Optimization of Capital Costs and Carbon Footprint in Open Cast Mining

Abstract

The capital cost of an opencast mine is determined based on many irreversible geological factors e.g., topography, ore grade, degree of mechanization, etc. Mining equipment(s) are procured during the stage of project initiation. However midway into the life of the mines, half from the original list may remain untouched. Why are capital equipment needed in mining operations? The mining industry is constantly in search of rapid capacity expansion, increased productivity, digital technology adoption, and reduced costs. Besides the economics, the new dimension of development focuses on automation and a clean mining system. To achieve a faster rate of production, mechanization at higher degrees are imperative. Mine optimization deals with conventional tools of production planning ignoring the drain on capital and related GHG implications. When the idle time of machineries increases, it leads to increase in production cost. In order to reduce the idle time or waiting time the number of machineries may be increased. Due to large number of machines greater capital investments are needed that contributes to higher total GHG.