Mine Planning

Introduction to Mine Planning: Definition, objectives and Importance of mine planning. Interdisciplinary nature of mine planning, Mineral Resources and Deposits, Formation of mineral deposits, Classification of mineral deposits (e.g., vein, disseminated, massive, stratiform), Types of minerals, Global and Indian mineral resource scenario. Resource and Reserve Classification, Definitions, International reporting standards (e.g., JORC Code, SME Guide) and Indian standards (UNFC), Factors affecting conversion of resources to reserves (economic, technical, environmental, social, legal). Mine Life Cycle and Planning Horizon, Short-term, Medium-term, and Long-term planning horizons.

Geological Data Collection and Interpretation, Geological Modeling: Purpose and importance of geological , Methods of geological modelling, Software tools for geological modeling (e.g., Leapfrog, Surpac, Datamine), Classical Ore Reserve Estimation Methods, Geostatistical Ore Reserve Estimation, Fundamentals of Geostatistics, Regionalized variables, stationarity, anisotropy, Variogram analysis, Estimation Techniques, Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW), Kriging: Ordinary Kriging, Simple Kriging, Universal Kriging, Co-Kriging (conceptual), Conditional Simulation, Cut-off Grade Determination.

Open Pit Mine Design, Pit Limit Optimization, Lerchs-Grossmann algorithm and its application, Floating Cone method (conceptual), Pit Slope Design, Haul Road Design, Bench Design, Waste Dump Design: Stability, drainage, progressive rehabilitation. Surface Mine Layouts, Underground Mine Access and Development, Access Methods: Shafts, Adits, Ramps (declines), Development Layouts, Underground Stope Design, Ground Support Systems: Rock bolts, cable bolts, shotcrete, steel sets, timber supports.

Fundamentals of Mine Scheduling, Objectives of mine scheduling, Types of schedules, Key inputs for scheduling, Long-Term Scheduling (Strategic Planning), Medium-Term and Short-Term Scheduling (Tactical & Operational Planning), Medium-term: Annual and quarterly plans, development planning, Short-term: Monthly, weekly, and daily plans, blast design, equipment allocation, Grade control strategies, Reconciliation of planned vs. actual production. Equipment Selection and Fleet Management, Matching equipment to production requirements. Fleet sizing and optimization.Maintenance planning and reliability. Mine Production Management, Production targets and key performance indicators (KPIs). Monitoring and control of mining operations. Introduction to dispatch systems and real-time optimization.

Mine Economics and Valuation, Regulatory and Legal Framework in India, Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and recent amendments. Mineral Concession Rules, Mineral Auction Rules, Environmental and Forest Clearances: EIA process for mining projects (revisited from Eco-Friendly Mining course if applicable), Land acquisition and resettlement policies, Mine safety regulations (DGMS). Mine Planning Software Applications: Introduction to integrated mine planning software suites (e.g., Dassault Systèmes GEOVIA (Surpac, Whittle, MineSched), Hexagon Mining (MineSight, SmartMine), Datamine, Micromine). Practical sessions covering: Data import and visualization. Geological modeling and block modeling. Pit optimization and design. Production scheduling. Basic economic analysis within the software. Sustainable Mine Planning.