USING 2D LERCHS AND GROSSMANN ALGORITHM TO DESIGN FINAL PIT LIMITS OF SUNGUN COPPER DEPOSIT OF IRAN (TECHNICAL NOTE)

The Sungun copper deposit is located in about 40km north west of Ahar city in the east Azarbaigan province of Iran. The total geological ore deposit is estimated to be 740 million tons. In this study using all information from exploration and geotechnical studies of the area, final pit limits of Sungun copper deposit is designed by the 2-D Lerchs & Grossmann Algorithm. By this method, from 740 million tons of geological ore reserve, 411 million tons can be mined by open-pit method with overall stripping ratio of 2.14:1. Cut off grade is found to be 0.32% Cu. The average ore grade is found to be 0.665% Cu