Methodology for a dump design optimization in large-scale open pit mines

Modern large-scale open pit mines move hundreds of thousands of tonnes of material daily, from the loading sources to the destination zones, whether these are massive mine dumps or, to a lesser extent, to the grinding mills. Mine dumps can be classified as leach or waste dumps, depending upon their...

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Main Author: Jorge Puell Ortiz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2017-01-01
Series:Cogent Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311916.2017.1387955
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author Jorge Puell Ortiz
author_facet Jorge Puell Ortiz
author_sort Jorge Puell Ortiz
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description Modern large-scale open pit mines move hundreds of thousands of tonnes of material daily, from the loading sources to the destination zones, whether these are massive mine dumps or, to a lesser extent, to the grinding mills. Mine dumps can be classified as leach or waste dumps, depending upon their economic viability to be processed in-place, a condition that has experienced great progress in the last decades and has reconfigured the open pit haulage network with an increase in the number of dumps. Therefore, new methods for dump design optimization are of the highest priority in mine planning management. This paper presents a methodology to model and optimize the design of a dump by minimizing the total haulage costs. The location and design of these dumps will be given mainly by the geological characteristics of the mineral, tonnage delivered, topographical conditions, infrastructure capital and transportation costs. Spatial and physical design possibilities, in addition, provide a set of parameters of mathematical and economic relationship that creates opportunities for modelling and thus facilitates the measurement and optimization of ultimate dump designs. The proposed methodology consists of: (1) Formulation of a dump model based on a system of equations relying on multiple relevant parameters; (2) Solves by minimizing the total cost using linear programming and determines a “preliminary” dump design; (3) Through a series of iterations, changes the “preliminary” footprint by projecting it to the topography and creates the ultimate dump design. Finally, an application for a waste rock dump illustrates this methodology.
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spelling doaj.art-26866ff1eee6483290f87774e495e9152023-09-02T20:50:59ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Engineering2331-19162017-01-014110.1080/23311916.2017.13879551387955Methodology for a dump design optimization in large-scale open pit minesJorge Puell Ortiz0University of ArizonaModern large-scale open pit mines move hundreds of thousands of tonnes of material daily, from the loading sources to the destination zones, whether these are massive mine dumps or, to a lesser extent, to the grinding mills. Mine dumps can be classified as leach or waste dumps, depending upon their economic viability to be processed in-place, a condition that has experienced great progress in the last decades and has reconfigured the open pit haulage network with an increase in the number of dumps. Therefore, new methods for dump design optimization are of the highest priority in mine planning management. This paper presents a methodology to model and optimize the design of a dump by minimizing the total haulage costs. The location and design of these dumps will be given mainly by the geological characteristics of the mineral, tonnage delivered, topographical conditions, infrastructure capital and transportation costs. Spatial and physical design possibilities, in addition, provide a set of parameters of mathematical and economic relationship that creates opportunities for modelling and thus facilitates the measurement and optimization of ultimate dump designs. The proposed methodology consists of: (1) Formulation of a dump model based on a system of equations relying on multiple relevant parameters; (2) Solves by minimizing the total cost using linear programming and determines a “preliminary” dump design; (3) Through a series of iterations, changes the “preliminary” footprint by projecting it to the topography and creates the ultimate dump design. Finally, an application for a waste rock dump illustrates this methodology.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311916.2017.1387955mine planningdump designopen pitoptimization
spellingShingle Jorge Puell Ortiz
Methodology for a dump design optimization in large-scale open pit mines
Cogent Engineering
mine planning
dump design
open pit
optimization
title Methodology for a dump design optimization in large-scale open pit mines
title_full Methodology for a dump design optimization in large-scale open pit mines
title_fullStr Methodology for a dump design optimization in large-scale open pit mines
title_full_unstemmed Methodology for a dump design optimization in large-scale open pit mines
title_short Methodology for a dump design optimization in large-scale open pit mines
title_sort methodology for a dump design optimization in large scale open pit mines
topic mine planning
dump design
open pit
optimization
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311916.2017.1387955
work_keys_str_mv AT jorgepuellortiz methodologyforadumpdesignoptimizationinlargescaleopenpitmines