Eugene Ben-Awuah

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• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Laurentian University

In-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) is considered a suitable alternative to truck haulage in open pit mines because it offers a lower operating cost than a truck-shovel system. It also reduces truck haulage distance and truck requirements. One of the IPCC variations is the semi-mobile system, which is relocated every two to five years. The short-t...

In-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) is considered a suitable alternative to truck haulage in open pit mines because it offers a lower operating cost than a truck-shovel system. It also reduces truck haulage distance and truck requirements. One of the IPCC variations is the semi-mobile system, which is relocated every two to five years. The short-t...

Equipment allocation is an integral part of short-term planning. In the past few decades, In-Pit Crushing and Conveying (IPCC) has gained much momentum to replace trucks partially or fully in large open pit mines because of the increasing fuel and labour cost of the shovel-truck system, low operating cost and less greenhouse gas emissions of convey...

This year, we have prepared a report including 18 papers under three main topics, as; 1) Mathematical programming for mine design and mine planning, 2) Applications of artificial intelligence and simulation in mining optimization, and 3) Implementation of in-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) in open pit mining. We continue to update all the researc...

A fracture network consists of individual fractures within a defined volume. The degree of connectivity observed in a volumetric sample from a discrete fracture network (DFN) is dependent on fracture intensity and sample size. If small enough, most volumetric samples from any DFN will be unfractured and, if relatively large, samples from a DFN will...

In-Pit Crushing and Conveying (IPCC) has gained momentum in recent years to replace trucks partially or fully in large open pit mines because of the shovel-truck system's increasing fuel and labour costs and conveyor systems' low operating costs and less greenhouse gas emissions. This article reviews the most recent literature since 2010 on short-t...

The conventional approach to mine planning is to use a single estimated orebody model as the basis for production scheduling. This approach, however, does not consider grade uncertainties associated with grade estimation. These uncertainties have a significant impact on the net present value (NPV) and can only be accounted for when modelled as part...

Extraction and development sequences must be scheduled strategically in order to maximize the life of mine. The complexities and computational difficulties associated with underground mine planning makes it challenging and open to further research. This paper presents a mathematical programming framework based on mixed-integer linear programming (M...

Open pit mines are getting deeper with time and transportation expenses are increasing because of the increasing haulage distance. In-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) is getting popular in deeper open pit mines as a suitable alternative to truck haulage because it offers a lower operating cost due to shorter haulage distance and less truck require...

This year, we have prepared a report including 16 papers. We continue to update all the research results on the MOL webpage www.ualberta.ca/mol on the members section. Sponsors have access to current and past research results, publications, prototype software, and source code. Let’s review the contributions in the MOL Report Ten (2021/2022) by cons...

Open pit mines are getting deeper with time and transportation expenses are increasing because of the increasing haulage distance. In-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) is getting popular in deeper open pit mines as a suitable alternative because it offers a lower operating cost due to shorter haulage distance and less truck requirement. Semi-mobile...

The primary purpose of oil sands mine planning and waste management is to provide ore from the mine pit to the processing plant while containing the tailings in an efficient manner in-pit. Incorporating waste management in the mine plan is essential to maximize the economic potential of the mineral reserve and minimize waste management costs. Howev...

In oil sands mining, the production schedule must be integrated simultaneously with in-pit and ex-pit dike construction scheduling. Any extra mined ore is stockpiled for a limited duration, and the topmost layer of the overburden is used for land reclamation. An uncertainty-based mathematical programming model is developed based on mixed integer li...

This paper presents a methodology to integrate mineral resource uncertainty from scarce orebody sampling and material mixing uncertainty due to ore flow into the life-of-mine production scheduling of block caving mines. Geological uncertainty is integrated using a Sequential Gaussian Simulation workflow and material mixing uncertainty by simulating...

Geometallurgy combines geological, mining, and metallurgical knowledge to generate spatially based predictive models for mining. These spatial models can be used to control processes and optimize decisions, whilst adhering to project constraints such as environmental conditions and energy efficiency. Advanced modelling of these geometallurgical var...

It is important that the strategic mine plan makes optimum use of available resources and provides continuous quality ore to drive sustainable mining and profitability. This requires the development of a well-integrated strategy of mining options for surface and/or underground mining and their interactions. Understanding the current tools and metho...

In oil sands mining, tailings are voluminous unwanted by-products generated from extracting the desired mineral from the mined ore. Dyke construction and backfilling activities require well-managed techniques to facilitate progressive reclamation at the earliest opportunity. This directly affects the sustainability and profitability of the mining o...

In oil sands mining, bitumen and fines contents are used to predict ore processability. However, experimental results show that certain solid fractions known as Organic Rich Solids (ORS) negatively affect the overall bitumen recovery. A conceptual mine planning framework based on a goal programming model for oil sands production scheduling and wast...

Conventional mine planning approaches use an estimated orebody model as input to generate optimal production schedules. The smoothing effect of some geostatistical estimation methods cause most of the mine plans and production forecasts to be unrealistic and incomplete. With the development of simulation methods, the risks from grade uncertainty in...

The definition of caving economic limits is one of the initial steps in the planning and design of caving projects. This paper proposes a binary optimization framework to integrate the caving envelope and production schedule that maximizes the net present value of the project under technical constraints that model the caving operation mechanics. Th...

The decision to exploit a mineral deposit that can be extracted by open pit and/or underground mining involves consideration of the following options: (a) independent open pit extraction; (b) independent underground extraction; (c) simultaneous open pit and underground (OPUG) extraction; (d) sequential OPUG extraction; and (e) combinations of (c) a...

In achieving maximum benefit in oil sands mining, the time and sequence of removing ore, dyke material and waste from the final pit limit is essential to the long-term production schedule. In-pit waste management strategy requires the simultaneous construction of dykes with the advancement of mining operations. This paper seeks to determine: 1) the...

A review of general optimization studies that have been proposed for underground mining shows that previous works lack flexibility, operability and practicality in relation to cut-and-fill mining production scheduling. This paper presents a robust mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation for underground cut-and-fill mining. The objective...

In oil sands open-pit mining, further processing of the extracted oil sands generates massive volumes of tailings. To save space, the tailings are deposited in in-pit tailings containments constructed by internal dykes using mine waste material. In this paper, an integrated mine planning framework is proposed and implemented using mixed-integer lin...

For oil sands mining, the production schedule must be integrated simultaneously with in-pit and ex-pit dyke construction scheduling. In-pit dykes are constructed in the mined-out areas concurrently with the advancement of the pit phase mining. The mined ore that exceeds the plant capacity is stockpiled for a limited duration and the topmost layer o...

Production scheduling is one of the key steps in the decision-making process of any mining operation. In block caving, it is the choice of the amount of caved rock to extract from drawpoints in different periods. One of the main differences between block caving and other mining methods is the influence of the material flow on production, and draw c...

This year, we have prepared a report including 20 papers. We continue to update all the research results on the MOL webpage www.ualberta.ca/mol on the members section. Sponsors have access to current and past research results, publications, prototype software, and source code. Let’s review the contributions in the MOL Report Nine (2017/2018) by con...

The main goal in open pit mine planning is to find the feasible extraction sequence of blocks that maximize the net present value of the project. In this respect, the conventional approach for open-pit planning starts with modeling the orebody based on the available deterministic information. However, in reality the mining operation is much more co...

Conventional mining practices do not extract all mineralized rocks due to prevailing economics. Improvement in mineral prices and processing recovery (technology) could potentially make mineralized waste rocks profitable. A well-integrated mining strategy that focuses on both economic and physical resource depletion is vital to the management of no...

Cut-off grade is the criterion that separates ore from waste and it determines the amount of ore and waste material in the final pit limit. To generate an optimum production schedule for the mine life, cut-off grade optimisation is used to determine the cut-off grade, duration of mining of the grade and the amount of material mined. This research d...

This year, we have prepared a report including 19 papers. We continue to update all the research results on the MOL webpage www.ualberta.ca/mol on the members section. Sponsors have access to current and past research results, publications, prototype software, and source code. Let’s review the contributions in the MOL Report Eight (2016/2017) by co...

In oil sands mining, due to limitations in lease areas, the pit phase development and the construction of in-pit and ex-pit tailings containment dykes are carried out simultaneously. The primary research objectives are to formulate, implement and verify a theoretical optimisation framework based on Mixed Integer Linear Goal Programming (MILGP) form...

Near-surface deposits that extend to considerable depths are often amenable to both open pit mining and/or underground mining. This paper investigates the strategy of mining options for an orebody using a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) optimization framework. The MILP formulation maximizes the Net Present Value (NPV) of the reserve when ex...

This year, we have prepared a report including 13 papers. We continue to update all the research results on the MOL webpage www.ualberta.ca/mol on the members section. Sponsors have access to current and past research results, publications, prototype software, and source code. Let’s review the contributions in the MOL Report Seven (2015/2016) by co...

This year, we have prepared a report including 14 papers. We continue to update all the research results on the MOL webpage www.ualberta.ca/mol on the members section. Sponsors have access to current and past research results, publications, prototype software, and source code. Mohammad Mahdi Badiozamani defended his PhD thesis in June 2014. Eugene...

Mine planning for oil sands involves the integration of waste management into the long term production planning process. This ensures that while ore is provided for the processing plant, sufficient in-pit tailings containment areas are made available as dedicated disposal areas for backfilling. This enables the creation of a trafficable landscape a...

A strategic mine planning model determines the best order of extraction and destination of material over the mine-life, to maximize the net present value (NPV) of the produced minerals. In oil sands open-pit mining, further processing of the extracted oil sands generates massive volumes of tailings. To save space, the tailings are deposited in in-p...

Ghana Bauxite Company Ltd operates an open cast bauxite mine at Awaso in the western region of Ghana. As part of its mining activities, a 36 000 m3 water storage facility has been constructed to store water for use in the processing plant. The facility consists of a 4 m high embankment built across a valley on a silty sandy gravel foundation. Seepa...

Mine planning for oil sands involves the integration of waste management into the long term production planning process. This ensures that whilst ore is provided for the processing plant, sufficient in-pit tailings containment areas are made available as dedicated disposal areas (DDA) for backfilling. This enables the creation of a trafficable land...

One of the major issues in current oil sands waste management is the lack of a direct link between long-term mine plans and the quantity of the tailings produced downstream. This research is focused on developing a link between the oil sands' long-term mine plans and the final composite tailings (CT) produced downstream. The objective is to assist...

In oil sands mining, providing ore to the processing plant and tailings containment at the right time are the main drivers for profitability and sustainability. This paper introduces a mixed integer linear goal programming (MILGP) mine planning model to: determine the order and time of extraction of ore, dyke material and waste over the mine life t...

In oil sands mining, providing good ore and tailings containment at the right time are the main drivers for profitability and sustainability. Recent environmental and regulatory requirements makes waste management an integral part of mine planning in the oil sands industry (Directive 074). This paper will introduce a Mixed Integer Linear Goal Progr...

In oil sands mining, timely provisions of ore and tailings containment with less environmental footprints are the main drivers of profitability and sustainability. The recent Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board Directive 074 requires oil sands waste disposal planning to be an integral part of mine planning. This requires the development of...

In oil sands mining, providing processable ore and tailings containment at the right time are the main drivers for profitability and sustainability. This paper introduces a Mixed Integer Linear Goal Programming (MILGP) mine planning model to: a) determine the order and time of extraction of ore, dyke material and waste over the mine life that maxim...

Mine planning is the backbone of all mining enterprises and determines the profi tability or otherwise of any mining investment. Providing high quality ore and tailings containment at the right time are the main drivers in oil sands mining. Recent environmental and regulatory requirements also makes waste management an integral part of mine planning...

Strategic mine planning and waste management are an important aspect of surface mining operations. Recent environmental and regulatory requirements make waste management an integral part of mine planning in the oil sands industry. The research problem here is determining the order of extraction of ore, dyke material and waste to be removed from a p...

Historical analysis of mineral resource evaluations has demonstrated the sensitivity of project's profitability to decisions based on long-term mine production planning. In oil sands mining, providing processable ore and tailings containment with less environmental footprints at the right time are the main drivers for profitability and sustainabili...

One of the main obstacles in using mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulations for large-scale open pit production scheduling is the size of the problem. The objective of this work is to develop, implement, and verify deterministic MILP formulations for long-term large-scale open pit production scheduling problems. The objective of the mod...

Mine planning is the backbone of all mining enterprises and determines the profitability or otherwise of any mining investment. Providing high quality ore and tailings containment at the right time are the main drivers in oil sands mining. Recent environmental and regulatory requirements also makes waste management an integral part of mine planning...

Strategic mine planning and waste management is an important aspect of surface mining operations. Recent environmental and regulatory requirements makes waste management an integral part of mine planning in the oil sands industry. In oil sands mining, due to the limitation of lease area, the pit phase advancement is carried out simultaneously with...

Strategic mine planning and waste management is an important aspect of surface mining operations. Recent environmental and regulatory requirements makes waste management an integral part of mine planning in the oil sands industry. In oil sands mining, due to the limitation of lease area, the pit phase advancement is carried out simultaneously with...

Mine planning involves different levels of decision-making depending on the time horizon under consideration. The main goal of this study is to develop a discrete-event simulation model to link long-term predictive mine plans with short-term production schedules in the presence of uncertainty. We have developed, verified and validated a discrete-ev...

Managing mine production in day-to-day operation is one of the most important subjects in the mining industry. Due to the complexities involved, computer simulation techniques are commonly used in operation management in the mining industry. In this paper, the production plan of a multi element ore-body with an alternating crushing schedule has bee...