A Goal Programming Model for Dispatching Trucks in an Underground Gold Mine

Suliman  Emdini Gliwan; Kevin  Crowe

doi:10.19044/esj.2022.v18n36p1

Suliman Emdini Gliwan Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Lakehead University, ON, Canada
Kevin Crowe

DOI: https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2022.v18n36p1

Keywords: truck

Abstract

The cost of transporting mined materials in an underground mine is major. This cost typically represents between 50 to 60 percent of a mine’s total operating costs. The problem of dispatching trucks in an underground gold mine is of major economic importance and warrants the use of a decision support model. The developments of a realistic decision-support model for the dispatching problem in an underground gold mine were addressed in this paper. The problem must address multiple conflicting objectives, and therefore, a goal programming model was formulated. The model was applied to a case study, the Red Lake underground gold mine, in Ontario, Canada. The results showed major improvements in meeting the multiple objectives of this problem versus a single objective model. The results also illustrate the flexibility that the dispatching problem (in underground gold mines) yields when solved for multiple objectives using a goal programming model.

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