Lexicographic goal programming approach for a short-term mining planning problem.

Abstract

This article addresses a short-term mining planning problem. There are four objectives to be minimized: the deviations in grades and ore proportion in particle size ranges of the plant goals, the deviation in the waste mass to achieve the stripping rate, and the number of truck trips between mining

fronts and discharges. The problem was solved through the lexicograph- ical goal programming (LGP) method, which generates solutions that can

guarantee a more comprehensive analysis of the decision-making process. The LGP method was tested by using several scenarios of a Brazilian mining

company. These scenarios differ in the number of excavators and the toler- ances concerning meeting the plants’ ore grades. In the results, the impact

on the values of the other objectives is analysed of varying the number of excavators and the tolerances in the plants’ grade targets.