Carrapateena is a copper-gold deposit hosted in a brecciated granite complex, located approximately 460 km north of Adelaide, South Australia. The deposit will be mined using the sub level cave (SLC) mining method at a rate of 4.25 Mtpa for an estimated 20 years. When entering its second phase of construction and planning prior to production commencement, the mining teams at Carrapateena were beginning to shift focus from high-level long-term business planning, into more detailed execution planning, which involved the establishment of certain operational philosophies for the production levels. These philosophies needed to consider the many varied elements that influence the production plan. Each of these elements, including both mining equipment and tasks have diverse operational rules, and with a large and complex operation to plan for, it was important to clearly understand the interactions between the elements and the effect on the production system as a whole. To understand these complexities, OZ Minerals approached Polymathian who were able to create a detailed model of all entities and processes in the caving operation using a bespoke, discrete event simulation tool. The tool allowed planners to visualise the cave's operations over the life of a production level down to day-to-day, minute-by-minute operations. Each production process, entity and interactions between entities were modelled so planners could test various assumptions and constraints. The level of detail represented in the simulation model allowed OZ Minerals to develop an understanding of the effect of strategic and operational decisions prior to the mine going into production. The ability to validate the effect of assumptions on operational performance and test a range of scenarios enabled identification of the levers that have the biggest impact on production. This facilitated improved operations planning decisions and saved significant time and resources in planning and during operations. New staff are also able to use the visual outputs of the simulation model to understand the operational complexities on the production level and interactions that will occur between mobile equipment. The work assisted putting Carrapateena in a better position to 'hit the ground running' with reduced uncertainty around operational expectations.
Block cave mining is a mining method aimed at achieving a high tonnage output from a single production level. Interactions between production loaders and consequent cycle delays can constrain overall production level performance. Together with access restrictions associated with the control of caving progression and secondary break requirements, these constraints can prevent block cave mines from reaching throughput targets. Careful layout design and development of operating strategies for the production level are critical for minimising equipment interactions and building an optimised block cave operation. In striving for a net zero emissions mining operation, many companies are actively investigating the option of electrification of their mining fleet. This adds another dimension to design considerations and creates new possibilities for block cave designs and operating strategies. The potential impacts for charging of battery electric vehicles requires consideration and ventilation limits on the practical number of production loaders are reduced, giving rise to different design solutions.This paper explores the capability of a number of alternative production level operating strategies for the Carrapateena mine, which is an OZ Minerals owned, South Australian copper-gold mine, ramping up to a rate of 12 Mtpa from 2029 utilising the block cave mining method. A comparison of the performance characteristics for each alternative is assessed using a detailed simulation model of the block cave operations. Relationships between fleet size and production level throughput are developed for each alternative operational strategy to demonstrate relative performance over a target throughput range for the mine. The assessment demonstrates how alternative operating strategies can be used to alleviate production level bottlenecks and improve output for block cave mining operations. Outcomes from the case study are broadly applicable to other block cave operations, particularly those that will move to, or are being designed as an electric mining operation.
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