In this article, Jaco-Ben Vosloo overviews the major challenges in mine planning decision making. Jaco-Ben demonstrates the use of MineTwin – a tool for simulation and planning of underground and open-pit mines.
Mutual constraints and interdependencies make scheduling in underground mines difficult, making many mathematical optimization methods inefficient. The article discusses an approach to scheduling underground mining operations based on maintaining work-in-progress buffers and iterative adjustment of the plan using a simulation model.