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Product
Gemcom Whittle 4.4

Table of Contents
Introduction

Prerequisites

Projects folder

Processing time

Simultaneous Optimisation Theory

Net present value and discounting

How simultaneous optimisation works

Bulk blend

Running the existing bulk blend scenario

Creating and running a simultaneous optimisation node

Examining the schedule results

11

Creating a mining sequence file

12

Extractive blend

13

Running simultaneous optimisation for an extractive blend scenario

13

Viewing the sequence and grades in the 3D viewer

14

Operational scenario

16

Examining a comparative node

16

Setting up simultaneous optimisation for an operational scenario

17

Examining how the NPV result is calculated

19

Examining the average grade input to MILL

21

Introduction

Prerequisites

Introduction
In this tutorial, you will add a simultaneous optimisation (SIMO) node, and schedule report graph node, to
an operational scenario node, a bulk blend node and an extractive bulk blend node. You will compare the
net present value (NPV) generated by simultaneous optimisation with the NPV generated from the parent
nodes.

Prerequisites
l

You must have a basic understanding of Whittle concepts. If you are new to Whittle, complete
one of the two introductory tutorials before trying this simultaneousoOptimisation tutorial.
Ideally you will have completed an introductory Whittle training course so that you understand the concepts and procedure of pit optimisation and how to determine optimum pushbacks.

Projects folder
For this tutorial you will use the bulkBlend, marvin and marvinBlend data sets that are installed with
Whittle. These data sets are in the default locations as in the table below, unless you selected a different
folder when you installed Whittle.
Operating System
Windows 7 or
Windows Vista
Windows XP

Projects Folder
C:\Users\Public\Gemcom\Whittle\4.4\projects
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Gemcom\Whittle\4.4\projects

Processing time
Because of the amount of processing required for simultaneous optimisation, it can take several hours to
run. In this tutorial, you will change some optimisation settings to speed up the processing so that the
example data will run in approximately 20 minutes or less. Consequently the NPV returned is reduced
compared to the NPV you can achieve with standard optimisation settings. SIMO will run faster on
machines with a faster CPU and more available RAM.

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Simultaneous Optimisation Theory

Net present value and discounting

Simultaneous Optimisation Theory

Net present value and discounting
A dollar that you receive today is more valuable to you than a dollar that you expect to receive next year.
This concept is referred to as the time value of money.
When estimating the value of a project, it is common to reduce expected future cash flows by a certain
percentage per year, to allow for the time value of money and other factors like risk. This process is called
discounting.
The sum of all expected discounted cash flows is called the net present value (NPV).

How simultaneous optimisation works

Simultaneous optimisation (SIMO) is designed to maximise the net present value (NPV) of your mine.
Before running SIMO you must determine:
l
l

the final pit shell

the intermediate pit shells to mine to that is the pushbacks.

You can use the existing Whittle features, such as the Lerchs Grossman pit optimisatiohn, the Milawa
algorithm and the NPV practical pushbacks node to determine the final pit and the pushbacks.
SIMO concurrently optimises:
l
l
l
l

schedule
cut-off
stockpiles
blend.

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Bulk blend

Running the existing bulk blend scenario

Bulk blend
Running the existing bulk blend scenario
1. Start Whittle.
2. Open bulkBlend1.fxp.
3. Run all the nodes in the project.
You will compare the NPV that the simultaneous optimisation (SIMO) node returns with the NPV
that you know you can already obtain with this data. Specifically you will use the bulk blend
node b) Single blend with blend bins + stockpile as the comparative node.
4. Under b) Single blend with blend bins + stockpile, select Lead 4:phases 3 4 5 6.
5. Select the Summary tab.

This node returns an NPV of approximately $987.6 M.

Creating and running a simultaneous optimisation node

You can create a SIMO node underneath the following types of node:
l
l
l

bulk blend scenario

extractive blend scenario
operational scenario.

Before creating the SIMO node under a bulk blend scenario node you should complete pit optimisation and
determine the optimum pushbacks. This has already been done on the Lead 4:phases 3 4 5 6 node, and for
this tutorial, you can use the same settings.
1. On the Lead 4:phases 3 4 5 6 node, Schedule tab notice that pitshells 3, 4,5 and 6 have been
chosen as pushbacks.
2. Right-click on b) Single blend with blend bins + stockpile, and choose Add > Simultaneous
Optimisation.
Blend bins, blend constraints and limits have already been defined on the parent bulk blend
scenario node. These are inherited by the SIMO node and, to compare like with like do not
change them on the SIMO node.
3. On the Optimisation tab, enter a Period Horizon of 15.
At this time you do not know how long the mining operation should optimally run, so for now
you should enter a high number of periods, based on the mine life from a comparative, nonSIMO node. After you have run SIMO once, the Report tab will show you the number of periods
that have mining activity according to the SIMO schedule. For optimum performance on reruns,

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Bulk blend

Creating and running a simultaneous optimisation node

you will want the last period to have had no activity at all (to show that everything was done that
could be done, but that you dont have too many empty periods which takes extra processing
time).
4. On the Optimisation tab, select Advanced optimisation controls.
The standard settings for simultaneous optimisation will return close to the highest possible
NPV. These settings can take several hours to run. For this tutorial however, we will try to make
it run faster and possibly accept a small reduction in NPV.
5. Set the Minimum Start Points to 5 and the Number of Best Solutions to 5, and click OK.
Note: More information on Advanced Optimisation Controls is available in the Whittle help.

To provide an additional performance boost, you can allocate more of your computers available
memory to Whittle. This will prevent other programs from using the memory when Whittle is
running. So at the end of this tutorial you will change the memory allowance back to its original
setting. Ensure you allocate a reasonable amount of memory to Whittle, depending on your
individual machine and the current physical memory available. It is best to leave around 300Mb
free for other programs.
6. On the Whittle main menu, choose File > Preferences.

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Bulk blend

Creating and running a simultaneous optimisation node

7. On the General tab, drag the Memory slider from 512 to a setting that is approximately 300Mb
below the current available physical memory, and click OK.
In the following example Memory is set to approximately 550.

8. Click Accept and click the Save icon on the toolbar.

9. Restart Whittle for these settings to take effect.
10. Click the Blend Bins tab.
For this project, the blend bins are copied automatically from the parent node. Examine the
bins. You can see that blend bins have been created for the L1,L2 and L3 rock types (because
these are the only rock types included in the product blend) and that the Ash % is used to define
the different bins, because this is the most significant element in the blending process for this
project.
11. Click the Blend tab.
You can specify blend constraints on this tab. For this tutorial there is no need to change the
blend settings they are the same as those specified on the comparative node. However, you
will need to add the stockpiles into the blend.
12. At the Stockpiles field, click Edit.
The Sources dialog displays.
13. Click All andOK to add all stockpiles.

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Bulk blend

Creating and running a simultaneous optimisation node

14. On the Schedule tab enter the same details as used on the Lead 4:phases 3 4 5 6 node. That is,
use the largest pit as the final pit and add pushback for pits 3, 4, 5, and 6.

15. Click Accept in the lower right.

16. Run the simultaneous optimisation node.
When SIMO is processing the status bar shows you the number of the solution that SIMO is
processing and the NPV of the best solution processed so far.
For more information about solutions see the Whittle help.

When processing is complete, a green check mark appears beside the SIMO node.

17. Select the Report tab and scroll near the end to the list of grand totals.

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Bulk blend

Creating and running a simultaneous optimisation node

Below Grand.Total.DiscountedCashflow, you can see the total run time that is, the amount of
time the SIMO node took to run.

This SIMO node in the sample bulk blend data, on one computer, took 13 minutes to run. In
some situations SIMO can take much longer to process, and if there is the potential to increase
the NPV of a mine by millions of dollars this is time well spent. If you leave the system processing
overnight, the total run time will let you know how long the process actually took to run.
Higher up on the Report tab, the report shows you the periods in which there was mining
activity. For example, period 15 had no mining activity.

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Bulk blend

Examining the schedule results

If you scroll up, you see more periods where there was no mining activity.
Which was the last period that does have mining activity?
Tip: If you are going to run this SIMO node again, on the Optimisation tab in the Period
Horizon box you can enter one more than the number of the last period with mining activity to
make SIMO run slightly faster.

Examining the schedule results

To examine the results of the SIMO schedule add a schedule report graph node.
1. Right-click the New Simultaneous Optimisation node and choose Add > Schedule Report.
2. Click the Definition tab.
The Definition tab lists a default set of variables that you can display using the Graph tab. You
can use the Add button to display the Data Selector to add a different variable, but there is no
need to do so at this point in time in this tutorial.
3. Run to the Schedule Report Graph.
4. Click the Output tab.
This reports the values per period for each of the variables on the Definition tab.

Page 11 of 24

Bulk blend

Creating a mining sequence file

Tip: To output this quickly to a spreadsheet, click the Open in Spreadsheet button
the toolbar.

on

5. Click the Summary tab.

This displays a formatted summary of the output.

In this case the SIMO NPV is $1041 M with compares with $978 M on the lead 4 node.

Creating a mining sequence file

By adding a schedule report graph node you create a long term schedule that you can export as a mining
sequence (.msq) file for use in a detailed scheduling program.
1. Right-click the Schedule Report graph node and choose Other > Bulk Export.
2. Select the checkbox for an msq file and click Run.
3. When you see the prompt that the export has completed successfully, click OK.
The .msq file is created in your project folder.

Page 12 of 24

Extractive blend

Running simultaneous optimisation for an extractive blend scenario

Extractive blend
To run simultaneous optimisation (SIMO) on an extractive blend scenario, the procedure is exactly the same
as for a bulk blend scenario and exactly the same procedure as for a standard operational scenario.

Running simultaneous optimisation for an extractive blend scenario

1. Open marvinBlend1.fxp.
2. Run all nodes.
3. Under the Add Stockpiles node, which is an extractive blend scenario node, select the Maintain
soluble copper < 25% + stockpile node and select the Summary tab.

This node returns an NPV of $384M.

4. Add a simultaneous optimisation node under Add Stockpiles.
5. Set it to have the following settings:
l In the Optimisation tab;
l Period horizon: 13
l
Advanced Optimisation Settings, Minimum Start points: 5,Maximum Start Points: 10,Number of Best Solutions: 5 (to make it run
faster at the possible expense of NPV).
l In the Blend tab; add stockpiles to the blend.
l In the Schedule tab;
l Final Pit: 35
l Pushbacks: 1, 6, 14, 19, 28, 31, 35

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Extractive blend

Viewing the sequence and grades in the 3D viewer

In theBlend Bins tab; set use the available bins that have been copied from the parent node.
6. Click Accept to save the changes.
Before you run this node, be aware that it may take approximately 11 minutes.
l

7. Add a Schedule Report graph node.

8. Run to the Schedule Report graph node.
The node returns an NPV of $452M compared to the $384M of the Maintain soluble copper <
25% + stockpile node.

Much of this additional value comes from mining higher grade material in the early periods. You will examine
this in more detail when you add a SIMO node under an operational scenario node.

Viewing the sequence and grades in the 3D viewer

1. Select the Schedule Report Graph node beneath the SIMO node.
2. Click
on the toolbar to start the Three-D Viewer.
The Select data to display form displays.

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Extractive blend

Viewing the sequence and grades in the 3D viewer

3. To see which areas will be mined in each period, select Show Period and change the period numberto cycle through the periods.
4. Select an element in the drop-down box under Show Data and fill in the form as shown in the following image.
You can use the Three-D Viewer to see when the higher grade blocks are mined.
Note: Click Invert if you want to give the background a white background. This is useful when
you want to paste a image of the Three-D Viewer into a document and produce a better image
when it is printed.

Page 15 of 24

Operational scenario

Examining a comparative node

Operational scenario
You can use a simultaneous optimisation (SIMO) node beneath an operational scenario node. First you will
examine the net present value (NPV) you can achieve using only three stockpiles, one for each rock type:
OX, MX and PM. Then this tutorial will show how you can improve NPV using simultaneous optimisation.

Examining a comparative node

Suppose you have completed pit optimisation and decided that the best pushbacks to use are 11 12 14 16
20 25 and 31.
1. Open marvin1.fxp.
2. Run all nodes.
3. Under the Buffer stockpile example node, examine the P/B 11 12 14 16 20 25 31 Lead 4 node,
Schedule tab and Summary tab.

The NPV returned using a Fixed Lead 4 algorithm is approximately $440M.

Page 16 of 24

Operational scenario

Setting up simultaneous optimisation for an operational scenario

Before you try simultaneous optimisation, you might wonder whether you can achieve a higher
NPV just by using a different algorithm. The Milawa algorithm typically returns a result with a
high NPV, so try that.
4. Run the P/B 11 12 14 16 20 25 31 Milawa node.

The Milawa algorithm returns $445M.

Setting up simultaneous optimisation for an operational scenario

Again, because you do not know how many years of mining activity there will be, you will set the period
value to 15 years, which is the mine life in the comparative nodes.
In the following procedure, the nodes you do not need have been deleted to make it easier to see the data
of interest.
1. Add a SIMO node beneath the Buffer Stockpile Example node.

2. Set Period Horizon to 15.

Page 17 of 24

Operational scenario

Setting up simultaneous optimisation for an operational scenario

3. Set the following advanced optimisation settings: Minimum Start Points: 5, Maximum Start
Points: 5, Number of Best Solutions: 5 (to make it run faster at the possible expense of NPV).
4. Generate a suitable number of blend bins.
a. On the Blend Bins tab, select Use equiv. metal grade, and click Generate.
b. Set the number of blends bins for each element to 10.

With 10 blend bins for each element you get a good balance between speed of
processing and NPV returned for the Marvin data set.
In a final optimisation, you could see whether a larger number of blend bins returns
a higher NPV.
c. Click OK.
5. On the Schedule tab, set the Final Pit to 31 (the same pit number as used in the comparative
pushbacks node).
6. Add pushbacks 11 12 14 16 20 25 and 31.
7. On the Description tab, change the description of the node to SIMO 11 12 14 16 20 25 31 so you
can easily see which pushbacks it uses.
8. Add a Schedule Report Graph node beneath the SIMO node.
9. Click Accept.
Again, before you run this node be aware that it might take approximately 15 minutes to run.
10. Run all nodes.
The Schedule Report graph node reports an NPV of $473M, as compared to $440M from the
Lead 4 comparative node and $445M from the Milawa comparative node.

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Operational scenario

Examining how the NPV result is calculated

Examining how the NPV result is calculated

You can validate and examine the results that simultaneous optimisation returns using the Definition tab of
the Schedule Report graph node, and the Data Selector. For example, here is how you can find out which
components make up the final NPV amount.
1. On the Schedule Report graph node, select the Definition tab.
Some variables are already listed on this tab. You can leave them there if you wish.
2. Click Add and use the Data Selector to add the following variables:
l User Specified > Open Pit > Capital > Initial capital expenditure
l Calculated > Open Pit > Output > Discounted revenue and cash flow > Discounted revenue from MILL
l Calculated > Open Pit > Output > Discounted costs > Discounted selling cost of
product from MILL
l Calculated > Open Pit > Material Mined > Discounted costs > Discounted cost of
mining all rock
l Calculated > Open Pit > Material processed > Discounted costs > Discounted
cost of processing for MILL
Alternatively, you could add variables based on element, such as Discounted Revenue from Au
and Discounted Revenue from Cu, but, because there is only one processing method (MILL) and
two elements, the set of 4 variables listed above is easier to work with.

Page 19 of 24

Operational scenario

Examining how the NPV result is calculated

3. Run the node.

4. Select the Output tab.
5. Click Open in Speadsheet
on the toolbar to send the output data to Microsoft Excel.
6. If you want to remove the columns you are not using, delete columns B to I from the spreadsheet.
7. Use Autosum in Excel to calculate the total for each column.
8. In the spreadsheet, calculate the total cost and subtract it from the revenue.

Page 20 of 24

Operational scenario

Examining the average grade input to MILL

Look back at the NPV that SIMO reported in Whittle, which is also approximately $474M.
There is a slight variation due to rounding, which is determined by the currency settings on the
Formats tab of the block model node.

Examining the average grade input to MILL

One of the reasons that simultaneous optimisation can deliver a higher NPV than other solutions is that it
allows the economic cut-off to change in each period rather than to have the same cut-off for all periods.
With this flexibility,SIMO schedules more of the higher grade material to be mined early in the mine life.
You can see this effect by comparing the grades input to the MILL.
1. Add a Schedule Report graph node below Buffer stockpile example.
2. On the Schedule tab, specify the same final pit and pushback details that you have used in the
other nodes.

Page 21 of 24

Operational scenario

Examining the average grade input to MILL

3. In Specified Case Scheduling Algorithm select Milawa NPV and click Accept.
4. Run the node.
5. Select the Output tab, and click Open in Spreadsheet
on the toolbar.
You are doing this to get the grade information into a spreadsheet. The other columns are of no
interest for this exercise.
6. Now select the Simultaneous Optimisation > Schedule Report graph node, and output the Output tab to a spreadsheet similarly.
7. Now copy the Grade input to MILL columns from one spreadsheet to another to compare the
grades.

Page 22 of 24

Operational scenario

Examining the average grade input to MILL

8. If you want to see this in the chart, use the charting tools in Excel to make a line chart that shows
both sets of grades.

Page 23 of 24

Operational scenario

Examining the average grade input to MILL

This shows that higher grades of gold and copper are processed through the mill in the first 10
periods when you use the SIMO solution rather than the Buffer Stockpile > New Schedule
Graph solution.

Page 24 of 24