The research project, conducted in collaboration with Hydro-Québec, aims to create a control interface that links real-time electrical grid simulations to re...

Effective waste rock management is a crucial aspect of long-term planning of industrial mining complexes. When waste management is not considered during the ...

In mining complexes or mineral value chains, materials flow from extraction sites (mines) through crushers, stockpiles, waste dump and tailings, and processi...

An industrial mining complex is an integrated value chain includes the excavation, transportation, processing, and distribution of mineral products as well a...

On February 4, 2025, the 5th edition of GERAD's Student Day took place, under the theme of energy transition. The aim of this event was to give students the ...

Variations between related images (e.g. due to motions) can caused by different independent factors. A qualified representation can decouple the underlying...

Short-term production planning in mining complexes involves a series of decisions concerning activities and processes to accomplish the long-term planning ...

An innovative simultaneous stochastic optimization approach is proposed that combines actor-critic reinforcement learning and stochastic mathematical progr...

The simultaneous stochastic optimization of mining complexes (SSOMC) is a large-scale stochastic combinatorial optimization problem that simultaneously manag...

This paper aims to identify the sources of value created in the strategic plan of a mining complex when the adaptive simultaneous stochastic optimization of ...

Stope design optimization defines mineable three-dimensional material volumes to be extracted from a mineral deposit, aiming to maximize cashflows subject ...

The geometallurgical models that predicting the throughput/comminution performance of the a processing plant often rely on rock hardness models, which are ba...

A new linear model is presented herein to optimize strategic production scheduling of an open pit mine with multiple processing streams while accounting for...

Geostatistically simulated representations of mineral deposits are used for resource/reserve assessments, mine design and production planning, project evalua...

Industrial mining complexes can be optimized using simultaneous stochastic optimization (SSO), which manages the risks associated with meeting production tar...

This paper presents a new truck dispatching policy approach that is adaptive given different mining complex configurations in order to deliver supply materia...

A training-image free, high-order sequential simulation method is proposed herein, which is based on the efficient inference of high-order spatial statistics...

This article presents a novel stochastic optimization model that simultaneously optimizes the short-term extraction sequence, shovel relocation, scheduling o...

An innovative strategic mine planning approach is applied to a multi-mine and multi-process gold mining complex that simultaneously considers feasible capita...

Mineral value chains or mining complexes involve mining, processing, stockpiling, waste management, and transportation activities. An integrated stochastic...

With sufficient layers, enough training data, enough time, and often a custom tailored architecture, modern deep learning methods can be extremely successf...

A new mathematical model for stochastic short-term optimization of mining complexes is presented that simultaneously optimizes the short-term extraction sequ...

This paper presents the application of adaptive simultaneous stochastic optimization with a representative branching framework to generate the strategic pl...

The open-pit mine production scheduling problem aims to optimize the net present value of a mining asset. Several solution methods have been proposed to find...

Multiple-point simulations have been introduced over the past decade to overcome the limitations of second-order stochastic simulations in dealing with geolo...

A new non-stationary, high-order sequential simulation method is presented herein, aiming to accommodate complex curvilinear patterns and high-order spatia...

Over the last decade, geological uncertainty, its effects on long-term mine planning and methods for related risk management have been studied. However, th...

A mining complex can include multiple mines, stockpiles, waste dumps and processing facilities. Traditional optimization approaches are often based on sequ...

High-order sequential simulation methods have been developped as an alternative to existing frameworks to facilitate the modelling of spatial complexity of...

Mining complexes are value chains where extracted material from different mines is transformed into sellable products through a set of processing streams. ...

New digital technologies including the development of advanced sensors and monitoring devices have enabled a mining complex to acquire new information abou...

A hyper-heuristic refers to a search method or a learning mechanism for selecting or generating heuristics to solve computational search problems. Operat...

A new solution approach is developed herein to address the topic of multi-product open-pit mine production scheduling with multi-element uncertainty. The m...

In the last 20 years, there has been increasing interest in using advanced simulation and optimization techniques to develop and manage mineral resources a...

The current trend of deeper and lower-grade deposits makes open pit mining less profitable. Mass mining alternatives have to be developed if mining at a si...

For over a decade, stochastic optimization has emerged as a framework that is capable of generating a life-of-mine production schedule that increases ne...

Twin Creeks is a gold mining complex part of Newmont's Nevada Operations. The mining complex is comprised of two open pits, Mega and Vista, external ore sour...

A mining complex is a mineral value chain that consists of multiple activities, starting from material extraction to a set of sellable products delivered t...

Short-term production scheduling in open pit mining consists of defining the extraction sequence and process allocation of mineralized material over time-sca...

Relatively recent techniques for categorical simulations are based on multi-point statistical approaches where a training image is used to derive complex spa...

As more and more data about mining complex operations is collected and stored, it becomes increasingly important for computer systems to help human operators...

The mining value chain comprises many inter-related components, from mines to transportation, to customers. When the individual components are optimized sep...

This study presents a production scheduling optimization method for a mining complex, which provides a flexible long-term plan for future investments and ope...

Management and storage of waste and tailings are critical concerns in open pit mining, especially when the available space is limited but also to reduce the ...

Long-term open pit mine scheduling is generally assessed with a mixed integer programming (MIP) formulation which can be solved with different operations res...

This paper analyzes the effects of geological heterogeneity representation in a producing reservoir, when different stochastic simulation methods are used, s...

For pattern-based simulation methods such as SIMPAT, filtersim, wavesim, ect, patterns are stored by scanning a training image with a sliding template. Dimen...

The traditional mine planning framework employs a flawed approach in the design of ultimate pit limits and phases. Conventional methods arbitrarily confine ...

This paper presents three hyper-heuristic approaches for the stochastic open-pit mine production scheduling problem with one processing stream (SMPS) and one...

Complex polymetallic mining projects with multiple processing streams tend to require tight blending constraints, with different operational and processing t...

With the advent of inexpensive sensors and digital storage, increasing amounts of data about a mining complex can be collected. This can include camera imagi...

Every mining operation faces a decision on additional drilling at some point during its lifetime. The two questions that always arise with this decision are ...

Recent developments in the global rare earth elements (REE) sector have caused a surge in motivation for nations outside of China to secure their own REE sup...

A decomposition method is developed to optimize a mineral value chain composed of a one or multiple mines and a material flow circuit. In the proposed decomp...

As open pit mining of a mineral deposit deepens, the cost of extraction may increase up to a threshold where transitioning to mining through underground meth...

High-order sequential simulation techniques for complex and non-Gaussian spatially distributed variables were developed over the last few years. This paper p...

Mineral value chains consist of material from multiple sources, several processing streams, and transportation systems that combine to generate various salea...

Over the past several years, there has been substantial progress in developing new stochastic mine planning optimization models and computationally efficient...

This paper presents a new high-order, non-stationary sequential simulation approach, aiming to deal with the typically complex, curvilinear structures and hi...

A stochastic integer-programming (SIP) model is presented to optimize long-term scheduling of underground mine operations while considering geological uncert...

The optimization of mine complexes and related value chains is a challenging problem due to the simultaneous presence of a highly-dimensional decision space,...

This paper addresses the optimization of mineral supply chain operations under metal and material type uncertainties. A mathematical model to simultaneously ...

This paper presents a mixed integer programming formulation dealing with the effective minimisation of risk incurred when optimizing mining production rates ...

Traditional geostatistical simulation methods assume that the first two order statistics are sufficient to model mineral deposits. However, these methods are...

Modeling and assessing spatial uncertainty of mineral deposits is critical for capital investments in mining projects. However, traditional approaches for mo...

A long-term production schedule for the LabMag iron ore deposit in northern Québec, Canada is derived using stochastic integer programming. The optimization ...

Short-term mine production scheduling optimization is developed as a single formulation where mining considerations, production constraints, uncertainty in t...

This paper presents a new mathematical formulation to address mine production scheduling with multiple processing streams, under mineral supply uncertainty, ...

A two-stage stochastic mixed integer non-linear program is formulated for a mining complex to optimize strategic and tactical plans. The objective is to find...

Geostatistical simulation techniques are used to quantify uncertainty of spatial attributes of interest describing mineral deposits, petroleum reservoirs, hy...

A method that optimizes mining complexes that are comprised of multiple processing destinations, open pits and underground operations is presented. Mining, b...

Previous research related to the optimization of mining operations has predominantly focused on generating a life-of-mine production schedule that maximizes ...

A computational framework has been developed that extends stochastic strategic mine planning algorithms, improving the representation of ore selection decisi...

Global asset optimization aims to simultaneously optimize mine production schedules, destination policies and the various processing streams in order to maxi...

This paper addresses the optimization of long-term mine production schedules, building upon a previous stochastic integer programming (SIP) formulation based...

Traditional short-term production planning is carried out in two separate sequential optimizations, typically based on mixed integer programming formulations...

Mining operations are highly affected by risk, commodity price and geology being acknowledged as the most relevant risk factors. Considering these uncertaint...

The optimization of open-pit mine production scheduling (OPMPS) is an intricate process due to its size and uncertainty of key input parameters. Over the las...

This paper presents a distributed and dynamic programming framework to the mining rate target tracking of multiple mines under financial uncertainty. A singl...

This paper presents a metaheuristic solution to the optimization of open pit long-term production scheduling with a stockpile and geological uncertainty. The...

The use of spatial high-order statistics has been previously proposed as an alternative to introduce richer information about complex spatial patterns in the...

The production scheduling of an open pit mine determines the optimal extraction sequencing that significantly impacts a mine's life as well as net present va...

Mining complexes contain multiple sequential activities that are strongly interrelated. Extracting the material from different sources may be seen as the fir...

Scheduling production in open-pit mines is characterized by uncertainty about the metal content of the orebody (the reserve) and leads to a complex large-sca...

Subsurface flow and solute transport simulations are performed using different scenarios of permeability fields generated from the sequential Gaussian simula...

The classical maximum closure problem is of particular importance to the mining industry because it is the underlying formulation related to mine design and ...

This paper attempts to incorporate equipment selection/allocation into the optimization of open pit mine production scheduling. Equipment selection has been ...

The characterization of the spatial continuity of categorical variables, such as geological units, is a longstanding subject in geostatistics. Indicator cova...

This paper proposes a stochastic integer programming (SIP) formulation to address the optimization of long-term mine production schedules, whereby the supply...

The spatial continuity of lithology and ore grade is one of the key factor for proper mine planning. Traditional geostatistical methods are used for spatial ...

In the era of big data, data sets have been growing very large, and interest for algorithms and computation framework that handle such large scales is increa...

This paper proposes a heuristic approach based on network flow techniques to schedule the production in open-pit mines, while accounting for metal uncertaint...

Traditionally, mining engineers plan an open pit mine considering pre-stablished conditions of operation of the plant(s) derived from a previous plant optimi...

Cutoff grade specifies the available supply of metallic ore from an open pit mine for the multiple processing and refining streams of the corresponding minin...

Mining operations can be modelled as a supply chain from the sources of raw material (mines) through various processing streams to the final saleable product...

Preferential sampling of high grade zones is a common practice in the drilling campaigns of ore deposits. This may lead to a bias in the statistics derived f...