Geotech Geol Eng
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Influence of Rainfall Patterns on the Slope Stability
of the Lumwana (the Malundwe) Open Pit
Lancine Doumbouya . Chang Sheng Guan . Victor Mwango Bowa
Received: 13 June 2017 / Accepted: 15 October 2019
 Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Abstract Malundwe open pit has experienced slope
failures in the pit’s upper stack during rain-season
since mining started in 2008. Laboratory and numer-
ical model investigation methods were performed to
investigate the influence of the rainfall pattern on the
stability of the upper stack having saprolite domains.
The saprolite soil was classified using the British soil
classification system as slightly clayey, silty, sand
with fine gravel which are of low plasticity. The water
retention test using pressure test conducted on sapro-
lite, reveals that the saprolite soil could not dry up
completely as it contains about 9% volumetric content
of water with the matric suction of 300 kPa during the
most dehydrated month. The rainfall patterns at the
mine site increase the groundwater level on the
saprolite material. The rising of the groundwater
table leads to the reduced matric suction and increased
volumetric water content in saprolite domain. The
reduced matric suction in the saprolite soils reduce the
saprolite soil’s shear strength effectively leading to
slope instability. Therefore, rainfall infiltration is the
facilitator for initiating the failure of the upper slope at
Malundwe open pit.
L. Doumbouya  C. S. Guan  V. M. Bowa (&)
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Wuhan
University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
e-mail: mwangobowa@yahoo.com
Keywords Rainfall pattern  Volumetric water
content (%)  Matric suction  Safety factor  Slope
failure
1 Introduction
The Lumwana Mining Limited Copper Project is
located in the North-Western Province of Zambia,
approximately 300 km west by road from the Cop-
perbelt province, the city of Kitwe and 95 km west by
road to the provincial centre of Solwezi as indicated in
(Fig. 1). The Lumwana Mining Limited Copper
Project operates Malundwe and Chimiwungo open
pits located within the Lumwana Mine licensed area.
This article only focused on the effects of rainfall
patterns on the stability of the upper slope of the
Malundwe Open Pit. However, the reference to
Chimiwungo pits has been done in some cases in this
study. Lumwana mine has experienced a number of
slope failures in the upper stack of the slope with slope
failure occurs in the rain season since the commence-
ment of mining in 2008 (Fig. 2). The slough volumes
recorded so far ranges from 2000 to 30,000 m3 by
manual computations in the saprolite and laterite soil
materials on the upper stack of the slope. Slope failure
once occurs, costs the company huge sums of money
for material re-handling and pit re-design. The current
slope monitoring systems (GeoMos system and Slope
Stability Rader) in use at Malundwe open pit
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positioned on higher risk walls have made it possible Fig. 2 Records of slope failure on the upper stack of Malundwe c
to avoid loss of human life, as warnings are provided open pit
prior to slope failure at the mine site.
In surface mining where cut slopes are left in the
of rainfall on the slope failure mechanisms is essen-
soils/weak rock at shallow depth, rainfall pattern may
tially governed by the amount of rainwater infiltration
play a significant role in inducing slope failure as
into the slope. However, not all rainwater can infiltrate
explained in the geotechnical literature (Day and
down into the slope (Fredlund and Rahardjo 1993; Cui
Axten 1989; Fourier 1996; Dai et al. 2003; Chen et al.
et al. 2005, 2010). Some rainwater may be lost through
2005; Tohari et al. 2007; Cascini et al. 2010; Zhang
evaporation or runoff.
et al. 2011). The slope failure mechanisms induced by
It is indicated that saturated hydraulic conductivity
rainfall pattern occur on natural slopes especially in
becomes a limiting value of the infiltration rate into the
tropical regions, fill slopes, cut slopes and embank-
slope. Once the evaporation takes place from voids of
ments. Some scholars (Costa et al. 1989; Ng and Shi
the saturated soil mass, matric suction is formed
1998; Wolle and Hachich 1989; Au 1998; Kim et al.
between the soil particles. In wet conditions, the
2004; Tohari et al. 2007; Hearman and Hinz 2007;
permeability of the soil will be greater in the
Rahimi et al. 2011) have indicated that the infiltration
unsaturated zone and thus increase the rate of infiltra-
of rainwater into a slope decreases the stability of the
tion as pointed out by Hearman and Hinz (2007).
slope. Thode and Gitirana (2008) noted that the effect
Muhammad and Fourier (2014) noted that rainfall

Fig. 1 The location of Lumwana open pits

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patterns and soil hydraulic conductivity are highly
variable with geographical location. Thus, it is
unlikely to generalize the effect of rainfall patterns
on the failure mechanisms of the slopes for the
different sites.
Lumwana (Malundwe) open pit has a consistent
and well-defined rainfall pattern with the rainy season
ranging from the month of November to April. The dry
season is from the month of May to October. The mine
area receives an average rainfall of 1300 mm per
annum. Against this background, Lumwana (Mal-
undwe) open pit has experienced a number of slope
failures in the upper stack of the slope with slope
failure occurring in the rainy season as explained
earlier. Therefore, infiltrations of rainwater within the
upper slope are suspected to be the main triggering
factor to slope failures at Lumwana (Malundwe) open
pit.
The paper analysed the effects of rainfall patterns
on the stability of the upper slopes at the Lumwana
(Malundwe) Open Pit. In this article, the discussion
that follows is about the laboratory and slope model by
limit equilibrium study methods that were performed
to investigate the influence of the rainfall pattern on
the stability of the upper stack of the slope having
saprolite domains.
2 Geology and Hydrogeology Settings
The general stratigraphy of the upper stacks of
Lumwana (Malundwe) Open Pit consists of vegeta-
tion, a very thin layer of Sand and Laterite, Saprolite
overlying the Saprock and downwards is the basement
rockmass consisting of Schist and Gneiss and the
fractured network. The deposit is located within the
metamorphic rocks in the Basements (Gneiss and
Schist) of the Mwombezhi Dome which has been
subjected to thrusting, folding and other late stage
Table 1 Stratigraphy and Stratigraphy
hydrogeological unit of
Lumwana Surface sand
Laterite
Saprolite
Saprock
Basements (Schists and Gneiss)
Fractured network
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faulting. Copper mineralization is hosted within
distinct Schist units (the Upper, Middle and Lower
Ore Schist) which dip to the south-east at 20. The
details of the soil and rock stratigraphy are provided in
Table 1.
Lumwana (Malundwe) open pit groundwater can
be accounted for from rivers, aquifers below the
surface and rainwater that infiltrates into the soil and
rock mass. It should be noted that although the epidote
Schist generally has higher permeabilities than the
surrounding lithologies, the various horizons are well
hydraulically connected and act as a groundwater
system.
The hydrogeological assements at the mine site are
summarized as follows;
Surface Sand This represents the top superficial
layer, with a thickness of up to 1 m. Hydraulic
conductivity, K varies across zones and influences
the rainfall recharge into the hydrogeological
domain. Hydraulic conductivity, K ranges from 10
to 100 m/d.
Laterite The laterite represents a highly weathered,
iron-rich clayey material, immediately below the
sands of 2 m thick; Hydraulic conductivity, K
ranges from 10-1 to 1 m/d.
Saprolite Represents highly weathered residual
country rock and has an average thickness of
40 m, Hydraulic conductivity, K ranges from 10-2
to 10-3 m/d.
Saprock The Saprock represents the unfractured
transition zone between the saprolite and the
underlying solid strata and acts as an impermeable
zone for groundwater flow.
Basements Schist and Gneiss can be characterized
as forming the unit of very low permeability.
Hydraulic conductivity, K values are enhanced
where weathering along geological contacts and
fracturing occurred. The basement rock also
Thickness (m) Hydrogeological unit
1 Aquifers
2 Aquifers
40 Aquifers
20 Impermeable rock
150–200 Aquiclude/minor aquifers
[ 400 Aquiclude
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presents a higher hydraulic conductivity when
exposed in the open pit, due to the over-shot blast
zones and relaxation taking place.
Fracture network Groundwater flow at depth is
controlled by the fracture network present in the
rock mass forming the basement. Hydraulic con-
ductivity, K varies between 10-2 and 102 m/d
(transmissivity 0.2 to 15 m2/d).
3 Soil Water Characteristic Curves, (SWCC)
of the Saprolite Material
Following the sloughing in the saprolite domain that
occurred in the upper stack of the pit in the east and
north-east walls in 2010; south-east and east walls in
2012 and North-east and east walls in 2014, saprolite
soils were sampled on the footwall where sloughing
occurred. Index testing was carried out on saprolite
samples picked from a trench on the footwall prone to
sloughing. Wet sieving and hydrometer analysis were
carried out using the British Standard (Lambe 1951) to
determine the particle size distribution. The grain-size
distribution curve of the sampled saprolite under
British soil classifications systems indicate slightly
clayey, silty sand with some fine gravel, mostly non-
plastic (no Atterberg Limits possible). Only in two
cases was it possible to obtain the Atterberg Limits and
these were as follows:
• Liquid limits: 32 and 33;
• Plastic limits: 13 and 16;
• Plasticity index: 19 and 17
Fig. 3 Plasticity chart for
the classification of fine soils
• Clay content: 27% and 22%
From Plasticity chart, for the classification of fine
soils under the British classification system, the
saprolite material classifies as a CL Type (low
plasticity clay) above the A-Line since the sampled
saprolite material’s liquid limit had less than 35% as
seen from (Fig. 3) below.
The coefficient of permeability of the groundwater
flow in the unsaturated soil is not constant but a
function of soil suction. For this reason, there was a
need to determine the soil–water characteristic curve
(SWCC) that outlines the general relationship between
the matric suction and the volumetric water of the
saprolite soil (Fredlund and Rahardjo 1993). Water
retention tests were conducted on three sets of
saprolite soil samples (S1, S2 and S3) to identify the
relationship between the change in water content and
matric suction. Where S1, S2 and S3 represent sets of
saprolite soil samples, sampled on the footwall trench
where sloughing occurred on the upper stack of the pit
in 2010, 2012 and 2014 respectively. This relationship
is usually illustrated as a curve called the Soil–Water
Characteristic Curve (SWCC) and is very useful in
investigating the behaviour of unsaturated soils. Water
retention tests were performed using a pressure plate
with an applied pressure of up to 800 kPa. For this
study, the SWCCs including the refinement using the
Fredlund and Xing method (Fredlund and Xing 1994)
were plotted (Fig. 4). Equation 1 was applied to plot
the best-fit curve of the SWCC which correlates matric
suction (w) to volumetric water content (h) for each set
of the tested samples.
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Fig. 4 Soil-water
characteristic curve
(SWCC)
 m
1 the resulting negative pore pressure ðuÞ tends to rise
h ¼ hs ð1Þ
ln ½e þ ðw=aÞn
where hs is saturated volumetric water content; a, m,
and n are the parameters used for determining the
shape of the SWCC; and e is the natural number
(e = 2.71828).
The average curve was also derived from all
collected data for the best representation of the SWCC
data used in this analysis. Based on the plotted
experiment results (Fig. 4) for the soil–water charac-
teristic curve (SWCC), saprolite could not dry up
completely as it contains about 9% volumetric content
of water with the matric suction of 300 kPa during the
most dehydrated month. Furthermore, the established
SWCC revealed that the matric suction (kPa) increases
with a decrease in volumetric water content of
saprolite soil. When saprolite has the volumetric water
content of 50%, it becomes saturated as it can not
absorb any more water.
4 Effects of Rainfall Infiltrations on the Shear
Strength of the Saprolite Material
From Fig. 4, during the drying-up process (reduction
in volumetric water content) of the Saprolite material,
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up (Cui et al. 2005, 2010). This results in an increase in
the shear strength of the Saprolite material as shown in
Eq. 2.
S ¼ c0 þ rðððuÞÞÞtan/0 as u ! u ð2Þ
During the rain season with excessive rainfalls, the
negative pore pressure tends to reduce towards zero
and even become positive with the rising-up of the
groundwater table due to rainwater infiltrations in
saprolite soils. Such a change in pore water pressure
causes a decrease in the shear strength of the saprolite
soils (Cui et al. 2005, 2010) as demonstrated in Eq. 3.
S ¼ c0 þ ðr  uÞtan/0 as u ! u ð3Þ
where S is the resultant shear strength, c0 is the
effective cohesion, /0 is the effective friction angle, r0
is the effective total normal stress on the failure
surface and u is the pore pressure.
5 Numerical Simulation Analyses
Following the sloughing in the saprolite soils that
occurred in the upper stack of the pit in the east and
north-east walls in 2010; south-east and east walls in
Geotech Geol Eng
2012 and North-east and east walls in 2014, numerical
models were generated to study the influence of
groundwater from the rainfall in the saprolite material
on the stability of the slope from the footwall side of
the Malundwe open pit using the geotechnical anal-
yses approach. The geotechnical analysis is an
assessment of the potential for the slope failure within
the pit limit. The geotechnical analysis was conducted
to determine the factor of safety of the upper stack of
Malundwe open pit. It was carried out using the
SLIDE computer program. The SLIDE software is a
2D slope stability program for evaluating the safety
factor of circular or non-circular failure surfaces in soil
or rock slopes. Sensitivity analysis allows one to
determine the effect of individual variables on the
safety factor of the slope. The input geotechnical
parameters were obtained from a hybrid of data from
the rock mechanics field database, Lumwana Open Pit
Geotechnical Laboratory, and ROCLAB (a computer
program for estimating rock mass properties-
(ROCSCIENCE 2003). The parameters used in the
numerical model summarized in Table 2.
The Mohr–Coulomb model was used in the Slide
program considering both the peak and residual shear
strength parameters respectively. Considering the
laboratory tests results, where the saprolite soil
become saturated when its volumetric water content
reaches 50%, both drained and undrained saprolite
material conditions were considered. The peak shear
strength parameters were used under drained saprolite
material conditions when the water content is
approaching 9% during the drying up process while
the residue shear strength parameters were used under
undrained saprolite material conditions in the wet
season when the water content is approaching 50% for
the slope. The geotechnical analysis was carried out as
a simulation of the factor of safety using SLIDE
software, considering the drained and undrained
Table 2 Geotechnical parameters
Material Density (kg/ Young’s modulus UCS
type m3) (GPa) (MPa)
Saprolite 2650 60 100
Saprock 3000 50 200
saprolite conditions. In the geotechnical analysis,
Bishop simplified and Morgenstern-Price slope sta-
bility analysis methods were used for slope stability
analysis of circular and non-circular slip surfaces
respectively with the peak and residual shear strength
accounted for considering the matric suction of the
saprolite soils proposed by Fredlund et al. (1978).
5.1 Footwall Slope Profile for Circular Failure
Surface
The slope was created from the current footwall slope
geometry as follows:
• Bench height: 4 m
• Bench face angle: 30
• Spill berm width: 10 m
• Bench stack angle: 16.3 (for a 36 m high stack)
• Inter-ramp angle: 15.2
This is a generic slope profile that was previously
and currently being used at the mine. It illustrates a
36 m high saprolite bench stack lying over the
weathered rock surface. The geotechnical open pit
slope design applied is based on the geotechnical
nature of the homogeneous in situ saprolite materials
and their likely response to the mining process. To
determine the factor of safety of the circular failure
surfaces, the grid search method was applied to search
for the potential circular failure surfaces. The safety
factor was determined for the potential circular failure
under both drained and undrained conditions using
limit equilibrium principles. The results for the
drained case are provided (Fig. 5). The calculated
factor of safety is displayed in the text box (Fig. 5).
This case shows stable wall conditions and an
equivalent critical failure surface for the circular
failure mode. Therefore the results do show that for
drained conditions, it would be possible to develop
Poisson’s Peak strength Residual strength
ratio
Cohesion Friction Cohesion Friction
(kPa) angle () (kPa) angle ()
0.35 300 30 200 15
0.32 400 45 100 23
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Fig. 5 The drained
footwall slope conditions
containing the Saprolite
domain-Fs = 2.150
steeper slope profiles. However, when non-circular
conditions exist, undrained conditions may exhibit
slope instability.
5.2 Incorporation of Non-circular Failure Modes
To assess the influence of water on the shear strength
resulting from a dominant relic structure (that also
induces non-circular failure geometries) the safety
factor was determined for non-circular failure under
both drained and undrained conditions using Morgen-
stern-Price. To search for the potential non slip
surfaces, Block search method was used. Block search
method allows the user to search for complex non-
circular slip with any number of specified line
segments. The slope model of the physical slope was
created from the current trial steeper slope geometry in
the footwall as follows:
Bench height: 4 m;
Bench face angle: 45;
Spill berm width: 5 m;
Bench stack angle: 27.2 (for a 36 m stack)
and; Inter-ramp angle: 25.6.
The slope models were generated for the saprolite
soils with the non-circular slip surfaces being specified
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for the generated slope models. This type of failure
surface was specified in the case of non-circular slope
failure. Advanced search algorithms simplify the task
of finding the critical slip surface for the lowest safety
factor. The results with the non-circular critical failure
surface for the drained and undrained condition on the
saprolite on the footwall are provided in Figs. 6 and 7
respectively. It is noticeable that there is a drop in the
safety factor with the decrease in the strength param-
eters in the undrained conditions (Dun and Wright
1995).
6 Conclusion
Based on the comprehensive laboratory and numerical
model investigation results, saprolite domain com-
prises an important unit which has a negative effect on
the stability of Lumwana (Malundwe) Open Pit during
the rainy season. Saprolite soil in its dry state has a
high value of the matric suction which increases the
shear strength of the saprolite material thereby
improving the stability of the upper stack of the slope
in the dry season. A slight increase in the suction
matric and reduction in the volumetric water content
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Fig. 6 Non-circular
drained saprolite on the
footwall of Malundwe

Fig. 7 Non-circular
undrained saprolite on the
footwall of Malundwe

of the saprolite soil can significantly improve the
stability of the slope’s upper stack. During the start of
the rain season, the infiltrations of rainwater into the
slope is quite difficult but after the ground begin to wet
with rainfall infiltration, then the next rainfall will
facilitate infiltration of rainwater into the saprolite soil
mass domains. Therefore, the rainfall patterns at the
mine site increase the volumetric water content into
saprolite material. The rising of volumetric water
content into saprolite material, results in reduced
matric suction in the saprolite domain. The reduced
matric suction reduces the saprolite soil’s shear
strength effectively. The study indicates that the
magnitude of matric suction depends on the rainfall
(volumetric water content into saprolite material)
infiltration into the saprolite domain. Therefore, the
rainfall pattern is the facilitator for initiating failure of
the upper slope at Lumwana (Malundwe) open pit.

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Acknowledgements The research described in this paper was
financially supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (No. 51708438), Science Program of
Wuhan Urban and Rural Construction Commission (No.
201712).
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