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Stochastic Final Pit Limits: An Efficient Frontier Analysis under Geological Uncertainty in the Open-Pit Mining Industry
- Source :
- Mathematics, Vol 10, Iss 100, p 100 (2022), Mathematics; Volume 10; Issue 1; Pages: 100
- Publication Year :
- 2022
- Publisher :
- MDPI AG, 2022.
-
Abstract
- In the context of planning the exploitation of an open-pit mine, the final pit limit problem consists of finding the volume to be extracted so that it maximizes the total profit of exploitation subject to overall slope angles to keep pit walls stable. To address this problem, the ore deposit is discretized as a block model, and efficient algorithms are used to find the optimal final pit. However, this methodology assumes a deterministic scenario, i.e., it does not consider that information, such as ore grades, is subject to several sources of uncertainty. This paper presents a model based on stochastic programming, seeking a balance between conflicting objectives: on the one hand, it maximizes the expected value of the open-pit mining business and simultaneously minimizes the risk of losses, measured as conditional value at risk, associated with the uncertainty in the estimation of the mineral content found in the deposit, which is characterized by a set of conditional simulations. This allows generating a set of optimal solutions in the expected return vs. risk space, forming the Pareto front or efficient frontier of final pit alternatives under geological uncertainty. In addition, some criteria are proposed that can be used by the decision maker of the mining company to choose which final pit best fits the return/risk trade off according to its objectives. This methodology was applied on a real case study, making a comparison with other proposals in the literature. The results show that our proposal better manages the relationship in controlling the risk of suffering economic losses without renouncing high expected profit.
- Subjects :
- stochastic final pit
geostatistics
open-pit mining
risk management
Pareto-optimal front
General Mathematics
0211 other engineering and technologies
02 engineering and technology
010502 geochemistry & geophysics
01 natural sciences
Computer Science (miscellaneous)
QA1-939
Engineering (miscellaneous)
Mathematics
021102 mining & metallurgy
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 22277390
- Volume :
- 10
- Issue :
- 100
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Mathematics
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....6a2f494bb61743f428bc7627910596df