Bottleneck identification and analysis for an underground blast cycle operation

Abstract

Increasing demand for raw materials and base metals together with severe environmental regulations influence mining operations to be more economic, competitive, and sustainable. Since mining involve numerous operations which difficulty ranges from simple to very complex, each of them need proper design, performance and optimization. Mining operations including activities within blasting cycle affects productivity the most, and thereby their planning and performance is the most important from production point of view. Since blasting cycle operations include many complex activities where many inner and outer factors have an influence on operating efficiency, it is crucial to thoroughly investigate the system every time new problems arise or when looking for improvements.

According to Theory of Constraints every production system has at least one bottleneck. Blast cycle operations may be treated as a system regarding production. Therefore, there is/are constraint(s) which should be solved and bottleneck(s) should be debottlenecked. It is in demand to properly identify constraints within the blasting cycle operations and subsequently take measures to improve them for enhanced production results. Due to system complexity and presence of many factors and variables it is efficient to use some techniques that will facilitate analysis. Discrete event simulation approach makes it possible to analyze underground mining operations and identify critical points where improvements could be made.

In these thesis computer simulation approach, together with concepts derived from theory of constraints were used to identify bottleneck and perform its analysis. Many simulations were conducted to search for improvements and indicate those with the highest potential for development and increase of production.