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A New Mathematical Formulation for Underground Cut-off Grade Determination in the Presence of Pre-concentration Systems

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Abstract

The mining industry is facing increasingly lower grades, which intensifies the need to reduce costs. The depletion of orebodies close to the surface has pushed the mining industry to progressively explore and extract deposits through underground mining. One approach that is receiving more attention is the application of pre-concentration systems prior to introducing the extracted materials to the main processing plant. Integration of pre-concentration systems into mining operations particularly in underground mines can significantly increase the sustainability and efficiency of operations. This paper reviews the technical concepts of this integration and presents a new mathematical formulation for underground cut-off grade determination, which should play an important role in resource utilisation and strategic planning in any operation. The proposed formulation is implemented on an underground operation to illustrate the impacts and advantages of underground pre-concentration integration. The outputs of this study prove the economic potential of pre-concentration systems in reduction in cut-off grade and increasing NPV.

Article Highlights

  • A comprehensive and updated review of technical concepts in integration of pre-concentration systems in underground operations.

  • Introducing a novel method for underground cut-off grade determination for increasing the sustainability of underground mines.

  • Implementation and investigation of pre-concentration systems in an underground mine, followed by potential benefits and future directions.

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Acknowledgments

This research would not have been possible without the financial assistance and research training scholarship, provided to the corresponding author by the University of Queensland. Also, the authors would like to express their deep gratitude to the three anonymous referees for their useful and insightful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Farzad Sotoudeh, Micah Nehring, Mehmet Kizil & Peter Knights

  2. Mining Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Amin Mousavi

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  1. Farzad Sotoudeh
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  2. Micah Nehring
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  3. Mehmet Kizil
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  4. Peter Knights
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Correspondence to Farzad Sotoudeh.

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Sotoudeh, F., Nehring, M., Kizil, M. et al. A New Mathematical Formulation for Underground Cut-off Grade Determination in the Presence of Pre-concentration Systems. Nat Resour Res 30, 3241–3259 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-021-09892-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-021-09892-8

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