Primary crusher site selection in open pit mines: Case study in Sungun copper mine

Facility site selection, (such as Primary or in pit Crusher location) is one of the most important steps in mine design process that has a significant impact on economy of the mining operation. This study covers an attempt to find the optimal location for primary crusher in order to support the expansion of Sungun copper mine, which is the second largest open pit mine in Iran. Recent exploration drilling has led to a considerable increase in the ore reserve. Therefore, Sungun started the studies followed with an expansion plan with the goal to increase the capacity from 14 to 28 Mt/Year within the next 8 years. In this paper, 14 effective parameters for finding the best location for a new crusher in five possible options were considered. The options were evaluated based on weighted linear combination method. The results show that the location in South East part of the open pit is the best option for locating of the new crusher. Finally, based on the economic parameters and copper price forecasts, pit optimization and sensitive analysis are applied. Results show that in the worst case, just 0.17 % of ore reserve is affected by the selected area and the minable reserve can cover 78 years of operation.

Selection of Most Proper Blasting Pattern in Mines Using Linear Assignment Method: Sungun Copper Mine / Wybór Najodpowiedniejszego Schematu Prowadzenia Prac Strzałowych W Kopalni Miedzi Sungun Z Użyciem Metody Przyporządkowania Liniowego

One of the most important operations in mining is blasting. Improper design of blasting pattern will cause technical and safety problems. Considering impact of results of blasting on next steps of mining, correct pattern selection needs a great cautiousness. In selecting of blasting pattern, technical, economical and safety aspects should be considered. Thus, most appropriate pattern selection can be defined as a Multi Attribute Decision Making (MADM) problem. Linear assignment method is one of the very applicable methods in decision making problems. In this paper, this method was used for the first time to evaluate blasting patterns in mine. In this ranking, safety and technical parameters have been considered to evaluate blasting patterns. Finally, blasting pattern with burden of 3.5 m, spacing of 4.5 m, stemming of 3.8 m and hole length of 12.1 m has been presented as the most suitable pattern obtained from linear assignment model for Sungun Copper Mine.