Minemax has announced the forthcoming release of a new solution for rapid, high-level project evaluation. The all-new Minemax Planner is described as “a fast, easy-to-use tool that enables businesses to quickly understand the potential value of projects with minimum time investment. It guides mine planners from a block model through pit optimisation, nested shells and pushbacks to NPV optimal schedules, rapidly developing optimal strategies for even the largest of models.” The computing landscape has evolved significantly since the early days of mine planning and Minemax Planner takes advantage of the latest advances in computing hardware and modern pit optimisation algorithms. It uses a high-performance maxflow algorithm which gives the same pit shells as Lerchs-Grossman (LG) but in a fraction of the time.

With a 64-bit architecture, it is able to handle extremely large block models numbering tens of millions of blocks. The user-interface is based on the highly pervasive Microsoft Metro UI and is similar to that of Minemax Scheduler 6, released in 2012. The UI employs step-by-step pre-defined workflows and context-sensitive reports that make it very easy for new users to import models, set parameters, optimise and analyse. Powerful and interactive 3D technology gives a mine planner instant feedback regarding practical mine-ability at each step of the process. The release will take place on February 25, 2014 to coincide with the SME Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City. Minemax staff will be available to answer questions and give demonstrations, while a number of editions will be available to cater to the specific needs of mine planners from standard shell generation and sensitivity analysis to integrated NPV schedule optimisation. Minemax will also offer an academic program for qualifying institutions. A free demo version will also be available on the release day.