The optimisation of a mining operation

Author

McCarragher, Brenan J. ; Liu, Zisi

Author_Institution

Eng. Fac., Australian Nat. Univ., Canberra, ACT, Australia

Volume

1

fYear

1999

fDate

6/21/1905 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

69

Abstract

We model a mining operation by an E_r/E_k/1/N queue. We describe the stockpile configuration of the stockyard by a set of discrete parameters, taking values in the set of positive integers, which define the queueing system. Our goal is to optimise the throughput according to a 4-tuple of system parameters: the production rate, the number of stockpiles, the size of the stockpiles, and the shipping rate. Each of these parameters is included in weighted cost function. The results show an intricate inter-relationship between the production rate, the shipping rate, and the stockyard configuration. A well-designed stockyard, incorporating production and shipping constraints, shows potential to greatly increase the maximum throughput

Keywords

mining; optimisation; production control; queueing theory; stock control; E_r/E_k/1/N queue; mining operation; optimisation; production rate; queueing system; shipping rate; stockpile configuration; stockyard; throughput optimisation; weighted cost function; Algorithm design and analysis; Australia; Cost function; Marine vehicles; Mathematical model; Production systems; Queueing analysis; Size control; Steady-state; Throughput;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Decision and Control, 1999. Proceedings of the 38th IEEE Conference on

ISSN

0191-2216

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5250-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/CDC.1999.832748

Filename

832748