Events & Courses

This is an on-line CPD course developed by the Geology Department of the University of Leicester, together with other partners. It was developed with funding from the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s Chile Prosperity Fund. The course is in English and designed to be studied as part-time distance learning.

This course focuses on the subject of slope and face stability in surface mines and quarries. It is designed for managers and others who need to understand and identify possible slope and face issues and to be able to recognise when specialist professional assistance is required. It is NOT a specialist geotechnical course which would make the participant competent to design safe slopes or faces. 

The course starts with an overview of the issues involved in surface mine slope and face design, and then describes the mechanisms of failure in hard and soft materials. Some issues relating to small settling ponds are discussed, and mitigation measures to prevent or minimise the impact of slope and face failures are presented.