All of the articles in this proceedings volume have been presented at the third Rocscience International Conference (RIC2025) during April 6-8, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. These articles have been peer reviewed by the members of the Technical Review Committee and approved by the Editor-in-Chief, who affirms...

Application of discrete fracture networks (DFN) for detailed analysis of operational mine designs is demonstrated by means of two case studies. The first case is an open pit where a section of the pit design was re-analysed using a DFN to provide confirmation of the applicability of the slope design...

During mining operations in open pits, evaluating the effect of vibrations induced by blasting is crucial in determining the safety condition, in relation to the slope’s stability. Blasting can involve varied charges weights and their effects on the slopes depend on the distance from blasting region,...

Strip mining by draglines is typically used in shallow-bedded coal deposits to remove waste rock and uncover coal seams. Draglines work by sitting on the blasted overburden and side casting the spoil into the previous strip as it advances along the strike. The main form of dragline bench instability...

This paper introduces an advanced failure criterion methodology that integrates intact and fractured rock properties within geotechnical domains, using a 3D Mining Rock Mass Model derived from geotechnical logging data. The approach incorporates rock mass strength, fracture frequency, and joint roughness...

Bozymchak is a copper mine in Kyrgyzstan that is transitioning from open pit to underground mining using sub-level caving method (SLC). Longitudinal SLC mining is planned to continue downward from the base of the existing open pit until mine closure. Several geotechnical investigations were completed...

In situ stress determination is possible using deformation rate analysis (DRA) without resorting to elastic theory and its constraints/assumptions. The approach is based on recovering the inelastic strain between two cycles of loading on cylindrical samples of rock. The test technique makes use of strain...

In many rapidly urbanizing countries, deep excavations often cause damage to nearby utilities, such as roads, manholes, and buried pipelines. Earthquakes can also devastate underground lifelines, as seen in the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan. These issues have...

The stability of underground mine excavations is frequently im proved through the technique of backfilling, which enhances both environmental sustainability and operational efficiency. Accurately assessing vertical stress (σₓ) in inclined mine stopes with backfill is essential for the safe and optimal...

Underground mining induces significant changes in in-situ stress due to excavation method, which leads to stress redistribution and, consequently, loads concentrations on drifts walls, access tunnels and/or mining panels. As mining progresses to greater depths, empirical or observational methods for...

Digital rock physics combines imaging and numerical techniques to study the mechanical properties of granular materials without extensive physical experiments. This paper introduces a workflow for processing X-Ray Computed Tomography (CT) data and using it in numerical simulations, demonstrated through...

Rock mass instabilities – including rockfalls, wedge sliding failures and block topples – affecting sub-vertical rock cliffs in popular scenic coastal areas, significantly impact public safety and the financial viability of nearby assets. To effectively manage rockfall hazard along coastlines, it is...

High temperatures can significantly alter the engineering properties of rocks, presenting one of the significant challenges in mining and geothermal energy development. Current thermal damage theories and constitutive models often overlook the effects of impurities and the development of microcracks...

Shotcrete is widely used in tunnelling and mining as a surface support element. Admixtures can modify the properties of fresh or hardened concrete, or in some cases, both, to meet the varying demands of different applications. The production of traditional chemical admixtures not only consumes significant...

Throughout parts of the Australian mining industry, the adoption of new slope assessment technology has been largely stagnant with the default methodology of 2D Limit Equilibrium analysis with generic rockmass parameters producing a factor of safety, being accepted as representing slope stability. This...

Geotechnical reconciliation is a critical practice in open pit mining to ensure slope stability by validating design assumptions against as-mined conditions using the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) strategy. This process mitigates slope stability risks and enhances operational efficiency at BHP’s Western Australia...

The reliability of optimization search techniques in assessing the probability of failure of a slope, as slope complexity increases, is investigated in this paper. Initially, a simple homogeneous slope (1) is introduced, and the probability of failure (Pf) is determined using five non-circular optimization...

Timely prediction of a slope failure aimed at minimizing its negative impact on the personnel safety, in-pit infrastructure and business profitability is the key risk management requirement at a modern-day open pit operation. The primary tool for the slope failure prediction is the numerical modelling,...

This paper provides a novel method to address the challenge of accurately modelling rock fracture and its propagation at large scale whilst maintaining computational efficiency. Current finite element methods provide a powerful approach to modelling localized failure around underground excavations. However,...

Tunnels in Australia are becoming larger, more geometrically complex and are placed in more challenging geological environments. Unique challenges arise on each project and in some cases, bespoke designs are produced to meet specific challenges. It is routine in eastern Australia that parts of a tunnel...

The Sydney Metro City and Southwest Tunnelling and Station Excavation Works were undertaken in highly developed urban areas in close proximity to a wide range of existing infrastructure. Demonstrating the effects resulting from the project works are acceptable to the existing infrastructure is an important...

This paper outlines key geotechnical design features for a permanent shaft at Saint James Station, Hyde Park, Sydney. The design includes a fully tanked shaft, prefabricated internal steel structure, secant piled shaft wall, two short connection tunnel structures. Both short tunnels connect to historical...

The Albert Street Station which is one the four underground stations for Brisbane’s Cross River Rail project comprises two entry shafts and an underground cavern. The main entry to Albert Street Station is a 50m deep shaft box adjacent to a 23m wide underground cavern. The two excavations are separated...

This study investigates the stability of an open-pit mine using both the 3D Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM) and the 3D Finite Element Method (FEM) for comparative analysis. The open-pit geometry is derived from a block model and analyzed using RS3 and Slide3 software. The LEM analysis employs an advanced...

This paper presents a comprehensive slope stability analysis conducted as a critical input for the pit tsunami induced by rockfall/failure risk assessment at the Cadia Hill Open Pit, a gold-copper mine located in NSW, Australia. The assessment was driven by significant changes in pit tailing and water...

Due to increased mine depths and environmental requirements, mineral deposits that have been exploited by open pit are transitioning to underground mining. This paper presents the analysis of the stope design and the extraction sequence stability of a gold/silver deposit located in Santa Cruz, Argentina....

This paper presents three-dimensional numerical analysis undertaken to assess stability of an existing tailings embankment dam located near the crest of an existing open pit that has previously experienced significant slope deformation. Two-dimensional limit equilibrium analysis indicated potential embankment...

Gosowong gold mine (operated by Newcrest Mining Limited through the NHM or Nusa Halmahera Minerals joint venture) started its gold production in 1999. The reported average gold ore grade during the early years of operation was around 24 grams of gold per ton (g/t) of ore. Although the mill recovery rate...

Slope instability remains one of the primary causes of tailings storage facility (TSF) failures, highlighting the need for effective stabilization techniques. This study investigated the feasibility of reinforcing platinum tailings with 0.75 mm diameter and 10 mm long polyethylene terephthalate (PET)...

When developing three-dimensional slope stability analyses using the limit equilibrium method (3D-LEM) there is always the question of whether the shapes of the studied failure surfaces can occur in reality; certain methods use spherical, ellipsoidal and spline shapes, the latter having greater flexibility...

In the preliminary design of single piers, piled foundations, and piled raft foundations, it is often desirable to adopt a simplified approach for the estimation of foundation displacement, rather than immediately resorting to detailed numerical analyses (2D or 3D). Some research has been undertaken...

Load tests are the most suitable method for assessing foundation behavior, but their cost can be prohibitive. To address this, an experimental and numerical investigation was conducted to evaluate the performance of intact and defective bored piles. The studies were carried out at the University of Campinas’...

The bearing capacity and permeability of the soil are two important factors that significantly influence the design and construction of structures. These factors determine the ability of the soil to support loads without experiencing excessive settlements and are crucial in ensuring the long-term stability...

The Borehole Magnetometry (BM) test is a promising geophysical method that leverages the ferromagnetic properties of materials, which generate induced and/or remanent magnetic flux, significantly distorting the Earth’s magnetic field in localized regions. Researchers have developed analytical and computational...

The NorSand constitutive model is a simple critical state based plasticity model which uses a small number of material parameters, with physical meanings, which are easily obtainable from triaxial compression tests. NorSand has seen many applications in geotechnical engineering, including static liquefaction...

The analysis of drained and undrained behavior in soft ground is a critical aspect of geotechnical engineering, particularly when assessing the distribution of excess pore water pressure and consolidation characteristics. In a self-boring pressuremeter test (SBPT), the drainage of clay depends on the...

Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and elastic modulus (E) are crucial in underground structures such as deep mining, tunnels, geothermal energy systems, and nuclear waste disposal repositories. It is inevitable to encounter a rock mass with weak and heavy geological discontinuities, which makes it...

In this study, the finite element programs RS2 and RS3 were utilized to simulate the laboratory properties and behavior of pre-cracked (defected) marble specimens, as reported by Yang et al. (2009). The marble specimens contained two, three, or four inclined defects, which were created using a high-speed...

Situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippines faces an urgent imperative to design hazard-proof and seismic-resistant structures. To achieve this, geophysical tests are frequently utilized in predicting the behavior of soils and rocks and their seismic response under earthquake loadings, which...

Between 2018 and 2021, Trafikverket, the Swedish Transport Administration, conducted a large national inventory program of all road cuttings and associated slopes along the national road network. The work identified approximately 28,000 cuttings and rock slopes that were entered into the BaTMan (Bridge...

It is a challenging project to address the aftermath of the grassfires in the Rhigos Mountain. Grassfires in the summer of 2022 damaged a significant area of the mountainside and are a recurrent issue. In June 2023, the affected area was equivalent to 300 football pitches, causing significant damage...

The fragmentation of blocks upon impact during rockfall is a complex and significant phenomenon that remains poorly understood and inadequately modelled. The authors have conducted extensive experimental campaigns on artificial spherical rock-like specimens. The findings led to the first stochastic fragmentation...

Reclamation of a large landbridge constructed from backfill material is required as part of the mine closure plan for an open pit mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. There is a risk that rock falls initiated during mining of the landbridge could affect an area located approximately 80-100...

A recent research defined the application of Reliability-Based Design (RBD) approach as an improvement compared to the Limit State Design (LSD) in the definition of actions and resistances for the design of hybrid barriers and attenuators. An extensive campaign of full-scale tests on these two types...

Rockfall is a high-energy natural hazard that poses significant threats to inhabited areas and infrastructure in mountainous regions. Rockfall net fences are widely used passive structural systems designed to mitigate this hazard by intercepting and stopping falling rocks through energy dissipation....

This paper describes the procedure for the extraction of deterministic discrete fracture network (DFN) properties (orientation, location, and size) from the point cloud and the overall block stability analysis of a rock slope. UAV and SfM photogrammetry were used to collect the input data. Scaled and...

In engineering projects involving excavations, determining the execution speed can become essential in assessing stability and, consequently, local safety conditions. This is due to the presence of high pore pressures in the soil mass, associated with hydrogeological recharge. To make the construction...

Rockfall represents one of the most dangerous landslide phenomena, with serious impacts on infrastructure and work areas. In open pit mining, the occurrence is increased by unforeseen adverse structural conditions during mining operations or poor blasting practices. At the design stage, the geometric...

Rockfall simulation software such as RocFall3 can perform stochastic rockfall modelling and mitigation design. Rock-slope impacts are typically characterized using restitution coefficients, which should be site-specific for a reliable hazard assessment. This paper documents a back analysis procedure...

The softwall method for highwall stabilization is a widely adopted form of wall control in Australian open-cut coal mining. The softwall method typically involves blasting the overburden with the intention to fragment, rotate and disrupt discontinuities within the rockmass, and then digging it at a 45°...

The automatic detection of rock fractures is critical for maintaining the stability of rock structures and preventing geological disasters. Currently, three primary techniques are employed: manual inspection, ultrasonic detection, and computer vision technology. Manual inspection is inefficient, subjective,...

2D Limit equilibrium stability analyses in open-pit mines are widely used to validate or reject a given geometry, which directly influences all aspects of the operation, including planning, sequencing, operations, and even the beneficiation plant. It is known that, due to geological factors, an open...

Achieving optimal unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the soil-cement columns (soilcrete) in jet grouting is essential for ensuring structural stability; however, this goal is often complicated by the diverse soil characteristics encountered on-site. In fine-grained soils like silt and clay, high...

Mining belt conveyors are employed globally within mining sites, conveying crushed materials from short to long distances. In this study, a compacted landfill, filling two natural thalwegs, was necessary to enable the implementation of a belt conveyor system. Therefore, estimating settlements in the...

This paper presents a pragmatic approach to define the model confidence of the geological models, as implemented in Iron Ore at BHP, which is based on defining the minimum modelling requirements for the geological models to prove suitable for slope stability. The design acceptance criteria...

This study presents a multi-scale analysis of sandstone-shale interbedded formations, focusing on the material properties and their impact on slope stability in tropical regions. Micro- to macro-characterization methods, including petrophysical assessments and SEM-EDS analysis, were used to investigate...

Underground tunneling in dense urban environments presents significant challenges for civil engineers, particularly due to tunneling-induced surface settlements that can damage existing above-ground structures. While various simplified methods and guidelines based on empirical data have been proposed,...

Recent earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan have demonstrated that the collapse of most shallow-founded structures was primarily caused by either the yielding of the foundation or the failure of the structural connection between the building and its foundation. Both issues arise from insufficient consideration...

The rock cover thickness plays a critical role in cavern design since it significantly impacts the selection of cavern location (depth), rock support design, and excavation method. A rock cover that is too thin may result in instability due to low geostress levels, while a thick rock cover could increase...

Understanding rockfall occurrences is crucial for the operation of open-pit mines, as they can compromise the safety of workers and machinery. Designing the most appropriate mitigation measures depends on the energy and position at first impact, as well as the run-out. These “hazard indicators” are generally...

The Philippines, located in a tectonically active region, is highly susceptible to seismic activity, making liquefaction a critical concern for infrastructure stability. Liquefaction, the process by which saturated, loose soils lose strength and stiffness during earthquake-induced shaking, poses significant...

Anchored retaining walls, widely used around the world, are designed for retain soil masses. They are an efficient alternative to oppose earth-pressures with safety, offering a rigid facing that minimizes displacements. When implementing these retaining structures, the construction sequencing involves...

The high cost of mining is driving mine owners and designers to reduce cost by optimizing (steepening) open pit slope design parameters. Meanwhile, the catastrophic consequences of slope failures have the tendencies to negate the gains made from the steepening process if due processes are not followed....

Slope stability in South Africa presents unique challenges, significantly influenced by the country’s critical infrastructure and distinctive geological features. The road network is a lifeline for communities, connecting citizens to essential destinations such as workplaces, schools, healthcare facilities....

The risk of portal slope collapses due to the inherent nature of semi to highly weathered soil profiles and discontinuous rock mass conditions near the surface is ever present. An optimum slope design for soil and rock formations is therefore critical to obviate major risks arising from slope collapses....

Predicting landslide runout behavior, is critical for hazard assessment and risk mitigation. However, the inherent spatial variability of soil properties, particularly cohesion and friction angle, introduces substantial uncertainty in landslide modeling. This study presents a probabilistic framework...