Designing an optimal stope layout for underground mining based on a heuristic algorithm

An optimal layout or three-dimensional spatial distribution of stopes guarantees the maximum profitability over life span of an underground mining operation. Thus, stope optimization is one of the key areas in underground mine planning practice. However, the computational complexity in developing an...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sandanayake, D., Topal, Erkan, Asad, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: China University of Mining and Technology 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31096
_version_ 1848753280063111168
author Sandanayake, D.
Topal, Erkan
Asad, M.
author_facet Sandanayake, D.
Topal, Erkan
Asad, M.
author_sort Sandanayake, D.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description An optimal layout or three-dimensional spatial distribution of stopes guarantees the maximum profitability over life span of an underground mining operation. Thus, stope optimization is one of the key areas in underground mine planning practice. However, the computational complexity in developing an optimal stope layout has been a reason for limited availability of the algorithms offering solution to this problem. This article shares a new and efficient heuristic algorithm that considers a three-dimensional ore body model as an input, maximizes the economic value, and satisfies the physical mining and geotechnical constraints for generating an optimal stope layout. An implementation at a copper deposit demonstrates the applicability and robustness of the algorithm. A parallel processing based modification improving the performance of the original algorithm in terms of enormous computational time saving is also presented.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T08:22:00Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-31096
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T08:22:00Z
publishDate 2015
publisher China University of Mining and Technology
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-310962017-09-13T15:11:56Z Designing an optimal stope layout for underground mining based on a heuristic algorithm Sandanayake, D. Topal, Erkan Asad, M. An optimal layout or three-dimensional spatial distribution of stopes guarantees the maximum profitability over life span of an underground mining operation. Thus, stope optimization is one of the key areas in underground mine planning practice. However, the computational complexity in developing an optimal stope layout has been a reason for limited availability of the algorithms offering solution to this problem. This article shares a new and efficient heuristic algorithm that considers a three-dimensional ore body model as an input, maximizes the economic value, and satisfies the physical mining and geotechnical constraints for generating an optimal stope layout. An implementation at a copper deposit demonstrates the applicability and robustness of the algorithm. A parallel processing based modification improving the performance of the original algorithm in terms of enormous computational time saving is also presented. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31096 10.1016/j.ijmst.2015.07.011 China University of Mining and Technology restricted
spellingShingle Sandanayake, D.
Topal, Erkan
Asad, M.
Designing an optimal stope layout for underground mining based on a heuristic algorithm
title Designing an optimal stope layout for underground mining based on a heuristic algorithm
title_full Designing an optimal stope layout for underground mining based on a heuristic algorithm
title_fullStr Designing an optimal stope layout for underground mining based on a heuristic algorithm
title_full_unstemmed Designing an optimal stope layout for underground mining based on a heuristic algorithm
title_short Designing an optimal stope layout for underground mining based on a heuristic algorithm
title_sort designing an optimal stope layout for underground mining based on a heuristic algorithm
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31096