Customer requirements concerning the final products of iron mines are
extremely stringent. Because of this, there is an ever-increasing need for
mine operators to monitor and strictly control the quality of their product.
This quality, as measured by the stockpile grade variability, is the result of
a very complex process, where natural characteristics (the orebody and its
geology) are transformed through the mining technique (open pit, shovel
and truck fleet, blending into stockpile). The only way to reproduce and
hence to control the variability of such a system, which is composed of
several interactive sub-processes, is by simulation. A complete simulation
of a Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd (HI) ore deposit has been undertaken to
forecast the impact and cost of various mining methods, mining schedules
and product stockpile sizes on variability of chemical and physical
characteristics of the products. The mining simulation was made on a
conditionally simulated orebody. On a range of criteria, the simulation
was considered to fulfil the objectives set and was a valuable aid to
analysis of product grade variability, operating and capital costs, selection
of equipment, mine scheduling and setting of product grade targets.