Full text can be accessed at the following link http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17480930.2013.768019
Mining operations around the world will increasingly need to operate at greater
depths. This significantly influences the complexity of ore extraction and ore transportation
to the surface. The increase in mine depth leads to increases in haulage distance
from mine areas to the mine surface. This results in an increase in energy
costs to haul material further. Due to the increasing cost of future operations, the
choice of the haulage method becomes an important factor in the optimisation of the
mine plan. The haulage process is one of the most energy intensive activities in a
mining operation, and thus, one of the main contributors to energy cost. This paper
presents the comparison of the operating values of the mine plans at depth levels of
1000, 2000 and 3000m for diesel and electric trucks, shaft and belt conveyor haulage
systems for the current and a predicted future energy price scenario. The aim is
to analyse the impact of energy requirements associated with each haulage method,
as well as the use of alternative sequencing techniques as mine depth increases. This
study is carried out using a combination of discrete event simulation and mixed
integer programming (MIP) as a tool to improve decision-making in the process of
generating and optimising the mine plans. Results show that energy cost increases
across each haulage method at both current and future energy prices, with increasing
depth. This study thus provides a broad and up to date analysis of the impact on
operating values that may be experienced with the use of the main haulage systems
available at present. Also, the study shows how the combination of discrete event
simulation and MIP generates a good tool for decision support.
I2 Mine project within the EU 7th framework programme