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A method for optimal cut-off grade policy in open pit mining operations under uncertain supply

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  • Khan, Asif
  • Asad, Mohammad Waqar Ali

Abstract

Cut-off grade controls the movement of materials among mining, processing and refining stages of an open pit mining operation. The cut-off grade policy constitutes a schedule of cut-off grades and the associated quantities of materials that flow through various stages over the life of operation. This flow of materials in the system relies on the grade-tonnage curve of the mineral resource and given that the variation in grade-tonnage curve is inevitable, it is crucial that the methods that define the cut-off grade policy must consider this grade uncertainty. However, with few exceptions, a majority of these methods ignore this uncertainty in the supply of materials. This paper shares a two-stage stochastic linear programming based cut-off grade optimisation model that accounts for the grade uncertainty and maximises the net present value (NPV) subject to the production capacity constraints over the life of operation. An application of the proposed method at hypothetical and realistic cases promises higher NPV as compared to the traditional heuristic approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Khan, Asif & Asad, Mohammad Waqar Ali, 2019. "A method for optimal cut-off grade policy in open pit mining operations under uncertain supply," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 178-184.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:60:y:2019:i:c:p:178-184
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2018.12.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Paithankar, Amol & Chatterjee, Snehamoy & Goodfellow, Ryan & Asad, Mohammad Waqar Ali, 2020. "Simultaneous stochastic optimization of production sequence and dynamic cut-off grades in an open pit mining operation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    2. Rimélé, Adrien & Dimitrakopoulos, Roussos & Gamache, Michel, 2020. "A dynamic stochastic programming approach for open-pit mine planning with geological and commodity price uncertainty," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    3. Paithankar, Amol & Chatterjee, Snehamoy & Goodfellow, Ryan, 2021. "Open-pit mining complex optimization under uncertainty with integrated cut-off grade based destination policies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    4. Biswas, Pritam & Sinha, Rabindra Kumar & Sen, Phalguni & Rajpurohit, Sohan Singh, 2020. "Determination of optimum cut-off grade of an open-pit metalliferous deposit under various limiting conditions using a linearly advancing algorithm derived from dynamic programming," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    5. Biswas, Pritam & Sinha, Rabindra Kumar & Sen, Phalguni, 2023. "A review of state-of-the-art techniques for the determination of the optimum cut-off grade of a metalliferous deposit with a bibliometric mapping in a surface mine planning context," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    6. Buelga Díaz, Arturo & Diego Álvarez, Isidro & Castañón Fernández, César & Krzemień, Alicja & Iglesias Rodríguez, Francisco Javier, 2021. "Calculating ultimate pit limits and determining pushbacks in open-pit mining projects," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).

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