Stope Optimisation Tools for Selection of Optimum Cut-Off

Grade in Underground Mine Design

C Alford1 and B Hall2

ABSTRACT encountered in underground design. There is a recognised need

In feasibility studies the choice of optimum cut-off grade is typically
for improved software tools to support the planning, design and
based on an evaluation of tonnage grade curves and manual design of operation of underground mines that would greatly enhance the
stopes at one or two cut-off grades. In the industry these stope designs are process and efficiency of operations in relation to long-term
usually based on break-even cut-off grades, but there is little consensus planning and design. The AMIRA P884 research project
on what cost and price assumptions ought to be included. Planning and Rapid Integrated Mine Optimisation (PRIMO)
A new tool for automated stope design has been developed that (Alford and Dunn, 2007) seeks to bring together a number of
generates sets of stope shapes for a nominated range of cut-off grades, or strategy optimisation techniques used by several research and
depending on the nature of the mineralisation, cut-off values based on net consulting groups to begin to develop similar integrated planning
smelter return calculations in the block model. processes for underground operations, to facilitate the rapid
The stope design procedure includes constraints in stope and pillar development of both the required data and the optimisation
geometry for the selected mining method and can be used to evaluate processes. Given the ore mineralisation, the goal is to identify the
sublevel interval and sensitivities to other design parameters in the
specific geological and geotechnical environment. optimum combination of cut-off grades, mining methods, access
points, production scheduling and development designs, so that
These nested stopes are analogous to nested pits in open cut design,
and can be used as a key input in the hill of value methodology for the the maximum value is generated from a mine over its lifetime.
evaluation of the optimum cut-off grade in underground design. The Whereas for open pits the optimum cut-off policy will in
results of many consulting studies indicate that a break-even cut-off grade essence depend upon the mining and treatment plans, for an
will not be the optimum cut-off grade. underground mine the cut-off is a key determinant of the
A particular benefit of the new stope design tool is that the design rules optimum mining plan. Specifying a cut-off defines the size,
used to establish stope shapes in the feasibility study can then be used in shape and nature of the orebody to be mined, which in turn
mine production, in an optimal and repeatable method. defines the range of potential mining methods, and all of these
This methodology is being advanced in the AMIRA P884 PRIMO together serve to specify such things as sublevel intervals,
project, which is a new research collaboration coordinated by AMIRA
International. The project has brought together active research groups in
equipment types and sizes and hence potential production rate
Australia and Canada, with the goal of developing a flexible framework limits from various parts of the mine. If mining method,
and set of software tools for optimisation in underground mine design. production rate and other aspects of the mining and treatment
plans have been specified, it is relatively easy to calculate a
break-even grade, which could be, and on many mines is, used
INTRODUCTION
as a cut-off. However, numerous studies (Hall and deVries,
In open pit mining, the processes required to optimise the 2003; Hall and Stewart, 2004; Hall, 2007) have shown that the
strategic mine plan are reasonably well defined and a number of optimum cut-off is often significantly higher than the break-even
software tools are available to assist in doing this. In particular, grade, as shown in Figure 1, where the point identified as the
optimisation of the ultimate pit limits can be determined using typical state of current operation is at a break-even cut-off.
commercial software applying the Lerchs-Grossmann algorithm
and tools to facilitate the derivation of a realistic mining plan
with multiple staged cut-backs to approach the theoretical but
unrealistic optimum are available. For any specified mining plan
(ie pit limits, mining sequences and maximum mining rates) and
treatment plan (ie maximum throughput rates for both ore and
product) and the associated cost structures, the optimum cut-off
can be specified using well known algorithms (eg Lane, 1988).
Having identified the optimum cut-off policy for any particular
mining and treatment plan, it is notionally a simple process to
evaluate alternative mining and treatment plans, derive the
optimum cut-off policy for each, determine the resulting value
obtained, and hence select the optimum plan. In reality of course
the process is not necessarily trivial and powerful evaluation
techniques using sophisticated optimisation software may be
required. (King, 2004; Whittle, 2004; Smith, 2007).
However in the case of underground mines, no such
optimisation tools are currently available. This is partly due to
the variability in design problems encountered in underground FIG 1 - A typical simple hill of value.
mines and partly due to the complexity of optimisation problems
For most underground operations the optimum cut-off can only
1. MAusIMM, Director, Alford Mining Systems, 1171 Burke Road, be determined by specifying a number of cut-offs and evaluating
Kew Vic 3101. Email: chris.alford@c031.aone.net.au the mining plans applicable to the stoping envelope thus
generated, and selecting the best.
2. MAusIMM, Principal Mining Engineer, AMC Consultants Pty Ltd,
12/179 North Quay, Brisbane Qld 4000. This paper describes firstly two key aspects of the beginning of
Email: bhall@amcconsultants.com.au an underground strategy optimisation study:

Project Evaluation Conference Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 22 April 2009 137

C ALFORD and B HALL
1. the specification of the measure to be used as the grade,
and
2. the importance of having a specified and repeatable set of
design rules to generate a consistent set of potential
as-mined stoping envelopes over a range of cut-offs.
It then describes a new process that has been developed which
meets these repeatability and consistency criteria for rapidly
generating a family of nested stopes representing the alternative
mining envelopes to be used as the key inputs in subsequent
strategy optimisation evaluations.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GRADE
DESCRIPTOR
The resource model is the starting point for any strategy
evaluation. A key parameter is the grade, which identifies higher
and lower value areas in the deposit and via the cut-off grade is
used to specify what is classed as ore and waste. There is an
implicit assumption that the stated grade is correlated with value
higher grade blocks have higher value than lower grade blocks.
In a single-metal deposit, the metal grade often fulfils this
assumption, but not always. If treatment rates of different rock
types vary, lower grade but faster milling material may actually
be more valuable than higher grade but slower milling material.
Hall (2007) describes the rationale behind the derivation of useful
and accurate grade descriptors for various types of deposit. Some
of this earlier material is summarised here as background for this
paper and complemented by additional topics.
Depending on the grade-recovery relationship that exists at the
operation, the recovery of a blend of materials may be different
from the average recovery of the tonnage-weighted recoveries of
the components of the blend if they were treated separately. The
true value of a parcel of mineralised material will then depend on
what it is blended with and it may never be possible to define the
true value of any block of rock in isolation. Nevertheless, we
assume for this discussion, as is implicit in typical planning
processes, that stated grade values rank blocks accurately, even if
they are not true. It may also be necessary to use blending
constraints if a particular blend has a serious adverse effect on
recovery in subsequent strategy optimisation evaluations.
Polymetallic grade descriptors in homogeneous
deposits
In a polymetallic deposit, a single value is needed as the grade
descriptor. These are often calculated by applying a factor to
each metal grade and summing to obtain a dollar value or metal
equivalent grade. With a perfect grade descriptor, the ranking of
blocks by the grade descriptor is the same as their true ranking
by value. An imperfect grade descriptor will show a scatter of
points above and below the trend-line of a value versus grade
plot the grade descriptor does not rank all blocks correctly by
value. The effect of this incorrect ranking is, at any specified
cut-off, to exclude material that should be in the reserve and/or to
include material that should be waste. Together these effects
degrade the reserve, as shown in Figure 2. These errors are in
addition to any estimation errors in the block grades, and
application of inappropriate grade multipliers can negate the
work done by resource geologists to minimise estimation errors.
Dollar values
Three types of dollar-value grade descriptors are typically
encountered:
1. In situ dollar values, which account only for the predicted
metal prices and estimated grades.
138 Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 22 April 2009
FIG 2 - Misclassification of ore and waste using an inappropriate
grade descriptor.
2. Recoverable values, which as well as in situ dollar values
also account for different metallurgical recoveries for
different products.
3. Payable values such as net smelter return (NSR) values,
which as well as recoverable values also account for
different proportions of the metal price received for
different metals after deduction of treatment and refining
charges and transport costs, and may include the cost of
penalty elements. Care should, however, be exercised in
accounting for penalty elements in a grade descriptor value.
Penalties typically become payable once the grade of the
penalty element in the product exceeds a specified
threshold value. If the average penalty element grade
resulting from the blended ore feed is below the threshold,
then it is potentially misleading to penalise an individual
ore block grade with the penalty. There is no simple
solution to this issue, and it is beyond the scope of this
paper to consider it further.
For payable values, a common process to derive multipliers is
to start with the average head grade and work back from the NSR
obtained with those grades to determine the contributions from
each metal, using accounting-type distributions of common
costs. However, this can lead to inappropriate cost allocations
which impact on the multipliers and hence relative weightings
for the various metals in the calculated grade. A more accurate
process is to apply the full NSR calculation process to all blocks
in the block model, applying complex formulas in the geological
modelling software. Many mines do this, but the complexity of
metallurgical processes in some cases can make this impractical.
A useful compromise in the latter case is to perform a multiple
linear regression of calculated NSR values for a sample set of
block grades (using the operations metallurgical and financial
models) against the grades from which they are derived. The
grade multipliers thus obtained are statistically the best that can
be derived and will typically reduce the misclassification of ore
and waste when compared with using multipliers derived by the
more usual accounting-style methodology, particularly if the
sample grades are restricted to a range around the likely cut-off.
Metal equivalents
Metal equivalent may be a better grade descriptor than dollar
value. Metal equivalent grade multipliers are found by dividing
dollar value multipliers by the multiplier of the major metal.
Metal equivalent tends to give a more stable grade value than
dollar value, and may not need to be updated each time metal
price forecasts change unless there are significant changes in the
ratios of payable values of each metal. Where dollar values are
all calculated NSR values, a combination of the two dollar value
calculation methodologies described above may be required to
convert dollar values to metal equivalents.
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 STOPE OPTIMISATION TOOLS FOR SELECTION OF OPTIMUM CUT-OFF GRADE IN UNDERGROND MINE DESIGN
Dangers of dollar value grades
When dollar values are used, there is often an assumption that
various unit cost measures can be used directly as cut-offs. There
are several potential problems with this:
Firstly, using an actual unit cost implies the use of a break-
even cut-off, and there is no guarantee that this is the best cut-off
to use. Secondly, the dollar value derived is not necessarily the
true value, as noted above, and using unit costs as cut-offs may
therefore not achieve the intended results, especially if a
break-even is in fact desired.
Finally, dollar value grade descriptors are also typically
recalculated each time a new official set of forecast prices is
adopted and the existing cut-offs are applied to the new dollar
values. If the cut-offs are break-evens, this is not unreasonable,
but the potential problems in the preceding paragraph will still
apply. However, if the cut-off has been optimised, this process
can change the effective cut-off and result in the applied cut-off
becoming suboptimal. Consider for example a general price rise
of 20 per cent. The break-even grade will change in inverse
proportion and will therefore fall by 16.7 per cent. Applying a
20 per cent increase in value to the blocks in the block model and
continuing to apply the same dollar value cut-off is exactly the
same as applying a 16.7 per cent lower cut-off to the unadjusted
block values and therefore represents a break-even approach to
cut-off specification. As noted above, this process is therefore
satisfactory if break-even grades are used as cut-offs.
However, in many cases, the optimum cut-off (specified as say
a metal grade) will change by significantly less than the
break-even, often of the order of five per cent to seven per cent
for a 20 per cent price change (Hall and Stewart, 2004). The
optimum cut-off may even increase as metal prices increase. This
has been observed and is supported by anecdotal evidence of the
authors clients during the significant rises in prices in recent
years. Both of these effects are explained by the impact of
opportunity cost, as described by Lane (1988). In a case study
reported by Hall and Stewart (2004), the optimum cut-off at an
underground gold operation fell from 4.55 g/t to 4.25 g/t, a
change of only 6.6 per cent, for a 20 per cent price increase.
If dollar values rather than metal grades are used as the grade
descriptor, the typical industry practice to update the block
model dollar value grades with the new metal price information,
and apply the same dollar value cut-off as before will result in
a reduction in the cut-off to below optimum. If the dollar values
of the resource blocks are increased by 20 per cent, then the
dollar value of the cut-off must also be increased by 20 per cent
to convert it to the optimum cut-off for the old prices but
expressed in new prices dollar value terms. The cut-off must then
be reduced by the five per cent to seven per cent change noted
above for the effect of new prices on the optimum cut-off. The
net effect of increasing the dollar values in the block model for a
20 per cent price increase is that the optimum cut-off, in new
dollar value terms, must increase by some 12 per cent to 15 per
cent, and not stay the same. In the case study noted above, the
payable gold prices before and after the projected increase were
equivalent to $15 and $18 per gram respectively. If these were
applied to the gold grades to obtain dollar value grades, the
4.55 g/t optimum cut-off before the price rise would be
equivalent to $68.25/tonne, and the 4.25 g/t optimum after the
price rise would be equivalent to $76.50/tonne, an increase
numerically of 12.1 per cent.
Ideally a new optimisation evaluation would be conducted to
identify the new optimum cut-off. If this is not feasible,
identifying the relative changes in optimum cut-off with the old
dollar values in the block model and the evaluation study data
and then applying the new prices would permit a simple
mathematical adjustment to the optimum cut-off as described in
this paragraph. This approach would be a significant improvement
on doing nothing and leaving the numerical value of the cut-off
as before but with new values in the block model.
Project Evaluation Conference Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 22 April 2009
Grade descriptors in non-homogeneous deposits
Grades, however defined, are generally expressed as a per tonne
measure. This implicitly assumes that every tonne is the same in
all aspects other than grade. Often this is not the case. The recent
importance being attached to advancing the understanding of
geometallurgy and recording geometallurgical information in
geological block models is evidence of increasing understanding
of this (see for example Dunham and Vann, 2007). More
generally, the aim of the operation should be to maximise the
value processed through the production bottleneck. The grade
descriptor should therefore be a parameter correlated with value
(metal grade, dollar value or metal equivalent) per unit of the
production constraint. Selecting the highest value material by
this grade descriptor will maximise the value generated.
Net revenue per mill hour has been used by the authors as the
grade for a base and precious metals deposit in several rock types
having different hardnesses and milling rates and also different
mineralogies, metallurgical recoveries and product qualities.
King (1999) has identified such grade descriptors as cash flow
grades. In a refractory gold deposit, the production constraint
may be the roaster sulfur throughput. Combining the sulfur
burning rate limit and the gold/sulfur ratio to produce a gold
grams per roaster hour grade may be a useful grade descriptor in
such cases.
Grade descriptors concluding comments
As bottlenecks in the operation change over time, the grade
descriptor used may also need to change. Multiple descriptors
may be necessary to adequately handle multiple stages of
processing with different constraining parameters in each stage.
Analyses can be performed to identify how well various
parameters represent the true value. More importantly they
indicate the extent to which the reserve will be degraded by
exclusion of higher and inclusion of lower value material
resulting from incorrect ranking using inappropriate grade
descriptors, as illustrated in Figure 2.
Resource geologists work to reduce grade estimation errors.
Applying simplistic inappropriate grade descriptors can negate
these efforts and increase ore/waste classification errors. At best
there may be a relatively small degradation of the ore reserve. At
worst, there may be a misapprehension of the spatial distribution
of value, resulting in value-destroying mining methods and
sequences.
CONSISTENCY OF DESIGN RULES
Having identified the grade descriptor to use, it is then necessary
to specify a consistent set of design rules to be applied when
identifying what is to be mined. This is important for two aspects
of the work:
1. to ensure that the reserves estimated at each cut-off used in
the strategy optimisation evaluations are consistent with
each other, so that the results are not distorted by
irregularities in the data used; and
2. to ensure that detailed operational designs that may be
produced some time later and with updated geological
information honour the strategic decisions of the
optimisation study.
Consider a hypothetical, and intentionally exaggerated, example
of a cylindrical zone of mineralisation, with grades reducing with
distance from the centre. A plan view is shown in Figure 3, with
several grade contours shown. Suppose that, for various technical
reasons, a square stope must be mined, and an optimisation study
has identified the square stope shown as the optimum design.
What is the cut-off that describes this optimum stope?
Clearly one cannot simply specify a cut-off number without
also describing the design rules that apply. For example, the
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C ALFORD and B HALL
FIG 3 - Combining cut-off and design rule specifications.
cut-off could be 2 g/t, with the design ensuring that no material
below cut-off is extracted. Conversely, the cut-off could be 6 g/t,
with the design ensuring that all material above cut-off is
extracted, plus such subcut-off material as may be needed to
create the required stope shape. Also, any cut-off between 2 g/t
and 6 g/t could be stated, with the design rule specifying
a particular relationship between the above-cut-off material
excluded from and subcut-off material included in the designed
stope. If the cut-off were specified simply as 2 g/t and the design
engineer, in the absence of any design specifications, elected to
apply the take all above-cut-off material rule, the stope
resulting would be significantly larger and lower grade than the
identified optimum. Conversely, if the cut-off were specified
simply as 6 g/t and the design engineer, in the absence of any
design specifications, elected to apply the take no subcut-off
material rule, the stope resulting would be significantly smaller
and higher grade than the identified optimum.
The example illustrates the application of criteria for applying
the cut-off by what might be termed a boundary rule the
cut-off is essentially used to define the boundary of the stope
volume. It is not uncommon for designers to also apply what
might be termed a volume rule, where the stope volume
initially defined by applying a specified boundary rule is then
included or excluded from the reserve to be mined based on
whether or not the grade of the volume is greater than a specified
cut-off (which is often the same numerically as that specified for
the boundary, though it need not be). The volume grade may also
be specified as being before or after the inclusion of dilution.
Other rules could include an upper limit on the proportion of
subcut-off material in any resulting stope volume.
Design rules can therefore become quite complex, and no one
rule will be universally right for all deposits. In reality, the
seriousness of any potential error resulting from inconsistent
design rule application will depend on the shape of the
mineralisation, which may vary significantly at different cut-offs
and the constraints applied to the physical stope designs, which
may also vary with cut-off. It is however clear that, to minimise
errors, there must be consistency of design processes between
different cut-offs at the strategy optimisation evaluation stage,
and between the optimisation study and subsequent detailed
designs.
AUTOMATING THE DESIGN PROCESS
For feasibility studies and other strategic planning tasks, the
design of stopes for a large orebody can typically take weeks or
even months to evaluate one or two cut-offs and can be subject to
the biases and experience of the engineer. An evaluation of
tonnage-grade curves can be a first approximation, but the model
140 Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 22 April 2009
block size will not generally approximate the stope size and will
thereby introduce a bias. Some tools that provide a better
approximation are available in the industry. The Mineable
Reserves Optimiser (MRO), based on the Floating Stope
algorithm developed by Alford (1995) is one such tool. The
output is however an envelope, not a set of stope shapes, and can
provide a poor approximation for narrow dipping deposits, or
where waste pillar constraints must be considered. Techniques
developed in a research prototype at the University of Melbourne
(Alford, Brazil and Lee, 2007) have provided the basis for an
automated approach to the stope design task. The goals of this
research were to:
automate the design of final stope shapes, including the size,
shape and location;
respect the design criteria for different mining or stoping
methods;
provide a repeatable and optimal solution;
respect geological boundaries, geotechnical constraints, and
design parameters; and
model dilution.
In a typical underground design many decisions have to be
made:
suitable stoping or mining methods;
maximum excavation opening dimensions across and along
the deposit, usually assessed by application of hydraulic
radius;
sublevel interval;
location of extraction horizons; and
waste pillar widths.
A tool to automate the evaluation of these decisions would be
of considerable value to evaluate the benefits of a design and the
opportunity cost associated with higher risk options.
STOPE OPTIMISATION
The approach taken in a manual design provides the inspiration
for optimisation in stope design. An engineer will typically
design outlines on adjacent sections, of four to six points, to
define the end sections of the stopes and link these with a
wireframe shape to create a 3D solid. After evaluating the grade
or value of the stope, further adjustments to the position of the
stope outline will be made to improve the return, or the shape of
the stope. There are a number of limitations to this approach.
Most importantly the outline is based on a view of the block
model on a single vertical plane, without reference to the block
model contents between sections. In a deposit with multiple
lenses, the included waste and the waste pillar requirements can
make this a very tedious task. The result generated will in most
cases not be optimal. Often the engineer will have grade contours
from the block model displayed on the screen, and will be
making a judgement not dissimilar to that that posed in the
hypothetical cylindrical deposit example above.
The approach taken in the new automated design incorporates
three stages. The first samples the mineralisation on a regular
grid to identify the economic zone; the second stage uses a
technique called stope shape annealing to adjust the shape to a
local maximum and the third takes into account the relative
location of stope shapes to generate stoping blocks, or groups of
stopes, leaving aside stope shapes that are not accessible, or of a
mineable dimension. These stages will be described in more
detail in a later section.
A key issue is to define optimality for stope design, and this
links to the need outlined previously to have a technique that has
consistent design criteria. Taking the simple example of a one-
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 STOPE OPTIMISATION TOOLS FOR SELECTION OF OPTIMUM CUT-OFF GRADE IN UNDERGROND MINE DESIGN
dimensional search in Figures 4 and 5, where two higher grade
zones are available across strike and the material above cut-off is
shaded. In the absence of stope and pillar width constraints, two
intervals A and B define economic ore are shown in Figure 4. If
minimum stope and pillar widths are applied, then two intervals
are mined, C and D in Figure 5, with a wider pillar and some
wall waste to make up the minimum stope width for interval D.
Maximising the area of the shaded region can be formulated as a
mathematical optimisation problem with an optimal solution. In
choosing such a break-even cut-off encompassing mining and
processing costs, it is assumed that mining of stopes in an area
will cover the development and access costs. The costs cannot be
defined without a knowledge of the dimension of the stoping
envelope at that cut-off. Planners will focus on the head grade
required to cover all costs.
FIG 4 - Stope and pillar width for a selected cut-off grade with no
width constraints.
FIG 5 - Optimal location of stope and pillar limits with minimum
dimension for stope and pillar applied.
STOPE OPTIMISATION INPUTS
The inputs to stope optimisation include the following:
block model with value or grade fields;
sublevel and section spacing on an orthogonal or rotated
grid;
minimum and maximum stope width;
minimum pillar width;
wall dilution;
proportion of subcut-off material to be mined;
Project Evaluation Conference Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 22 April 2009
cut-off grade or value;
minimum and maximum wall angles;
block model discretisation interval for evaluation in the
annealing stage;
dimensions for partial stope shapes, typically half height
and/or half the strike length of the full stope dimension and
development cross-section dimensions to identify areas
where development in ore is possible between stopes; and
identification of mined or sterilised areas in the block model.
In the early stages of project evaluation, it is common to only
have a cut-off grade for evaluation. In this case the stope
optimisation produces a metal maximisation subject to the
minimum cut-off grade. If block model value estimates and a
cut-off value are supplied then a value maximisation can be
produced.
THE OPTIMISATION PROCESS
Earlier attempts at stope optimisation, extending the work on the
floating stope, approached the problem of modelling final stope
shapes by enumerating all possible shapes within a minimum and
maximum stope size, and finding the set of non-overlapping
stope shapes that maximised the recovered value. This approach
works well for large-scale SLOS mining, but in most deposits
stope design must honour complex geological boundaries and
mineralisation trends, and a more flexible approach is required.
Shape parameterisation
The manual design approach indicates that at a minimum a
feasible stope shape is a wireframe generated from two four-
point outlines. These outlines are fully defined by a centre point
and width on a roof and floor string on two sections. Minimum
pillar width is defined by the minimum distance between the
ends of roof and floor strings for two adjacent stopes on the
same level and section. An example of the geometry is shown
in Figure 6. In some cases five or six point outlines might be
required where drill patterns and stope draw permits. In long
section the definition of mineable zones can be defined by
discretising the problem into a regular grid of levels and sections
FIG 6 - Stope shape parameterisation on adjacent sections with
pillar separating two adjacent stopes on two sections and a single
stope on the final section.
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C ALFORD and B HALL
with the location of stope positions defined on the grid for any
level or section combination. The section spacing might be the
full stope strike length, or some subinterval that models one or
more rings. A better geological model of the dip and strike of the
mineralisation can be achieved with rotated block models. Stope
designs are also improved if stope sections are rotated to be
orthogonal to the mining envelope.
Stope seed
For every combination of level and section, it is possible to slice
the model across strike (using a local strike and dip measure for
the orientation of the slices) and optimise the approximate
position of stopes and pillars as outlined previously. This
wireframe shape output from the aggregation of slices forming a
stope creates a seed solution for the next stage.
Stope shape annealing
Stope shape annealing is a mathematical global optimisation
procedure to take the approximate stope shape and using the
shape parameterisation formulation, refine the final stope shape
to more closely model the geology controls and mineralisation.
Global optimisation techniques are sophisticated hill-climbing
algorithms, with the stope design criteria defining barriers in the
search procedure. Many different techniques are available, and it
has been found that the best solutions are found with rapid
annealing on a high-quality stope seed.
Aggregation for stoping blocks
The granularity of the output of the stope optimisation will
depend on the geometry of the deposit, the stoping method and
the inputs used. In some cases, the outputs will be stope shapes
that satisfy the level spacing and strike length of individual
stopes. At the other extreme the outputs may be equivalent to
blast rings. In addition, partial stopes may be generated for half
height stopes to maximise ore recovery. The shapes generated by
stope shape annealing will identify all material that might be part
of a mineable reserve. However, not all shapes will satisfy
equipment and access criteria. Another optimisation procedure is
applied to define groups of stope shapes that taken together do
satisfy these criteria. Stope shape adjacency relationships are
established. Where stopes are mined over multiple levels, eg
SLOS stopes with an identified extraction level, the optimisation
can determine the best set of stope heights and extraction levels.
Benefits
The approach outlined in this optimisation process provides the
basis for an optimal, consistent and repeatable design procedure
at a strategic and detailed stope design stage that includes the key
constraints for stope design. Because the method is 3D and
optimal, it is only limited by the quality of the input block
model. Engagement with geologists at an early stage will ensure
that block model subcelling and grade and waste modelling are
appropriate for later stope design.
RESERVE PARAMETERISATION
In open pit optimisation several approaches to reserve
parameterisation have been developed. Francois-Bongarcon
(1994) advanced the proposal that:
any technically feasible project can be character-
ised by the triplet (Q,V,T), where T is the tonnage
of recoverable mineralisation to be processed,
Q is the corresponding recoverable quantity of
metal and V is the total tonnage to be extracted.
Whilst these quantities can translate to a cut-off grade search
space, the approach of Whittle where nested pits are derived
142 Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 22 April 2009
using the basic Lerchs-Grossman algorithm firstly for metal cost
of mining (price/waste mining cost), and later price shells has
become the industry standard. The pit shells at increasing price
become the basis for pit stages and pushback design, but there is
debate in the industry about whether a better approach is to
derive the shells from a schedule that sequences blocks for NPV
maximisation.
In the case of underground design, the stope optimisation can
be run at a sequence of cut-off grades to generate a series of
nested stopes. The stopes are not necessarily nested in the sense
of Russian dolls, because the spatial distribution of grades may
result in boundaries remaining the same in some areas over a
range of cut-offs. Also, the application of stope width and pillar
rules may require that at higher cut-offs a stope is split into two to
isolate higher grade mineralisation and exclude lower grade waste.
Because underground mining is more selective, the nested
stopes provide an inventory and an opportunity to review the
benefit of high grading, or incorporating marginal material into
the mining schedule. Specification of alternative design rules can
also permit the comparison of, for example, large less selective
stopes bulking up two or more adjacent lenses, with smaller more
selective stopes omitting the waste between lenses, but at the cost
of perhaps more expensive mining methods, more complex
scheduling interactions and lower production rates. The
optimisation also outputs wireframes on each section where it will
be possible to develop in ore between stopes or stoping areas.
There is an opportunity to explore the relationship of cut-off
grade and head grade, and investigate alternative reserve
parameterisation strategies that are applicable to underground
mining.
CASE STUDY
The industry sponsors of the PRIMO project have provided case
studies to test and extend the research software. OZ Minerals are
currently undertaking a feasibility study to consider the
underground potential for their Prominent Hill copper-gold mine
located in South Australia, where open pit mining commenced in
2006. The case study will conclude in January 2009 and the
PRIMO research team have been undertaking a parallel
evaluation using the same base data and design criteria to
benchmark the research software. An NSR value is a calculated
attribute in the geological block model for this study.
As part of the PRIMO case study evaluation, the outputs
produced by stope optimisation have included:
evaluation of two different mining methods: sublevel open
stoping (SLOS) and bench mining as appropriate in different
parts of the deposit;
evaluation of cut-offs in the range $50 to $150 in steps of $10
and over a more restricted range in steps of $5 for refining
the cut-off selection;
evaluation of level intervals of 25, 30, 35, 40 m;
evaluation of pillar widths of 10 m and 20 m;
evaluation of sublevel location in 5 m intervals; and
optimal location of extraction horizons for SLOS stopes with
the tonnages and NSR values on each extraction horizon
tabulated to highlight the best extraction horizons to
commence mining.
A run for a single cut-off and single set of stope optimisation
inputs takes one to two hours for this deposit with a model of one
million blocks. A batch facility enables easy set-up for multiple
runs.
For reasons of commercial confidentiality, the full results
cannot be published, but a number of graphical outputs are
provided to indicate the type of results that can be obtained by
this process. Figure 7 is a cross-section and Figure 8 a plan view
Project Evaluation Conference
 STOPE OPTIMISATION TOOLS FOR SELECTION OF OPTIMUM CUT-OFF GRADE IN UNDERGROND MINE DESIGN

of the stope shapes from the stope shape annealing, with a 3D inclusion of wireframe models of geological structure and
perspective view in Figure 9 displaying stopes satisfying SLOS other controls to force the annealing procedure to snap to
(>10 m) and bench (<10 m) mining width criteria highlighted. A surfaces (representing the real effects of uncontrollable
second 3D view in Figure 10 provides the final stope layout overbreak to geological structures);
design for SLOS and bench methods. With 40 m sublevels,
the SLOS stopes can be mined over 40 m or 80 m and the
optimisation was completed to identify the tonnages for the
optimal extraction horizons.

FUTURE WORK
A number of enhancements to the current stope optimisation
software will extend the capability for evaluation of cut-off
grades in underground design:
evaluation of the contributions of individual ore types to
stope value, rather than relying on a composite grade or NSR
values for polymetallics;

FIG 9 - Perspective view of stopes with average width below 10 m

(candidates for bench mining) and greater than 10 m (candidates
for SLOS mining) with plan view location highlighted.

FIG 10 - Aggregated stoping blocks with bench stopes, 80 m SLOS

FIG 7 - Section view of stope shapes below final pit (blocks above stopes and 40 m SLOS stopes on a 40 m sublevel spacing with
cut-off on plane displayed). plan view location highlighted.

FIG 8 - Plan view of stope shapes (blocks above cut-off on plane displayed).

Project Evaluation Conference Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 22 April 2009 143

C ALFORD and B HALL
inclusion of grade uncertainty in the stope optimisation
procedure to generate risk based stope designs;
allow mining cost to be a function of the size and shape of
stopes; and
with the availability of a suite of nested stopes it will be
possible to employ different cut-off grades by depth or area
in strategic analyses.
Stope optimisation and its role in access, scheduling and
strategic design is currently being advanced through the AMIRA
International P884 Planning and Rapid Integrated Mine
Optimisation (PRIMO) project. The supplier sponsors on the
project (Datamine, GijimaAST and Maptek) are working with
the researchers to commercialise the research tools and a release
of the stope optimisation software is scheduled by Datamine for
early 2009.
CONCLUSION
Typical industry practices for determining strategies, particularly
cut-offs and the grade descriptors with which they are associated,
result in mine plans that are often far from optimal. Significant
extra value can be obtained from many operations. This is often
achieved by changing the grade descriptor to identify more
accurately where true value lies in the deposits and by increasing
the cut-off and thereby reducing the reserve and the mine life.
The earlier that the optimum strategies are identified, the more
likely that their value can be realised.
A new tool for automated stope design has been developed that
generates sets of stope shapes for a nominated range of cut-off
grades and provides the basis for rapid evaluation of mining
methods, stope designs and cut-off grade selection. The use of
nested stopes for underground design provides a method that
can be used in much the same way as open pit planners have
used nested pits over the past two decades.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank the PRIMO Project sponsors and the
management of AMC Consultants Pty Ltd for permission to
prepare and present this paper. Other PRIMO researchers are
thanked for their input into this paper, both directly and through
their contributions to the development of the overall concepts.
144 Melbourne, Vic, 21 - 22 April 2009
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