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STRATEGIC PLANNING WITH GRADE ENGINEERING

Table of contents:  

Overview

Optimisation of the strategic mine plan provides a holistic approach to capture all impacts of new technologies and operational strategies deployed across the mining value chain, over the entire life of the operation. The optimisation is value driven, with the primary objective to maximise net present value within specified operational and processing constraints. For these reasons, optimisation of the strategic mine plan is the preferred method to evaluate preconcentrationMethodologies used to separate gangue from valuable material. techniques.

Inputs into Strategic mine planning include the resource block model, operational parameters, constraints and economic assumptionsInputs used for business case evaluations.. From these inputs, the value of each blockA spatially constrained unit within the resource model. in the resource modelDigitised model of the deposit. is calculated for each processing destination including wasteMaterial determined to be below a predetermined grade or economic threshold. storage facilities. The maximum value of the blockA spatially constrained unit within the resource model. is assigned, and the Lerchs-Grossman algorithm is applied to develop a series of nested shells by adjusting the revenue factor applied to each block. These nested shells provide guidance to the selection of the ultimate pit and design of phases to be mined. The material can then be scheduled, and cut-off optimised, for all processing destinations in the operation.

The inclusion of preconcentrationMethodologies used to separate gangue from valuable material. techniques offer flexibility and opportunity for optimisation in their application and operational settings, such as screen apertureMinimum dimension at which material will be retained as oversize. or sorting cut-off. These options can be included in the optimisation of the strategic mine plan in much the same way trade-offs between throughputMetric for overall tonnage moving through a system within a specified time. and recovery with grind sizeTarget product size post grind. have traditionally been assessed.

Once an optimal schedule and cut-off grade policy is produced, the resultant material movement and cashflow provides the best estimate of economic benefits relating to the scenario modelled. In addition, the material movements can be combined with power, fuel, steel and water consumption (from process and haulageMovement of material from in-pit to ex-pit. models) to provide environmental metrics relating to planned production and quantity the wasteMaterial determined to be below a predetermined grade or economic threshold. rock and tailings generated. A comparison of the strategic mine plan with and without preconcentrationMethodologies used to separate gangue from valuable material. techniques provides a robust quantification of anticipated economic and environmental impacts due to preconcentrationMethodologies used to separate gangue from valuable material. .

Complete strategic mine plan optimisations for preconcentrationMethodologies used to separate gangue from valuable material. techniques have been performed with Whittle Consulting Enterprise Optimisation, Geovia Whittle™, COMET Strategy and COMET Scheduler and Datamine NPV Scheduler.

 




Page last modified on Monday September 26, 2022 17:48:44 AEST