| MineMAX Pty. Ltd. |
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| Bentley, Australia |
| Download (PDF, 100 KB) |
| Industry: |
Mining |
| Solution: |
Planning and scheduling |
| Products: |
ILOG CPLEX |
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- Simplifies scheduling process
- Boosts operating efficiency
- Increases investment return
- Standardizes scheduling approach
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| "ILOG CPLEX is a critical component in our MineMAX Scheduler application. It enables customers to obtain the optimal results for their strategic mine scheduling and have confidence in their mining decisions." |
Jim Butler
Managing Director
MineMAX
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Business
MineMAX specializes in applying optimization technologies to mine-production planning and scheduling. The company develops and supports a number of commercial optimization and scheduling packages. Its international customer base includes Barrick, BHP Billiton, Falconbridge, Inco, Newmont, Placer Dome and Rio Tinto.
Goal
Decisions around selecting dig sites and assigning people and equipment are critical to mining company operations. A multitude of constraints and variables drive planning, including infrastructure, geotechnology and market conditions. MineMAX�s goal was to provide a sophisticated scheduling solution for ore excavation and extraction that delivers optimum efficiency in meeting production goals.
Application
The MineMAX Scheduler application uses ILOG CPLEX to optimize strategic decisions about where and when to dig for the most revenue. The system scales to a company�s size and situation. Mine consulting firms, for example, may run analyses two weeks a month, while larger mining companies may run MineMAX Scheduler daily.
Results
MineMAX Scheduler turns planning decisions from guesswork into science. The application evaluates data gathered from a site and generates an optimized digging schedule. Solutions typically increase ROI by 2-3% -- a significant gain for billion dollar mines. MineMAX Scheduler and ILOG CPLEX also provide the mining industry with a standard scheduling approach, where none existed before.
Technical
ILOG CPLEX incorporates all relevant site data, including the quality, quantity and coordinates of ore samples. It uses this data to determine the optimal mining schedule for a four-month or one-year period. In simplifying the scheduling process, MineMAX Scheduler frees planners to focus on strategic concerns.
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