Automatically produce optimized stope designs to maximize the value of recovered ore for a variety of underground mining methods.
Built around the Alford Mining System’s (AMS) Mineable shape optimizer, GEOVIA Stope Optimizer can be used to produce stope-shapes and stope inventories from a block model in Surpac that spatially represents the location of the mineralization.
The Stope Optimizer automatically produces optimized stope designs to maximize the values of recovered ore within the given ore-body geometry and design constraints. It is capable of generating stope designs for a variety of underground mining methods.
Users can access GEOVIA Stope Optimizer function in multiple ways in Surpac
• In the Navigator, double-click a valid *.xml file, or drag and drop a valid .xml file in Graphics.
• In the Navigator, right-click a valid *.xml file and choose Edit from the shortcut menu.
Also, you can edit a *.xml file by right-clicking a *.xml file in the navigator and choose Edit from the shortcut menu
Figure 1: GEOVIA Surpac Block Model showing complex ore body for UG stope Optimization
It allows you to build quick multiple scenarios to analyse and compare, generating graphical results and output reports.
Figure 2: Stope optimization Tool in Surpac
GEOVIA Stope Optimizer requires a block model containing either grade, value or density attributes, along with an optional but recommended stope control surface. The control surface is used to guide the orientation and shape of the stopes, default dip and strike can be used if surface or model controls are absent. It also has the option to include inclusion or exclusion zones, sub-shapes, over break controls, post-processing (smooth, split & merge options), variable cut-offs and head grade.
Figure 3: Optimized underground stopes in Surpac using trend surfaces
GEOVIA STOPE OPTIMIZER automatically generates the highest value stope solids that maximise recovered resource above cut-off grade or value, across a wide range of mining method geometries and orebody types. Splitting, smoothing and merging options are available to fine-tune desired stope shapes. GEOVIA STOPE OPTIMIZER allows defining numerous properties for the stopes including practical mining parameters such as minimum and maximum mining width, anticipated wall dilution, Pillar sizes, cut-off grade, cost and revenue, mining limits, minimum wall angles and many other factors.
STOPE SHAPE OPTIMIZATION IN BULK or SSOB function can be utilised to create multiple stope shape optimizer XML project files and run them simultaneously in the latest version.
The function can be accessed from the following menus
- Design > Stope shape optimizer > Stope shape optimization in bulk
- Block model > Block model > Stope shape optimization in bulk
- Type SSOB in the command window
Figure 4: Example of Stope shape optimizer in bulk
Latest Surpac can run multiple stope shape optimizer XML project files simultaneously using STOPE OPTIMIZER MULTIPLE or SSOM function.
The function can be accessed from the following menus
- Design > Stope shape optimizer > Stope shape optimizer multiple
- Block model > Block model > Stope shape optimizer multiple
- Type SSOM in the command window
GEOVIA STOPE OPTIMIZER is fully integrated within user-friendly GEOVIA SURPAC and the stopes generated can be directly imported into GEOVIA MineSched for underground scheduling. This provides a total end to end solution for long term strategic underground scheduling.
Figure 5: Optimized stopes imported into MineSched for production scheduling
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Shoaib Zia
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