The course content addresses the following topics:
- Selection of primary access
- Secondary access and tertiary access; ramps, declines and shafts
- Mine design criteria
- Scheduling optimisation
- Sizing production rate
- Basic mining equation (BME)
- Basic grade equation (BGE)
- Production planning, equipment planning, manpower planning, ventilation and refrigeration planning
- Geotechnical considerations
- Mine slope optimisation, production simulation, and logistics
- Identification and amelioration of constraints
- Designing for safety and flexibility
- Characteristics of software used in underground mine planning
- Emerging algorithms and techniques in surface mine planning optimisation
- Planning for closure