A methodology for automatic ramp design in open pit mines

Abstract

The design of ramps in open pit mining is a complex problem that, even though it has a great impact in the value of a project, does not rely on optimization tools as other problems like the computation of nested pits or direct block scheduling.
In this paper, we present a methodology for the design of open pit ramps that aims to assist the design of open pit phases. The methodology is based on mathematical programming and suggest the location and design of a ramp for a reference pushback given as input, then considers constraints like interramp angles, decline and with of the ramp and generates and generates a new puchback with the highest possible value and on a second stage it applies an interpolation algorithm to produce an actual profile of the phase. This work focuses on this second, algorithmic part to show that the interpolation algorithm can generate profiles that are very close to the optimal ones, generated by the mathematical model, and therefore together they provide a viable procedure for automatic pit design in open pit mines.