5 Factors Influencing Open-Pit Mining Development Methods

The development classification of open-pit deposits is mainly determined according to the mode of transportation, and the wiring form and fixedness of the transportation trunk line. This post will introduce 5 factors influencing the choice of the opening mode of open-pit deposits:

1. Geological and topographical conditions of deposits

2. Opencast mine production capacity

3. The quantity and duration of infrastructure projects

4. Ore loss and dilution

5. Underground development mode

Let’s start now!

According to the occurrence conditions of ore bodies, there may be one or several different development methods and schemes：

Ore bodies with shallower and larger plane sizes can be exploited by road transport or railway transport;

Open-pit mines with deeper ore bodies and larger mining depths can use road-belt conveyors or slope skips to transport ores;

The ore body is deeper and the plane size is larger, except the road-belt conveyor combined transportation and the slope skip lifting, it is also can use the railway-road combined transportation;

Open-pit mines on hillsides with complex, scattered, flat-scale and small height differences, or sunken open-pit mines with small mining depths, is suitable for road transportation;

The ore body is endowed with mountain peaks with large terrain elevation differences and steep slopes, can apply flat tunnel chute development which is a technically feasible and economically reasonable development method.

The production capacity of open-pit mines affects the selection of mining and transportation equipment. The development methods vary depending on the type of transportation equipment. For example, a belt conveyor is different from a slope skip in the production capacity. Besides, if the trench is arranged on the final side sill in the open pit, the belt conveyor inclination angle is generally not more than 18°, and the final side slanting inclined to arrange the trench; the slope skip lifting is to arrange the trench along the final side siding and set up reprinted trestle at the level of the transportation.

 In order to reduce the amount of infrastructure projects, shorten the construction period and decrease infrastructure investment, you can arrange mobile pit lines near the ore body to open up. When the inclination of the ore body is small, you can use the bottom side to fix the pit line and the horizontal layout to open the trench to open up.

Ore loss and dilution directly affect the utilization of mineral resources and the economic benefits of production. When choosing a development method and plan, you need to consider reducing ore loss and dilution. When you mine ore bodies with rock interlayers, you can consider automobile transportation development and part of the joint development plan of automobile transportation in the stope. Or you can choose the fixed pit line development that the work line advances from the top side to the bottom side and the moving pit line development close to the upper wall to reduce the loss and dilution of the ore.

In underground mining, generally the upper part use open-pit mining and the deep part apply underground mining. When underground mining is converted to open-pit mining, if the underground development system can meet the ore production capacity of the open-pit mine and it is economically reasonable, the underground development system can transport the ore directly from the open-pit mine.

Under the premise of meeting national requirements, you need to select a development transportation system with simple and reliable production technology and high return on investment. This transportation system not only has a small amount of infrastructure construction, low infrastructure investment, and quick production capacity, but also has a short static and dynamic investment payback period.

The above are the five major factors that influence the choice of open-pit mine development methods. Because the open-pit mine development method directly affects the amount of infrastructure construction, infrastructure construction time and infrastructure investment. The transportation cost and energy consumption of ore varied from development modes. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively consider various factors according to the occurrence conditions of the ore body. You can choose technically feasible and economically reasonable development method by a comprehensive analysis and comparison.

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