Comparison between the application of the conventional mine planning and of the direct block scheduling on an open pit mine Project

Abstract Historically, since the 60's, traditional mine planning consists of several distinct stages: 1) Definition of the ultimate pit - the portion of the blocks that results in the greatest total value; 2) Pushback selection - based on the generation of nested pits, obtained with the change in the value of the ore price; 3) Long-term production scheduling. Although considered quite satisfactory, this methodology presents some flaws: The stages, even if considered individually optimal, may not be when put together. The opportunity cost is not considered and the cut-off is fixed. Due to the r...