Webinar: Resource Modeling and strategic planning in K-MINE. Part 2.

K-MINE is a mining software company with almost 30 years of experience in the market. The platform provides a single standalone application that is customizable and adaptable for each company's needs. The application is based on its own patented graphic core, which processes information faster. K-MINE aims to cover most operational needs such as 3D modeling, resource estimation, mine planning, equipment management, and more.

The platform includes 12 modules for open pit and underground mining. Each module can be configured, adjusted, and enhanced for each deposit. K-MINE engineers assist clients at any stage of work - creating 3D models, planning schedules, and estimating resources. Each module works as a standalone tool or in conjunction with others, so different departments can exchange information within one environment without compatibility issues or time-consuming data import and export.

K-MINE also offers custom solutions including end-to-end planning for automating all stages of the production process, an IoT platform with real-time information from devices and personnel, and integrations with third-party systems such as Wenco, MindStar, and APK Modular.

This webinar is a continuation of the previous stream. In Part 1, a block model of a graphite deposit was built, followed by pit optimization to determine the most attractive option. The final pit contour was then broken into pushbacks.

Pushbacks are successive controlled phases of mining operations that are part of the mine development strategy. Each pushback consists of unique, spatially contiguous volumes that can be mined using existing equipment while complying with practical geometric constraints. The purpose of pushbacks is to determine the time and place of excavation of a specific volume of rock mass, ensuring systematic supply to the processing plant and moderate removal of overburden from the pit.

To optimize economic indicators using pushbacks, each new pushback should begin as late as possible and be completed as quickly as possible.

The design parameters required to build the final position of open pit operations include ledge height, angle of inclination of the pit wall, and road parameters. The wireframe of the pushback obtained from the strategic planning stage serves as the reference point.

Edge lines are built along horizons for detailed construction. Depending on the situation, construction proceeds from the bottom horizon upward or top-down. For waste dump design, the required parameters include dump tier dimensions, road specifications, and the preliminary territory for dump placement.

Strategic decisions significantly affect the mine economics. These include the type of transport to be used (which determines road width), whether there will be a communication corridor on the surface of the pit (which determines the distance between the pit and dumps), and the potential for deposit boundary expansion if economics improve.

Decisions about the optimal placement of dams, reloading warehouses, and whether infrastructure is temporary or permanent can also be addressed during the scheduling stage, as the development of mining operations can be tracked and optimal placements determined.

Several well-known empirical formulas exist for estimating the life of a mine, derived from studies of real mining operations. The formula used in this example is based on the experience of approximately 342 pits. Using the deposit resources of 179 million tonnes and a year-round production cycle of 365 days, the calculated life of the open pit is approximately 17.5 years.

Building pushbacks is an important step in creating a mine plan. During detailed design, communication between successive pushbacks must be carefully planned - roads and ramp connections need to provide smooth transitions from one pushback to the next so that transport routes between loading and unloading points are maintained at all stages.

In manual mode, building one pushback can take up to a full day. If a road doesn't connect properly with another, rebuilding everything manually increases construction time significantly. K-MINE's automatic design module was created to minimize this time through interactive construction, allowing users to quickly perform complex designs and verify their correctness.

The first pushback is built using the bottom-up construction method. Guidelines are created as edge lines using standard K-MINE functionality. The resulting contours are prepared by removing narrow areas where mining is not possible and smoothing out the lines.

To start building, the basic closed contour is specified (in this case, at the -30 meter horizon). After pressing the calculate button, edges are rebuilt automatically in accordance with the parameters displayed in the main table. A road is then added automatically from the lower horizon to the upper one in seconds.

During construction, adjustments can be made to the road location, including changing the starting point, completing construction at any exit, changing the width on one or both sides, adding horizontal inserts automatically or at specific locations, and adding U-turns either for the entire road or at a specific point.

For the second pushback, the top-down method is used since the expansion boundaries are clearly defined. The Create Object with Magnetic Snapping command is used to repeat the existing contour along the upper edge, ensuring all areas can be worked out with no narrow sections.

The configuration of the previous pushback is repeated in areas where mining will not be performed, and a road is added with the same parameters in the same location. During construction, the user determines which sections will remain in the pit and which will be worked out. Ramps can be built to connect two roads, and multiple exits can be added.

The same top-down approach is applied for the third and fourth pushbacks. In the third pushback, the northern part is widened and the road is moved to a new location. Parts of the road from the previous pushback that don't fall within the mining area can be retained.

For the final pushback, which reflects the worked-out position of the pit, sections of the road that will remain after working out the last pushback become part of the final contour. Construction proceeds in two directions - the existing section and the deepening of the new section. Previously completed sections can be copied into the project and adapted.

During pit design, roads should be as straight as possible with a minimum number of ramps and turns. Horizontal inserts should be placed only at junctions of several roads or at sharp turns. This configuration allows achieving optimal performance in rock mass removal by dump trucks. The design must be manageable in all areas, and roads should smoothly transition from one pushback to another, maintaining connection to the communication corridor.

Using customizable shortcut combinations and macros maximizes efficiency. During the demonstration, four complete pushback projects including a final pit contour were produced in approximately 20 minutes.

The design results should be compared with the original pit optimization output. The key indicator for assessing pushback design quality is the deviation in volume and mass of rocks. Geometric, volumetric, weight, and quality parameters are compared. The allowable deviation is considered to be minus 5% for the lower part of the pit (often impossible to fully work out due to width constraints) and plus 10% for overburden (since roads and ramps add justified volumes of rock mass excavation).

Waste dump design uses the same automatic design module with bottom-up construction, as dumps are built by stacking tiers. The process begins by setting the bounding edge and construction direction. Access to each tier is provided by setting the width of the berm drive equal to the road width. Horizontal inserts are added on each tier, and multiple roads are built in different directions to provide access to all sections of the dump.

The K-MINE scheduling module supports three approaches. The first is manual scheduling, where the user selects the sequence of blocks and specifies dependencies - suitable when the direction of development is well known and doesn't change. The second is automatic scheduling, which finds solutions based on target parameters using a unique algorithm. The third is a combination of both methods.

To create a mining plan, the pushback boundaries from the pit optimizer and automatic design stages serve as delimiters for planning areas within the block model. An additional field in the block model records which pushback each block belongs to. Block heights can be combined (from 7.5m to 15m in this example) with quality recalculated as weighted averages.

Planning areas can be defined three ways: manually drawing boundaries, loading from a block model field, or grouping visible blocks. The rock mass in each section is presented by horizons. Section parameters include the mining method for pit walls, which can be changed at any planning stage.

For this example, an annual plan is created for 17 years covering the full life of mine. Three excavators are assigned with sequential mining from pushback 1 through 4. Excavator productivity is set at 12,000 tonnes per day regardless of rock type. Activity parameters include complete and partial completion options - when partial completion is reached, the excavator moves to the next section.

Results are presented through visual information about block distribution, data tables, and daily visualization of mining progress. The table editor includes a chart function for plotting data, with customizable axes and display types.

The initial scheduling iteration shows fluctuations in rock mass removal from the pit, caused by overburden volumes during the opening of new pushbacks (pre-stripping). Ideally, these volumes should be aligned with the existing equipment fleet to ensure maximum involvement and operational efficiency.

Setting a rock mass ceiling of 12 million tonnes for the first interval achieves the tonnage target while logically reducing ore output during overburden-heavy periods. When the removal rate goal is applied across the entire plan, the target is achieved but fluctuations in ore-to-overburden balance remain significant. In intervals where ore predominates over overburden, gradual stripping of subsequent pushbacks can help equalize the rock balance.

Planning results can be exported as wireframes and polylines. The block model size affects wireframe accuracy - smaller blocks produce more precise wireframes and polylines. These results serve as inputs for subsequent planning stages, such as developing annual operational plans for two, five, or more years.

There are two categories of constraints for pushback design. Geometrical dependencies include road design, geotechnical gradients, pit wall stability, pushback width (wider pushbacks require more stripping time, while narrow pushbacks limit productivity), smoothness of connections between pushbacks (avoiding 90-degree corners which are unminable and unstable), and continuity (each pushback should start where the previous one ends).

Quality and quantity limitations require providing the necessary amount of ore in the required condition.

Four main stages of pit development are identified. The first is preparation - creating roads and communications between the future pit and processing plant. The second is pre-stripping - opening the ore body. The third is production capacity - the optimal period for the mining company when maximum revenue is generated. The fourth is pit attenuation - finalizing remaining pushbacks and completing pit activities.

During design, typically one or two roads are created per pushback. For more accurate planning, additional temporary roads are introduced to reduce haul distances, which represent a significant portion of operating expenditures. These temporary roads can later be mined out as operations return to the original project design.