Optimization of Mining Sequence for Ion-Adsorbed Rare Earth Mining Districts Incorporating Environmental Costs

Lu Yi, Yi Zeng () and Minggui Zheng
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Lu Yi: School of Economics and Management, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 341000, China
Yi Zeng: School of Economics and Management, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 341000, China
Minggui Zheng: School of Economics and Management, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 341000, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-19

Abstract: The mining sequence of ionic rare earth mineral mining districts is related to the effective utilization of rare earth mineral resources and the protection of ecological environment. This study establishes an optimization model for the mining sequence of ion-adsorption rare earth mining districts that incorporates environmental costs, using the net present value (NPV) of the mining district and the net present value of environmental costs (C E ) as objective functions. The model is applied to optimize the mining sequence of Mining District L. The results demonstrate that (1) Four algorithms, namely NSGA-II, NSGA-III, IBEA, and MOEA/D, were selected for comparison. The analysis based on the distribution of solutions, hypervolume values (HV), and computational time revealed that the IBEA exhibited superior performance. (2) The IBEA was employed to solve the multi-objective optimization problem, yielding a set of 30 optimal solutions. Different NPVs corresponded to different C E values, with the C E value increasing correspondingly as the NPV increased. (3) The weighted method was employed to transform the multi-objective optimization problem into a single-objective formulation. Using a genetic algorithm (GA), the optimal solution yielded a decision variable sequence for mining order as [2, 5, 8, 4, 1, 9, 6, 7, 3, 10, 11], with the net present value (NPV) of mining district profits reaching CNY 76,640.65 million and the environmental cost NPV amounting to CNY 19,469.18 million. Compared with the mining sequence optimization scheme that did not consider C E , although the NPV decreased by CNY 3.3266 million, the C E was reduced by CNY 10.6993 million. The mining sequence optimization model with environmental costs constructed in this paper provides a scientific decision-making basis for mining enterprises to consider the mining sequence in mining districts, minimize the damage to the ecological environment, and promote the coordinated progress of resource development and sustainable development.

Keywords: ion-adsorption rare earth; mining district; environmental cost; mining sequence optimization; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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