Assessment of the dilution controlling factor in the production scheduling of mines

With reduction in the mineral grade due to thedevelopment of the mining area to the depths and to ensure the economic efficiencyof mining operations, it is necessary to increase the annual productioncapacity, therefore scheduling problems optimization in mines requires moreprecise designing.  Among the undergroundmining methods, the block caving method is one of the largest and most widespreadmethods is used in the world. In the operation of such mines, drawing controlis the most critical element. In the current study, a mathematical model basedon MILP has been modeled the dilution controlling constraint (BDC) in theproduction scheduling problems. The BDC by reduction of the waste and ore mixingin the draw column presents a real optimization plan. TheMILP formulation for a block-cave production schedule was developed,implemented, and tested in the CPLEX/IBM environment. The resultsof the implementation of the models using 325 drawpoints over 15 periods show that the NPVincreased by 7.47% about 12.2M$. Moreover was prevented of extraction of 3.5Mtwaste. BDC while increasing the average annual production-grade, reduce the stripping costs and increase the life of equipment involved inmining operations