Tapira Mine (Tapira, MG, Brazil) is the largest phosphate ore and concentrate producer in Brazil. The mine is an open pit, which until recently operated with a large equipment fleet and now uses a smaller fleet operated by contractors. The annual production reaches 17 Mt of ore plus 14 Mt of waste at a stripping ratio of 0.82._x000D_
Defining the geological boundaries and forecasting the annual production can be a difficult task if not performed on a reliable model. The geological model has been totally reviewed as well as the estimation process._x000D_
Ordinary Kriging has been used to build the new block model with P2O5 and contaminant grades. After estimation, block model validation and classification criteria definition to assess resources and reserves, the result is given by the life-of-mine plan is defined after pit optimisation and design._x000D_
The Lerchs-Grossmann algorithm implemented in the NPV Scheduler was used to define the long-term production targets based on the main parameters P2O5 and the contaminants that are just important to the beneficiation process._x000D_
FORMAL CITATION:de Lemos Peroni, R, Capponi, L N, Costa, J F, Gontijo, E and Veiga, D C, 2010. Long-term mine planning at the largest phosphate mine in Brazil, in Proceedings Seventh Large Open Pit Conference 2010, pp 127-134 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).