We propose, implement, and test two approaches for dispatching trucks in an open-pit mining operation. The first approach relies on a nonlinear optimization model that incorporates queueing effects to set target average flow rates between mine locations. The second approach is based on a time-discretized mixed integer programming (MIP) model. The MIP model is difficult to solve exactly in real-time operations, so we present a heuristic that quickly produces high-quality feasible solutions. We test the dispatching policies by building a discrete-event simulation model of an open-pit mine. We present a full computational study of the two policies in which we perform output analysis on key metrics of the open-pit mine simulation. Results indicate that the MIP-based dispatching policy consistently outperforms the more commonly-used average flow rate dispatching policy on open-pit mines in a wide variety of operations settings.

我们提出，实施和测试两种在露天采矿作业中调度卡车的方法。第一种方法依赖于非线性优化模型，该模型结合了排队效应来设置矿场之间的目标平均流速。第二种方法基于时间离散混合整数编程（MIP）模型。MIP模型很难在实时操作中精确解决，因此我们提出了一种启发式方法，可以快速产生高质量的可行解决方案。我们通过建立露天矿的离散事件模拟模型来测试调度策略。我们对这两种策略进行了全面的计算研究，其中我们对露天矿模拟的关键指标进行了输出分析。