Integrated optimisation of short- and medium-term planning in underground mines

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article describes a new model aiming at optimising short- and medium-term underground mine scheduling. The problem complexity and the frequency at which planners must revise these schedules are among the primary motivations for developing such a model. To address this problem, a Mixed Integer Programming model is proposed with a flexible time discretisation to accurately represent both shortand medium-term operational constraints in a single model. The results of a preliminary mathematical formulation are presented with in-depth analyses. Further, an improved formulation is presented with associated results and benefits. Extensive experiments with scenarios similar to long-term planning show promising results for the improved formulation. Among other things, these results show that the modified formulation makes it possible to solve for scenarios that include a large number of activities and locations while generating more applicable solutions.