Lima, August 19, 2025. The Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers (IIMP) announced that the theme of Mining Thursday will be “Design and evaluation of rock slopes at bench-berm level.” The institution announced it in the context of Slope Stability 2026, one of the world's most important mining slope events, which will be held for the first time in Peru in 2026.

Slope stability is a critical aspect of mining projects, especially in highly seismic areas or complex geotechnical conditions. Landslides and slope failures pose significant risks to the safety of personnel and surrounding communities. Rock slope design and evaluation analyzes the stability of rock walls, whether open pit or underground, to ensure the safety of mining operations. This process identifies geological risks and implements corrective measures if necessary.

Esteban Hormazábal, Vice President for Latin America of the International Society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM), will be in charge of the Mining Thursday presentation, while Antonio Samaniego, President of the Scientific Committee of Slope Stability 2026, will moderate the event.

The speaker

Hormazábal is a mining engineer with more than thirty years of experience and holds a Master of Science (Geophysics) specializing in applied hydrogeology. Additionally, he is an expert in geomechanical analysis and design for underground mining and surface excavations using 2D and 3D numerical modeling, stability analysis, and slope design in open-pit mines and waste dumps.

He currently works as the managing director of SRK Consulting Chile. He has led major open-pit and underground mining projects in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, the United States, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, Uruguay, and Uzbekistan. He is also the author and co-author of more than 40 technical publications at national and international conferences.

Hormazábal will be joined by a panel consisting of Luis Tejada, president of the Slope Stability 2026 Organizing Committee, and Danny Vercelli, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at JRC Peru and Director of the Slope 2026 Outreach and Promotion Committee.

Slope Stability 2026 is organized by the Large Open Pit Project (LOP) and supported in Peru by the Peruvian Society of Geoengineering and the Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers (IIMP).

Jueves Mineros (Mining Thursday)

The conference will take place on Thursday, August 28, at 7:00 p.m., via our official YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook accounts. To view it via the Zoom platform, you can register at https://bit.ly/45padhv.

For more information, contact us by email at melva.calderon@iimp.org.pe or call (511) 3134160 Extension 214.