MONITORING SYSTEM GUIDANCE, INNOVATION AND FUTURE APPLICATIONS

As emphasised throughout these Guidelines, performance monitoring of open pit slopes is essential for ensuring safe and economic open pit development and is a critical part of a mine operation’s geotechnical risk management program. This includes assessing site-specific needs required to design, implement and maintain the slope monitoring system, to produce and manage reliable data and to report and act confidently on results in real-time. Emphasis is also placed on the human resources required to manage the monitoring system, including the appropriate skill-sets and continuing training requirements. It is important to understand monitoring program design requirements, including the essential capabilities and limitations of instrumentation that comprise the monitoring system, as discussed in Section 4.2. Opportunities for improvement are evident from the continuing advances in instrument capability, data communications, speed and integration of data that come from improvements in computing, and the ability to acquire data using remote methods that will continue to be required of mine operators/owners.