An optimal cut-off grade policy maximises the net present value of an open-pit mining operation and defines a schedule of cut-off grades and the corresponding supply of materials to various destinations. Generally, the cut-off grades are dynamic and decline with the exhaustion of reserves from one year to the next. Thus, stockpiling of the low-grade uneconomic material during earlier years becomes

The energy consumption of modern belt conveying systems has reduced considerably over the past few decades. Although extensive research has been conducted into the production of energy-efficient belt conveyors, significant scope remains to further reduce the energy consumption, especially when heavily loaded or long overland belt conveyors are considered. A new rail-based conveyor system has been developed

The mining industry is increasingly facing lower feed grades, which is resulting in the necessity to reduce mining and processing costs. One of the most renowned approaches to increasing feed grades is the application of pre-concentration technologies prior to introducing the extracted ore to the main processing plant. This paper reviews the concept of pre-concentration systems and identifies the benefits

In mines planning, the long-term production scheduling problem (LTPSP) in open-pit mines is considered as a significant issue. It also specifies the distribution of cash flow during the course of the mine-life. Actually, LTPSP is a large-scale optimisation problem including large data-sets, multiple constraints, and uncertainty in the input factors that, has to be solved in a reasonable time. LTPSP

Excess pore water pressure (PWP) in gold tailings, deposited in the laboratory in a settling column, was observed for various rates of deposition. Rates of rise (vertical increase in height of settled tailings over time expressed in metres per year) of 10 m/yr and 20 m/yr were evaluated by depositing the gold tailings in layers. The maximum deposition rate achieved in the laboratory by depositing tailings

Minimising erosion resulting from mining is important to improve of reclamation and management. Geomorphic landform design (GLD) is a reclamation technique that attempts to replicate a long-term erosionally stable condition. Erosion was evaluated using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) comparing two reclamation scenarios (conventional and GLD) to the undisturbed condition. Soil loss

Social licence to operate (SLO) is a term that is finding increasing acceptance in a number of industries. Like all new terms, its precise meaning and implications are still being investigated. Using data from previous studies, this paper offers an analysis of the SLO of two case studies with each study being viewed separately through the grid of a distinct theoretical framework. Case study 1 looks

Mining is an important economic activity and a highly complex industry. As such, it demands a complex supply chain to connect mines to clients, often involving railways, ports and long-distance maritime shipping. State-of-the-art optimization tools are an invaluable asset to help manage such a complex environment, which makes mining industry a very fertile ground for operational research applications

Run-of-mine fragmentation is an important aspect of mine productivity optimisation, as it affects all mine-to-mill processes. In this study, a 3D rock fragmentation measurement (3DFM) system is proposed that can surmount the limitations of conventional 2D photo-based rock fragmentation measurement methods. To validate the proposed 3DFM performance, a laboratory-based comparison study was conducted

The reactivity of sulphidic cemented paste tailings (CPT) is an indicator which can be used to assess their environmental performance and durability. However, the reactivity is influenced by several factors either alone or in combination with other factors, such as temperature, curing time, and initial sulphate content. In this paper, the combined effect of the initial sulphate content and curing temperature

Medium-term development planning of underground mines requires scheduling multiple activities to comply with long-term milestones, and to obtain a time span as short as possible. However, the planning must also respect the availability of construction resources and precedence constraints, which in our case can be disjunctive, that is with more than one alternative predecessor. In this paper, we present

Peak particle velocity (PPV) is one of the most-used parameters for assessment of ground vibration resulting from blasting and associated damage to nearby areas. To prevent and control the damages might be caused by PPV, its amount should be predicted and controlled before conducting blasting operation. This paper analyzes results of this environmental issue of blasting using a combination of predictive

Cable shovels are on the top priority of the most widely used machinery in open-pit mining industry, the automation of which offers great potential to improve both production efficiency and equipment reliability. Rational evaluations of digging force and power consumption serve as one of the fundamental techniques of realising autonomous operation of cable shovels. In this study, because of the wide

The efficacy of passive treatment systems for remediating acid rock drainage can be limited by the seasonal flux of discharge and metal concentrations that may not have been considered during treatment design. A review of passive treatment options for acid rock drainage indicates reduced efficacy due to seasonal periods of increased drainage and metal concentrations that lead to mineral precipitation

The storage of coal mine overburden consumes vast tract of usable land with occasional slope failure and environment pollution of nearby area. In the present study, a comprehensive laboratory investigation to develop a controlled low-strength material (CLSM) using the coal mine overburden shale as the base material and fly ash and cement as the cementitious material is presented. Several CLSM mix designs

This work analyzes two loading methodologies used in open pit: full truck and full bucket. The effect on production, fleet size and associated operating costs was simulated. The results indicate that when there is a shortfall in hauling fleet, the recommendation is full truck methodology. This recommendation, results in a lower fleet operating cost in addition to higher production than full bucket

The aim of this study was to estimate brittleness of intact rock by applying differential evolution (DE) algorithm and then to compare the results obtained from the optimum model with literature. For this aim, several models including linear and nonlinear were developed for predicting the brittleness via DE algorithm using the dataset obtained from 48 tunnel cases around the world. Each model were

The decision to exploit a mineral deposit that can be extracted by open pit and/or underground mining involves consideration of the following options: (a) independent open pit extraction; (b) independent underground extraction; (c) simultaneous open pit and underground (OPUG) extraction; (d) sequential OPUG extraction; and (e) combinations of (c) and (d). This paper investigates the extraction strategy

Using statistical methods for categorical data analysis, namely multiple correspondence analysis and Artificial Intelligence through Bayesian networks, we analysed a database of occupational mining accidents for Spain for the period 2004–2017 to identify the factors most associated with the occurrence of fatal and non-fatal accidents. The results obtained allow to shed light on the hidden patterns

The negative effects of using fossil fuels and production costs are major problems for cement industry. In this study, the unit production costs and CO2 emissions from raw material production were calculated for cement quarries. A mathematical model was used to blend the raw materials produced by the cement quarries. The objective function was defined as minimising CO2 emissions and the unit production

Haul roads are designed to bear dynamic truckloads generated during haulage. Current road design methods consider static truckloads, which are lower than dynamic loads. They are also unreliable for designing roads for ultra-large trucks. This paper introduces a methodology for designing roads using dynamic loads for any haul truck. A 3D rigid multi-body dynamic virtual model of CAT 797F was built,

ABSTRACT This paper presents an application of a stochastic framework that simultaneously optimises mining, destination, processing and tailings management decisions for a multi-pit gold mining complex. The application explicitly accounts for supply uncertainty via stochastic orebody simulations. The tailings management component of the case study integrates a capital expenditure investment option

The article describes an original conceptual model that intends to explain the emission mechanism of Particulate Matter from the surfaces of tailing basins exposed to wind erosion. In order to estimate the site-specific parameters of the Emission Factors in the proposed model, the reproduction of the wind flow acting over the erodible surfaces becomes essential. Based on the parameters determined on

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health conducted a study on leakage rates through underground coal mine seals. Leakage rates of coal bed gas into active workings have not been well established. New seal construction standards have exacerbated the knowledge gap in our understanding of how well these seals isolate active workings near a seal line. At a western US underground coal mine

Rotation of point attack picks in their tool holders is of crucial importance for an efficient performance of machines used for tunnelling and underground excavations of rocks and coal. With current machines, skew angle has been extensively employed to achieve tool rotation. There has, however, been no common definition and suggestion on application of skew angles, due to the differences between the

Stability of OB dump slope has been a major concern and require a proper design for safe mining operation. Utilisation of fly ash with OB material for construction of mine haul road and external dumping, may provide an alternative mode of fly ash disposal. In this study, fly ash was mixed with OB material at different percentages to evaluate the compaction characteristics, California Bearing Ratio

A new rock burst damage scale index (RDSI) based on the Rock Engineering Systems paradigm and on a BP-ANN is proposed. Seven parameters that are likely to affect rock burst damage are considered to construct the ANN and to objectively code the interaction matrix. A probabilistic analysis is employed to associate damage categories to RDSI values. The methodology is validated using 24 case histories

ABSTRACT Short-term production scheduling in open pit mining consists of defining the extraction sequence and process allocation of mineralised material over time-scales of either months, weeks, or days. An effective short-term production schedule ensures compliance with the production targets and restrictions imposed by the long-term plan. The method proposed herein outlines a new approach to simultaneously

In longwall top-coal caving (LTCC) mining, progressive failure process of top coal is closely related to the mining-induced stress. In order to achieve failure mechanisms of the top coal, stress distribution of the LTCC face adjacent to the gob is analysed in this study with field investigation and numerical simulation. The concentration and rotation phenomenon of the principal stress are recognised

Semi mobile in-pit crushing and conveying systems have different pit shape requirements to traditional truck haulage systems due to the inclusion of a conveyor flight in the pit. As the shape of a pit is heavily influenced by the ultimate pit limit, it is desirable to have the additional shape requirements included in the ultimate pit limit determination process. This paper introduces in-pit crushing

The life-of-mine optimization of open pit mine production scheduling under geological uncertainty is a computationally intensive process. Production scheduling determines the optimal extraction sequence by maximizing net present value (NPV). In this paper, an algorithm is proposed to schedule an open pit mine under geological uncertainty, where instead of solving the whole problem at once, the production

ABSTRACT Simultaneous stochastic optimisation manages risk and capitalises on the unique interactions that occur in a mining complex, where materials are transferred between mines, processors, stockpiles, and waste facilities to achieve a marketable product. Typically, when optimising the production schedule, the primary focus is to deliver valuable products to the market. However, this tends to ignore

Surface cemented paste tailings disposal (SPD) has become a useful practice in many mines around the world. The method is a sustainable tailings management that returns tailings to fill the surface cavities and subsidence caused by mining operations, thereby maximising the safety, efficiency and environment of tailings management. This study was conducted to manifest the mechanical responses of the

This paper presents a new mathematical formulation to address mine production scheduling with multiple processing streams, under mineral supply uncertainty, and where the destination is formulated as a variable for each block. The proposed mathematical model maximises discounted cash flows and penalises deviations from production targets. A parallel multi-neighbourhood Tabu search metaheuristic is

The main issue in short-term planning optimisation for underground mining is organising the mining process with limited resources in the form of equipment and materials to satisfy production targets and stable feed grade requirements. In this paper, an integrated optimisation model is proposed based on an individual generation algorithm and an improved Genetic Algorithm to simultaneously optimise stope

Mining landscapes have been widely acknowledged to be perceptually intrusive. Yet, the way visual attention of actual observers is affected by such landscapes has not been subjected to objective examination until the present time. In this study, an eye tracking experiment is utilized for the first time in the surface mining domain to explore the effect of the changes in open pit mine positioning and

A review of general optimization studies that have been proposed for underground mining shows that previous works lack flexibility, operability and practicality in relation to cut-and-fill mining production scheduling. This paper presents a robust mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation for underground cut-and-fill mining. The objective function of the model is to maximize the net present

In-Pit Crushing and Conveying (IPCC) systems are receiving more attention today due to current characteristics of open-pit mining operations and what is expected to occur in the future. Today, it has become more necessary than ever to reduce the cost of truck haulage, which accounts for roughly half the operating costs of mining operation. Trucking costs can be significantly reduced by bringing the

Accurate and frequent measurement of mine water quality is essential for timely management and regulatory requirements. At mines, traditional water sample collection practices are sometimes unsafe or impractical due to accessibility challenges. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based remote water sampling has benefits in accessing small, shallow and isolated waterbodies in hazardous environments. In this