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MiningandBlasting
WeblogofParthaDasSharmaForDiscussingVariousAspectsofMining,
ExplosivesandBlasting.
AUGUST30,2011BYPARTHADASSHARMA

MINEPLANNINGANDSCHEDULINGSMARTPRACTICES
MINEPLANNINGANDSCHEDULINGSMARTPRACTICESFORIMPROVINGSPEEDANDACCURACYTOACHIEVE
OPERATIONALEXCELLENCE
INTRODUCTION:
Strengthofabuildingdependsonitsstrengthofitsfoundation.Sameistrueforminingaswell.Asthefoundationofallminingactivityamine
planmostaccuratelyreectstherealtimerealityofthegeologicalstructureintheground,theprocesscapabilitiesandtheeconomic
unpredictabilityofdemandandcommoditymarkets;whichresultsinaproductive,predictableandprotablesystemwithinminingstructure.
Tooptimizemineprotability,plannersandschedulersareunderconstantpressuretocreatemineplansthatareasaccurateaspossibleand
optimizeproductionatallstages,fromminetomarket.
Toensureaccuracy,plannersandschedulersmustaccountforastaggeringarrayofvariables,including:
Geologicalsamplesanddatafromthemine
Productioncapacityofeachstageoftheprocess
Availableequipment,machineryandmanpower
Salesdemandandcommodityprices
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Productioncostassumptions

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Productioncostassumptions
Healthandsafetyofworkers
Traditionally,thetimeandresourcesrequiredtocontinuallycollectthisdata,modelandremodelscenarios,buildandadjustmineplans,andplan
outtheeectsonscheduling,hasmeantthatnoonecouldkeeppacewiththerealityofwhatshappeningintheground.Eventhebestmineplans
werestillfullofinaccuraciesandbestguessesbasedonpastexperience,notquantiabledata.Thisresultinggapbetweenamineplanandrealityis
wherecostlysurprisescreepintonegativelyaectproductionschedules,output,andultimately,mineprotability.
Thegoalofgoodmineplanningandschedulingistofullyunderstandthemineplanningprocess,accountforallsignicantvariablesasaccurately
aspossible,decreasethetimebetweengeologicalsamplingandmineplanremodelling,minimizeproductioncosts,optimizeoutputtakinginto
accountdemandandcommodityprices,andfreemineengineerstofocusonmorestrategicobjectivessuchascontinualimprovementand
operationalexcellence.
SMARTPRACTICESOFMINEPLANNINGANDSCHEDULING:
1.UnderstandingtheMinePlanningProcessItmayseemobvious,buttoimplementbestpractices,oneneedstounderstandthemineplanning
processrst.Eachmineisdierent,butingeneral,mineproductionplanfollowsafairlylinearworkow.Followingsarethesteps:
Gatherdrillholeandminesurveyinformationtomeasurethegeologicalstructure.Samplethechemicalanalysisofthedeposit.
Createageologicalmodelofthestructureandchemistryfromthedata.Denetheresourcebasedonminingconstraints.
Designthreedimensionalminingblockswhichreectthegroundcontrolplanandareofasizetoprovidesucientresolutionformine
scheduling.
Estimatetheresourcequantityandqualitycontainedintheminingblocksandusethedatatoproduceaplannedproductionschedulebasedon
miningconstraints.

(hps://miningandblasting.les.wordpress.com/2011/08/mine_planning_workow.jpg)

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Optimizingtheplantypicallyrequirecompletingmultipleplanscenarios.Havinganecient,integratedandstreamlinedprocesswillreducethe 2/7

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Optimizingtheplantypicallyrequirecompletingmultipleplanscenarios.Havinganecient,integratedandstreamlinedprocesswillreducethe
amountoftimerequiredtocompleteamineplanningscenario.Additionally,theprocessshouldberepeatedasnewgeologicalinformation
becomesavailabletoensureanymineplanassumptionsreasonablyreectactualeldconditions.Inaccurategeologicalmodelswillintroduce
errorsintothedownstreamminingplanswhichcanresultinsurprisecostincreasesandrevenuereductions.
2.IdentifyingPlanningProcessBolenecksAllstagesofthemineplanningprocess,andtechnologiesusedtoplanandschedule,shouldbe
analyzedpayingcloseaentiontowherepotentialboleneckscanform.Quickwinsmayberealizedbyfocusingontheprocessrst.Agoodplace
tostartislookingupstreamtoareasintheprocessthatareconstrainedbyinput.
Forexample,shorttermengineerscanexperiencelongwaittimeswhileinterrogatingthemostcurrentgeologicalmodel.Geologicalmodelsare
usuallyextremelylarge,andaninterrogationprocessthatevaluatestheentiremodel,ratherthanthesmallshorttermplanarea,canbevery
inecient.Throughasimpleprocesschange,engineerscaninterrogatesmallerportionsofthelargermodelandprioritizetheanalysis,greatly
improvingthespeedtoproduction.
Bolenecksarecommonwhendatamustbesharedbetweentwoprocessesthatusedierent,standaloneapplications.Transferringdatainandout
ofthesedisparateapplicationsaddscomplexitytotheprocess.Forexample,someminesexportminingblockstoMicrosoftExceltoperformmine
scheduling.Oncethescheduleiscompleted,theymanuallycreateplanprogressmapsintheirCADsystem.Throughtheuseofanintegrated
system,constructionofagraphicalplanprogressmapcouldbeautomated,eliminatingmanyhoursofmanualCADwork.Ofcourse,thereare
alwaysinstanceswheredataneedstobetransferredtoothersystems,butselectingasystemwithmodernpluginarchitectureandopendatawill
streamlinetheprocess.
Somebolenecksmayrequireachangeintechnology.Manyminersarecontinuallybumpingupagainstconstraintsinsomemineplanning
solutions.Someminesmaymaintaintwogeologicalmodelsprimarilybecauseofaconstraintonmodelsizesetbytheplanningapplication.They
createashorttermmodelatahighergridresolutiontomeettherequirementsforaccuracyinshorttermplanning,andthencreateandmaintain
anotherlowerresolutionmodelforlongerrangeplans.Maintainingtwoidenticalmodelsaddssignicanttimeandcomplexitytothemodelling
andinterrogationprocess.Implementingasolutionthatwouldallowcreationofageologicalmodelofsucientresolutionfortheshortterm
model,butappliedtothelongtermarea,wouldgreatlystreamlinetheprocessandreducethetimetomodel.
3.ImprovementofAccuracyinGeologicalModellingStreamliningtheprocesscannotcomeattheexpenseofaccuracy.Accuracystillremainsthe
primarygoalofallstagesoftheplanning,schedulingandproductionprocess.Tohighlightthisimportance,takethisexample:Underestimating
coalthicknessby6inchesoveranareaaslileas11acreswillresultinaplannedproductionshortfallofoneunittrain.IfcoalissellingatUSD
50/ton,thiswouldresultinUSD500,000/ofrevenuetheminewillneverrealize.
Accuracyhasimplicationsacrosstheentireproductionstream.Improvingtheaccuracyofgeologicalmodellingincreasesthecondenceinthemine
planstomeetqualityandquantityspecicationsonupcomingshipments.Accuratemineplansenableengineerstoaccuratelypredictwhena
signicantmultimilliondollarcapitalinvestmentinnewequipmentwouldberequiredduetoupcomingincreasedoverburdenvolumesandsales
volume.Geingthiswrongcanbecatastrophic.Ifequipmentisundersized,thecompanywillhaveinvestedmillionsofdollarsonequipmentthat
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cannotmeetsalestargetsandperhapslosemillionsmoreinpenaltiesfornotmeetingcustomerdemandincontracts.Optionstomakeuplost

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cannotmeetsalestargetsandperhapslosemillionsmoreinpenaltiesfornotmeetingcustomerdemandincontracts.Optionstomakeuplost
productioncouldforcethecompanytobuyonthecommoditiesmarketandperhapssellatalossand/orpurchaseandcommissionadditional
unplannedequipment.Bothsolutionswillatbestreduceprotsandmaypotentiallymaketheoperationcompletelyunprotable.
Improvingaccuracyinmineplanningrequirescontinuousimprovementtothegeologicalmodel,thefoundationofthemineplan.Incorporating
newminedataintothegeologicalmodelwillhelpdecreasethevariancebetweenplanningandactualproduction.Whatisplannedwillmore
closelyreectwhatisactuallybeingproduced.Excellenceatthisstageiscriticaltotheviabilityofthemine,particularlyindiculteconomictimes.
4.AccelerateDatafromFieldtoPlanPlannerstypicallyreceivenewgeologicalmodelsafteraplanneddrillingseason.Drillholeinformationis
accumulatedthroughoutthedrillingseason,andasthemineadvancesmoredataisgatheredeitherthroughproductiondrillingjustaheadof
operationsorsurveydatacollectedbyGPSsystems.Plannerscantusenewdataifitisnotreectedinthegeologicalmodel,andgeologistsmay
onlyupdatethegeologicalmodelattheendofexplorationdrillingifthemodellingprocessiscomplexandlabourintensive.Decreasingthetime
betweenthecollectionofthemostcurrentgeologicalsampledataanditsreectioninthemineplanimprovesmineplanningaccuracyandensures
planshavetheleastamountofvariancefromreality.
Reducingthetimebetweeneldsamplingandmodeldevelopmentallowsmultiplemodelstobecreatedontheyasnewdrillholeandquality
dataisreceived.Geologistsareabletoquicklyanalyzetheeectoftheadditionaldrillingonthemodelandcontinuallykeepthegeologicalmodel
updatedformineplanning.Accuracyisincreasedthroughahigherresolutionmodel,whichreectsmeasureddatamoreclosely.
Becausegeologistshavemoreaccuratemodelsinlesstime,theycanspendmoretimeoptimizingtheexplorationdrillingplan.Throughthis
exercisecompaniescanreducethenumberofplannedexplorationholesforthenextdrillingseason.Increasinggeologicalmodelaccuracyand
resolutioncanalsoeliminatethecostofdrillingpilotholesinareaswhereinlldrillingisperformedtogetsupplementalcoalqualitydata.Savings
indrillingcostsalonehavebeenshowntomorethanosetthecostofmineplanningsoftware.WithacostsavingsofaboutUSD1,650/perhole,
thatcanadduptoasignicantreductionindrillingcosts.

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RealWorldExample:DataAcceleration:
Aminingoperationwasencounteringwaterbearingsandzones,whichwere
impactingshovelproductionandgroundcontrol.Becauseoftheeortrequiredto
modelthesandunits,theywerenotmodelledandtheshovelwouldexploreforthe
zonesduringoperations.Exploringforproblemzoneswiththeshovelposeda
signicantriskofgeingtheshovelstuckinthesandor,worse,ahighwallslope
failureresultinginanunproductiveshovel,whichwouldseverelyimpactcoal
production.Theinabilitytomodelandeectivelyplanresourceshassignicant
adverseconsequences.Considerthefollowingtounderstandtheimpact:
ExplorationcostwhenusingaproductionshovelisapproximatelyUSD4,100/hour
Potentiallossofashovelifhighwallslopefailureoccurred=USD20M,plusloss
ofapproximately3,5004,000CYD/Hourofproductionuntilshovelisbackupand
runningorreplaced
Potentiallossof4,400shorttons/hourofcoalproductionresultinginarevenueloss
ofapproximatelyUSD220,000perhouratUSD50/ton

Improvinggeologicalmodelturnaroundandaccuracyprovidedgeologiststimeto
modelthenoncoal,waterbearingsandzonesinamorecosteectivemanner.Once
thesezoneswereidentied,shovelbenchplansweredevelopedtoecientlyworkin
thesedicultareasandcommunicatedtooperations.
Streamliningtheworkowgaveengineersmoretimetogetoutoftheoceandget
experienceineldmanagementroleswheretheiranalyticalskillsimprovedthe
operationalworkowandthequalityofdailydecisionsmadeintheeld.
5.Create&AnalyzeMultipleScenariosOptimizingthemineplancanrequirecompletingmultipleplanlayoutsandschedules,examiningthe
resultsandchoosingthemostcosteectivescenario.Havinganecient,integratedandstreamlinedprocesswillreducetheamountoftime
requiredtocompletemultiplemineplanningscenarios.Thisprocessshouldberepeatedasnewgeologicalinformationbecomesavailabletoensure
miningplanassumptionsstillreasonablyreectactualeldconditions.Inaccurategeologicalmodelswillintroduceerrorintothedownstream
miningplans,whichcanresultinsurprisecostincreasesandrevenuereductionstotheoperation.Incorporatingthelatestinformationintothe
geologicalmodelimprovestheaccuracyoftheminingplans.Thereductionintimetodevelopmineplansresultsinbeerdecisionmakingthrough
theabilitytocomparemultiplemineplanscenariossimultaneously.
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6.CombineShort&LongRangeModelsAmajorimprovementingeologicalmodellingprocessowcanbemadebycombiningbothshortand

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6.CombineShort&LongRangeModelsAmajorimprovementingeologicalmodellingprocessowcanbemadebycombiningbothshortand
longrangemodelareasintoonemodelwithastandardgridcellsize.Eliminatingtheneedtobuildmorethanonegeologicalmodelandincreasing
automationcanreducemodelbuildingtimeby5075percent.
7.IntegratePlanning&SchedulingIfanorganizationisrunningmultiplesoftwaresolutionsformineplanningandscheduling,bestpractice
wouldbetoimplementasingle,integratedsolutionbuiltwitheciencyinmind.Integrationwillenableprocessimprovementsandshorten
geologicalmodellingandmineplanningturnaroundtimes,thusprovidingtheabilitytodevelopmoreaccurateandoptimizedmineplans.
Usinganintegratedmineplanningandgeologicalmodellingsystemwillalsoimprovetheprocessow.Ratherthanexportingblockresource
estimatestoanotherschedulingpackageorExcel,schedulingcanbecompletedinasinglemineplanningsystem.Planprogressmapgenerationcan
beautomatedwhenaschedulingsystemisintegratedwiththeCADsystem.Byimplementingthischange,timetocompletelongrangemineplans
canbereducedby4060percent.
8.AddressingComplexGeologicalAreasOften,theinabilitytomodelgeologicallycomplexareascanresultinreducedequipmentproductivity,
lostresourcesandreducedminelife.Makesureyourmodellingandplanningtechnologycanhandlegeologicallycomplexareas.Thisshould
includetheabilitytodeneintervalrelationships,pinchingandwashoutcontrolsandtheincorporationofeldsurveyinformation.Modelsshould
beabletohandlecomplexintervalspliingandfaulting,whilehonouringdrillholeinformation.
MiningtheComplex:Inoneexample,explorationdrillingrevealedageologicallycomplexareawithintheminesite.Typicallytwocoalintervals
werebeingmodelledandminedintheplannedandactiveoperations.Thegeologicallycomplexareashowedeightcoalunits,whichweresplits
fromthetwomaincoalintervals.Addingtothiscomplexityinthecoalformationwasthepresenceofasandchannelunit,whichpresenteda
signicantgroundcontrolrisktotheminingoperation.
Priortoimplementingarobustgeologicalmodellingsystem,thiscomplexareawasminedaround,becausetheexistingmodellingsystemcouldnot
eectivelyandcondentlymodelandplanmininginthisarea.Asaresultoftheimprovementsmadeinthegeologicalmodellingandmine
planningsystem,theareawasmodelledandmultipleminingscenariosdevelopedtoaddressthechallengesofthearea.Coalreservesthatwere
previouslyavoidedduetogeologicalanomaliesarenowpartoftheminingplan,increasingtheavailablereservesandextendingtheminelife.
9.FocusonOperationalExcellenceImprovementsintheprocessowresultsinbothdirectandindirectbenetstotheoperation.Fastergeological
modellingandmineplanningprovidessignicantdirectbenetsintheformofcostsavingsandincreasedproductivity.Alsotobeconsideredisthe
timefreedforskilledengineeringstatofocusonimportant,organizationwideinitiativessuchascontinuousimprovementandoperational
excellenceprojects.
Withgreatereciencyachievedthroughprocessimprovements,miningorganizationscanreapsignicantbenetsbyfocusingfreedresourceson
continuousimprovementandoperationalexcellence.Freeingupengineeringresourcesfromthiscumbersomeprocesscanresultinexponential
paybackastheyreenergizetheirfocusoncontinuousimprovementsthroughoutthemine.
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CONCLUSION:

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CONCLUSION:
Bydeployingbestpracticemineplanning,schedulingandprocessimprovements,mineswillreapdirectandindirectcostsavings,andbecome
moreproductive,predictableandprotable.Eachmineisdierent,butkeytodeployingbestpracticesistheuseofamodernintegratedmine
planningand
Schedulingsolutionthatcankeeppacewiththeincomingminedata,ensureaccuracy,accelerateminemodellingandplanoutput,facilitate
informationsharing,enabletheminingofcomplexgeographicareas,andfreeupvaluablehumanresourcestofocusoncontinualimprovementand
operationalexcellence.

Thisentrywaspostedinminingandtaggedmineoperationalexcellence,mineplanning,mineplanningandscheduling.Bookmarkthepermalink.

2thoughtsonMINEPLANNINGANDSCHEDULINGSMARTPRACTICES

EricTorkia|September15,2012at10:37pm
Veryinterestingandinsightfularticle!Thanks.
Reply
LawreneYuonakuu|February9,2013at9:05am
Averygoodjobdone,veryeducativeinformationforstarters
Reply

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