Stability assessment and optimization design of lakeside open-pit slope considering fluid-solid coupling effect

Abstract

Chengmenshan copper mine, located at Jiujiang city in the Jiangxi Province, is a rarely lakeside open-pit mine in China. Since the open-pit is very close to Sai Lake, the seasonally changed water level and the distance between lake and slope have great influence to the stability of open-pit slope. Based on the drill data and geological sections, a numerical model of the slope is built. With the fluid-mechanical interaction associated, the stability of the slopes is numerically analyzed, in which different lake water levels and lake-slope distances are taken into consideration. The comparative analysis shows that a larger lake-slope distance can promise better slope stability and weaken the sensitivity of slope stability to water. The stability of slopes with different heights is analyzed to find that the stability weakens and the sensitivity is enhanced with the height increasing. To the most serious situation, the slope height and the lake water level being 238 m and 17.2 m, respectively, the Fs value equals 1.18945 which is extremely closed to the allowable safety factor of 1.20 for slope design. According to the minimum Fs for slope design, the minimum distance between lake and open-pit slope is found to be 60 m.