Geotechnical Design and Performance of a Section of the Pit Wall Slope at Suncor Millennium Mine

R. Shi, D.J. McLachlan, J.P. Barlow, N. Firt, T. MacGowan

In the proceedings of: GeoMontréal 2013: 66th Canadian Geotechnical Conference; 11th joint with IAH-CNC

Session: Mining Geotechnics II

ABSTRACT: A 500 m section of perimeter pit wall at the Millennium Mine of Suncor Energy Inc. in unique design and construction challenge due to space constraints. The main geotechnical issue at the site was tstability of the overburden pit slope with precritical utility corridor immediately adjacent to the pit crest and high grade ore at the toe required a departure from the conventional offset criteria for critical infrastructure and adoption of the observational method. During construction, total deformations of up to 40 mm were observed near the utility corridor in a thin marine clay bed in the McMurray ore to the required limit and a stable pit wall.

RÉSUMÉ: Une section de 500 m de la paroi le long du périmètre de la mine Millennium de Suncor Energy Inc.,représentait un design unique et un défi de construction en raison de contraintes d'espace. Le problème géotechnique principal sur le site est la stabilité de la paroi dans les sections d™argiles très plastiques préFormations Clearwater et McMurray. Un corridorparoi et le minerai à haute teneur à la base de la paroi nécessitait des modifications aux critères conventionnels de compensation pour l'infrastructure critique et l'adoption d'un système rigoureuxd'observation a été utilizé pour déterminer le success des contreforts. Pendant la construction, les déformations totales allant jusqu'à 40 mm ont été observés près dla Formation McMurray. La section de la paroi a été extraite avec succès, le minerai à été extrait à la limite requise et la paroi est resté stable.

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Cite this article:
R. Shi; D.J. McLachlan; J.P. Barlow; N. Firt; T. MacGowan (2013) Geotechnical Design and Performance of a Section of the Pit Wall Slope at Suncor Millennium Mine in GEO2013. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Geotechnical Society.

@article{GeoMon2013Paper403,author = R. Shi; D.J. McLachlan; J.P. Barlow; N. Firt; T. MacGowan,title = Geotechnical Design and Performance of a Section of the Pit Wall Slope at Suncor Millennium Mine,year = 2013}