1.3.7 Non-Financial Goals Prober® is only able to optimise for NPV; however non-financial objectives can be incorporated if they can be quantified. This may take the form of constraints on the operation (e.g. on tailings produced, dust disturbance or water consumption). The second approach is to produce scenarios that allow the trade-offs between socio-economic factors and NPV to be examined. Whittle Consulting has partnered with the University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute to integrate Enterprise Optimisation with Sustainable Operations (SUSOP), taking into account Manufactured, Social, Human and Natural Capital.
1.3.8 Uncertainty All data inputs to Prober® have an associated uncertainty. Uncertainty cannot be incorporated into Prober® directly, so risk is typically quantified using a scenario-based approach.
1.4 T ERMINOLOGY Cut-off Grade or Cut-off Value
The material grade or material dollar value that differentiates material sent to one processing path to material sent to another processing path. The cut - off most commonly discussed is the cut-off between ore and waste. However, a cut-off exists for every decision point in the system. A cut-off value expressed as dollars per unit of bottleneck capacity of a system, can provide better material allocation decisions. However, this becomes overly complex in multi-mineral, multi-path processing systems that differently favour or penalise each mineral. An optimisation of an enterprise where the whole system (within control of the enterprise) is modelled. Contrast to an optimisation that only models a sub-system in isolation and ignores the effect upon the rest of the system.
Enterprise Optimisation (EO)
Life of Mine (LOM) The time period that the mine operates.
Ore
Material that is sent to the processing plant or is stockpiled so that it can be sent later to the processing plant. There is not a fixed mineral cut-off grade; instead the cut-off characteristics of ore and waste vary by material type and availability over the LOM.
Period Cost
A fixed cost associated with a certain process, over a specified period of time.
Variable Cost
A cost directly attributable per unit of consumption of a resource used by the system.
ReCYN™ Case Study – Martabe Operations
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