A Theoretical Paradigm Shift for Compliance of Strategic and Short-term Block Caving Mine Plans towards Sustainable Mineral Development

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The economics of today's mining industry is such that the major mining companies are increasing the use of massive mining methods. It is a step-change for the industry, from the traditional open-pit to a move underground. Therefore, continuous research must push the limits of promising technologies by innovation remains the forefront of research in this area. Among the underground mining methods available, caving methods are favored because of their low cost and high production rates. Block-cave mining is one of the best solutions for continuing the operation after shutting down the mine in deep open-pit mines; however, the production rate can drastically decrease due to adverse operational setbacks affecting revenue, time, and cost. A block cave mining operation constitutes challenges to meet operational production scheduling targets. The optimistic long-term and medium-term plans along with uncertainty and the synergistic effect of the failures in operational levels, cause a significant deviation from production plan targets. On the other hand, the substantial increase in data availability and high-computing power, and innovations in real-time monitoring systems enable the technological transformation of the mining industry. The proposed research aligns with the initiative's objective to avoid project disruptions and create feasible and reliable mine development plans to attract investment. The proposed research program builds on our past research and findings on long-term block-cave mine planning to develop an integrated framework that can produce feasible, reliable, and achievable block-cave mine plans to avoid project disruptions; improve operational efficiencies to generate maximum economic returns; and operate within acceptable social, legal, and regulatory constraints. We will establish alignment between long-term mine plans and short-term production scheduling in block caving so that the strategic objectives of the mining operation can be realized as planned. The overall objective is to link the optimal strategic mine plans to short-term production schedules and to honor all the technical mining constraints. This research directly contributes to creating new knowledge and innovative technologies for block-cave short-term production planning. This research focuses on applications of operations research, simulation, and data-driven approaches in underground mine short-term planning. It is anticipated that this research will contribute to responsible resource development by transferring knowledge to practitioners and end-users through prototype open-source software applications in the resources industry. Also, this research will contribute to training highly qualified mining professionals for research and practice in Canada and will provide a means to enhance resource economic performance and product supply.