Mine Planning

Investigation of the Design and Manufacturing Practices of a Sri Lankan Company

by Rukshan Maliq

Assignment done under the module "Engineering Design"

A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM USING FUZZY ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS (FAHP) AND TOPSIS APPROACHES FOR SELECTION OF THE OPTIMUM UNDERGROUND MINING METHOD

by Masoud Zare

Archives of Mining Sciences, Vol. 54 (2009), No 2, p. 349–368. "Impact Factor: 0.312""

Selection of an appropriate mining method is a complex task that requires consideration of many technical, economical,... more Selection of an appropriate mining method is a complex task that requires consideration of many technical, economical, political, social, and historical factors. The aim of this paper is developing a hierarchical model to selection the optimum mining method with the use of effective and major criteria and simultaneously, taking subjective judgments of decision makers into consideration. Proposed approach is based on the combination of Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP)method with TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) methods. FAHP is used in determining of the weights of the criteria by decision makers and then rankings of the methods are determined by TOPSIS. The proposed method is applied for Jajarm Bauxite Mine in Iran and finally the most appropriate mining methods for this mine are ranked.

The application of fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) approach to selection of optimum underground mining method for Jajarm Bauxite Mine, Iran

by Masoud Zare

Expert Systems with Applications 36(4) (2009) 8218–8226. "Impact Factor (2009): 2.908"

Underground mining method selection is one of the most crucial decisions that should be made by mining engineers.... more Underground mining method selection is one of the most crucial decisions that should be made by mining engineers. Choosing a suitable underground mining method to carry out extraction from a mineral deposit is very important in terms of the economics, safety and the productivity of mining operations. The aim of this study is developing a fuzzy model to selection the optimum mining method by using effective and major criteria and at the same time, taking subjective judgments of decision makers into consideration. Proposed approach is based on the combination of fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) method with an advanced type of conventional AHP. FAHP is used in determining of the weights of the criteria by decision makers and then rankings of the methods are determined by AHP. The proposed method is applied for Jajarm Bauxite Mine in Iran and finally the most appropriate mining methods for this mine are ranked.

BLASTING FRAGMENTATION MANAGEMENT USING COMPLEXITY ANALYSIS

by David MARTIN

Rock fragmentation due to blasting operations is the key result of aggregates and ore mining activity before plant treatment. It has been observed in many case studies (e.g. Sastry & Chandar 2004, Ryu et al. 2009, Clerici & Mancini et al. 1974) that power consumption of loading machineries and crushers operating on the site and of primary crusher operating on the plant depends on the ratio of desired fragmentation obtained from the blast. On the other side, a lower ratio of fragmentation decreases the primary blasting costs (Ryu et al.).

Poor fragmentation results lead to (Bozic 1998, Sastry & Chandar 2004, Ryu et al. 2009, Clerici & Mancini et al. 1974):

- increased secondary blasting
- increased rate of muck shovel loading
- increased difficulty in transport
- increased energy consumption at crushing or milling
- low crusher or mill performances

On the other hand, when operating on fragmentation results in order to reduce secondary blast or other kind of secondary fragmentation before crushing, primary blast costs and drilling costs increase (Ryu et al. 2009), making the efficiency of the mine site workings decrease.

When secondary blasting is avoided or reduced to its minimum in order to increase mine site working efficiency, the amount of cost related to the reduction of dimension of blocks is transferred to crushing or milling, reducing its efficiency and increasing its costs.

McKenzie’s study (1967) is nowadays a classical analysis that showed how loading, hauling and crushing costs decreased with increasing rock fragmentation while drilling and blasting costs increased with increasing rock fragmentation.

The requirement of both efficiency and cost has to be properly managed.

This research intends to analyse mining operations and plant crushing and find an appropriate way to obtain a high constancy in blast fragmentation results under highly variable environment, improving the robustness of blast fragmentation models and to set a robust method to design the blast in order to grant the productivity of the crushing/milling process.

The present paper is the first stage of this ongoing research.