Exploitation
Hossein Mirzaei Nasir Abad; Mehrnaz Mohtasham; Farshad Rahimzadeh-Nanekaran
Abstract
Transportation of materials is the most cost-intensive component in open-pit mining operations. The aim of the allocation models is to manage and optimize transportation activities, leading to reduced wasted time, and ultimately, increasing profitability while reducing operational costs. Given that the ...
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Transportation of materials is the most cost-intensive component in open-pit mining operations. The aim of the allocation models is to manage and optimize transportation activities, leading to reduced wasted time, and ultimately, increasing profitability while reducing operational costs. Given that the implementation of allocation models is one of the essential requirements in Iranian mining operations, this research work focuses on the transportation system in the Sungun copper mine, one of the largest mines in Iran, and highlights the challenges faced by the fixed allocation approach. The aim is to develop and implement a mathematical model to evaluate its performance, and suggest improvements. The allocation model attempts to optimize truck capacity utilization and maximize mining production. Implementing the model in the mine results in a 13.42% increase in total production compared to the conventional method, with a cost increase of 14.7%. The model shows the potential to meet operational and technical constraints to achieve optimal production. Overall, the developed model, with optimized management and improved fleet efficiency, outperforms the traditional haulage method in the mine.
H. hadizadeh Ghaziania; M. Monjezi; A. Mousavi; H. Dehghani; E. Bakhtavar
Abstract
The production cycle in open-pit mines includes the drilling, blasting, loading, and haulage. Since loading and haulage account for a large part of the mining costs, it is very important to optimize the transport fleet from the economic viewpoint. Simulation is one of the most widely used methods in ...
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The production cycle in open-pit mines includes the drilling, blasting, loading, and haulage. Since loading and haulage account for a large part of the mining costs, it is very important to optimize the transport fleet from the economic viewpoint. Simulation is one of the most widely used methods in the field of fleet design. However, it is unable to propose an optimized scenario for which the appropriate metaheuristic method should be employed. This paper considers the Sungun copper mine as the case study, and attempts to find the most feasible transportation arrangement. In the first step, in this work, we compare the flexible dispatching with the fixed allocation methods using the Arena software. Accordingly, the use of flexible dispatching reveals the increase in the production rate (20%) and productivity (25%), and the decrease (20%) in the idle time. The firefly metaheuristic algorithm used in the second step shows that the combined scenario of the 35-ton and 100-ton trucks is the most suitable option in terms of productivity and cost. In another attempt, comparing different heterogeneous truck fleets, we have found that the scenarios 35-100 and 35-60-100-144 increase the production rate by 39% and 49%, respectively. Also, in both scenarios, the production cost decreases by 11% and 21%, respectively.
J. Abdollahei Sharif; A. Jafarpour; S. Yousefi
Abstract
The computer-based 3D modeling of ore bodies is one of the most important steps in the resource estimation, grade determination, and production scheduling of open-pit mines. In the modeling phase, the volume of the orebody model is required to be filled by the blocks and sub-blocks. The determination ...
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The computer-based 3D modeling of ore bodies is one of the most important steps in the resource estimation, grade determination, and production scheduling of open-pit mines. In the modeling phase, the volume of the orebody model is required to be filled by the blocks and sub-blocks. The determination of Block Size (BS) is important due to the dependence of the geostatistical issues and calculations related to mining capabilities on it. There are some factors effective in the determination of an optimal BS including the metal content, estimation error, recovery percentage, mining ability, safety, and dilution. In this work, an optimal BS is determined using a two-stage approach. In the proposed approach, the Fuzzy Delphi Analytic Hierarchy Process (FDAHP) and Fuzzy Multi-Objective Optimization by Ratio Analysis (FMOORA) methods are used. In the first phase, the weight of each criterion is calculated based on the opinions of the experts using the FDAHP method. In the second phase, the FMOORA method is applied in order to determine a suitable BS for the design and operation of mining considering the extracted weights in the previous phase. The block model of the Sungun copper mine is studied as a case study to evaluate the capability of the proposed approach. The results of implementation of this approach are desirable because of converting the opinions of the experts to fuzzy values, weighing the experts according to the experience and technical knowledge, weighting the criteria by FDAHP, and choosing the optimal option with FMOORA. Furthermore, the 12.5×12.5×12.5 m3 block (A5) is chosen as an appropriate BS, which is compatible with the real conditions of the studied mine.
