Strategic Integrated Mine Planning

• Push-back and phase design
  
• Mining cuts and polygon definition
• Detailed life-of-mine production scheduling
• Future cash-flows profile
• Cut-off optimization
• Dynamic cut-off grade definition
• Buffer stockpiles
• Strategic stockpiles
• Blending strategies
• Simultaneous optimization of schedule, cut-off, blend, and stockpiling
• Waste dump progression optimization
• Integrated mine planning, dyke construction sequencing, and tailings deposition
• Design pits, waste dumps, ramps, switch-backs, roads, slots.
• Life-of-mine plan within designed pits and push-backs
• Life-of-mine plan with detailed road network
• Life-of-mine plan with truck and shovel hours constraints
• CAPEX optimization
• Multi-mine scheduling feeding multi-processing streams
• Quantify the Impact of grade and geological uncertainty on life-of-mine plan
• What-if analysis of production schedules with varying input parameters
• Quantitative risk assessment of projects using Monte Carlo simulation

Long-term Production Schedule Optimization


Methodology
• Phases designed by the pit optimization are the inputs into this stage of the process
• OptiTek in-house optimization software is used for long-term production scheduling
• We also have in-depth knowledge of of running tools such as Whittle, XPAC, MineSched, MineMax

Benefits
• Generate production schedules with near theoretical optimal NPV
• Increase project's NPV
• NPV results are significantly higher comparing to the manual methods and heuristic software.
• Handle multi-element deposits with multiple ore processors.
• Integrate mining and processing.
• Full control over mining-fleet capacity; shovel limits; grade blending requirements
• Control over & head grade requirements; and grade of deleterious materials in planning
• Identify preferred development strategy, capital investment, and expected discounted cash-flow
• Analyze expected return on investment, sensitivities and investment risk
• Use mathematical programming to generate THE SCHEDULE not just A SCHEDULE.
• Improvement in NPV is substantial

Geological and Grade Uncertainty Quantification

Methodology
• Geological uncertainty always exists in presence of sparse geological data
• Conditional simulation is a geostatistical technique used to assess geological uncertainty
• We use equally probable block models generated by conditional simulation to quantify geological uncertainty
• The geological uncertainty is transferred into pit outlines and long-term mine plans
• Minimize value at risk of uncertain pit shells, cash-flow profkile, and production targets
• Monte Carlo simulation is used to iteratively recalculate equally likely outcomes
• The outcomes of the project such as tonnes, grades, discounted cash flows are presented as distributions

Short-Term Mine Planning

• Compliance of the short-term schedule with the strategic plan
  
• Generate minable short-term plans that honors the life-of-mine plan
• Short-term production scheduling - minimize operational costs
• Control all aspects of the schedule or use target-based scheduling algorithms
• Incorporate mining directions, bench lags/leads, face geometry, and location limits
• Schedule ancillary activities such as drilling, blasting, and back filling
• Material movement to stockpiles, processes, and spatially modeled waste dumps
• Blend material from mines, stockpiles, processing plants, and waste dumps
• Include truck-hours and shovel-hours required in the monthly plans
• Control head-grade for major and minor products and also contaminants
• Assessment of transfer of geological uncertainty into production schedules
• Quantitative risk assessment of production schedules and cash-flows
• Preserve the life-of-mine plan value through short-term scheduling