Probabilistic slope stability assessment of fresh bulldog shale in prominent hill open pit

Probabilistic analysis is widely used in slope stability assessment because of its capability to take into account uncertainties associated with geotechnical parameters. There are, however, still many unresolved practical issues to the application of the method. One of these issues is the integration of assessments when multiple sets of fractures are considered for the entire slope. In the present study, this issue is addressed within the framework of Monte Carlo simulation. Probability of failure for pairs of fracture sets are assessed independently and the final assessment of the probability of failure for the entire slope is done using conditional probabilities. Prominent Hill open pit, in particular, the problematic fresh Bulldog shale formation, was used as a case study to test the method proposed. The SWEDGE program of the RocScience software package was used for the analysis.C. Xu, M. Karakus, N. Melkoumian, C. Wang, Q. Sui, J. Wang, Q. Qian and D. Goodchildhttp://www.ausimm.com.au/publications/epublication.aspx?ID=1300