Development of an Integrated Model for Open-Pit-Mine Discontinuous Haulage System Optimization

Abstract

The selection of the optimal equipment for discontinuous haulage systems is one of the most important decisions that need to be made when an open-pit mine is designed. There are a number of influencing factors, including natural (geological and environmental), technical, economic, and social. Some of them can be expressed numerically, in certain units of measure, while others are descriptive and can be stated by linguistic variables depending on the circumstances of the project. These factors are characterized by a high level of uncertainty, associated with both exploration and mining operations. The experience, knowledge, and expert judgment of engineers and specialists are of key importance for the management of mining processes, consistent with the issues stemming from the dynamic expansion of open-pit mines in space over time. This paper proposes an integrated model that translates all the criteria that affect the selection of the optimal solution into linguistic variables. By employing the multiple-criteria decision-making method and combining it with fuzzy logic, we developed an algorithm that addresses all the above-mentioned uncertainties inherent in various mining processes where the experience of experts forms the basis. The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is used in order to deal with trending decision problems, such as mining equipment and management system selection. The entire algorithm was applied to a real case study—the Ugljevik East 1 open-pit mine.