In line with the Federal government decision to attract direct foreign investment to the solid mineral sector and to further diversify the Nigerian economy; this study used the discounted cash flow micro-economic as-sessment to evaluate large-scale iron ore production in Nigeria. The iron ore project has an initial investment cost of US$ 73.934 m, annual expenditure and benefit of US$ 48.128 m and US$ 270 m respectively .The net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and payback period of financial analysis at 100% ca-pacity utilizations are US$ 833.10 m, 444.36% and 6 years respectively. The economic assessment also shows a positive NPV at both 75% and 60% capacity utilizations. The study further show that the iron ore project has good economic potential and will also guide potential investor(s) in making decision on whether or not to commit resources to the project

The slope stability of the Itakpe Iron Ore Mine has been carried out using computer software, ROCKPACK III. One hundred and twenty three dip and dip direction values were obtained using compass clinometer. The Itakpe Iron Ore Mine was divided into four benches; 241 - 258 m, 263 - 275 m, 276 - 286 m and 308 - 312 m. Joints along the discontinuities were mapped. The data obtained were analyzed using ROCKPACK III. The results indicate that the discontinuities within the critical zone are potentially unstable and can lead to planar failure. The Markland test carried out for wedge failure indicates that the intersection of the discontinuities does not fall within the critical zone hence there cannot be any wedge failure of the slope within the level 241 - 258 m. The presence of discontinuities that plot within the toppling critical zone indicates that there is potential toppling failure on the slope at the 276 - 286 m level. In addition, the toppling failure test shows the absence of discontinuities that plot within the toppling critical zone and this indicates the absence of poten-tial toppling failure of the slope at the 308 - 312 m level. The result of the study will be useful to the man-agement of the Itakpe iron ore mine in having a proper understanding of the failure mechanism of the slopes

The design and planning of an open pit mine is about the economics of the mine and are governed by geological and engineering characteristics. A mine design software (CSMine) was used to design the final pit limits, tons per block and number of benches for Ajabanoko iron ore deposit using pit restrictions. These restrictions are; surface constraints, geometric pit limits, outer economic bounds and floating cone bounds. The block model for the pit design was created using three sets of parameters which includes; the key block coordinates, the block size and the number of blocks in the X, Y, and Z directions. The final pit limit obtained for the deposit is 113.25m.

Knowledge of tailings characteristics is required for utilisation and management purposes in the mining and construction industry. Tailings from the mine waste dumps at Itakpe iron ore mine were collected and analysed in the laboratory to determine their chemical and physical characteristics and these include; permeability, porosity, specific gravity, particle size distribution, chemical composition and bioavailability factor of element. Geochemical speciation with quantitative X-ray powder diffraction was used to evaluate the chemical and mineral composition of Itakpe iron ore tailings. The aim is to offer base line data necessary to assess metal mobility and bioavailability. The distribution of heavy metals such as Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr, Zn and Fe was determined using multi- step sequential extraction. The results obtained indicate that the permeability is 6.24 x 10-3 cm/sec; porosity is 35%; and specific gravity is 3.58. The tailings is well graded and is sand gravel. Nickel and Zinc was found to be considerably high in exchangeable and bound to carbonates fraction which are mobile region and is bound to Fe – Mn oxides which is slightly mobile region but the higher concentration of Ni found in residual fraction. The implication of this result is that Nickel and Zinc partially enter into the food chain. Chromium and Cadmium concentration result indicated that these metals can easily enter into the food chain because of their presence in the mobile region and their higher mobility percentage.

Mine equipment selection is an integral part of mine planning and design. This study carried out mine equipment selection using combined multiple attributes decision-making method (MADM). Various models of five major mine equipment (dump trucks, wheel loaders, crawler excavators, bulldozers and blast hole drilling rigs) were considered for selection. The attributes considered for the equipment selection where appropriate are cost/unit, operating weight, payload capacity, bucket capacity, maximum digging depth and power. The mine equipment selection order for dump truck, wheel loader, excavator, bulldozer and drilling rig at the Ajabanoko iron ore deposit is EUCLID R90, CAT IT 62H, TEREX TC 225 LC, HITACHI 2505 and TEREX SKT-12 respectively. The study further established the importance of the attributes in the selection of the appropriate model of mine equipment.