If you were going to calculate the ISR for a “real” orebody for which you had drillhole data,

you
would utilize one of the computer software packages, such as Carlson. Here the purpose is to
teach you the principles, so we are going to make some assumptions to simplify the calculations,
and to better illuminate the procedure without getting buried in the math. The assumptions are as
follows.

 The seam thickness is constant. The orebody thickness is represented by the length of
the ore section (Lo) in the previous diagram. Note that the length of the waste section (Lw)
increases as our pit advances deeper. Therefore, as we advance, more of waste will have to
be removed to expose a unit of ore, as shown in the next diagram.
 The density of ore and waste are the same.
 All slices have the same strip width (Ws).
 We are looking at a two-diminsional slice of the Earth’s crust. Obviously, the ore and
overburden continue into the page and go on for some distance. For our purposes here, we
will assume that they go into the page for a distance of 1 unit.
 The slices of the material are mined out perpendicular to the orebody.
Watch this video (3:11) on an explanation of the instantaneous stripping ratio.

Instantaneous Stripping Ratio

Penn State/Dutton Institute(link is external)
Later in this section, I will explain how each of these assumptions affects the calculations.
However, it would be instructive for you to pause for a moment and think about each assumption.