Incorporation of geometallurgical modelling into long-term production planning

TL;DR

This paper discusses integrating geometallurgical models into long-term mineral deposit planning to better handle geological uncertainty and optimize processing options using advanced stochastic optimization techniques.

Contribution

It introduces a novel framework that incorporates geometallurgical models into strategic mine planning, enhancing decision-making under geological uncertainty.

Findings

Framework effectively integrates geometallurgical data into planning.

Improves decision-making for processing options.

Addresses limitations of current mine planning methods.

Abstract

Strategic decisions to develop a mineral deposit are subject to geological uncertainty, due to the sparsity of drill core samples. The selection of metallurgical equipment is especially critical, since it restricts the processing options that are available to different ore blocks, even as the nature of the deposit is still highly uncertain. Current approaches for long-term mine planning are successful at addressing geological uncertainty, but do not adequately represent alternate modes of operation for the mineral processing plant, nor do they provide sufficient guidance for developing processing options. Nonetheless, recent developments in stochastic optimization and computer data structures have resulted in a framework that can integrate operational modes into strategic mine planning algorithms. A logical next step is to incorporate geometallurgical models that relate mineralogical features to plant performance, as described in this paper.