Mining method selection by using an integrated model
Enviado por edwinwilly • 19 de Septiembre de 2014 • 5.344 Palabras (22 Páginas) • 261 Visitas
International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences
© 2013 Available online at www.irjabs.com
ISSN 2251-838X / Vol, 6 (2):199-214
Science Explorer Publications
Mining method selection by using an integrated
model
Shahram Shariati1,Abdolreza Yazdani-Chamzini2, Behrang Pourghaffari Bashari3
1. Department of geology, Sari branch, Islamic Azad University, Sari, Iran.
2. Young Researchers Club, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
3. Mining Department, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
Corresponding Author email:behrangpourghaffari@gmail.com, shariati.shahram@gmail.com and
shariati@ayerma.ir, abdalrezaych@gmail.com and yazdani@ayerma.ir
ABSTRACT: The problem of mining method selection is one of the most important decisions that
should be made by mining managers and engineers. Selecting a proper underground mining method
to accomplish extraction from a mineral deposit is very significant in terms of the economics, safety
and the productivity of mining operations. The aim objective of this paper is to develop an integrated
model to selection the best mining method by using effective criteria and at the same time, taking
subjective judgments of decision makers into account. Proposed model is based on fuzzy analytic
hierarchy process (FAHP)methodology and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal
solution (TOPSIS). FAHP is appliedtodetermine the weights of the evaluation criteria for mining
method selection that these weights are inserted to the TOPSIS technique to rank the alternatives
and select the most appropriate alternative. The proposed method is applied for AngouranMine in Iran
and finally the optimum mining methods forthis mine are ranked. The study was followed by the
sensitivity analysis of the results.
Keywords:Mining method selection, MCDM, FAHP, TOPSIS
INTRODUCTION
Selection of mining method is one of the most crucial decisions in the design stage of mine that mining
engineers have to make. Selecting a mining method for mineral resources is completely dependent on the
uncertain geometrical and geological characteristic of the resource (Azadeh et al, 2010). It is necessary to the
unique characteristics of each mineral resource be taken into account in order to select the suitable mining
method for the extraction of a certain resource, so that the utilized method would have the maximum
technical-operational congruence with the geological and geometrical conditions of the mineral resource. To
make the right decision on mining method selection, all effective criteria related to the problem should be taken
into account. Increasing the number of the evaluation criteria in decision making problem makes the problem
more complex, but also the rightness of the decision increases. Therefore, there is a need for alternative
methods, which can consider all known criteria related to underground mining method selection in the decision
making process (Alpay, Yavuz, 2009). The sensitivity of this decision has led to different solutions introduced by
different researchers (Boshkov et al, 1973; Morrison, 1976; Laubscher, 1981; Nicholas, 1981; Hartman, 1982;
Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 6 (2), 199-214, 2013
200
Brady, Brown, 1985; Hartman, 1987; Adler, Thompson, 1897, Miller-Tait et al, 1995).
In the above-mentioned studies, mining method selection procedure has been looked from qualitative
viewpoint (Azadeh et al, 2010). Likewise two of the problems of these approaches is lack of having correct
relation between represent classes of parameters especially in near the boundary conditions and having the
same relevance of all evaluation criteria. Therefore, these studies were neither enough nor complete, as it is not
possible to design a methodology that will automatically choose a mining method for the ore body studies
(Bitarafan, Ataei, 2004).
The merit of using multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods is their ability to solve complex and multi
criteria problems by handling both quantitative and qualitative criteria. The MCDM methods arestrong tools for
determining the best alternative among a pool of the feasible alternatives.Technique for Order Preference by
Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is one common MCDM method that takes into consider the ideal and the
anti-ideal solutions simultaneously. This technique is applied by different researches because of being rational,
simple computations, and results are obtained in shorter time than other methods such as AHP (analytical
hierarchy process) and ANP (analytic network process) (Fouladgar et al, 2011; Lashgari et al, 2011).
On the other hand, AHP is widely used to calculate the weights of evaluation criteria. This method use
pair-wise comparison for obtaining the relative weights of criteria. AHP is strongly connected to human judgment
and pairwise comparisons in AHP may cause evaluator’s
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