Professional Documents
Culture Documents
204221
ISSN 0092-2102 (print) ISSN 1526-551X (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/inte.2013.0730
2014 INFORMS
We use mathematical optimization to determine a production schedule (i.e., a schedule of extraction and sub-
sequent filling of the voids) for a complex underground mine in Ireland. The goal of the mining operation is to
maximize metal production over the life of the mine, subject to constraints on maximum monthly extraction and
backfilling quantities, maximum and minimum monthly metal production, and sequencing between extraction
and backfilling operations. We solve our integer programming model with a heuristic to produce a schedule
that adds value to the mining operation by (1) shifting metal production forward, (2) reducing waste mining
and backfilling delays, (3) avoiding expensive mill-halting drops in ore production, and (4) enabling smoother
workforce management.
Keywords: underground mine production scheduling; integer programming applications.
History: This paper was refereed.
Vertical benching
stoping dominates 70 percent of the extraction, drift-
and-fill mining accounts for another 20 percent, and
INFORMS holds copyright to this article and distributed this copy as a courtesy to the author(s).
Pillar
room-and-pillar mining constitutes the remainder.
Pillar With 12 years of production already completed, the
mine has an extensive network of haulage routes,
Benching of thicker parts which are used to transport the ore from the panels
to the crusher, a machine used to break the pieces
of ore into manageable sizes before conveyance to
the surface. Once above ground, the ore is trans-
Figure 1: In room-and-pillar mining, a self-supporting method, some pil- ported to the mill to be refined into metal concentrate.
lars of ore are left in place to support the rock that encompasses the ore The operational plan at Lisheen recommends filling
body, while the remaining ore is extracted. When only pillars remain, pil- the mill (i.e., continually running the mill at as close
lars are removed in a sequence that starts with the furthest pillar from
the mine exit, allowing the host rock to cave in as the extraction proceeds
to full capacity as possible). This requirement is dif-
toward the exit (Hamrin 1997). ficult to satisfy because the quantity and the average
quality (i.e., head grade) of the ore that enters the
mill during a given period must be blended within
Where the host rock is strong and the ore body is a specific range; otherwise, the process stops. Many
not steeply angled, room-and-pillar mining is pre- mining companies stockpile ore to more precisely con-
ferred (see Figure 1). Areas of the mine in which the trol the quality and quantity of the ore that feeds into
ore is particularly thick and the host rock is strong the mill. At Lisheen, a small above-ground surge pile
are suited to the large-scale and economically effi- buffers ore production to ensure continual mill oper-
cient long-hole stoping method (see Figure 2). Finally, ations over holiday weekends or during unplanned
Large-hole
drilling and
blasting Drilling
Drill access Exhaust airway
Hydraulic
Stope sandfill
Ramp
Blasted ore
Undercut
Draw point
Transport drift
Figure 2: In the long-hole stoping process, a sublevel drift is developed Figure 3: In drift-and-fill mining, a corridor of ore, known as a drift, is
below the ore to be excavated. The ore is then drilled and blasted and removed from the ore body. The remaining void is then filled using a
falls to the sublevel where load-haul-dump vehicles scoop and load it into cement-based mixture to provide structural support before cutting an
trucks for transport to the crusher (Hamrin 1997). adjoining drift through the ore (Hamrin 1997).
OSullivan and Newman: Scheduling in a Complex Underground Mine
206 Interfaces 44(2), pp. 204221, 2014 INFORMS
tailings are used to create a cement paste for fill- Cut-off grade: 7% 9% 12%
ing some of the voids left by extraction, a technique
known as backfilling. Figure 4: Cut-off grade selection is a significant factor in determining ore
Aside from providing a location for the disposal block shape and size. Box A shows a section of ore body with a nonuniform
of tailings, backfilling is required in some areas to distribution of metal. Selecting a cut-off grade of seven percent results
in a large area classified as ore (Box B), which can be divided into rea-
maintain structural integrity and to allow mining to sonably homogeneous blocks and extracted with a single mining method
continue. Prior to backfilling a void, it must first (e.g., the drift-and-fill process). At a cut-off grade of nine percent, the
be prepared by sealing it with wooden panels and material classified as ore diminishes (Box C). Because drift-and-fill min-
ing would now excavate too much waste rock, a different approach is
installing hoses that run from the underground void used. Box D shows material classified as ore at a cut-off grade of 12 per-
to the surface. Backfill paste, mixed in a plant above cent. With most of the area now defined as waste, a targeted mining
ground, is then pumped via the hoses down into the method is suitable.
area being filled. A void, depending on its size, may
require anywhere from a day to a month to fill. Once methods (see Figure 4). Hence, the grade of a block can
filling is complete, an additional 24 days are allowed vary greatly between adjacent blocks, and we some-
for the paste cement to set, after which time extrac- times find a high-grade ore block located beside a
tion may begin on the adjacent blocks that require the waste block. In addition, unlike open-pit mining, in
support from the backfilled areas. which the ore body is subdivided into blocks of equal
The quality of the schedule for the production dimensions, the size and shape of the blocks can vary
process described previously is a significant driver greatly. As a result, some blocks can be extracted in a
of the mining operations profitability. To produce a day, while excavating others requires months. Conse-
timely and coordinated production plan, the plan- quently, each panel at Lisheen has such specific mining
ner at Lisheen must consider the rate of extrac- requirements that developing general mining rules is
tion associated with each blocks mining method, the impossible, even at the zone level, which would make
dependencies between activities including backfilling sequencing activities straightforward.
requirements, and the size and grade of each block, Schedule creation is particularly difficult because
so that the blend of ore reaching the mill is satisfac- of the intertemporal effects on future mining activity
tory. This difficult assignment is further complicated associated with each extraction decision. These effects
because mining follows a number of narrow veins become especially important as mining reserves
of high-grade ore located along fault lines between approach depletion and the variety in grade of the ore
plates of different rock strength. The interaction of that is available to satisfy milling requirements also
these plates has produced an ore body with an incon- diminishes. With mine closure on the horizon, man-
sistent distribution of metal. Engineers highlight pock- agement must make critical decisions about which
ets of high-grade material by their choice of cut-off blocks to take and which blocks to leave behind.
grade and these pockets form the basis for the cre- In this paper, we show how we use integer pro-
ation of block shapes and the selection of extraction gramming (IP) to determine a near-optimal schedule
OSullivan and Newman: Scheduling in a Complex Underground Mine
Interfaces 44(2), pp. 204221, 2014 INFORMS 207
for the Lisheen underground mine for its remaining mine. They maximize discounted ore revenue by solv-
years of operation. Arguably, the mine would have ing their model for a number of mine expansion
benefited greatly from an automated scheduling pro- scenarios.
cedure more than a decade ago. However, we became Sarin and West-Hansen (2005) developed a Benders
Additional information, including rights and permission policies, is available at https://pubsonline.informs.org/.
involved with the project in only the past few years. decomposition technique to produce an exact solu-
As we describe in our paper, legacy limits the extent tion for their MIP model. Applying their model to a
INFORMS holds copyright to this article and distributed this copy as a courtesy to the author(s).
to which we can impact mining operations with our coal mining case study results in a profit-maximizing
scheduling procedures. However, we are able to dic- 100-week schedule. Newman and Kuchta (2007) opti-
tate a sequence in which blocks should be extracted to mize long-term production at an underground iron
satisfy the profit-maximization goals for the remain- ore mine in Sweden. With an objective of minimiz-
ing life of the mine, especially as those goals pertain ing deviations from contracted production quantities,
to the extraction of haulage pillars along a critical they use an aggregation heuristic to solve a MIP
retreat path out of the mine, and the ability of the model for a 60-month horizon. This model forms the
mine to sustain an operationally acceptable level of basis for Martinez and Newman (2011) to schedule
production for as long as possible. both long- and short-term production for the same
iron ore mine. That model provides greater resolu-
tion in the near term to satisfy detailed operational
Literature Review requirements. They produce solutions for a 48-month
Williams et al. (1973) first demonstrated the poten- horizon using a decomposition heuristic.
tial role for optimization in underground mine pro- Similar to the work we cite previously, we formu-
duction planning. Although their linear programming late, solve, and implement an IP model for produc-
approach suits certain strategic mining problems tion scheduling in an underground mining operation.
involving blending or cost reduction, the method However, although almost all underground mine pro-
cannot incorporate the binary decisions required duction scheduling models have similarities (e.g.,
to enforce the logic to schedule production at an blocks, periods, sequencing constraints, resource
operational level. Chanda (1990) recognizes IP as a restrictions), each mine operates in a specific manner.
viable method for modeling discrete decision mak- For example, objectives tend to differ between mines;
ing. He combines mixed-integer programming (MIP) an appropriate objective for a mine containing pre-
and simulation to produce a schedule for six con- cious metal may be to maximize net present value,
secutive work shifts for a copper mine in Zambia. whereas the objective for a mine containing base
A similar approach by Winkler (1996) employs integer metal may be to minimize deviations from long-term
variables, not only to model operational relation- contracts. Some mines may stockpile to exploit blend-
ships, but also to model the costs as piecewise linear ing and its associated quality of output; others may
functions. She highlights the advantages of apply- regard such a policy as a nuisance, requiring rehan-
ing MIP to underground mine scheduling and illus- dling and its costs. The six standard underground
trates the exponential complexity associated with this mining methods have many variants. As such, each
approach when generating a multiperiod schedule. method necessitates the implementation of different
Solving one single-period MIP model at a time, she operational policies. Therefore, writing one general
relies on simulation to produce a multiperiod sched- model for underground mine production scheduling
ule for a German coal mine. Trout (1995) presents a is difficult. Specific aspects relevant to our application
more generalized MIP approach to underground mine are (1) a discounted objective involving metal (but
production scheduling. Introducing variable restric- no explicit economic parameters), (2) a complex and
tions to reduce the size of the model, he produces extremely ill-defined and nonhomogeneous (i.e., spa-
a schedule that maximizes the net present value of tially, temporally, and regarding their metal content)
a copper mine for a 17-period horizon. Carlyle and set of areas, and (3) a mine that uses three under-
Eaves (2001) apply a MIP model to schedule pro- ground mining methods and the associated rules
duction at an underground platinum and palladium governing extraction and backfill, where applicable.
OSullivan and Newman: Scheduling in a Complex Underground Mine
208 Interfaces 44(2), pp. 204221, 2014 INFORMS
We now describe the mine with respect to optimizing To narrow the scope of the task, the planner
its production schedule in more detail. adopts the following assumptions about the mining
operation:
1. Financial aspects of the operation are ignored.
Production Scheduling at Lisheen Mine
Additional information, including rights and permission policies, is available at https://pubsonline.informs.org/.
Figure 5: This example of manual scheduling using a Gantt chart shows extraction and backfilling activities as
horizontal bars. The thin lines between the bars represent the precedence relationships between the activities.
To meet production targets, planners arrange these activities on the timeline.
OSullivan and Newman: Scheduling in a Complex Underground Mine
Interfaces 44(2), pp. 204221, 2014 INFORMS 209
rates that Lisheen has used to generate its manual cement. The production of tailings is a function of the
schedules. quantity and grade of ore reaching the mill, which
4. The mine design and infrastructure are fixed. means that backfilling may be constrained by the pro-
The planner does not consider developing new access duction of ore in a previous period. However, because
Additional information, including rights and permission policies, is available at https://pubsonline.informs.org/.
drifts (i.e., passageways) to reach the ore blocks or only a fraction of the voids created by extraction need
haulage routes to connect panels with the crusher. to be filled at Lisheen, the availability of tailings does
INFORMS holds copyright to this article and distributed this copy as a courtesy to the author(s).
5. The cut-off grade that defines a block as ore or as not limit paste production.
waste based on the percentage of mineral content is Sequencing constraints must be observed.
fixed. During the engineering design of the mine, the The extraction of a block or backfilling of a void
planner selects a cut-off grade to maximize the mine must satisfy any sequencing rules that exist between
value. Although economic conditions might indicate that activity and any other activity. Often called
that a different cut-off grade could increase the mines precedences, these relationships may be defined
value, the change would also require the development implicitly as a consequence of the combination of
of a new engineering plan (see Figure 4). mining methods chosen for a panel. Otherwise,
6. The rates for extraction and backfilling activities precedences are defined explicitly to ensure that the
are fixed. Based on the block tonnage, excavation dis- schedule remains feasible.
tance, or void volume, the planner can quickly cal- Once started, an activity must proceed con-
culate the time required to complete an activity. This tinuously until completion. The engineering design
defines blocks under the assumption that the entire
is a standard assumption in most scheduling mod-
block will be extracted. Partial extraction of blocks or
els, and changing the rates would be tantamount to
partial backfilling of voids would result in structural
changing a strategic decision (e.g., fleet size or work
instability.
shift length).
Manual scheduling of ore production under these
7. Sufficient resources are in place to implement the
constraints is challenging. To satisfy the Lisheen busi-
schedule. Production at Lisheen is not limited by the
ness objectives, the planner adopts a trial-and-error
availability of equipment or labor.
approach to bring metal forward in the produc-
With these assumptions in mind, the mine plan-
tion plan, while simultaneously adhering to the ore
ner must determine a start date for each extrac-
production limits and grade blending requirements.
tion and backfilling activity, given the following
For large problems, the combinational nature of this
constraints: sequencing and blending problem would require the
Monthly tonnage targets for mine production planner to enumerate a staggering number of alter-
cannot be exceeded. The mine has a production capac- native scenarios. Consequently, planners often have
ity constraint for each month based on the number of difficulty producing schedules that satisfy these con-
working areas that can be active at one time and the straints. Finally, the planner must be mindful that
number of working days in that month. Mine produc- extraction decisions made today can have conse-
tion includes extraction of ore that feeds the mill, and quences for future mining activities. For example, tac-
necessary waste. tical scheduling decisions to satisfy the next weeks
Metal output from the mill must be main- production quota may unintentionally prevent access
tained between monthly maximum and minimum to an area of ore and destroy its value.
levels. These blending constraints on metal produc- As Lisheen approaches closure, a particularly dif-
tion ensure that the quantity and head grade of the ficult decision facing the planner is when, if ever, to
ore feeding the mill are maintained within operational extract ore blocks that form part of the mines criti-
limits. cal infrastructure. Throughout the mine, trucks carry
A monthly limit on cement paste for backfilling ore from the panels to the crusher along haulage
must not be surpassed. Paste availability depends on routes, which are supported by large ore blocks called
the tailings produced as waste by the mill and the haulage pillars. Moreover, these pillars are also can-
capacity of the backfill plant that produces the paste didates for extraction, and often contain valuable
OSullivan and Newman: Scheduling in a Complex Underground Mine
210 Interfaces 44(2), pp. 204221, 2014 INFORMS
the planner must consider the opportunity cost of ering the maximum amount of discounted metal pos-
sterilizing the ore associated with the extraction of a
INFORMS holds copyright to this article and distributed this copy as a courtesy to the author(s).
schedule requires many rules, some rules merely whose extraction would prevent any further activ-
reflect a subjective choice in the order of mining cer- ity in that panel. We then define a constraint that
tain ore blocks. Specifically, the precedence rules relat- enforces this relationship, not just for that one criti-
ing the extraction of infrastructural haulage pillars cal haulage pillar, but for all blocks along the haulage
Additional information, including rights and permission policies, is available at https://pubsonline.informs.org/.
to other activities in dependent panels are unneces- route that, if extracted, would sterilize remaining ore
sarily restrictive. In most cases, the existing mining in that panel. In this way, we delineate critical haulage
INFORMS holds copyright to this article and distributed this copy as a courtesy to the author(s).
rule simply reflects the order in which the pillar was routes throughout the mine that characterize the rela-
previously scheduled, often requiring extraction to tionships between haulage pillars and mining panels
wait until all dependent panel activities have finished. (see Figure 7).
As previously mentioned, the timing of the extrac- Another difficulty in constructing the sequenc-
tion of these high-grade haulage pillars is a critical ing constraints arises from activities for which no
aspect of the mine schedule. Hence, we want to allow sequencing rules are defined. Including these or-
our model the freedom to choose when, if ever, to phaned activities in our model without defining rules
extract them. To this end, we reverse the existing for their execution would likely produce an IP solu-
logic, that a pillar must wait until the mining of the tion that we could not implement. Without explicit
dependent panel has finished, and instead create a and objective mining rules, we would have to spend
rule that prevents any further mining in the depen- considerable effort examining each precedence rela-
dent panel once the haulage pillar has been extracted. tionship between a pair of activities to determine if it
For each panel, we identify the critical haulage pillar leads to a valid constraint or whether it is merely a
Figure 7: In this example of critical haulage routes, the dashed lines show haulage routes through a mining
zone. These haulage routes are bordered by major panels containing blocks that are candidates for extraction.
The pillars that support these haulage routes often consist of valuable ore blocks. However, once removed, we
lose access to the area east of the extracted pillar.
OSullivan and Newman: Scheduling in a Complex Underground Mine
212 Interfaces 44(2), pp. 204221, 2014 INFORMS
subjective planning choice. Working with Lisheen, we Therefore, applying a model with monthly fidelity
redefine the precedence set by identifying and remov- results in schedule delays, because these small areas
ing the subjective rules and by defining new prece- would be allotted a month for extraction, unnecessar-
dents where needed. ily extending the extraction times of dependent areas.
Additional information, including rights and permission policies, is available at https://pubsonline.informs.org/.
A complication with our IP approach also arises A frequently used approach to address such fidelity
from the heterogeneity of the ore blocks. The size of problems is to aggregate the smaller mining areas
INFORMS holds copyright to this article and distributed this copy as a courtesy to the author(s).
an ore block can vary greatly, which makes deter- into larger clumps of similar size. However, such an
mining a standard time interval, or fidelity, for the approach reduces the resolution at which blending
problem difficult. The fidelity of the model defines decisions can be made. As Smith (1998) points out,
the discrete times during which an activity can begin. deposits rarely contain grade that is homogeneous
In scheduling, we could assign an activity to start at a enough to ignore grade blending requirements. Such
specific month, day, or hour. However, use of discrete is the case at Lisheen, where the high variation in the
time intervals results in schedules in which activi- grades within adjacent blocks, in addition to the com-
ties that, in practice, would take less than the interval plexity of the mining precedences, precludes block
to complete appear to require the full time interval aggregation.
before a dependent activity could begin. For example, To produce an implementable schedule, we require
a block that would require a day to extract in practice a solution at weekly fidelity for a two-year horizon
would be scheduled for a month if we were solving (i.e., a horizon that corresponds to the projected life
at monthly fidelity. Thus, the smaller the time inter- of the mine). The resulting problem contains 2,214
val, the closer together we can schedule activities. But, (extraction and backfilling activities) 105 (weeks) =
this benefit comes at a computational cost, because we 232,470 binary variables. We reduce this number by
must account for finer fidelity by defining variables implementing start-date restrictions for each activity;
for each activity and start-time combination. these restrictions do not compromise the quality of
A solution produced at monthly fidelity may work the solution, but only serve to eliminate variables,
well for a mine that has homogeneous, large blocks which would necessarily assume a value of zero in an
that require more than a month to extract; however, optimal, or even any feasible, solution. The manual
as the histogram in Figure 8 illustrates, Lisheen has schedule in iGantt provides a basis from which we
many small areas that can be mined in less than a day. develop early start-date restrictions for haulage pillar
retreats. However, because we relax precedence rules
350 between panels, using the same approach for panel
activities is too restrictive. Consequently, for panel
300
activities, we use a variant of an existing procedure
Number of blocks
than a single predecessor block, we simply add the model (P ), given in the appendix, for those activities
durations of all predecessor blocks to the start date at a weekly time fidelity for all weeks in the plan-
of the first block in the sequence to determine the ning horizon. The solution yields a production sched-
start date of a given block; in these cases, all blocks in ule for the high-grade activities on a weekly basis.
Additional information, including rights and permission policies, is available at https://pubsonline.informs.org/.
the sequence must be mined, and at a predetermined We then include the set of low-grade activities in the
rate, which produces an exact result (i.e., a time before next model run, fixing those high-grade activities to
INFORMS holds copyright to this article and distributed this copy as a courtesy to the author(s).
which a block at the end of a precedence chain cannot the corresponding weekly start dates from the first
possibly begin to be extracted). This approach reduces solve. The net result is that we now obtain a solu-
the problem to 56,276 variables; however, with over a tion that includes some subset of the low-grade activi-
million constraints, the problem remains intractable. ties, which are scheduled around the fixed high-grade
Therefore, not only do we use the exact approach of activities. Note that to enforce precedence between
eliminating variables to reduce the problem size, but successive solves, we must insert placeholders for the
we also employ a heuristic on the reduced problem time required to extract the predecessors absent in the
to produce a schedule in a reasonable amount of time current solve whose successors are present in the cur-
(see Figure 9). rent solve.
We can solve smaller instances of the (reduced) This approach alone will not produce a near-
problem by including fewer activities in the model. optimal solution for Lisheen, because the problems
We take advantage of this insight to find a solu- complexity is determined largely by the number of
tion that includes all the activities by decomposing haulage pillars included in the model. Haulage pillars
the original problem into a series of smaller prob- complicate the problem because (1) they have few, if
lems, which we solve in stages. With this approach, any, precedence requirements, and can consequently
we begin by separating the extraction activities into be scheduled for extraction at any point during the
sets of progressively lower metal content. In practice, horizon, and (2) the value of adding a haulage pil-
we might use two or three sets for panel activities lar to the schedule must be weighed against the total
and three to five sets for pillar activities; however, value of the dependent panel blocks that would be
to illustrate the approach here, we consider only two sterilized as a result. If we exclude the haulage pillars,
sets: high-grade and low-grade activities. Considering we can solve the model for the entire horizon in a
only the subset of high-grade activities, we solve the matter of minutes; however, as we introduce haulage
High-grade High-grade
panel block haulage pillar
H H
H H H H
Solve 1 Weeks
4 8 12
Low-grade
Low-grade haulage pillar
panel block
H L H L L
H H L L H L H
Solve 2 Weeks
4 8 12
Figure 9: In this example of the heuristic solution method, we solve the problem twice at weekly fidelity. Solve 1
shows the solution for a 12-week horizon during which only high-grade panel and pillar activities are considered
for scheduling. The times at which these blocks are extracted constitute the schedule at this point. The solution
resulting from Solve 2 shows that blocks that were scheduled within Solve 1 are now required to remain sched-
uled at the equivalent week when solving this problem, but now low-grade panel blocks and pillars are also
included.
OSullivan and Newman: Scheduling in a Complex Underground Mine
214 Interfaces 44(2), pp. 204221, 2014 INFORMS
pillars, the problems complexity increases quickly has the added benefit of providing continuity in the
until the problem becomes intractable. The key to mines daily managerial operations.
solving the problem in stages is to find the right We transfer our schedule to iGantt by creating an
balance between the number of pillar activities and import file of the data, with rows of activities and
Additional information, including rights and permission policies, is available at https://pubsonline.informs.org/.
the number of other extraction and backfilling activ- columns of activity attributes (e.g., tonnage associated
ities included in each stage of the heuristic. If the with an extraction activity). To this file, we add a
INFORMS holds copyright to this article and distributed this copy as a courtesy to the author(s).
initial solve includes too few pillars, then that solu- start-date column, which we populate with the week
tion contains too much panel mining in the schedule, during which each activity begins according to our
leaving less opportunity to accommodate remaining solution. Importing this information into iGantt as
pillars during the next solve stage. If it includes too a comma-separated-value file is straightforward, but
many pillars, the problem becomes intractable, or, in the resulting schedule that iGantt creates is incor-
the tractable case with fewer panel blocks, the solu- rect because the default functionality of the software
tion contains some pillars that are scheduled far too chooses a start date for each activity that differs from
early, sterilizing dependent panel blocks and prevent- the IP schedules start date. We override these auto-
ing them from entering the schedule during the next mated start dates by using a customized script that
stage of the heuristic. For a given horizon, we use forces iGantt to adopt the IP activity start dates; these
a trial-and-error approach to determine the number are given in terms of a start week, whereas iGantts
of activities and the ratio of pillar-to-panel activities time fidelity is given in milliseconds. We convert the
to include at each stage in the heuristic. The number time at which an activity starts based on the begin-
of stages depends on the length of the horizon, with ning of the week in which it is scheduled in the inte-
longer horizons requiring a more gradual introduc- ger program to milliseconds from the beginning of the
tion of pillars and, thus, more stages. horizon, and use that converted date in iGantt. We do
not specify activity end dates to import into iGantt;
instead, we let iGantt set them based on the activity
Implementation rates. Admittedly, we are not scheduling at the level
Our schedule, as it appears in the output file from the of fidelity that iGantt allows or that manual sched-
CPLEX solver (IBM 2011), is merely a list of sched- ulers at the mine could use with the iGantt software.
uled activities and their corresponding start weeks. However, mine planners can use discretion to shift
In this format, the schedule is difficult for Lisheen to our dates within an allowable window, and a sched-
validate and impractical to implement. Therefore, we ule at the level of milliseconds is impractical. Shifting
integrate our solution with Lisheens iGantt schedul- activities outside of the allowable window (i.e., man-
ing software to present our schedule in a way that is ually moving activities in iGantt forward to begin at
familiar to Lisheens planners. the end-date of the preceding activity) would likely
iGantt provides effective schedule visualization and violate ore production and (or) milling constraints.
reporting features that the planners use each day. Although our schedule may leave gaps in time (e.g.,
The software displays the schedule graphically as a in our model, we record an activity that requires five
Gantt chart (see Figure 5), i.e., a timeline of scheduled days as requiring a week), our schedule provides a
activities and their interdependencies. In addition, conservative estimate of the metal producible within
iGantt can present a three-dimensional block model the given horizon, and may be more realistic under
animation of the schedule, enabling the planner to the unanticipated conditions that necessarily prevail
quickly identify sequencing problems or other infeasi- in an underground mining operation.
bilities. Lisheen management uses iGantts reporting Review and validation are possible once we format
capability extensively, for example, to produce short- our solution into an iGantt schedule. Using the iGantt
term work schedules, to summarize historical backfill visualizer, the planner examines our schedule for fea-
paste usage, or to forecast future resource require- sibility. At this point, our schedule may be infeasi-
ments (e.g., the number of required cable bolting ble from a practical standpoint because of missing
bits). Thus, implementing our schedule using iGantt or invalid sequencing constraints. The complexity of
OSullivan and Newman: Scheduling in a Complex Underground Mine
Interfaces 44(2), pp. 204221, 2014 INFORMS 215
2,000,000
overlooked sequencing constraints in our integer pro-
Metal (tonnes)
gram and continue the process of review and correc-
INFORMS holds copyright to this article and distributed this copy as a courtesy to the author(s).
1,500,000
tion until we obtain a workable schedule.
1,000,000
Results
Solving our IP model for a 104-week horizon, we 500,000
the manual schedule. However, the planner cannot to complete. Consequently, the IP method is use-
be sure if rescheduling alone can rectify the drop in
INFORMS holds copyright to this article and distributed this copy as a courtesy to the author(s).
160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000
Tonnes ore
80,000
60,000
Manual schedule
40,000
IP schedule
Min. production
20,000
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Weeks
Figure 11: In this ore production example, the IP solution has more consistent month-to-month production than
the manually generated schedule. Production in the IP schedule remains above 80,000 tonnes, allowing the mill
to operate continually. By contrast, the manual schedule suffers from low production starting in week 48, which
would result in a temporary mill shutdown and labor problems.
OSullivan and Newman: Scheduling in a Complex Underground Mine
Interfaces 44(2), pp. 204221, 2014 INFORMS 217
25,000
20,000
Additional information, including rights and permission policies, is available at https://pubsonline.informs.org/.
Tonnes metal
15,000
INFORMS holds copyright to this article and distributed this copy as a courtesy to the author(s).
10,000
Long horizon
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Weeks
Figure 12: We compare IP solutions for varying time horizons against the IP solution for the current mine life.
Increasing the mine life by another three months would be a viable option for Lisheen. Similarity in the production
tonnage in each week during the first year is a consequence of the low degrees of freedom in the precedence
rules. Later, when haulage pillars become candidates for extraction, weekly metal production differs more across
scenarios, reflecting the more flexible precedence constraints on these pillars in our model.
decisions. To provide insight, we run scenarios with Specifically, we shortened the horizon to 92 weeks
different horizons (see Figure 12). because it corresponds to the end of a calendar
With our previous results for a 104-week mine life year. Simply taking the base-case solution for the
providing a base case, we solve our integer program first 92 weeks would produce an infeasible sched-
for two mine-life scenarios: (1) an early-closure option ule because it would omit the backfill activities
with a 92-week horizon, and (2) an extended horizon required before closure. The schedule optimized over
of 122 weeks. We compare the results of these scenar- the 92-week horizon precludes these infeasibilities,
ios to our base case on metal production (see Table 2). and moves a small quantity of metal forward in
The early-closure scenario is motivated by the the schedule. However, with this schedule, the total
observation that after the first 20 weeks of the metal produced is 8,070 tonnes lower than the amount
104-week IP schedule, ore production and metal scheduled over the same period in the base-case
output never approach maximum levels again. Con- solution. Shortening the horizon does not increase
sequently, Lisheen management is interested in exam- scheduled metal, thus illustrating Lisheens limited
ining the possibility that, if the base-case schedule production flexibility. With no significant gains using
the early-closure option, we turn our attention to the
has sufficient production or output slack, a solution
extended horizon scenario.
for a shorter horizon might produce a similar or
The 122-week extended mine-life scenario proves to
greater quantity of metal than the base-case scenario.
be a more interesting case. Although scheduled metal
production is 9,109 tonnes less than the production
amount corresponding to the base case at week 104,
Scenario 92 weeks 104 weeks 122 weeks the extended schedule includes 21,993 tonnes more
metal than the base case by the end of its horizon.
Short horizon 2801095 n/a n/a However, two additional periods of low metal pro-
Life-of-mine base case 2881165 3201621 n/a
duction accompany this gain in metal. Although these
Long horizon 2791532 3111511 3421614
production drops are not low enough to stop the mill,
Table 2: The table shows IP mine-life scenarios by comparing metal and implementing the schedule would delay mine
production. closure, the results show that management should
OSullivan and Newman: Scheduling in a Complex Underground Mine
218 Interfaces 44(2), pp. 204221, 2014 INFORMS
X X access block C. Therefore, we cannot mine block C without
yat ya0 u + 1 ya0 u
mining block A and block B first. The second set of sequenc-
uTa0 2 uttam0 tab0 uTa0
ing constraints, (6), ensures that the order of mining in a
0 M B
a Pa 1 a A A 1 t Ta 1 (6) panel be maintained, regardless of whether all predeces-
sors of a block a0 Pa have been extracted. In this example,
Additional information, including rights and permission policies, is available at https://pubsonline.informs.org/.
X
yat 1 ya0 u
blocks A and B do not both need to be mined if we mine
uTa0 2 ut+tam +tab
block C. Assume, without loss of generality, that we mine
INFORMS holds copyright to this article and distributed this copy as a courtesy to the author(s).
a0 Pa 1 a AM AB 1 t Ta 1 (7) only block A. Then, we only impose the constraint that this
yat binary a AM AB 1 t T0 (8) block must be mined before block C. Although all of the
blocks precedences were initially characterized according
We present the IP formulation for the original problem at to constraints (5), relaxing many to follow constraints (6)
monthly fidelity. The decision variables dictate whether we allows for a feasible, yet better, solution. Sequencing con-
begin an activity during a specified period. In theory (i.e., in straints (7) ensure that an activity a cannot occur once a
iGantt), these activities are scheduled at the beginning of the haulage pillar a0 Pa , on which the activity depends, is
period. However, because most activities do not consume extracted.
an integral number of periods to complete, in practice, the We model our integer program using the AMPL pro-
activity can begin at any point during the period in which gramming language, version 20090327 (Fourer et al. 2003)
it is scheduled to start, as long as it is finished in an integer and solve it with the CPLEX solver, version 12.3 (IBM 2011)
number of periods no larger than the ceiling of the activ- on a machine with two dual Intel Xeon X5570 quad core
itys duration. Our variable definition necessarily discretizes processors and 48 GB of RAM.
time, and at a fidelity that is arguably coarser than that at
which the mine would implement the schedule. However, Acknowledgments
we require binary variables to enforce the precedence con- We thank the Lisheen Mine for providing us with this
straints, and the number of these variables is proportional project and supporting the research. In particular, we thank
to the product of the number of activities and the number Tom Bailey and Noeleen Fox for their time and commit-
of periods we consider. A finer time fidelity (approaching ment. We also thank Brian Hall of AMC Consultants for his
a continuum) might more closely approximate the way in comments and advice. Finally, we thank Dr. Tim Kaiser of
which mine operations are conducted, but would render the High Performance Computing Group at the Colorado
the model so intractable that it would produce no results School of Mines for his resources.
quickly enough to be practical. Although not mathemati-
cally portrayed here, we can reduce the number of variables
(from the product of the number of activities and the num- References
ber of periods we consider) by employing early start dates
Carlyle WM, Eaves BC (2001) Underground planning at Stillwater
for each activity, as discussed in the Integer Programming
Mining Company. Interfaces 31(4):5060.
Approach section. Chanda E (1990) An application of integer programming and simu-
We maximize the discounted value of extracted metal lation to production planning for a stratiform ore body. Mining
over the horizon, where we discount consistent with the Sci. Tech. 11(2):165172.
period in which we extract the metal. Note that we effec- Fourer R, Gay DM, Kernighan BW (2003) AMPL: A Modeling
tively assume an arbitrary constant metal price (given in Language for Mathematical Programming (Thompson Learning,
Pacific Grove, CA).
dollars or euros per tonne), which we can omit from the
Hamrin H (1997) Guide to Underground Mining Methods and Applica-
objective without changing the optimal solution. As a result, tions (Atlas Copco, Stockholm).
our objective is given in tonnes, rather than in a monetary IBM (2011) ILOG CPLEX. Accessed December 1, 2012, http://www
unit. Constraints (1) ensure that we never schedule a min- -01.ibm.com/software/commerce/optimization/cplex-optimizer/
ing or backfilling activity more than once. Constraints (2) index.html.
require that the scheduled production in any period is no Klotz E, Newman AM (2013) Practical guidelines for solving diffi-
more than the production capacity and no less than what cult mixed integer linear programs. Surveys Oper. Res. Manage-
ment Sci. 18(12):1832.
the mill requires to operate for that period. Constraints (3) Maptek (2012) Vulcan. Accessed December 1, 2012, http://www
force the model to maintain metal output within the oper- .maptek.com/products/vulcan.
ational limits of the mill. Constraints (4) track the use of Martinez MA, Newman AM (2011) A solution approach for opti-
paste fill in each period and ensure that its use does not mizing long- and short-term production scheduling at LKABs
exceed its availability. Constraints (5)(7) are the sequencing Kiruna mine. Eur. J. Oper. Res. 211(1):184197.
constraints that enforce precedence rules between activities. MineMax (2012) MineMax iGantt. Accessed December 1, 2012,
http://www.minemax.com/downloads/Minemax-iGantt
The first set of sequencing constraints, (5), ensures that -Brochure.pdf.
an activity a cannot begin until all of its predecessor activ- Newman A, Kuchta M (2007) Using aggregation to optimize long-
ities a0 Pa have completed. For example, block A must be term production planning at an underground mine. Eur. J.
mined to access block B, and block B must be mined to Oper. Res. 176(2):12051218.
OSullivan and Newman: Scheduling in a Complex Underground Mine
Interfaces 44(2), pp. 204221, 2014 INFORMS 221
Sarin S, West-Hansen J (2005) The long-term mine production (ii) less change in the production tonnage from one week
scheduling problem. IIE Trans. 37(2):109121. to the next, enabling us to generate more consistent labor
Smith M (1998) Optimizing short-term production schedules in shifts; and (iii) the identification of manually scheduled
surface mining: Integrating mine modeling software with
infeasibilities, e.g., too much high-grade ore scheduled for
AMPL/CPLEX. Internat. J. Surface Mining Reclamation Environ.
Additional information, including rights and permission policies, is available at https://pubsonline.informs.org/.