New approach for selection of waste dump sites in open pit mines

Owing to the nature of surface mining, the volumes of mining wastes are significantly large, which are usually the most visual landforms left after open pit mining. Increased public concerns regarding toxicity and contaminated material of mine wastes have forced a re-evaluation of the risk and acceptability of mining in most areas. For these reasons, a careful selection of waste dump sites, particularly hazardous ones, is very important. Before selecting the most suitable place for large volume of waste and low grade material, a series of studies must be carried out. In each case, it is important to be able to compare and weigh components to effectively select the most appropriate dump site. This paper presents an approach to waste dump site selection in open pit mines using the integration of multiattribute decision making (MADM) methods. Different MADM methods often produce different outcomes. To make the best decision for dump site selection, the results of subjective and objective MADM methods are considered for a final decision. The objective approaches select weights through mathematical calculation, which neglects subjective judgment information of the decision makers. Since either subjective approaches or objective approaches have their advantages and disadvantages, an integrated method seems more desirable in the determination the appropriate dump site. The ranking of alternatives was carried out by a combination of the results of these methods. This approach is implemented in selecting the waste dump site in a copper mine of Iran. With this approach, it is possible to systematically analyse specific selection criteria and to select the best place with more accuracy.