Stochastic Open Pit Optimization Under Volume and Grade Uncertainty: An Application to African Copper Mine
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2025
Abstract
Scheduling production for an open pit mining operation is essential to determine the returns on investment. Several methods for production scheduling have been proposed for the deterministic and stochastic version where grade uncertainty is accounted, assuming the shape of the orebody is known. However, the major risk of not meeting the ore and metal targets is coming from the shape of the orebody model. The poor representation of the orebody shape either over-or underestimates the volume and grade, leading to an inaccurate mine plan. In this study, we have accounted for the volume and grade uncertainty during production scheduling for a copper deposit from Africa. In addition, a comparative study is performed for the deterministic version, the stochastic version with grade uncertainty, and stochastic version with volume and grade uncertainty. The results demonstrated that the incorporation of both the volume and grade uncertainty significantly reduces the risk of deviation from the target. The results also show that incorporation of volume and grade uncertainty increases the net present value of the case study mining project as compared to the mine plan generated from the deterministic model and the stochastic model with only grade uncertainty. The results show that the production schedule generates high revenue over a wide range of initial assumptions and the expected NPV is 3% higher than the deterministic version. A sensitivity analysis was also performed to understand the effect of penalty factor for deviating the constraints.
Publication Title
Springer Proceedings in Earth and Environmental Sciences
Recommended Citation
Paithankar, A.,
&
Chatterjee, S.
(2025).
Stochastic Open Pit Optimization Under Volume and Grade Uncertainty: An Application to African Copper Mine.
Springer Proceedings in Earth and Environmental Sciences,
Part F3674, 317-338.
http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-76614-5_26
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p2/1405