Computer-assisted mine production planning

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 81, No. 913, 1988

J.W. HENDRY, Quinette Coal Limited, Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia

This paper will discuss the application of tools and the evolution of computer-assisted procedures in the production planning process at Quintette Coal Limited (QCL). In 1986, QCL produced 5.3 Mt of clean coal from their surface mining operation located in northeastern British Columbia. The structural complexity of the sedimentary deposit and high rate of mining necessitate the consideration of large amounts of geological information which continually updates the interpretation. There are multiple unit operations required during the process of mining through a given multi-seam sequence, which results in many interdependent faces, and multiple iterations of scheduling sequences in order to satisfy a given set of objectives. In order to facilitate these activities in a timely fashion, it was recognized that a computer systems' capability needed to be developed which could increase the efficiency of information input, manipulation and output.

Keywords: Quintette Coal Limited, Coal Mining, Mine production, Computer applications, Modelling