16 R oc k Engineering and Slope St abilit y Ensuring a saf e en vironment and proft able mining Approac h W e have the knowledge and experience to work on a range of studies from scoping to feasibility and operational improvement across all major resource types, for open pit and underground operations, and for operational support. Our consultants, many with industry backgrounds, have worked on deposits on all continents bringing a broad international perspective and experience to your projects. Our team of professionals includes individuals with highly developed numerical modelling capabilities. W e offer a mix of analytical and empirical analysis complemented by sound operational experience to give solutions that are innovative and practical and design parameters that are optimised for the conditions and mining strategy . W e focus on the application and interpretation of the analytical results by reducing the data to create geotechnical domain models, representing sectors of the project that are expected to have similar geotechnical characteristics. Our deliverables are useful geotechnical models and design parameters to ensure that you get practical, focused results that add value to your projects. W e work hard to stay at the forefront of industry and technological developments: our experts have participated on the Large Open Pit Study group coordinated by CSIRO, the W eak Rock Support group coordinated by IT ASCA and the industry sponsored Mass Mining T echnology Study (formerly International Caving Study). W e use techniques such as Sirovision or 3DM Analyst and we are developing data collection improvements for rock mass classification. W e are able to provide experts in the key areas to assist you to deliver successful projects and are happy to work closely with your teams to strengthen in-house capacity by transferring our understanding and skills. • T raining of client personnel • Geotechnical feld investigation, mapping, logging, and databasing • Structural interpretation and analysis • Rock mass characterisation and domain modelling • Mining method selection and excavation sequencing optimisation • Assessment of impact if groundwater on open pit and underground design • Mine infrastructure and capital development excavation design • Pit slope and underground stability analysis, 2D and 3D modelling and design • Dilution, fragmentation and caving analysis • Design of underground and slope support systems • Design, implementation and management of monitoring systems Rio T into Project: Simandou iron ore project, Guinea. Scope: Geotechnical feasibility studies, characterisation of itabirite and waste, pit slope and waste dumps design, and operational criteria. Outcome: Completed geotechnical, logging and material testing programs over a 1 4 km strike of the proposed mine. Site supervision and logging teams collected data for over one year . Deeply weathered footwall influenced stripping costs and waste volumes. A robust geotechnical model, defined slope angles and a mining strategy to reduce the geotechnical risk were developed. The recommendations had the potential to substantially reduce stripping costs. Ser vices