Numerical Modeling of Slope Stability for a Placer Deposit: Case Study of the Motronivskyi Open-Pit Mine, Ukraine
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17794/rgn.2026.4.11Keywords:
open-pit mine, placer deposit, slope stability, numerical analyses, safety factorAbstract
Open-pit development of placer deposits in moisture-sensitive, layered sediments requires slope designs that explicitly account for transient hydrology. This study assesses the stability of the eastern non-working wall at the Motronivskyi open-pit mine at Malyshevske zircon-rutile-ilmenite placer deposit (Vilnohirsk, Ukraine) composed of loams, clays, and Sarmatian sands. The research integrated engineering-geological survey data with stratigraphy and laboratory-measured strength parameters for “Northern”, “Central”, and “Southern” pit-wall profiles considering their geometry and hydrogeologic conditions. Numerical analyses used the Phase2 (Rocscience Inc.) finite-element method with a Mohr-Coulomb model and shear-strength reduction to obtain safety factors supported by a classification of landslide hazard levels. Under natural moisture, the safety factor values indicate generally stable conditions: “Northern” – 1.65, “Central” – 1.52, and “Southern” – 1.62. When water-saturated rock massif due to rainfall impact or groundwater rise, the safety factors drop to 1.20, 1.05, and 1.18, respectively. The analysis of shear strains and total displacements in the rock mass represents how wetting sharply lowers effective strength and shifts failure modes from shallow sloughing to coherent bench-scale slides, which can guide operational slope design and water-management strategies in similar placer-deposit settings.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Oleksandr Kovrov, Borys Sobko
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