626 Open pit mine planning and design: Fundamentals

Figure 6.55. (Continued).

6.10 PUSH BACK DESIGN

6.10.1 Introduction
The first step in the practical planning process is to break the overall pit reserve into more
manageable planning units. These units are commonly called sequences, expansions, phases,
 Production planning 627
pjwstk|402064|1435603591

Figure 6.55. (Continued).

working pits, slices or push backs. In the beginning quite coarse divisions covering periods
of several years may be used. They are a preliminary attempt to relate
the geometry of mining
to
the geometry of the ore distribution.
628 Open pit mine planning and design: Fundamentals

Table 6.48. Level by level statistics for the optimum schedule under constraint set 1 (Dagdalen, 1985).

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Bench Ore Ave. Waste Ore Ave. Waste Ore Ave. Waste
blocks Grade blocks blocks grade blocks blocks grade blocks

1 1 6.10 42 0 0 50 0 0 104
2 9 2.88 15 0 0 44 0 0 75
3 9 4.20 0 1 0.6 32 0 0 63
4 0 0 0 11 4.56 14 2 2.60 41
5 0 0 0 9 4.60 0 7 2.07 25
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 3.57 0
Total 19 3.67 57 21 4.39 140 23 3.03 308

Table 6.49. Production summary under constraint set 1 (Dagdalen, 1985).

Year Ore grade Ore Tonnage Total SR

(% Cu) waste

1 3.67 712,500 2,137,500 2,850,000 3.0

2 4.39 787,500 5,250,000 6,037,500 6.7
3 3.03 862,500 11,550,000 12,412,500 13.4
Total 2,362,500 18,937,500 21,300,000 8.0

Phase planning should commence with mining that portion of the orebody which will yield
the maximum cash flow. Succeeding phases are ordered with respect to their cash flow
contribution. Eventually the ultimate pit limits are reached.
By studying the ore grade distribution (particularly as depicted on bench plans) and
the topography the mining engineer can, in most cases, arrive at a logical pit development
strategy in a relatively short time. Figure 6.57 shows a two dimensional representation of the
phases used to extract an ore reserve (Mathieson, 1982). The extraction sequence proceeds
from that phase having the highest average profit ratio (APR) to the lowest. In this case they
proceed in alphabetical order A to G.
Revenue
Profit ratio =
All costs
The incremental profit ratio, computed at the final pit boundary is 1.
A basic overview of the steps involved in phase planning (Mathieson, 1982) are indicated
below. These will be expanded upon in the succeeding sections.
1. Before design work is initiated some preliminary judgements must be made regarding
– the probable maximum ore and waste mining rate required in a given phase,
– the size and type of equipment to be used. This determines the required minimum
operating bench width necessary,
– appropriate working, interramp, and final slope angles.

2. Using the constraints given in step 1, the mining engineer then proceeds to design a
series of phases in some detail, complete with haul roads. He ensures that ramp access
 Production planning 629

Figure 6.56. Proposed mining sequence for years 1, 2 and 3 under constraint set 2 (Dagdalen, 1985).

to each active bench is provided. The transition between phases is carefully planned. The
designer is not constrained by having to include a certain quantity or number of years of ore
supply in each phase. The variable ore and waste quantities by phase will be subsequently
scheduled.
630 Open pit mine planning and design: Fundamentals

Figure 6.56. (Continued).

3. Once complete, the phase designs are transferred onto the bench plans. Bench by bench
tonnages and grades are evaluated. A tonnage-grade inventory for each phase of the logically
defined pit development sequence is then available.
4. The last task is to determine annual mining schedules based on mill feed or product
requirements.
 Production planning 631

Bench 6

Figure 6.56. (Continued).

It may be necessary to repeat this process several times before an adequate plan is
developed.
The development of phases makes it possible to determine the amount of pre-production
stripping required. Although the natural tendency is to keep the amount of such stripping
632 Open pit mine planning and design: Fundamentals

Table 6.50. Level by level statistics for the optimum schedule under constraint set 2 (Dagdalen, 1985).

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Bench Ore Ave. Waste Ore Ave. Waste Ore Ave. Waste
blocks Grade blocks blocks grade blocks blocks grade blocks

1 1 6.1 42 0 0 50 0 0 104
2 9 2.88 15 0 0 44 0 0 75
3 9 4.20 0 1 0.6 31 0 0 64
4 0 0 0 10 4.16 13 3 4.60 42
5 0 0 0 10 3.34 0 6 3.73 25
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 3.57 0
Total 19 3.67 57 21 3.60 138 23 3.75 310

Table 6.51. Production summary under constraint set 2 (Dagdalen, 1985).

Year Ore grade Ore Tonnage Total SR

(% Cu) waste

1 3.67 712,500 2,137,500 2,850,000 3.0

2 3.60 787,500 5,175,000 5,962,500 6.6
3 3.75 862,500 11,625,000 12,487,500 13.5
Total 2,362,500 18,937,500 21,300,000 8.0

Minimum Phase
Operating Width

A B
C G
APR
4.1 3.
0 APR
3.6 APR
1.2

2 IPR
1.0
E R 3.
IP


.5
0
1

R
8

1.
2.

AP




AP R

R
R
AP
R
IP

IP
R
1

AP

F

.0

D
2.
0

APR
Average Profit Ratio revenue

Profit ratio

IPR
Incremental Profit Ratio all costs

Figure 6.57. Pit sequencing in order of decreasing value (Mathieson, 1982).

to a minimum since it appears as a major negative cash flow early in the mining process, it
is important that enough work be done to (1) expose a sustaining ore supply, and (2) keep
the mine in a condition that allows it to be operated efficiently at all times. Sometimes the
preproduction work is contracted. However, in new large tonnage truck-shovel mines, the
 Production planning 633

pre-production period provides an opportunity to build an organization and to gain operating

experience.

6.10.2 The basic manual steps

This series of steps in manual push back design has been provided by Crawford (1989a).

1. Start with the ultimate pit limit design.

– Develop detailed data of ore grade and stripping distributions for various cutoff grades
in zones around the designed pit circumference and in pit shell progression between the
beginning surface topography (or pit surface) and the design pit limit. These data should
include locations of ore zones (these vary with cutoff) and the impact of the differences
between operating and ultimate pit slopes. Of particular interest should be locating high ore
grade and low stripping zones on level plan maps and cross-sections.
– Manual planning methods are essentially trial and error approaches.

2. Planning goals typically comprise one or more of the following:

– Maximize NPV economics.
– Provide stable cash flow patterns.
– Uniform ore grade, grade decline curve, or high grading. Frequently high grading is
used during the initial investment pay back period. The level(s) of ore grade will be related
to the cutoff criteria.
– Uniform stripping ratio or classic stripping ratio curve.
– Uniform total tonnage rate (ore + waste).
– Uniform ore tonnage rate.
– Uniform or variable rate of product output.

3. Operating design criteria for push back design:

– Operating and remnant bench widths.
– Slopes between operating benches and roads.
– Overall operating slope.
– Road widths and grades.
– Bench height.
Some typical values are as follows:
– Remnant bench width equal to bench height.
– Push back widths normally 200–500 ft depending on size of pit and orebody
characteristics.
– Minimum push back widths (single cut passes) about 80 ft for small equipment and
135–150 ft for 25–30 yd shovels and 150–200 ton trucks.
– Road widths 50–80 ft depending on width of equipment. Maximum road grade 8–12
percent.

4. Laying out of one to several push backs. Evaluating whether they satisfy the goals,
individually and collectively, is a more or less cut and try process. Normally a push back is
laid out according to the operating criteria in plan and cross-section views. The plan view
approach is used here. The operating criteria are expressed in geometric parameters (feet and
degrees). A useful tool is to make a scaled bench crest and toe pattern including operating
bench and road widths.
634 Open pit mine planning and design: Fundamentals

Push Back Schematic

Plan View Cross Section

Push Back

New Level 5
4
at Pit Rim 3
2
1

5 4 3 2 1 New Bench at Bottom

Current Crest
Future Crest

Figure 6.58. Push back schematic in plan and section views (Crawford, 1989a).

5. The push backs are shown on plan view maps as a progression of movements of bench
level toes and crests from initial topography to ultimate pit limit (see Fig. 6.58). New levels
are created as the push back progresses at the pit rim and at the bottom. New bottom levels
are established on the basis of minimum level size and ore grades. Normally, new bottom
levels are encouraged by the need to hold stripping at reasonable levels. In addition to pit
geometry, ore/waste interface lines for the selected ore cutoff must be plotted.
6. Calculations of volumes of ore and waste are done using a planimeter to measure areas, and
the average grades within push backs are determined. The volumes of material to be removed
from each bench are based on the average of the areas encompassed by the movements of
the bench crest and toe from initial to new position by a push back, and the average bench
height for the zone covered. Ore and waste volumes are calculated separately. The average
ore grade is determined by averaging the block values within the ore zones. In multiple push
backs a push back serves as the initial location for a subsequent push back. The calculated
values are evaluated against the various goals for acceptability of the individual push back
or series of push backs.
7. For plan view calculations, the planimeter is used to determine the areas of crest and toe
movements; commonly called crest to crest and toe to toe calculations. If the pit geometry
is sufficiently regular only the toe to toe calculation may be necessary. To achieve accurate
results, the calculation of volumes for new levels at the pit rim or at the bottom, along
irregular pit rim elevations, for roads, at the ultimate pit intercept and for irregular bench
heights require special planimeter techniques. The key is to divide up the volumes to be
 Production planning 635

Figure 6.59. The Phase I pit with haulage

road (Mathieson, 1982).

calculated into rectangular, parallelogram type solids with flat tops and bottoms and reliable
average heights. The areas to be calculated must be closed polygons. The geometric layout
prior to calculation is critical for accurate results. All the benches and roads must be described
in the form of crests, toes, and average heights. Each bench and its related parts are calculated
separately. Frequently, the drawing of a few cross-sections is helpful to keep the plan view
drawing from becoming too confusing.

6.10.3 Manual push back design example

This section describes the construction procedure involved in designing a push back together
with the layout of the main haulage road. An initial Phase I pit (Figure 6.59) already exists
(Mathieson, 1982). The following information applies:

− The bench toe lines are shown

− Bench height = 45 ft
− Toe-toe distance = 40 ft
− Road width = 120 ft
− Road grade = 10%

Careful examination of the bench plans and the sections have indicated that the push back
should involve the south and east portion of the pit. The north and northeast sections of the
pit together with their portion of the haulroad will remain unchanged. The final pit design
for Phase II must conform with this current geometry. It has been decided that the width of
the push back should be 320 ft. This is a multiple of the basic 40 ft dimension and provides
the desired
– tonnage for the phase, and
– operating space.
Figure 6.60 shows the basic push back area and the region where no changes will occur. The
toe of the bottom bench has been described by a series of straight line segments. It is not
necessary that they be straight lines but this facilitates the construction for this example. In
Figure 6.61, that part of the Phase I pit involved directly in the push back has been removed.
Sectors A and B will be modified for a smooth transition into the new pit. In Figure 6.62 the
initial construction lines are shown. Lines a–b and c–d are drawn at the desired push back