Geotechnical Aspects of Eroded Sediments Relevant to

Tailings Disposal Design

R. C. Gomes1; L. F. M. Ribeiro2; L. H. Albuquerque Filho3; and C. H. Rezende4

Abstract: Since 1975, Samarco Mineração S.A. has been mining the iron ore deposits of the Germano Mine in the Quadrilátero
Ferrı́fero 共Iron Quadrangle兲 in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Presently, this mine is depleted, and a huge ultimate pit 共approximately 1,300 m long,
800 m wide, and 220 m deep兲, known as the Germano Open Pit, was produced. Samarco Mineração currently processes the iron ore from
the adjacent Alegria Mine, having reserves that exceed 5 billion tons of itabirite. The iron ore is transported by a 1,500-m-long conveyor
belt that crosses the eastern border of the Germano Pit. Design studies of the tailings disposal system to be implemented in this old pit area
have generated several questions related to the geological complexity and geotechnical features of the pit and the engineering properties
of the tailings. The proposed project will fill the abandoned pit with tailings using the upstream construction method and will reach up to
160 m high when completed. The paper discusses the geological and geotechnical concerns regarding instability of slopes and deposited
sediments. These studies are essential for evaluation of the deposited sediments as a foundation material for future tailings pile structures.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲1527-6988共2003兲4:2共65兲
CE Database subject headings: Tailing; Slope stability; Sediment deposits; Brazil; Structural materials.

Introduction
In a region known as ‘‘Quadrilátero Ferrı́fero’’ in the state of
Minas Gerais, located in southeast Brazil, there are rich iron ore
resources in a 7,000 km2 area, which represent more than 50% of
the total Brazilian resources. The region ranks third in the world
in iron ore resources 共Goodwin 1982兲. Within this area, in the
vicinity of the town of Mariana, the Samarco Mineração Corpo-
ration owns a facility for mining, extraction, and processing of
iron ore 共the so-called Germano Unit兲, with 5 billion tons of es-
timated resources 共Mina de Alegria兲.
A conveyor belt system 4 km long is used to transport the raw
ore from the mine to the milling plant. After the raw ore under-
goes consecutive stages of sieving, crushing, grinding, and col-
umn flotation, producing concentrated iron as a final product,
solid and liquid wastes are discarded in the pulp form. The flota-
tion waste 共tailings兲 is released directly onto the ground surface
共at a location known as Germano Impoundment兲, with an annual
discharge of 6.5⫻106 tons. During the last 18 years, the extrac-
tion of itabirite 共iron ore兲 from the Germano Mine, which is
closed today, created an enormous-sized pit—1.3 km long, 800 m
wide, and 220 m deep—flanked by itabirite and phylite slopes
1
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Federal Univ. of
Ouro Preto, Brazil.
2 occur in limited regions near the top of the slopes.
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Federal Univ. of
Ouro Preto, Brazil.
3
M.S. Student, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Federal Univ. of Ouro
Preto, Brazil.
4
M.S. Student, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Federal Univ. of Ouro
Preto, Brazil.
Note. Discussion open until October 1, 2003. Separate discussions
must be submitted for individual papers. To extend the closing date by
one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Managing
Editor. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and pos-
sible publication on August 9, 2002; approved on September 3, 2002.
This paper is part of the Natural Hazards Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, May 1,
2003. ©ASCE, ISSN 1527-6988/2003/2-65–70/$18.00.
that have been experiencing gradual erosion. This process has
generated an intense transport of sediment that is now filling the
pit bottom.
Local Geologic and Mining Conditions and General
Design Conception
Germano’s pit 共Fig. 1兲 is the final result of 18 years of uninter-
rupted mining activities, and the bottom reached an elevation of
933 m at the end of its operational life, approximately five years
ago. The site presents some interesting geologic and mining con-
ditions that were taken into account in the design of a proposed
tailings impoundment for the area. One of the fundamental fea-
tures of the project is the location of part of the conveyor belt 共1,5
km兲 close to the pit bottom, of which the cost of relocation would
be prohibitive at this time.
Conditions generated by the mining legacy of the site, in ad-
dition to the complexity of its geologic setting, required further
investigation to ascertain the viability of further operation. In gen-
eral, itabirites and phylites comprise the pit slopes. The pit bot-
tom, the lower elevations of the pit slopes, and the remnant bodies
left in the slope foothills consist of itabirites 共the latter structures
were used for stabilization and protection of the mining pit floor兲.
Phylites occupy the upper zone of the slopes, while lateritic soils
When exploitation of the mineral body finished, the area was
abandoned without any special care for the future. In the years
that followed, intense processes of surface degradation of the
phylites and erosion of the itabirites have occurred. Consequently,
there has been a complete ruin of the surface drainage system,
undermining of slope benches, development of ravines in the ita-
birite counterforts, and a loss of confinement of the phylites. All
of these factors together have combined to induce soil sliding on
the pit slopes. Associated with the pit slope stability problems,
large quantities of eroded material have gradually filled up the pit
bottom, raising questions regarding its geotechnical characteris-

NATURAL HAZARDS REVIEW © ASCE / MAY 2003 / 65

 Fig. 1. Layout and topographic map of Germano Pit
tics, its ability to act as a foundation for the tailings impound-
ment, and the adequate excavation area for the bottom drainage of
the tailing pile 共Fig. 2兲.
Within the master plan for tailings management at Germano’s
site, design studies have suggested that the old pit area could be
reused by stacking coarse tailings 共Gomes et al. 1999兲. This pro-
posal was developed and broken in successive stages, based on
the following premises:
1. Making the tailings disposal system flexible and decentral-
ized;
2. Making the conveyor along the east edge of the pit bottom
permanent;
3. Development of the tailings pile in two successive phases;
4. Design of the impoundment layout and geometry, taking into
account the existing condition of the pit 共for example, the
sediments in the pit bottom兲, and building an internal drain-
age system;
5. Use of construction methodologies that do not interfere with
operational management of the tailings; and
6. Utilization of byproducts of the mining activity as construc-
tion material.
All of these principles were implemented, following a reduc-
tion strategy of the impacts associated with the applied initial
resources and optimization of the investment schedule in the me-
dium and long term ranges. In addition, these goals as well as the
design hypotheses and parameters will be continuously checked
using data collected during the initial deposition phase. The ge-
ometry and general layout of the impoundment design were
greatly affected by the geological and geotechnical features of the
pit, specifically by the unstable slope conditions at the pit edge,
and by the pit bottom sediment characteristics as outlined previ-
ously. These geological and geotechnical aspects are discussed in
detail in the following sections of this paper.
Factors Affecting Pit Slope Stability
As previously noted, erosion has resulted in the deposition of
large amounts of sediments at the pit bottom in the years that
66 / NATURAL HAZARDS REVIEW © ASCE / MAY 2003
followed the end of ore extraction in the area. In general, the
lithologic form of the area comprises sequences of itabirites and
phylites, and the deposited sediments are from the erosion of the
existing pit slopes, which comprise both itabirites and overlain
phylites 共Fig. 3兲. The itabirites in general are very competent
rocks, even when weathered, but being friable in this case, they
are prone to erosion. Their foliations are always well developed,
and the local occurrence shows dips typically from 30 to 40° east
共Sergio Brito Consultoria 1997兲. The phylites represent the criti-
cal geological formation of the pit. This formation occurs in a
highly weathered state due to continuous and rapid surface deg-
radation processes that often lead to generalized slides of limited
depth, particularly in the slopes of unfavorable foliation (30– 40°
south兲. Quartzite occurrences are not widespread and therefore do
not have an impact on the global stability of the slopes. Typically,
they are deeply weathered rocks, occurring as intercalations in the
phylites, and incidentally as plates in lenses adjacent to phylites.
In the beginning phase of ore extraction, it was decided not to
mine the part of the itabirite body on the slope foot, leaving it as
counterforts for protecting the upper and adjacent phylites from
erosion and slope failure. Such measures proved to be very help-
ful, because mine activity was never interrupted by slope failure.
These geotechnical features are more critical along the west pit
section 共Fig. 3兲, which reaches 230 m deep and presents unfavor-
able foliation for the itabirites regarding the slope declivity, with
a parallel strike to the slope, and a dip eastward towards the inside
of the pit. The itabirite counterforts were severely eroded in this
area, resulting in deep ravines 共about 30 m deep兲, through which
large volumes of phylites from the upper zones were washed
down to inner parts of the pit.
The undermining of the itabirite counterforts was so heavy in
this area that it produced a huge mass movement in the upper
zone of slope phylites. The scar of this movement is seen only in
this section of the pit. The displacement is described by a crack
on the crest and by a 5 m subsidence. The potential unstable
remnants, however, are masked along the slope by the action of
erosive processes, the superficial degradation of phylites, the de-
gree and depth of weathering, and the slow and progressive de-
 Fig. 2. Design of bottom drainage of tailing pile
formations 共creep兲 caused by the gradual loss of confinement.
These features indicate that the phylites undergo two kinds of
changes: superficial degradation and gradual loss of strength at
depth. The loss of strength is caused by the slow deformation that
occurs along a potential failure surface 共any preexistent disconti-
nuity surface兲, mobilizing residual strength and inducing a local
progressive failure. Similar problems of less severity occur along
the north slope section, which reaches 85 m in height, with slides
related to erosive processes. The south and southwest sections,
although presenting erosive features and small to medium slides,
show zones that are less susceptible to destabilizing processes.
Fig. 3. Typical geological section of Germano Pit
This behavior is mainly due to the shear strength characteristics
and to the foliation orientation of the itabirites with respect to
slope declivities.
Obviously, the geotechnical features of the pit slopes described
so far need to be taken into account in the design of any proposed
tailings impoundment. The global stability of the pit slopes is
related to the presence of the itabirite counterforts. Since those
structures were severely damaged by erosion, large mobilization
of phylites is possible. Therefore, a natural slope failure could
make an impact on the stability of the tailings confining structure.
Aside from the impact of a mass movement on the tailings im-
poundment, the deposition of fine material over the comparatively
coarse tailings can reduce the drainage capacity considerably in
the area affected by the slide.
Behavioral Analyses of Bottom Pit Sediments
An in situ body of itabirite close to the slope foot was left to serve
as a natural counterfort for mining operations at the pit bottom.
As was mentioned previously, concerning the area’s abandon-
ment, the pit slopes entered a period of rapid degradation. In
addition, the itabirite counterforts could not resist erosional forces
and ended up being destroyed in several stretches. As a conse-
quence, the pit bottom was gradually filled with sediments from
the pit slopes and from the former counterfort itabirites. All these
materials were accumulated at random at the pit bottom, forming
a 10-m-thick deposit, with 共standard penetration test SPT兲 values
ranging from 4 to 10.
In general, the behavior of the deposited material is closely
related to the lithology of its origin. Thus, eroded materials from
NATURAL HAZARDS REVIEW © ASCE / MAY 2003 / 67
the counterfort itabirites were accumulated in the vicinity of the
counterfort toes, forming layers with high strength characteristics
and high permeabilities. On the other hand, the sediments from
phylite degradation have traveled longer distances from the slope
to the pit bottom, forming a saturated deposit of low strength and
permeability.
Two features of the sediment behavior are likely to impact the
design. First, the low strength of the phylite sediments may in-
duce potential stability problems to the tailings impoundment
structure. Thus, material behavior of these sediments directly im-
pacts the stability analyses and the overall design. Furthermore,
since the conveyor belt cannot be relocated, the preliminary
stages of tailings filling may require that gentle slopes be used in
the area of its interference with the impoundment. Late in the
operation, however, steeper slopes can be implemented, since the
feeding circuit will be functioning outside the impoundment area.
Secondly, because the drainage capacity is different for phylite Fig. 4. Friction angle 共⍜m兲 versus depth from pressure-meter tests
and itabirite sediments, it is expected that a less permeable
equivalent material characteristic will be used, due to their mixed
presence in the deposit. This is in contrast to the permeable ita-
birite that underlies the foundation material in the pit bottom. the open pit slope and corresponds to a deposit thickness of about
Uplift pore pressures may therefore exist in the pit bottom, and 11.0 m. Another approach would consider directly the correlation
good control of this behavior must be taken into account in the q c ⫻R F 共Senesset and Janbu 1984兲, as indicated in Fig. 7. The
design. values characterize the deposit as a sequence of silty sand and
To quantify hydrologic conditions in the foundation of the pit sandy silt horizons, which were formed according to the relative
bottom, two double pneumatic piezometers were installed, with contributions of sediments from itabirite and phylite outcrops in
their cells located 5 m above and 5 m below the top of the itabir- the ultimate pit. At specific depths, the q c values abruptly in-
ite layer in the foundation 共i.e., inserted in the itabirite body and creased, and this can be explained by the desiccation effects dur-
in the deposited sediments, respectively兲. Following a monitoring ing sediment deposition.
plan of these instruments through the next rainy seasons, data will Geotechnical investigations performed on deposits of materi-
be available for dimensioning and layout of a proposed drainage als of the Germano Open Pit, and especially the correlations
blanket on the foundation of the tailings impoundment. Both 共Gomes and Albuquerque Filho 2002兲, have allowed the estima-
aspects—stability of the impoundment and drainage of the bottom tion of excavated volumes of materials for construction of the
pit—are important elements for analyses that ultimately will help bottom drainage of tailings stacking 共Fig. 8兲 at the mine site.
make the decision to remove the deposited sediment or leave it in
place. The removal proposition, at least in the area of influence
delineated by the stability analyses, has a high cost in addition to Conclusions and Final Comments
uncertainties related to the operational procedures of an excava-
tion of this size. The design of a new impoundment area for the tailings generated
On the other hand, if the impoundment structure is raised over from the mining processes of Samarco Mineração S. A. is in
the deposited material, it is imperative that the geotechnical prop- progress. The objective of this project is to rehabilitate an old pit
erties of the sediments, such as shear strength, compressibility,
permeability and bearing capacity, be well known 共Znidarcic
1998兲. With these objectives in mind, field investigations were
implemented to characterize the pit bottom, and undisturbed sedi-
ment samples were collected at the site for laboratory tests. In
addition, SPT soundings and pressuremeter and cone penetration
tests 共CPT兲 were also performed. Because of the cohesionless
characteristics of the sediments and their saturated state, pres-
suremeter holes were cased and in the test stretch bentonite mud
was used. All tests were executed with a Ménard type pres-
suremeter 共Briaud 1992兲, and the average test time interval was
approximately 40 min, including the drilling operation. Figs. 4
and 5 show typical results from these tests 共Wood and Mair 1987兲
in terms of friction angle versus depth and correlations between
limit pressures and SPT values.
The geotechnical characterization of the itabirite and phylite
sublayers was also based on different parameters and correlations
from CPT tests 共Robertson et al. 1986; Campanella and Robert-
son 1988兲. Fig. 6 represents a typical profile obtained from values
of the friction ratio (R F ), which is a parameter that expresses the
Fig. 5. Correlation of NSPT values versus limit pressure 共pressure-
relationship between lateral friction ( f s ) and cone resistance (q c )
meter tests兲
at each depth of the CPT5B hole. This hole was executed close to

68 / NATURAL HAZARDS REVIEW © ASCE / MAY 2003


Fig. 6. Typical friction ratio⫻depth 共CPT5B test兲
area by stacking the coarse tailings using the upstream construc-
tion method. The studies performed for the basic design of the
impoundment have shown three main geological and geotechnical
concerns: 共1兲 pit slope stability; 共2兲 general characteristics and
geotechnical behavior of the sediments transported to the pit bot-
tom; and 共3兲 drainage capability of the tailings. These concerns
and how they have been addressed are summarized in this paper
by describing the basic features of the project and discussing their
impact on the final design of the impoundment.
Fig. 7. The q c ⫻R f relationship of CPT5B test
Fig. 8. Excavation sections of area of bottom drainage of tailings
stacking
Piezocone penetration tests in the area of the Germano Open
Pit were used in evaluation of the characteristics of the material
accumulated as well as the deposit stratigraphication. In addition,
they are important in the effort made to optimize the removal
approaches or maintenance of the material as the support structure
of the bottom drainage project, and of the tailing pile to be con-
structed in this place.
In addition to these previous studies, there are plans to install
some instruments in the new impoundment and to monitor its
performance from the beginning of deposition. This will be help-
ful in collecting data that will be used to check design hypotheses
and will improve understanding of the complex phenomena asso-
ciated with the instability of the tailings impoundment structure.
Such comparisons will establish reference marks to keep or es-
tablish new guidelines for the tailings disposal management of the
Germano Pit.
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