Robust stochastic mine production scheduling

Abstract

The production scheduling of open pit mines aims to determine the extraction sequence of blocks such that the net present value (NPV) of a mining project is maximized under capacity and access constraints. This sequencing has significant effect on the profitability of the mining venture. However, given that the values of coefficients in the optimization procedure are obtained in a medium of sparse data and unknown future events, implementations based on deterministic models may lead to destructive consequences to the company. In this article, a robust stochastic optimization (RSO) approach is used to deal with mine production scheduling in a manner such that the solution is insensitive to changes in input data. The approach seeks a trade off between optimality and feasibility. The model is demonstrated on a case study. The findings showed that the approach can be used in mine production scheduling problems efficiently.

Keywords:

• mine production scheduling
• robust stochastic optimization
• grade and financial uncertainties
• open pit mining