Impact of longwall mining on slope stability – A case study

In recent decades, many open pit (OP) mines have either already made the decision or are at the planning stage to change their mining activity from OP to underground (UG) to remain competitive. Technically, before the OP ends its operation, both OP and UG mining will have to be operated simultaneously for a certain period of time. It is well known that UG operation causes subsidence, discontinuous deformations, and changes in hydrogeological conditions. In case of UG operation located below the OP mine, slope deformation can be expected as a result of subsidence induced by UG exploitation. This paper presents a numerical analysis of slope stability under the influence of the longwall mining operation at the Cao Son OP mine in Vietnam. All calculation variants were performed using the Finite Difference Method code, FLAC. In order to evaluate slope stability of the OP slope, various geometry configurations showing advances of both OP and UG extractions were examined. Based on the outcomes, assessments on OP slope are presented, and then, practical actions regarding the location and direction of UG extraction are recommended, with an aim to minimize the impact of underground mining on OP slope.