A gold mining company planning to expand an open-pit mine in Turkey hired Barr to evaluate the mine’s stability and develop designs for safe, stable pit walls. The mine dates back to Roman times, and several of its features continue to pose challenges today. These include:
• gold-bearing ore that extends 1,000 feet below ground
• geology comprising five different rock formations
• rock with major jointing and faulting
• a seismically active location
We prepared a site-specific drilling program to gather geologic information for the pit area. This program incorporated oriented drilling in order to obtain highly accurate geotechnical data for analyzing joint patterns. The data helped specify laboratory tests for determining the rock’s physical parameters. Test results then allowed us to model scenarios with state-of-the-art software programs that produced safety factors for potential pit-wall designs.
Barr worked closely with Alacer to develop final designs, which included blasting and monitoring requirements for a subsequent feasibility study.