✳ The floating cone technique is used to determine the final pit limit, generating the optimal pit in which revenue is maximized and defining the mining sequence within the pit. 👷‍♂️ To define the cone, you must have the average ore grade values, the stripping ratio and cost and income parameters per block. The block model is converted into an economic model, examining the net values of the blocks within the cone, the final pit limit can be determined. ✏ The steps to define the cone in a section (2D) are as follows, considering a slope angle of 45°: 1️⃣ The cone is moved from left to right along the first row of blocks in the section, if there are positive blocks they are removed, since there is a revenue because there isn´t material over of them. 2️⃣ The vertex of the cone is moved to the second line, it is moved from left to right stopping at the first positive block, if the sum of all the blocks is positive, the blocks are removed, if the sum is negative the cone is discarded and move the vertex to the next positive block in that row and repeat the process. 3️⃣ This process is repeated from left to right and top to bottom throughout the section's block array until there are no more blocks that can be removed. 4️⃣ The profitability of the section is found by adding the values of the blocks removed. 5️⃣ The overall stripping ratio is determined from the positive and negative values of the blocks. The image shows a simple example of an optimal final pit, but work has been done to improve the procedures and have procedures such as the Lerchs and Grossmann algorithm or the Pseudo flow that will be seen in future posts 🗓 . An optimal final pit is defined with the following conditions: ✅ Maximum profit.💰 ✅ Maximum net present value.💲 ✅ Maximum extraction. ⛏ The floating cone was one of the first techniques to define an optimal pit, however it has been shown that if blocks are investigated individually,🚨 a single block of ore may not justify extraction of the material above it 🚨, while combinations of the cones prove to be profitable, which leads to errors in the profitability of extracting the ore.⚒ 📝 Hustrulid W., Kuchta M., Martin R., Open pit mine planning and design, CRC Press.