Minemax are pleased to announce the release of Minemax Scheduler 6.1 with Simultaneous Pit and Detailed Waste Dump Schedule Optimization. This capability to jointly optimize detailed waste scheduling together with a mine schedule was previewed at SME in Denver earlier this year is now available to all maintained users.

This new functionality has been developed in response to requests from our users, who have asked us to model a detailed waste dump schedule together with the mine schedule. It is a complex problem, and the last year has been devoted to formulating the best way to handle it in Minemax Scheduler. With the addition of simultaneous pit and waste dump schedule optimization, Minemax Scheduler can now calculate schedules that are more accurate and practical, and still optimize a mine’s net present value.

Many mine schedules assume a truck cycle time to the centroid of the waste dump. Depending on where in the waste dump material goes, the trucking requirements will actually vary. Therefore, with larger waste dumps in particular, a centroid approach will have a significant degree of inaccuracy. A common approach is to look at the ore/waste extraction in isolation to the dump schedule. This can lead to an iterative scheduling process which is time consuming and possibly non-optimal. With Minemax Scheduler 6.1, detailed placement of waste onto the waste dump and the associated trucking requirements are considered, giving an accurate and optimal mine schedule. With this process, there is less manual tweaking of schedules, better utilization of resources and greater confidence that the schedule achieved is both correct and optimal.

For a look at the new integrated pit and waste dump schedule optimization, watch the movie below by clicking on the image. Please contact us to discuss your specific requirements.