HAUL ROAD DESIGN OPTIMISATION APPROACH FOLLOWING TECHNOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS IN OPEN-PIT MINING

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Modern mining practices rely to a great extent on the application of numerical methods for establishing design alternatives, leading to significant economic benefits. In the current article mine haul road design and construction are treated as two interconnected problems – 1) selection of a suitable optimisation for haul road design and selection of an optimal pit design solution; 2) selection of a suitable technology for haul road construction. Based on previous research, the main factors which determine haul road design feasibility have been identified. They are used for the purpose of establishing the key performance parameters which define the optimality of a haul road design solution. An optimisation problem is defined, which relies on different design solutions and the alternatives for a feasible ultimate pit design. Solutions of this optimisation problem are expected to maximise the mine’s long-term profit. Furthermore, statistical parameters were obtained providing insight into affirming why a certain design solution is more dominant to others in a more robust way.

Keywords

• haul road design
• haul road construction