Multiple Destination Influence on Production Scheduling in Multi-element Mines

In multi-element deposits, different blocks are blended together to create a product with a predetermined quality. Generally, blending aims to obtain a special quality and quantity based on determining the processing plant or customer needs. However, blending causes different products based on the deposit properties. Thus, a block is blended with others to create one of many possible products. The present study aims to develop a mixed integer programming model for the production scheduling of iron ore mines. The model can consider different destinations for mine blocks. Each destination has its own specifications for the main element (Fe) and other existing elements such as sulfur and phosphorous. For this purpose, ten different scenarios were evaluated to investigate the effect of multiple products on production scheduling and Net Present Value (NPV) of the related project. Among the four selected scenarios, the mine was scheduled based on single product while multiple products were considered in scheduling in other scenarios. Based on the results, the maximum NPV in scenarios with multiple products is approximately 15% higher than that of the single product scenarios.