Using Genetic Algorithms for Underground Stope Design Optimization in Mining: A Stochastic Analysis

Mine design and mine planning are essential to a mining operation as they do not only dictate the outline of the mine, but essentially determine the financial robustness and success of the mining operation. However, as mining is a conservative business mine design is still mostly done by hand. To indicate the effect of uncertainty in mine design...

Geotechnical Risk Management: A Statistical Framework to Assess the Effect of Sampling Density on Dredge Performance Forecasting

This thesis proposes a methodology towards quantifying the uncertainty resulting from the density and spatial arrangement of samples and assessing their effect on forecasting key performance indicators, related to dredging and (wet) mining operations. Aside from quantifying this uncertainty, another objective of this research is to develop a...

Meeting Short-Term Production Targets: Controlling Short-Term Deviations from Production Targets by Blending Geological Confidence Classes of Reporting Standards

Meeting short-term production targets is desired by many companies, since this would enable them to fine tune the processing operation, meet budget plans and obey contract requirements. Recently stochastic optimization solutions have been developed requiring geostatistical simulations as input. The significant value added has been demonstrated,...

Evaluation of the application of truck trolley systems on costs and fuel emissions in a Swedish open pit copper mine

This thesis evaluates the impact of various haulage systems on the desired production objectives, energy costs, and fuel emissions. The transportation of ore and waste to the dumps could be either done by conventional trucks or by a truck trolley system. The economic analysis for stage S3 shows that the truck trolley system can increase the CPV...

Monitoring While Drilling for Investigating Critical Rock and Rock Mass Properties for Blast Design and Underground Support

The aim is to investigate critical rock and rock mass properties for modern blast- and support design and identify potential relations to parameters recorded in conventional Monitoring While Drilling (MWD) applications.

Investigation into simulation based optimization of a continuous mining operation

Optimization in the mining industry is often only done on a discontinuous and long-term basis. The RTRO-Coal project aims to improve the mining efficiency by introducing a continuous optimization cycle. As a part of the RTRO-Coal project, an experimental simulation model, validated in the lab (TRL 4), for short-term mine optimization was...

Processing Analysis & Market Analysis on Company X Bentonite

Bentonite is a clay that is used in many industrial applications. Company X required an investigation on the bentonite that is mined by Company Y. Currently Company X produces cat litter only from her bentonite, but other applications might be of economical interest to the company. After scoping down to 4 applications other than cat litter ...

In-pit co-disposal of tailings in an onshore dredge mine

This research aims to provide an understanding of the behaviour of co-disposed coarse (sand) and fine (clay and silt) tailings when discharged into an onshore dredge pond, and the dependence of that behaviour on the sediment composition. This understanding contributes to the ultimate goal of finding a method by which fine tailings can be...

Aitik mill as hub for a satellite mine: Preliminary development plan of a satellite copper deposit

The copper grade in the Aitik mine in northern Sweden is decreasing, therefore other deposits are investigated. One of these deposits is the satellite deposit discussed in this thesis. The grade of this deposit is higher than in Aitik and could thus be used to increase the copper production at the Aitik mine site. The goal of this thesis is to...

Implications of dredge mine design on mine optimizations and discussing possible approaches

The development of dredging as a major player for surface mine applications has led Royal IHC, a large equipment supplier and consultant for dredging and mining operations, and the TU Delft to work on more advanced optimizations techniques for the design of dredge mines. Three implications of the design of a dredge mine were found to be crucial...

Analysis of transportation possibilities from a satellite mine to the Aitik processing site

The Aitik mine is the largest copper mine in Sweden. In the surrounding area several minor deposits have been found. If these deposits will be mined the ore can be handled in the concentrator of the Aitik mine, which means that the ore has to be transported to the Aitik mine. Transportation options of one of these satellite mines, 15 km away...

Characterisation and applications of bentonite

A research was undertaken to find the suitability of Turkish calcium bentonite from the mines of a Company. Four samples of bentonite mines in the {\"U}nye region are researched, the M1, M2, M3 and M4 mine. The suitability of drilling fluid, foundry sand, soil improvement and bleaching earth applications is found through research on the...

Cut-off Grade Based Sublevel Stope Mine Optimization: Introduction and evaluation of an optimization approach and method for grade risk quantification

The aim of this research project was to introduce and evaluate an optimization approach for sublevel stope mine optimization using the AMIRA Stope Optimizer that includes grade-risk quantification and can be used by Boliden engineers for future mine planning and economic assesment. It has long been realized that mining simply every part of an...

Real-Time Resource Management: An investigation of Kalman Filtering techniques

The use of sensor measurement data in mines today is usually limited to the downstream processing of mined material in a feed-forward loop. This thesis investigates the capability of Kalman Filtering techniques in updating resource models, based on sensor data, in a feed-back sense. The mining operation and updating process are simulated in...

Appraisal of geostatistical methods and geostatistical prediction of predominantly marine sand inclusions in the Frimmersdorf lignite seam in the Garzweiler open cast mine, Germany

Mining is different from most businesses because knowledge of the product is essentially based on estimates, which by their very nature include a degree of uncertainty (Dominy, Noppé, & Annels, 2004). The risks associated with mining are varied and complex, where the dominant source of risk is the orebody itself (Snowden, Glacken, & Noppé, 2002)...

A Cash-Flow Analysis and Profitability Study on a Peer-Group of Mining Companies

In this study a cash-flow analysis is done in order to establish the cash sources and sinks of a peer group of mining companies in the iron ore sector. The peer-group ranges from junior companies to major mining companies. The study also looked in to the performance and profitability of the peer group using ROCE and share prices as indicators....

Decision Making on the Ocean Floor: A simulation framework to assess uncertainty and variability in Deep Sea Mining

As land resources decrease, commodity prices increase and technology evolves, deep sea mining is becoming a viable and sustainable alternative to meet the increasing demand for minerals. Successful deep sea mining operations are built on a sound identification of the resource, proper selection of equipment, a thoughtful production plan and good...