A multi-step approach for block-cave production scheduling optimization

Production schedules that provide optimal operating strategies while meeting practical,technical,and environmental constraints are an inseparable part of mining operations.Relying only on manual planning methods or computer software based on heuristic algorithms will lead to mine schedules that are not the optimal global solution.Mathematical mine planning models have been proved to be very effective in supporting decisions on sequencing the extraction of material in mines.The objective of this paper is to develop a practical optimization framework for caving operations’production scheduling.To overcome the size problem of mathematical programming models and to generate a robust practical near-optimal schedule,a multi-step method for long-term production scheduling of block caving is presented.A mixed-integer linear programming(MILP)formulation is used for each step.The formulations are developed,implemented,and verifed in the TOMLAB/CPLEX environment.The production scheduler aims to maximize the net present value of the mining operation while the mine planner has control over defned constraints.Application and comparison of the models for production scheduling using 298 drawpoints over 15 periods are presented.

Numerical simulation of land subsidence and verification of its character for an iron mine using sublevel caving

Combined with a digital bored photography system and in-situ statistics concerning the joints and fissures of both ore-body and surrounding rock,a 2D discrete model was constructed using UDEC.The stress field and displacement field changes of different sublevel stoping systems were also studied.Changes in the overlying rock strata settlement pattern has been analyzed and validated by in-situ monitoring data.The results show that:in the caving process,there exists an obvious delay and jump for the overlying rock strata displacement over time,and a stable arch can be formed in the process of caving,which leads to hidden goafs.Disturbed by the mining activity,a stress increase occurred in both the hanging wall and the foot wall,demonstrating a hump-shaped distribution pattern.From the comparison between simulation results and in-situ monitoring results,land subsidence shows a slow-development,suddenfailure,slow-development cycle pattern,which leads eventually to a stable state.This pattern validates the existence of balanced arch and hidden goafs.

Caving performance through the integration of microseismic activity and numerical modeling at DOZ-PT Freeport,Indonesia

This article describes an undergoing research at PT Freeport, Indonesia, in which the main goal is to use the microseismic information recorded as a result of mining to analyze cave propagation and stress performance on the actual production and fixed infrastructure. At the moment, several numerical experiments have been conducted to correlate the mining activity with the microseismic events using the data collected during year 2005 and 2006. As a result of the preliminary analysis a micro- and a macrocracking envelop were proposed on the basis of computation of stress behavior at the location of the events. Stresses have been computed using standard elastic continuous boundary element models. The correlation between the average source radius and the stress performance has provided a method to propose a macrocracking criterion. Several techniques have been tested to nucleate the microseismic activity around different geological features. This last attempt was aimed to look at potential overstresses induced over the undercut and extraction level drifts. A method was devised to integrate the microseismicity into a 3-dimensional ride distribution model. This model has shown to be very effective to quantify the overstress induced as a result of computing volumetric microseismicity density. The volumetric microseismic model showed to induce overstress up to 10 MPa over a period of two months. The future work will concentrate on the calibration of the integrated model with actual damage observations made at the current mining infrastructure.

Recent Technological Innovation for the New Generation of CRIST Sensors—A Practical Approach in China’s Largest Underground Nonferrous Mine

Located in Shangri-La county, Yunnan Province, China’s biggest underground nonferrous mine Pulang Copper Mine is under construction. To date, the defined copper reserves at the Pulang Copper Mine are 4.8 million tonnes of copper and an average grade of 0.34%. The mineralized zone is 2300 m long, 600 - 800 m wide, and 1000 m high in a dome shape. The first-stage mining and processing capacity is 12.5 million tonnes of ore per year. By geotechnical investigation, ore haulage is adopted via a drift and ore pass development system. From mineralogical analysis, a majority of the Pulang copper ore body is classified as a type III rock, which is generally considered to be suitable for block-caving methods. As an update to the traditional mine-to-mill approach, a cave-to-mill integrated production concept is then introduced. This is essentially the integration of underground mine production scheduling and monitoring with surface mineral processing management based on fragment size and geometallurgical ore characteristics. Several unique challenges experienced during the project design and construction, as well as a number of features aimed at mitigating these problems, are also discussed in this paper.

平行束孔爆破模型试验及其机理探讨

本文介绍了垂直密集束状平行炮孔(简称平行束孔)落矿有底柱崩落采矿法的实质和结构,并分析了它的特点和优点。由于平行束孔落矿是核心的关键技术,本文为此做了爆破模型试验,对其爆破机理进行了研究和探讨。该项研究在国内尚属首次。