The determination of the Ultimate Pit Limit (UPL) is the first step in the open pit mine planning process. In this stage that parts of the mineral deposit that are economic to mine are determined. There are several mathematical, heuristic and meta-heuristic algorithms to determine UPL. The optimization criterion in these algorithms is maximization of the total profit whilst satisfying...

Slope stability is one of the most important issues in open pit mining design. The main purpose of any open pit mine design is to propose an optimal excavation configuration, considering safety, ore recovery and financial return. An accurate pit slope design which accounts for the mine geology, structural geology, rock mass properties, and hydrogeology models of the mine area, drastically enhan...

Truck and shovel operations comprise approximately 60% of the total operating costs in open pit mines. In order to increase productivity and reduce the cost of mining operations, it is essential to manage the equipment used with high efficiency. In this work, the chance-constrained goal programing (CCGP) model presented by Michalakopoulos and Panagiotou is developed to determine an optimal truc...

We consider the multiple time period short-term production scheduling problem for a network of multiple open-pit mines and ports. Ore produced at each mine, in each period, is transported by rail to a set of ports and blended into products for shipping. Each port forms these blends to a specification, as stipulated in contracts with downstream customers. This problem belongs to a class of multi...

The Open Pit Mine Production Scheduling Problem (OPMPSP) studied in recent years is usually based on a single geological estimate of material to be excavated and processed over a number of decades. However techniques have now been developed to generate multiple stochastic geological estimates that more accurately describe the uncertain geology. While some attempts have been made to use such mul...

It is significant to discover a global optimization in the problems dealing with large dimensional scales to increase the quality of decision-making in the mining operation. It has been broadly confirmed that the long-term production scheduling (LTPS) problem performs a main role in mining projects to develop the performance regarding the obtainability of constraints, while maximizing the whole...

A large number of metal deposits are initially extracted via surface methods, but then transition underground without necessarily ceasing to operate above ground. Currently, most mine operators schedule the open pit and underground operations independently and then merge the two, creating a myopic solution. We present a methodology to maximize the NPV for an entire metal deposit by determining ...

In-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) systems have drawn attention to the modern mining industry due numerous benefits than conventional truck-and-shovel systems. However, implementation of IPCC system can reduce flexibility introduce additional sequence requirements. This paper investigates long-term production scheduling crusher relocation plan open-pit mines using a semi-mobile high-angle con...

Amankwah, H. (2011). Mathematical Optimization Models and Methods for Open-Pit Mining. Doctoral dissertation. ISBN 978-91-7393-073-4. ISSN 0345-7524. Open-pit mining is an operation in which blocks from the ground are dug to extract the ore contained in them, and in this process a deeper and deeper pit is formed until the mining operation ends. Mining is often a highly complex industrial operat...