Justification of Progressive Parameters of The Sides of Copper Ore Quarries

A methodological approach to the justification of steep (progressive) sides of copper ore quarries is presented on the basis of complex geomechanical studies of rocks directly in the instrument arrays using cores obtained from specially drilled engineering-geological wells to determine the size of structural blocks, the quality index of the array and the structural attenuation coefficient and parallel laboratory study of the strength and physical properties of rocks. The assessment of the stability of the sides of the quarry by various calculation methods made it possible to verify their reliability and good convergence. Rather steep (progressive) parameters of the sides of the quarry are recommended, at their height of 300 m, their angles of inclination range from 46° to 52° with a coefficient of stability ranging from 1.19 to 1.37. The implementation of geotechnological studies based on rating classifications allows us to obtain reliable strength characteristics of rocks necessary for numerical modeling of geomechanical processes. The stability of the sides of the quarry was assessed by various calculation methods, which made it possible to verify their reliability and good convergence of numerical- analytical and rating calculation systems, which are carried out using special programs.