Author : Mario De Freitas Silva
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (99 download)
Book Synopsis Application of Efficient Frameworks for Joint Simulation of Multi-element Mineral Deposits and Stochastic Optimization of Open Pit Mine Production Scheduling by : Mario De Freitas Silva
Download or read book Application of Efficient Frameworks for Joint Simulation of Multi-element Mineral Deposits and Stochastic Optimization of Open Pit Mine Production Scheduling written by Mario De Freitas Silva and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The optimization of open pit mine production scheduling (OPMPS) is an intricate process due to its size and uncertainty of key input parameters. Over the last decade, substantial effort has been made towards the development of new stochastic frameworks that incorporates uncertainty into the decision process. However, due to the intrinsic complexity of the mathematical programming formulation and the large size of mineral deposits, finding an exact solution for the OPMPS is likely intractable. In addition to that, modelling the joint spatial uncertainty of mineral deposits accounting for several correlated geological attributes, significantly increases the complexity of these stochastic frameworks. These observations motivate the development of new computationally efficient approaches for generating joint stochastic simulations of a deposit and for solving the OPMPS under geological uncertainty. This thesis considers both aspects in its two main parts.In the first part of this thesis, an efficient heuristic solution approach is applied and tested to the stochastic mine production scheduling of a relatively large gold mine containing about 120 thousand blocks and considering a set of fifteen geological scenarios generated stochastically. The stochastic integer programming (SIP) formulation addresses multiple processing streams and a 'grade' stockpile which adds flexibility to the specific operation by advancing the processing of highly valuable material. The solution approach tested herein, first generates an initial feasible solution by sequentially solving the stochastic OPMPS period by period and afterwards, a network flow algorithm is used to sequentially search for further improvements. In this network graph the nodes identify candidate blocks which might have their extraction either postponed or advanced, aiming for new schedule with higher values and lower risk. The results show that production schedules with low deviations from production expectations can be generated in a reasonable time for an actual mining environment.In the second part, an efficient joint simulation framework is demonstrated though an application to Vale's Puma deposit, a major nickel laterite asset in Brazil. To integrate the variability of the revolting profiles, their 'true' thicknesses are jointly simulated using min/max autocorrelation factor (MAF). The realizations serve as geological boundaries within which Ni, Co, Fe, SiO2, MgO and dry-tonnage factor (DTF) can be jointly simulated directly at block support scale. The final result is a set of equiprobable representations of the deposit that incorporates both grade and tonnage uncertainty. These simulations can be used to assess the uncertainty about key aspects of the project, such as strict control of the ore's quality that feeds the metallurgical plant. The framework explored takes advantage of the MAF and direct block simulation approaches which facilitate the joint simulation of large multi-element deposits." --