A OPEN PIT MINING AÇIK OCAK MADENCİLİĞİ

23 rd
Ultimate Pit Limit Design on Base of Sustainable Development
Criteria
N. Adibee, M. Ataeepour
Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran
ABSTRACT Sustainable development is the concept that plays important role in business
and industry of the 21st century. In recent years, the concept of sustainability and sustainable
development has been successfully extended to mineral resources, but there are few attempts
to consider this concept in the Ultimate Pit Limit (UPL) design. The determination of UPL is
the first step in the open pit mine design and planning process. There are several
mathematical, heuristic and meta-heuristic algorithms to determine UPL. The optimization
criterion in these algorithms is the maximization of total profit. Few models integrate some
aspects of mining reclamation benefit and cost in the UPL design. However, there is not any
comprehensive method for UPL design on base of sustainable development consideration.
This paper provides a model for UPL designing based on sustainable development criteria.
Based on this model, it is possible to integrate the sustainable development issues in UPL
design.
1 INTRODUCTION
The main issue in design of open pit mines is
that of determining the optimum ultimate pit
limit (UPL) of a mine. Based on common
definition, the UPL of a mine is that contour
which is the result of extracting the volume
of material, which provides the total
maximum profit whilst satisfying the
operational requirement of safe wall slopes.
The ultimate pit limit gives the shape of the
mine at the end of its life. Optimum pit
design plays a major role in all stages of the
open pit life such as feasibility study stage,
operating phase and end of a mine’s life. The
UPL problem has been efficiently solved
using the Lerchs-Grossmann graph theoretic
algorithm or Picard’s network flow method.
These methods are based on the “block
model” of an orebody.
Determination of UPL on base of profit
maximization does not coincide with
sustainable development issues. However, if
one tries to consider sustainable
development in the UPL determination, he
must take into account the other aspects of
sustainable development other than
economic aspects.
In 1987, the Bruntland Commission
defined the sustainable development as a
“system of development that meets the basic
needs of all people without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their
own life-sustaining needs” (United Nations,
1987). In the mine design, "sustainable
development" is used since interchangeably
with "environmental management" or
"environmental protection". In such cases,
there is the propensity to resolve only one
type of problem — environmental
deterioration — while ignoring the
importance of economic and social goals,
two equally important pillars of sustainable
development [Hilson, 2000]. For example
Burgher and Erickson (1984) showed how,
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