A New Mine Planning Methodology using Topcone Algorithm and Mathematical Programming

Abstract

The PhD study focuses on developing new optimisation models for the open pit mine planning and production scheduling using TopCone Algorithm and mathematical programming techniques. Specifically, TopCone Algorithm is a new block aggregation algorithm formulated to significantly reduce the scale of data fed into downstream mathematical programming-based production scheduling models. In addition, geological uncertainty of mineral deposits is integrated into the optimisation process to minimise its impact on meeting production targets.