Miners who are researching efficient mining techniques and optimisation of operating costs are attending the In-Pit Crushing and Conveying Conference (IPCC) 2014 conference in Johannesburg this week. Following on from the successful Deswik Africa Open Day last week, where the company unveiled its new branding and product road map, Deswik Regional Manager Marc Johnson today presented practical, innovative techniques for modelling combined IPCC and truck haulage in a single plan.

In 2013, during the IPCC 2013 conference in Cologne, Germany, Deswik announced a partnership with RWE Power International to develop the world’s first commercially available software for planning of Continuous Mass Mining techniques.

The presented Deswik study looked at how operators can close the strategic planning loop for IPCC projects. Initial assumptions are utilised to create an optimised pit shell and mine design completed on this optimised pit shell. A mine schedule and material placement model are developed – which delivers a much better estimate of costs. A revised estimate of costs is then fed back into the optimisation process to generate a new pit shell. The same process has been run for both trucked and IPCC cases to get a comparative answer.

Concluding on the impact on optimisation by use of IPCC, Johnson concluded that the examination of the use of an IPCC system at an early stage of the planning cycle can add significant value to an operation. The demonstrated opportunity to reduce haulage costs through alternative material movement strategies can increase reserves. But there is a requirement for an element of detail in early stage mine planning to ensure that the possible benefits (and associated risks and operability requirements) are captured.