Data Validation
1. Run Your First Optimization
Once you have your MiningMath set up and imported, it's time to run your first optimization. MiningMath also allows you to build economic functions with conditionals, visually validate your data, and run simpler pit optimizations and your project's Best Case, before you reach the candy part.
Running an optimization for complex projects with several constraints may demand hours only to validate if the formatting has been done properly. Therefore, we present here an efficient workflow to structure your project.
It is important to mention that you can run each topic of this content individually at any time you find suitable, but, we strongly recommend you to take it step by step to understand the main idea of the process
The next pages use the example below within Marvin Deposit and aim to exemplify the following set of constraints:
Processing capacity: 10 Mt per year.
Total movement: 40 Mt per year.
Sum constraint of 4,000 processing hours per year, which is a detailed estimate of the plant throughput.
Vertical rate of advance as 150 m per year.
Copper grade limited until 0.7%.
Minimum Mining (50 m) and Bottom(100 m) width.
Restrict Mining Surface: "Surface-RM-offset-400m.csv", due to a processing plant in the area.
Stockpling using a fixed mining and rehandling cost of 0.9 $/t and 0.2 $/t.
1.1. Validate it First
In order to validate your data and cut its runtime, we strongly recommend running MiningMath Full with a bigger production capacity than the expected reserves. Thus, you will get and analyze results faster. This execution also generates the topography surface so that you can create a force or restrict mining areas.
Example:
The expected life of mine vs production rate: 35-year project producing 10 Mt per year.
Expected reserve: 350 Mt.
Set up a scenario with 1,000 Mt in the processing plants per period without stockpiles and any other constraint.
Timeframe: Years (1), since it would all be processed in 1 period.
Figure 1: Scenario's set up
Questions:
Did the scenario run properly?
Are most of the positive economic values from the process inside this surface?
Is the mining happening in reseanable areas?
Is there a reasonable number of periods of life of mine?
