Mechanical characteristics of dip basement effects on dump stability in the Shengli open pit mine in Inner Mongolia, China

For waste dump slopes that form basements, landslides can be prevented by determining a stability evolving law of dynamic development. Keeping this issue in mind, the relationship between the mechanical structure and stability of waste dumps with basements is studied. Three key factors that influence waste dump stability are presented, and judgment criteria for self-locking and unlocking states of dump basements are provided. From the friction coefficient of waste dump basement stability analyses of the Shengli open pit mine, the results indicate that waste dump basements on the right side of fault F8 and on the left side of fault F61 are subjected to self-locking. However, between faults F61 and F8, the basement is subjected to unlocking. Regarding the residual thrusting of unlocking areas, structure and stability optimization schemes for waste dumps in the Shengli open pit mine are provided through a mechanics analysis. Reducing the slopes and basement angles of waste dumps can enhance their stability by increasing basement roughness levels.