Operations Research in Underground Mine Planning: A Review

Akshay Chowdu (), Peter Nesbitt (), Andrea Brickey () and Alexandra M. Newman ()
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Akshay Chowdu: Department of Mining Engineering and Management, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota 57701
Peter Nesbitt: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401
Andrea Brickey: Department of Mining Engineering and Management, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota 57701
Alexandra M. Newman: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401

Interfaces, 2022, vol. 52, issue 2, 109-132

Abstract: At the time of this writing, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the average American-born human will need millions of pounds of fuels, minerals, and other extracted resources in his or her lifetime. Mining is a critical global industry, spanning all but one continent (Antarctica), with the highest-producing countries being China, the United States, Russia, Australia, and India. Increasingly, this demand is driving mining companies to explore and pursue deeper mineral deposits as near-surface deposits deplete. Correspondingly, there has been a significant rise in industry interest in applying operations research techniques to improve underground mine planning. Newman et al. [Newman AM, Rubio E, Caro R, Weintraub A, Eurek K (2010) A review of operations research in mine planning. Interfaces 40(3):222–245] present a review of such techniques, applied to both open pit and underground mining operations. We focus here on the advancements since that publication and concentrate on underground applications in metalliferous deposits, such as copper, iron, and gold.

Keywords: underground mine production scheduling; mine design; equipment selection; optimization; heuristics; stochastic modeling applications; literature review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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