Computational modeling and numerical analysis of dynamics of sustainable mining of mineral complexes

Abstract

Understanding the sustainable mining dynamics prevents economic uncertainties, operational errors and severe environmental degradation during mining. The mine dynamics vary depending on multiple factors that can affect overall efficiency. A computational model would help in assessing mining operations. This paper proposes a set of novel computational normed linear vector space models to determine various aspects of mining operations and the estimation of mineral associations in an ore complex by employing matrix algebra. The proposed computational models consider that, distribution of minerals and mine operations can be formulated based on multidimensional vector space, which is computable in nature. Analysis of range of influence interaction matrix (RIIM) basing on a 3-mineral model is carried out to assess the mining dynamics. In addition to RIIM, the cause–effect (C–E) interaction model is employed to assess the interaction intensity and dominance of minerals in an ore deposit in terms of availability as well as extraction. The C–E interrelationships between minerals are evaluated basing on the generic coding method. The transformations of structural domains resulting in multidimensional space are further assessed to envision C–E variations between Cu–Ni–Pb as a mineral complex. The projection analysis based on nonlinear regression and numerical evaluations of computational models provide an insight of the life time of a mine. The proposed computational approaches can be applied in combination on n-mineral models to aid in decision making during all stages of sustainable mining.