Abstract
Strategic mine planning includes different cut-off grade policy depending on economic parameters of mining projects and grade-tonnage distribution of the deposit. Minimizing incorrect classification of ore and waste during grade-tonnage distribution is of critical importance for a mining operation. This article reviews the influence of the ore grade-tonnage distribution over the cut-off grade policy in a given mining operation. In this study, firstly, the interpolation parameters used to characterize the grade-tonnage distribution in the orebody are given. The resulting distribution of ore and waste is used to analyze uncertainty, risk impact, and to justify mine-planning decisions, according to the interpolation technique used and the number of geological settings and sampling scenarios being considered. Then, the working scheme of the cut-off grade policy and economic parameters are compared according to the resulting estimation from the inverse distance and the nearest neighbor methods.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1409-1418 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Environmental Earth Sciences |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2011 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
Acknowledgments This work was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Project Numbers: 108M176) and also by The Research Institute of Istanbul University (Project Numbers: T-2456/23052008 and UDP-4306/25092009).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Research Institute of Istanbul University | T-2456/23052008, UDP-4306/25092009 |
| Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştirma Kurumu | 108M176 |
Keywords
- Cut-off grade
- Grade-tonnage distribution
- Inverse distance
- Nearest neighbor