Date of Graduation

1994

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

One of the most important aspects in the long-term planning of an underground mine is the decision on production scheduling, (the long-term mining sequence planning); that is the order in which parts of the seam should be mined given a specified number of operating units. An optimal mining sequence of the combined operating units would lead to the best possible net present value (NPV) for a mining company. Moreover, a non-optimal mining sequence could cause undesirable cash flows in early years which could cause the economic failure of the mine. Therefore, a planning procedure coupled with dynamic programming model (DP model) has been developed to optimize the long-term underground mining sequence planning for coal mines. The application of the procedure and the DP model will enhance the long-term survival of a mine and could sustain a profitable annual operation. The DP model optimizes the net present value of cash flows generated by the various possible sequences for mining a reserve. Using a microcomputer, a series of computer programs with user-friendly menus have been created for application of the methodology. The programs permit the entering and editing of data, the saving of data in files, the evaluation of each mining combination, performing all NPV and dynamic programming calculations needed for optimization, and the printing of model details and summaries of the results. The methodology has been applied to a hypothetical underground coal mine problem for the purpose of demonstration. The planning procedure and DP model have been run for a set of practical 13-year layouts of the mine. The best final sequencing is solved as the optimal long-term mining sequence plan. A sensitivity analysis has been performed on the parameters affecting the DP model's final decision.

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