This preview demonstrates the Create Centerline function in the K-MINE Open Pit Design module, which auto-generates haul road centerlines across an entire pit project from existing road geometry. The feature is built for mine planners and pit design engineers who currently draft centerlines manually for input into the scheduling module. Full release notes will be published with the next K-MINE version.
Video transcription
This preview walks through automatic haul road centerline generation in the upcoming K-MINE release. The feature replaces manual centerline drafting in the Open Pit Design module and outputs lines that feed directly into haul distance calculations by period inside the Scheduling module.
Building the pit from the optimized shell
The workflow starts with a wireframe and an optimized ultimate pit shell generated by the Optimal Pit Boundaries module. A few clicks extract contours from the wireframe, smooth them, and snap them to the correct bench levels. After the first calculation, the rough parameters of the finished pit are already visible — but a complete picture requires haul roads, since there is no access from the pit floor to surface without them.
Haul road design and switchback handling
The system handles any number of roads with different parameters, configurations, and directions. Switchbacks can be added, road development can be paused where needed, and separate pit zones can be tied together. Connecting roads between zones is one of the key elements of automated design: moving the starting point of a road recalculates the entire route on the fly. Any auto-generated line can still be edited manually, and a user-drawn baseline can be added at any point.
Merging design with topography
Once the design is fully built out, the topographic surface is brought in — either the current state of mining operations or, as in this example, the original ground surface where mining has not yet started. The final wireframe is generated and road centerlines are added. The result is a clean merge of design and reality.
Automatic centerline generation
Centerlines are created with a single click of the Create Centerline button. The system builds them automatically across the entire project. The only manual step that remains is connecting segments at switchbacks or where road development was paused. Lines come out in the correct coordinates and match the display parameters that have been set. On larger projects, generation may take a moment; whenever the road design changes, the centerlines update accordingly.
Flexibility with road configurations
Create Centerline works with any road configuration. Horizontal tangent sections have no effect on the result. When the Berm Entry parameter is changed, the centerline adapts automatically. The output is built for downstream use in mine planning — practical, flexible, and designed for real mining tasks.