In open pit mining, ramps and haul roads are more than just pathways—they are the lifelines that keep ore moving and costs under control. According to Poniewierski (2021), “A good haul road design is one where the operator can drive from the face to the dump with their foot flat to the floor, except for safety speed limits.” Here are some key insights from industry guidelines: 🔹 Gradient Matters – In Australia, a 10% gradient is common for rigid trucks, but in North America, 8% is preferred. Why? Caterpillar data shows that moving from 10% to 8% can double the lifespan of critical components like differentials and wheel groups, reducing costs significantly. 🔹 Width for Safety – For two-way straight sections, aim for at least 3.5× truck width, increasing to 4× truck width on corners. Always add windrows at least half the tyre height for safety. 🔹 Switchback Design – Flat switchbacks are best for mechanical drive trucks, reducing drivetrain stress. If graded, the inside radius should be 2–3% flatter than the main ramp to offset rolling resistance. 🔹 Direction of Travel – Whenever possible, design ramps so loaded trucks travel clockwise upwards with the driver’s cab toward the pit wall—improving visibility and reducing the risk of catastrophic edge failures. 🔹 Drainage & Pavement – In wet or tropical climates, proper drainage and pavement thickness (up to 3 m in poor ground) must be factored into the geometric design to maintain performance. Bottom line: A well-designed haul road saves money, boosts productivity, and—most importantly—keeps people safe. As Thompson (2015) notes, “A safe system acknowledges that humans are fallible… the road system must allow for these errors to minimise hazard.” You can read more here: https://www.deswik.com/whitepapers/guidelines-and-considerations-for-open-pit-designers

Early revenue mining” or “concurrent mining and exploration The strategy is about starting early mining operations while still conducting or on process of detailed exploration program for purpose of resource estimation. the strategy was fitted for open pit mining methods. The strategy was built and proposed satisfy objectives of: · Des-risking the project: early mining will contribute to building a geological model, grades and metallurgical assumptions. · Generating early cashflows: it generates revenues the funds or significantly contributing to fund the costing exploration and development. · Attracting investors: its a good way to attract investors especially those hesitant and junior on mining; it will make the project more appealing to financiers and partners. · It will also contribute on building the project infrastructure. The strategy features will be: - Define an initial mineable resource: target the high-confidence near surface zones. - Start mining to test recovery and economics. - Continue exploration in parallel by expanding drilling to upgrade the resource , increase certainty and finding new target zones. - Scale up and develop to full scale mining. Challenges and risks: Though advantages are tangible but there are still risks and challenges - Long time early production may leave hardly economic resource and might not fit the final optimized design. - Early production may add up to the costs when starting full scale mining. - Early production may generate complications or even delays especially when considering agreement with local communities; it will also need careful considerations to the environmental aspects. The concurrent mining and exploration strategy is a favorite choice for small scale miners and junior investors who are willing to expand; its more common in Africa and south America. Credit goes to: Eng. Mohamed Tawfig K wahbi https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mohamed-tawfig-k-wahbi-78707739_zvenia-mining-brimm-activity-7368207150642397185-7RlU?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAgEupcB-Hj1pBs5MO3Hwpz-mSY0JVAJGkI

Narrow surface and sub surface gold veins mining is a real challenge for mining engineers and geologists as well. Though strike and dip are clear and almost regular but discrepancies in grades are significant. high stripping ratio is annoying and might eliminate the project; in addition to the challenge of controlling dilution and contamination. In north and sub Saharan african countries open pit mining method is a favoured option because of lack of technology and equipment to go underground. Though numerous optimisation softwares are available but results and revenues from the extracted ore might not be satisfying enough. Viewpoints on the optimum workable design differ as how the planners and designers are reserved and very strict about geotechnical parameters. As a planner and designer it's your role to decrease and optimise costs and to maximise revenues. Complexities of rock formations are annoying for designers if encountered where first thought comes to mind is how to balance between stability and stripping ratio and hence operating cost, stability will for sure outweighs all other considerations but will not be digested easily as a justification by minds of those investors who are just been convinced to develop from artisanal mining into organised registered project. These complexities could be utilised in changing design parameters (face angle, bench width and height) in a single bench and other benches after been examined against stability of the single bench and overall mine slope; that will bring tangible effect on decreasing stripping ratio and maximising revenues as well. We are still comfortable about stability when taking into account the very long arid seasons and very deep water table and if we do consider controlled blasting. I am very satisfied using this strategy that makes both me and the investor happy. Eng. Mohamed Tawfig https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mohamed-tawfig-k-wahbi-78707739_mining-minedesign-mineplanning-activity-7205473784764575744-80J8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAgEupcB-Hj1pBs5MO3Hwpz-mSY0JVAJGkI