Estudo de caso : uma análise financeira simplificada entre os métodos de lavra de sublevel stoping e corte e enchimento em uma mina subterrânea de ouro

Abstract

In a Brazilian gold operating mine, where the mining is performed as sublevel stoping, problems related to high dilution started to occur in depth, as a consequence of mineralization changes, since the orebody is getting thinner and its angle downdip is getting smoother. As an initiative to propose alternative solutions to this dilution problem, this study assesses the mining of three panels with sublevel stoping and cut and fill mining for three panels. The assessment was done by comparing the economic results of the mining of the planned panels in accordance with both mining methods. The panels assessed in the study were generated with Datamine Mineable Shape Optimizer and evaluated with Datamine Studio Underground. Based on the costs, gross revenue and profit, it was possible to calculate the annual profit and then estimate the net present value, of each mining scenario for comparison. The results indicate that the cut and fill mining method seem to be more interesting from an economic point of view and that it is a more selective mining method. The assessment motivates the company to keep studying the cut and fill method and, for future comparisons and evaluations, other operational factor such as safety, operational readiness and equipment availability should be considered as well.