CONSTRAINT-BASED MINE PRODUCTION OPTIMISATION FOR A DIAMOND MINE

摘要

Based on the mine design and production conditions, a systematic approach has been used to develop a mine production optimisation system (MineOptimiser) using the constraint-based global optimisation method. The MineOptimiser includes (1) an objective function, (2) a system transfer function and (3) an optimal solution search engine. The constraint based global search engine uses the Generalised Reduced Gradient (GRG2) non-linear programming method. The basic production condition was selected from one of the De Beers mines to conduct the investigation and three detailed case studies are used to discuss the results. With control of the ore size at the main treatment plant (MTP) using only the operation of secondary crusher and recrusher units, the production throughput of dense medium separation (DMS) can potentially increase by 6 percent from its production baseline, when the MTP is optimised. When the mine is optimised through the control of ore size at both mining and the MTP, the production throughput of the mine indicated by DMS feed rate could potentially increase by 32 percent from its production baseline of 804 tph. An increase of 24 percent production could potentially be achieved from the optimal production of the MTP.