Modified: October 20, 2012

13 Stripping Ratios
One of the ways of describing the geometrical efficiency of a mining operation is through the use of the term 'stripping ratio' (SR). It refers to the amount of waste that must be removed to release a given ore quantity. The ratio is most commonly expressed as: SR = Waste (tons) Ore (tons) (13.1)

However, a wide variety of other units are used as well. In strip coal mining operations for example, the following are sometimes seen: SR = Overbuden Thickness (ft) Coal Thickness (ft)

Overburden (yd 3 ) SR = Coal (tons)

The ratio of waste to ore is expressed in units useful for the design purpose at hand. For this example, the ratio will be defined as: SR = Waste (volume) Ore (volume) (13.2)

Note that if the waste and ore have the same density, then Equation (13.1) and Equation (13.2) are identical. If the volumes (or tons) used in the SR calculation correspond to those (cumulatively) removed from the start of mining up to the moment of the present calculation, then the overall stripping ratio is being calculated. The determination of final pit limits involves the calculation of a pit limit stripping ratio to be applied to a narrow strip at the pit periphery. To illustrate this concept, consider the simple cross-section shown in Figure 13.1. It will be assumed that: -the pit is deepened in bench height increments of 25 ft; -the minimum pit width is 100 ft; -overall slope angle is 45; -the density of the ore and waste is the same; -the ore is of constant grade.

13.1. Vertical pit section for stripping ratio example calculations.

The original pit on this section (Fig. 13.1), consists of 6 benches and has a depth of 150 ft. The area of ore Ao is: Ao = A1 = 200 * 100 + 50 *150 = 27,500 ft2 The area of waste Aw is Aw = 2A2 = 100 * 100 = 10,000 ft2 The overall stripping ratio SR (overall) is:
SR (overall) = A w 10,000 = = 0.36 A o 27,500

Deepening of the pit by one bench (bench 7) requires the removal of 2A3 of waste. The amount of ore uncovered is A4: A4 = 100 * 25 + 100 * 25 = 5,000 ft2 2A3 = 125 * 125 -100 * 100 = 5,625 ft2

The instantaneous stripping ratio is: SR (instantaneous) = 5,625 = 1.125 5,000

The overall stripping ratio with bench 7 removed is: SR (overall) = 15,625 = 0.48 32,500

With mining of bench 8, another 5,000 ft2 of ore (A6) is removed. This requires the stripping of: 2A5 = (150)2 -(125)2 = 6,875 ft2 of waste. The instantaneous stripping ratio is: SR (instantaneous) = The overall stripping ratio is: SR (overall) = For bench 9: A8 = 5, 000 ft2 2A7 = (175)2- (150)2 = 8,125 ft2 8,125 = 1.625 5,000 30,625 SR (overall) = = 0.72 42,500 SR (instantaneous) = The calculation results for this simple example are summarized in Table 13.1. As can be seen, with each cut, the same amount of ore 5,000 ft2 must pay for an increasing amount of waste. There becomes a point where the value of the ore uncovered is just equal to the associated costs for removing the overburden for the slice. This would yield the maximum pit on this section. Assume that in this case the breakeven stripping ratio is 1.625, the final pit would stop with the mining of bench 9. Through pit deepening, the walls of the pit are moved away or 'pushed back' from their original positions. The term 'push-back' is used to describe the process by which the pit is deepened by one bench. 22,500 = 0.60 37,500 6,875 = 1.375 5,000

Note also that the overall stripping ratio for the entire pit is always less than the instantaneous stripping ratio for the current pushback.

Table 13.1. Calculation results summary for the stripping ratio example.
Bench 7 8 9 Bench Ore Area (ft2) 5,000 5,000 5,000 Waste Area (ft2) 5,675 6,875 8,125 Total Ore Area (ft2) 27,500 32,500 37,500 42,500 Waste Area (ft2) 10,000 15,675 22,550 30,675 ISR 1.135 1.375 1.625 OSR 0.36 0.48 0.60 0.72

14 Pit Limits
14.1 Introduction The establishment of pit limits involves the development and superposition of a geometric surface called a pit onto the mineral inventory. The mineable material becomes that lying within the pit boundaries. A vertical section taken through such a pit is shown in Figure 14.1. The size and shape of the pit depends upon economic factors and design/production constraints. With an increase in price the pit would expand in size assuming all other factors remained constant. The inverse is obviously also true. The pit existing at the end of mining is called the 'final' or the 'ultimate' pit. In between the birth and the death of an open-pit mine, there are a series of 'intermediate' pits. This chapter presents a series of procedures for developing pit limits based upon: (1) hand methods, (2) computer methods, and (3) computer assisted hand methods . Within the pit are found materials of differing value. Economic criteria are applied to assign destinations for these materials based on their value (i.e. mill, waste dump, leach dump, stock pile, etc.). Once the pit limits have been determined and rules established for classifying the in-pit materials, the ore reserves (tonnage and grade) that would be mined can be calculated.

Figure 14.1. Superposition of pit onto mineral inventory.

14.2 Hand Methods for Determining Pit Limits 14.2.1 The basic concept for the hand method Figure 14.2 shows an idealized cross-section through an orebody which outcrops at the surface and dips to the left at 45. There are distinct physical boundaries separating the ore from the over- and under-lying waste. It is desired to know how large the open-pit will be on this section.

Figure 14.2. Cross-section through an idealized orebody.

Figure 14.3 shows the initial pit. The bit slopes on both walls is 45. The grid size was selected so that the distance between gridlines is 2 units (u), which means the diagonal length across a grid cell is 2 units. The thickness of the section (into the page) is 1 unit.

Figure 14.3 Slices used to determine final pit limits.

The pit will be expanded by a series of slices, referred to as push backs, as shown in Figure 14.4. The net value (NV) for each push back will be calculated.

The net revenue (NR) from selling one unit volume of ore (that money remaining after all expenses have been paid) is $1.90/unit volume. The stripping cost (SC) for mining and disposing of the waste is $l.00/unit volume. Beginning with strip 1, the volumes of waste (Vw), volume of ore (Vo), the instantaneous stripping ratio (ISR), and the net value (NV) of the strip are calculated.

Figure 14.4. Slices used to determine the final pit limits.

The calculations for strip 1 (Figure 14.5) are: Vwl = 7.5u ,

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Vol = 5.0u , ISR 1 =

Vw1 7.5 = = 1.5 Vo1 5.0

NV1 = Vo1*NR Vw1*SC = 5.0 * $1.90 7.5 * $1.00 = $2.00

Figure 14.5. Strip 1 for final pit limit example.

The calculations for strip 2 (Figure 14.6) are: Vw2 = 8.50u3 , Vo2 = 5.0u3 , ISR 2 =

Vw2 8.5 = = 1.7 Vo2 5.0

NV2 = 5.0 * $1.90 8.5 * $1.00 = $1.00

Figure 14.6. Strip 2 for final pit limit example.

The calculations for strip 3 (Figure 14.7) are: Vw3 = 9.5u3 , Vo3 = 5.0u3 , ISR 3 =

Vw3 9.5 = = 1.9 Vo3 5.0

NV3 = 5.0 * $1.90 9. 5 * $1.00 = $0 !!!

Figure 14.7. Strip 3 for final pit limit example.

The calculations for strip 4 (Figure 14.8) are: Vw4 = 10.5u3 , Vo4 = 5.0u3 , ISR 4 =

Vw4 10.5 = = 2.1 Vo4 5.0

NV4 = 5.0 * $1.90 10.5 * $1.00 = -$1.00

Figure 14.8. Strip 4 for final pit limit example.

As can be seen, the net value changes from (+) to () as the pit is expanded. For strip 3, the net value is zero. This pit position is termed the breakeven point since the costs involved in mining a strip just equals the revenues. It is the location of the final pit wall on the pit section. The stripping ratio at the break even point is called the break even stripping ratio (BESR). In this example, the break even stripping ratio, which is strictly applied at the pit wall, is BESR = 1.9 The break even stripping ratio can be calculated directly from the economic data. The net revenue from one unit of ore is $1.90, and the stripping cost of removing one unit of waste is $1.00. The break even stripping ratio is then calculated as: BESR = (Net Revenue)/(Stripping Cost) = $1.90/$1.00 = 1.9 Furthermore, the break even point was reached at push back 3 (Figure 14.9). From the geometry of strip 3, the length of the waste (Lw) is 9.5 units, and the length of the ore is 5.0 units. Lw/L0 = 9.5/5.0 = 1.9 = BESR

By combining these results, the BESR can be defined as:

BESR = (Net Revenue)/(Stripping Cost) = Lw/L0

(14.1)

This is true if: Cost and revenues both expressed in terms of same units (volumes) Density of ore and waste the same. Note that if the thickness of the strip used in this example were to become thinner and thinner, the volume of ore will approach the length of the ore, and the volume of waste will approach the length of waste.

Figure 14.9. Strip 3 and final pit limit showing waste length (Lw3) and ore length (Lo3). . The overall stripping ratio (OSR) for the last section (Figure 14.10) is calculated as:

OSR 4 =

Volume Waste A 0.5 * 9.5 2 45.125u 3 = = = = 0.7521 Volume Ore B 0.5 * (9.5 + 14.5) * 5 60.0u 3

This is compared to the instantaneous stripping ratio at the pit boundary: ISR (pit limit) = 1.9 The OSR must always be less than the ISR at the pit limit. The net value of the pit is: NV = Vo*NR Vw*SC = 60.0 * $1.90 45.125 * $1.00 = $68.88 Whereas the net value is zero at the pit limit, it is positive for the overall section. 10

Figure 14.10. Final pit position (strip 3) and overall waste (A) and ore (B) areas.

Table 14.1 below summarizes the calculations performed in this example per strip (pushback) and for the overall pit after each pushback.
Table 14.1. Summary of calculated values for the pit limit determination example. Vo ISR Stripping Net Net Strip Vw (u3) (u3) Cost Revenue Value 1 2 3 4 Pit 7.5 8.5 9.5 10.5 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 Vo0 (u3) 47.5 52.5 57.5 62.5 67.5 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 OSR 0.5158 0.6095 0.7043 0.8000 0.8963 $7.50 $8.50 $9.50 $10.50 Stripping Cost $24.50 $32.00 $40.50 $50.00 $60.50 $9.50 $9.50 $9.50 $9.50 Net Revenue $90.25 $99.75 $109.25 $118.75 $128.25 $2.00 $1.10 $0.00 -$1.00 Net Value $65.75 $67.75 $68.75 $68.75 $67.75

Vw0 (u3) initial 24.5 1 32.0 2 40.5 3 50.0 4 60.5

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14.2.3 Final Pit Limits by the Hand Method Summary Depending on the nature of the mining system, there are a number of different equations that can be developed for determining the break even stripping ratio from economic data. In general terms, the Break-even Stripping Ratio is given by: BESR = (V - C - E) / E where: V - the value of recovered metal per ton of ore. C - the cost of production per ton of ore (exclusive of E). E - the excavation cost per ton of ore and waste. Once the Break-even Stripping Ratio is determined from the economic data, the final pit limits on a vertical section an be determined using the hand method outlined. To summarize, the typical calculation process for determining the final pit limits on a section are: 1. Calculate the Net Revenue (NR) per ton of ore mined 2. Calculate Stripping Costs (SC) per ton of waste mined 3. Calculate BESR: BESR = (NR)/(SC) = Lw/Lo. 4. From the pit geometry, determine the length of the ore zone (Lo). 5. Calculate the length of the waste zone, Lw = BESR*Lo 6. From the pit geometry, calculate the depth (h) from the surface to the pit bottom. 7. Calculate the area and volume of the ore and waste removed. 8. Calculate the overall stripping ratio and the net value of the pit on the cross section. (14.2)

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