9.289.200

9.290.600
9.289.600
9.289.400
300,00

IV
V ? N.A.

200,00 IV ? ? ? ?
? ? N.A.
N.A.
?
? V
I-II ? ? ? ?
I-II

LEGENDA
100,00 CURSOS D'GUA INTERMITENTE
CURSOS D'GUA PERENE
NASCENTE
BARRAGEM
LAGO OU LAGOA
000,00 N 9 291 500
ALAGADO
CONE DE REBAIXAMENTO
603840

604000
603520

603680

100,00
603360
603160

N 9 291 000

200,00
CAVA PROJETADA 12/13
N 9 290 500

300,00

Nascente Sequeirinho
05/09/99 N 9 290 000
400,00
603680

CAVA SEQUEIRINHO
604000
603840
603160

603520
603360
E 603 000

200
E 604 500

300 m
E 604 000

0
E 603 000

E 603 500

100
LEGENDA:
N 9 289 500
PERFIL DO CONE DE REBAIXAMENTO
SEO DA CAVA

Surface layer (overburden and broken rock) has high permeability

Main bedrock units have low permeability, but faults = fracture zones
Piezometer installation program in progress

7 SOSSEGO MINE
SEQUEIRINHO PIT HYDROGEOLOGICAL
ASPECTS

8 SOSSEGO MINE
SEQUEIRINHO PIT GEOMECHANICAL MODEL
ROCKMASS ROCKMASS
CLASS V CLASS IV

DETAIL

ROCKMASS

DY
CLASS I-II

BO
RE
O DESIGNED OPEN
PIT

9 SOSSEGO MINE
SEQUEIRINHO PIT GEOMECHANICAL MODEL

N S
ground surface

open pit
waste
rock
waste
ore rock
new mining phases

ore

footwall orebody hangingwall

10 SOSSEGO MINE
SLOPE DESIGN PARAMETERS

Upper 60m single benched

11 SOSSEGO MINE
SEQUEIRINHO PIT
Talude Seguro
Talude Instvel
Cava de Sequeirinho - Talude Globais
Cava de Sequeirinho - Inter-rampa

1000
950
900
850 Bingh am Canyon

800
750
700
Chuquicamata-West Sector
Ch uquicama ta-East Sector
650
Altura do Talude (m)

Cua jone
T oquepala
GRAN ITO Sequeirinho
600
MVAZ C Sequeirinho BIX F oliao Sequeirinho
550
500 Escondida
Stability line
Lutton / H oek & Bray
450 E-1
Proje to BVP1

SE-1 N -2
400
Valley Pit
Island C opper SW
350 Lornex Pit
SW-1 Brenda Mine-NW
N-1 GR AN ITO Sequeirinho
300 Afton Mine-N W
MVAZC Seq ueirinho BI X Folia o Sequeirinho
250 S-1 Zone 1 (sector V)
Tripp/Veteran Pit
200 W-1 Brend a Mine-SW
NW-1 Kimbley Pit
Z one 2 (sector V)
150 Afton M ine-SW

BIX Plano Sequ eirinho BIX Plan o Sequeirinho

100
Liberty Pit
50
0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
ngulo do Talude
No te : Adap te d from Hoek at al., 2000.

12 SOSSEGO MINE
DATA:

SEQUEIRINHO PIT NORTH WALL FOLIATION

90 45
65

Bench configurations controlled by

foliation
Varies along wall in range vertical to ~
45
Blasting with vertical blast holes
undercuts foliation

13 SOSSEGO MINE
STABILITY REVIEW
SEQUEIRINHO PIT SOUTH WALL

Granite in south wall has vertical joint set

Weakly developed shallow joint set does not have major
impact
At west end rock more fractured, but no adverse fabric

14 SOSSEGO MINE
STABILITY REVIEW
SOSSEGO PIT - GENERAL

Small pit to be mined in two phases

Design calls for double benching below upper two
benches (weathered zone)
No stability issues, but major rockfall hazards
15 SOSSEGO MINE
STABILITY REVIEW
SOSSEGO PIT BLAST DAMAGE

Local success with pre-shear, but results mainly poor

Initial attempt at double bench involved 3m step bench for
drill access filled with rock (from blast?)
Eventually, Phase 1 pit shut down temporarily while
rockfall issue addressed (face scaling)
16 SOSSEGO MINE
 Sequeirinho
faces

18 SOSSEGO MINE
OPERATIONAL ISSUES
Common to both pits
joint surface

Controlled blasting Spill berm

Current status of trials;

Bench face scaling Bench face

Alternative methods
Failed material

Overspill control
Remedial measures
Surface water control
around crests

19 SOSSEGO MINE
 WALL CONTROL BLASTING

Restricted wall control blasting improve

pit slope stability by reducing blast
damage zones using transitional buffer
and wall control holes.
(Sandvik Mining and Construction
pictures)

Sossego Mine planning practice

20 SOSSEGO MINE
PROBLEM INVESTIGATION TRIM BLASTS

21 SOSSEGO MINE
MREL INVESTIGATIONS OF BLASTING
PROBLEMS
Numerous misfires in production and pre-shear holes
Inaccuracy of mine GPS, particularly near walls
Poor positioning of pre-shear rows
Inaccurate hole depths
Overbreak of bench toes
Large diameter holes for pre-split (9in or 12in)
Vertical holes
Pre-shear holes often fired with trim blasts (post-split)
Delay accuracy
Testing showed 30m/s delay had range of
1m/s to 150m/s

22 SOSSEGO MINE
OPERATIONAL ISSUES CONTROLLED
BLASTING
Vale-MREL joint project has resolved many of blast mechanics issues
Alternative controlled blast designs also developed
Pre-shear first

Titon drill on site for inclined pre-shear blasting

Inclined pre-shear
Initially on north wall
Next stage - trial on south
wall granite (75/80)

23 SOSSEGO MINE
TITON INCLINED PRE-SHEAR

24 SOSSEGO MINE
TITON INCLINED PRE-SHEAR

Avaliao do Talude

1
0,9
0,8

Fator de Projeto
0,7
0,6
0,5
0,4
0,3
0,2
0,1
0
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1

Fator Geotcnico

E3_072_022 (1) E3_072_022 (2) E3_072_022 (3)

25 SOSSEGO MINE
OPERATIONAL ISSUES FACE SCALING
The adoption of a scaling system for the slopes combined
with improved controlled blasting aimed at reducing
rockfall hazards to enable double benching.
Two main methods:
Scaling with equipment (from bench)
Chaining (from crest)

26 SOSSEGO MINE
SEQUEIRINHO PIT
OVERSPILL ISSUES

Mining multiple pushbacks with steep slopes

between raises issue of overspill can be
particularly bad in rainy season
Current slopes below Phase III wall filled with
overspill no catchment
Working with operations to resolve this issue
27 SOSSEGO MINE
SEQUEIRINHO PIT RISK MAP
LEGENDA
RISCOS CAVA SEQUEIRINHO
FSICOS
CALOR, FRIO, RUDOS, VIBRAES,
FASE III - OESTE FASE III - NORTE FALHA NORTE FASE I - NW
RADIAES IONIZANTES, RADIAES
NO-IONIZANTES, PRESSES ANORMAIS,
QUMICOS
Risco de
POEIRA, FUMOS, NVOAS, NEBLINAS, Risco de queda de desmoronamento, Risco de queda de Risco de queda de
GASES, VAPORES, PRODUTOS QUMICOS blocos e entrada de gua e blocos escorregamento blocos,
desmoronamento de atolamento de de material em vrios escorregamento
BIOLGICOS material em vrios equipamentos. nveis. de material em
VRUS, BACTRIAS, PROTOZORIOS, nveis acima na rampa vrios nveis e
FUNGOS, PARASITAS, BACILOS principal de acesso. entrada de gua.
ERGONMICOS
TRABALHO EM TURNO E NOTURNO,
ESFORO FSICO INTENSO, RITMO
EXCESSIVO, EXIGNCIA DE POSTURA
INADEQUADA, LEVANTAMENTO E
9290750.00 Y
TRANSPORTE MANUAL DE PESO,
MONOTONIA E REPETITIVIDADE
ACIDENTES
CORTE, BATIDA, INCNDIO,
ELETRICIDADE, APRISIONAMENTO EM,
SOB OU ENTRE (MATERIAIS, OBJETO, 9290500.00 Y
EQUIPAMENTO, ETC), ATRITO, ABRASO,
PERFURAO, QUEDA DE PESSOA EM
MESMO NVEL/ COM DIFERENA DE
NVEL, EXPOSIO A PARTES MVEIS/
ROTATIVOS, PROJEO/ QUEDA DE
MATERIAIS E OU OBJETOS, 9290250.00 Y

EPIS OBRIGATRIOS P/ EMPREGADOS

MINA DO SOSSEGO
1) CAPACETE COM JUGULAR 9290000.00 Y

2) BOTINA COM BIQUEIRA DE AO

602750.00 X

603000.00 X

603250.00 X

603500.00 X

603750.00 X

604000.00 X

604250.00 X
3) ABAFADOR TIPO CONCHA
4) CULOS DE PROTEO Atualizado:01/09/06
5) LUVAS (VAQUETA, RASPA E PVC)
6) MSCARA SEMI-FACIAL (SEM/COM MANUTENO)
7) UNIFORME

EPIS OBRIGATRIOS P/ VISITANTES

MEDIDAS PREVENTIVAS DE SEGURANA FASE III - SUL
1) CAPACETE COM JUGULAR CAVA SEQUEIRINHO
2) BOTINA COM BIQUEIRA DE AO
3) ABAFADOR TIPO CONCHA 1) MANTER-SE AFASTADO DE P E CRISTA DE
BANCADA
Corte, batida, incndio, eletricidade, queda de pessoas em mesmo e com diferena de nvel,
4) CULOS DE PROTEO Risco de queda de blocos, escorregamento de material e exposio a partes mveis/ rotativos, projeo
2) NO FUMAR
desmoronamento, e queda de materiais e ou objetos.
3) PREENCHIMENTO DE APTS E PTES entrada de gua e
4) USO DOS EPIS atolamento de
5) OBEDECER SINALIZAO equipamentos.
Calor, frio e rudos.
INTENSIDADE DOS RISCOS EXISTENTES 6) MANIPULAR PRODUTOS DE ACORDO COM AS
FICHAS FISPG
ALTA MODERADA BAIXA 7) NO FALAR AO CELULAR QUANDO ESTIVER Trabalho em turno e noturno, esforo fsico intenso, rtmo excessivo, exigncia de postura
DIRIGINDO inadequada, levantamento e transporte manual de peso, monotonia e repetitividade.
8) NO DESVIE A ATENO DOS CONDUTORES DE
VECULOS
Poeira, neblina, gases e produtos qumicos.
EFETIVO DO LOCAL

142 PESSOAS
ELABORAO DATA: 27/ 08/ 2006

REVISO 0 DATA: 00 / 00/ 2006

28 SOSSEGO MINE
CONCLUSIONS
Rocks in both pits strong to very strong, but with fault
zones, which are steep
Feasibility level slope designs were modified on the basis
of initial excavation experience
Slope designs remain relatively steep, except where clear
structural control
Bench-scale wedge failures, but no major stability issues
to date
Major issue is blasting, which has prevented the
achievement of the double bench designs (rockfall
hazards)
Review of blasting indicated major issues, particularly
related to product quality and hole layout accuracy
Currently reviewing impact of improved blasting practices
and products
29 SOSSEGO MINE
Muito obrigado!
THANK YOU

Guilherme Tammerik
DIOC/GEOPY/GALOY

Tel: 94 9953 2970

Email: guilherme.tammerik@vale.com