Interactive Scheduling Decision Support System for ore extraction at a phosphate mine

Overview & Synopsis

as open-pit mines consist in the accumulation of ore layers of different characteristics, their extraction process results from the iteration of a sequence of elementary operations performed on parcels by specialized or multipurpose machines. Medium-term extraction programming consists in deciding the assignment of the available machines over time. This problem is addressed through Discrete Event Simulation implemented in a phosphate mine, taking into account all the extraction constraints to drive the extraction process. This combines an effectiveness criterion (degree of urgency of obtaining certain ore qualities) and an efficiency criterion (machine displacements). While the parameterization used to control simulation quickly produces many technically feasible scenarios, making the final optimal choice is extremely difficult, particularly as one needs to take into account time considerations in extracted ore progressive provisioning and machine use. Our paper describes the bases of a visual decision-support system (DSS), currently under development, which enables the processing of results to compare multiple scenarios and adjust parameterization in order to come up with a good solution. This web-based DSS is coupled to the simulator via a relational database.