Geotechnical Services Case Study

AAMC’s Geotechnical expertise substantially contributes to the safety of operations.

“AMC have been involved on a regular basis at UHG since 2010 and have been instrumental in training and mentoring local geotechnical staff with the expertise necessary to manage the challenging structural conditions on site. This has contributed substantially to the safety of our operation, with Mine Operations and Technical Services confident in the monitoring and controls in place.”

Sam Bowles, MMC Chief Operating Officer

MashIt

Project Overview

AMC has been engaged since 2010 to supply both onsite and remote geotechnical assistance to a large open pit coal mine in the South Gobi Desert of Mongolia.

The challenge

The deposit contains a JORC compliant total Resource of 701 Mt1 and total Reserve of 315 Mt2. The majority of the identified Reserve is of high-quality mid-volatile hard coking coal.

Coal is present in a number of seams, and along the flanks of the reserve, the strata dip at up to about 35°. Regional tectonic activity has disturbed the strata with faulting and folding.

Truck and excavator mining continues year round in the harsh climate, with a nameplate capacity of 15 Mtpa ROM coal annually requiring 100 Mbcm of total material movement.

The result

The operation is currently running under carefully planned and rigorously documented safety guidelines and controls.

Our approach

Key services have included:

Training and mentoring site based Geotechnical Engineers.
Rock mass strength and structure assessments.
Slope stability assessments.
Rock-related hazard identification and risk assessments.
Compilation of a Geotechnical Design Document and Principal Hazard Management Plan.