The Importance of Mine Planning
Typically involves the development of several different plans, such as production plans, financial plans, and safety plans – it is the process of creating an operational plans
- Mine planning ensures that the mining process is as efficient and safe as possible.
- Mine Planning is an iterative process entailing elements of design, scheduling, and evaluation.
As part of the planning process, a range of issues has to be considered including sustainability, statutory requirements and community expectations, mining method selection and mine layout, scheduling, equipment selection, cost estimation and economic evaluation, pre-feasibility studies, and risk analysis.
What Are The Benefits of Mine Planning?
Mine planning can help improve the overall efficiency of a mine by reducing costs, optimising resources, and improving safety. A mine can better identify potential risks develop strategies to mitigate them and ensure that the mine complies with local laws and regulations. At Australian Mining Product and Services our focus has been and will always be on
- Safety improvement by elimination of hazards
- Measurable outcomes to aid continuous improvement
- Bring improved and new products to increase reliability
- Keep costs well within budgets
- Reduce the risk of personnel injury
- Improve available production time by decreasing the event of unscheduled maintenance
- Helping every planner by freeing up their time and allowing them to focus on planning as opposed to attending to unscheduled stoppages
Different Types of Mine Planning?
The most common types of mine planning are strategic planning, tactical planning, and operational planning.
Strategic planning: Involves setting long-term goals for the mine and developing strategies to achieve them.
Tactical planning: involves developing short-term plans to reach the goals set in the strategic plan.
Operational planning: involves the day-to-day activities of the mine, such as production and safety.
Steps of Mine Planning
- Mine planning typically includes data collection, design and optimisation, scheduling, and implementation.
- Mines must gather information about the site, such as geological data, environmental data, and economic data.
- A mine must create an efficient plan based on the data collected to help continuous improvement, design, and subsequently optimisation
- Scheduling – Mines must assign tasks to personnel and create a timeline for the project.
- Implementing the plan is put into action.
Challenges of Mine Planning
One of the biggest challenges of mine planning is that it requires a lot of data that may not always be available. Additionally, mine planning must take into account a variety of factors, such as safety, environmental impact, and economic feasibility. Finally, mine planning requires a large amount of technical expertise to ensure that the plan is efficient and effective.
Best Practices for Mine Planning
Mine planning includes having a comprehensive plan, involving stakeholders in the process, and regularly reviewing the plan. Additionally, the mine should consider the impact of the plan on the environment and the surrounding community. Finally, the mine should ensure that all safety regulations are followed and that the plan is in compliance with local laws and regulations.
