Long-Range Mine Planning Project

Project

One of Canada’s leading producers of metallurgical coal contracted WestMET ERS to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of their metallurgical and oxide coal reserves available for global shipments. Given the engineering, operational, and equipment challenges at the client’s mine, WestMET ERS was tasked with developing a reliable and feasible mine plan, along with an optimized equipment schedule, to ensure the project could meet the market’s demands.

Solution

The WestMET ERS team collaborated closely with the client to refine the mine plan in alignment with their shipment contract timelines, mine equipment KPIs, and ongoing access road developments. Using MineSight’s MinePlan 3D, Haulage Plan, and Activity Scheduler modules, the team integrated all relevant operational, engineering, and environmental data provided by the client, forming the foundation for the mine’s production schedule and haulage strategy. Where data was limited or performance variability was expected, reasonable assumptions were made to ensure continuity in coal recovery without downtime. The team considered multiple mining scenarios to optimize the coal release schedule, waste movement and distribution, equipment fleet requirements, and to provide clear visual representations of weekly pit configuration progress.

Result

The quarterly plan was successfully completed, incorporating all technical considerations within the specified targets, limits, and site information provided by the client. The project is currently active with WestMET ERS providing increasingly detailed planning as the client’s operations progress and extend further into their approved pit.

The final deliverables included:

• Mine Haulage Plan – Detailed access road network layout, cycle time analysis, haul distances, and weekly fleet requirements.

• Mine Production Schedule – A compilation of production data that includes a 15-week forecast of mine production, weekly metallurgical and thermal coals releases, waste movement schedule and destination (e.g. ramp construction, dumps), and Gantt Charts of mine activities.

• End-of-Pit Maps – Weekly EOP Maps were provided to the client, illustrating pit configuration, active coal sources, waste destinations, and haulage ramps.

• Final Report and Surface/Solid CAD Files – Comprehensive compilation of mine planning data including a presentation discussing engineering assumptions, plan limitations, and mine structure construction sequences.