ACALA

Geological Expertise, Mining Excellence

Solution · Planning · Tactical Mine Planning

Monthly and weekly schedules that hit the feed grade without surprising the pit.

The strategic plan says what the mine should do over its life. Tactical Mine Planning says what it will do next quarter, next month and next week: which benches, stopes or draw points, in what order, with which equipment, to meet tonnes, grade and blend. GEOVIA roles for block modelling, mine design, scheduling and cave planning cover open pit, underground and caving operations, and ACALA licenses, trains and plans with them.

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See the workflow
Twelve scheduling periods blending a high-grade pit and a low-grade pit to a target feed grade, with the resulting grade line and haulage P1scheduling periodsP12 target 1.3% Ni · 38% high-grade pit, 62% low-grade pit · 263 kt·km per period Dark: high-grade pit 1.8%, 2 km haul. Light: low-grade pit 1.0%, 3 km haul. Line: feed grade.
Illustrative: 12 periods of 100 kt each. A target feed grade is met by blending sources with different grades and haul distances. The scheduler chooses the mix per period under capacity, sequencing and stockpile rules, and reports the haulage that results. Drag the handle from 1.0% to 1.6%.
Scheduling scenarioOne set of rules, targets and capacities run over the periods, saved so it can be compared with the next.
Target schedulingAlgorithms that pick sources to meet grade, ratio and quality targets, not just tonnes.
Practical scheduleRules, constraints and capacity targets that a shift crew can actually execute.
StockpilesManaged as sources and sinks, with grades that change as material goes in and out.
HaulageTruck hours and tonne-kilometres calculated from the schedule, not estimated after it.
Draw orderFor caving mines, the sequence and tonnes per draw point for the coming days.
Haul truck and excavators in an open pit at sunset
Monthly and weekly schedules for open pit and underground mines. Image from the GEOVIA brochure distributed by ACALA.

Why this solution

The plan the operation will follow, not the plan it will explain.

Tactical planning is where the block model, the design and the equipment meet. Scenarios must be quick to build and compare, read the data where it already lives, and produce a schedule that people can validate in 3D and share in the formats they use.

The packages already in use feeding straight into scheduling scenarios, with three scenarios drawn as bars on one shared baseline so they can be comparedBUILD SEVERAL, COMPARE SIDE BY SIDEthe packages you usescheduling scenariosscenario 1scenario 2scenario 3compared against the same objectiveread directly from the packages you already use

Quick to build, easy to compare

Achieve scheduling objectives by quickly creating and comparing scheduling scenarios, reading directly from all the popular mine planning solutions without data conversion.

Rules, constraints and capacity targets feeding a schedule bar divided into six periods, with the feed grade drawn beneath tracking closely along its dashed target lineBUILT FROM RULES, HELD ON GRADErulesconstraintscapacity targetstarget feed gradeperiod 1period 6feed grade held on target across the schedule

Practical by construction

Reduce mining costs with schedules built from rules, constraints and capacity targets, and lower processing costs by meeting feed grade through target scheduling algorithms.

One schedule branching into three outputs: a 3D animation, the standalone Interactive Viewer, and the Excel, Project and Access formatsONE SCHEDULE, THREE WAYS OUTthe schedule3D animationInteractive ViewerExcel, Project, Accessfor the people who run the mineseen in 3D, shared, and published in the usual formats

Validated and shared

See the schedule as a 3D animation, share it through the standalone Interactive Viewer, and publish results to Excel, Project and Access for the people who run the mine.

The workflow

From block model to schedule, for open pit, underground and caving mines.

Six GEOVIA roles cover the solution. Each stage below names the roles, what they do and the highlights from their role definitions.

1Model

GEOVIA Block Modeler (JBM)

The block model with grade and quality that the schedule will mine.

In the role

  • Integrated geology modelling, geostatistics and resource estimation in one environment.
  • High-performance estimation and constraint engines; data plug-ins for other packages.

Highlights

  • Calculate volume and quality within any extent; generate volumetric block models.
  • Reports of any geological object according to international standards.
2Design

GEOVIA Mine Contributor (JMC)

Input, access and output mining geological and engineering data, and design what will be mined.

In the role

  • Select, constrain and view exploration data and mine information.
  • Model and create complex surfaces and solids representing mining data; a comprehensive CAD toolset for points and lines.
  • Automate workflows with scripting that records and plays back.

Highlights

  • Import and manage massive point clouds, clean them, generate surface meshes and report volumes.
  • Surpac is easy to learn, use and customise, with multilingual support for local teams.
3Schedule

GEOVIA Tactical Mine Planner (JMP)

Create and compare scheduling scenarios that meet tonnes, grade and blend with practical rules.

In the role

  • Read directly from all the popular mine planning solutions, or combinations of them, without data conversion.
  • Rules, constraints and capacity targets for practical schedules; target scheduling algorithms for feed grade.
  • Validate in 3D animation and the Interactive Viewer; publish to Excel, Project and Access.

Highlights

  • Open pit: any number of pits. Underground: development advance and stope production.
  • Heuristic target-based scheduling for material ratios and quality objectives.
  • Stockpiles, production priority rules, haulage requirements, all minerals and mining methods.
4Cave

GEOVIA Cave Long-term Planner (GSK), Cave Mid-term Planner (GTP), Cave Operations Scheduler (GPN)

From tunnel and draw point layout to the daily draw order for block and panel caves.

In the role

  • Streamlined setup of tunnels, draw points and rings; advanced flow modelling and multiple scenarios; superior run-time on full-sized projects.
  • Production scheduling that optimises NPV under tonnage, grade and equipment constraints; realistic undercut sequences in PCBC; undercut level design with exact ring shapes.

Highlights

  • Keep production schedules current under changing conditions; daily draw orders by multiple methods with variable time frames.
  • Grade management from draw point samples; LSQ uses past assays to predict short-term grade; import and export with LHD dispatch and monitoring systems.
Mining blocks defined on a pit design for tactical scheduling
Mining blocks on the design: the units the tactical schedule sequences.
Underground mine design and schedule in GEOVIA
Underground: development advance and stope production scheduled together.

Products and services behind it

MineSched and Surpac for the schedule, ACALA for the planners.

ACALA licenses GEOVIA Surpac, MineSched and the cave planning roles, trains tactical planners on real mine data, and builds schedules for operations that need them now.

Reading

Articles on tactical planning and MineSched

Questions we get

Tactical Mine Planning FAQ

How is tactical planning different from strategic planning?
Strategic planning chooses the pit, phases, capacity and cut-off over the life of mine. Tactical planning sequences the next weeks and months inside that plan, with real equipment, blend targets and stockpiles.
Which mining methods are supported?
Open pit with any number of pits, underground development and stope production, and block or panel caving through the dedicated cave planning roles.
Do we have to convert our data?
No. The Tactical Mine Planner reads directly from the popular mine planning solutions, or combinations of them, and publishes results to Excel, Project and Access.
How are stockpiles and blending handled?
Stockpiles are managed as sources and sinks with changing grades, and target scheduling algorithms choose the mix of sources that meets feed grade and quality objectives.
How does ACALA help?
Licences for Surpac, MineSched and cave planning roles, training on your own data, and planning services when the operation needs a schedule built or reviewed.

Next step

Send us the design and the block model. We will build a first monthly schedule and show you what it takes to keep it current.

A working session with an ACALA planner on your own data, then a proposal for licences, training or planning services.

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Bekasi, Indonesia
+62 21 8066 9600
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