Prioritising oxidized copper mines for investment in semnan province using TOPSIS

Prioritising mines for investment is one of the major issues in mining economic. In this kind of problem, mines are ranked according to the conditions and characteristics of mines like value of mine reserve, production capacity of mines etc.. Based on this ranking, investment priority for each mines determined. In this study, priority investment for oxidized copper mines in Semnan province has been found using the TOPSIS method, a multi-criteria decision-making methods. TOPSIS method is based on the concept that the chosen alternative should have the shortest geometric distance from the positive ideal solution and the longest geometric distance from the negative ideal solution. In this study, 12 different criteria, and 33 copper mines in Semnan province were considered for prioritization. The decision criteria were weighed by surveying of experts in the field and then the importance of each factor have been determined using AHP method. Finally, using TOPSIS method, Chah Mosa, Kolut and Chah Farakh copper mines are ranked as first, second and third priority for investment, respectively. Also, sensitivity analysis is done to find the weight of criteria which are the most effective in prioritizing mines.