In the early stage of front-end studies of a Mining Project, the global availability (i.e. number of hours a plant is available for production) and production (number of hours a plant is actually operated with material) time of the process plant are normally assumed based on the experience of the study team. Understanding and defining the availability hours at the early stages of the project are important for the future stages of the project, as drastic changes in work hours will impact the economics of the project at that stage. An innovative high-level dynamic modeling approach has been developed to assist in the rapid evaluation of assumptions made by the study team. This model incorporates systems or equipment that are commonly used in mining projects from mine to product stockyard discharge after the processing plant. It includes subsystems that will simulate all the component handling, and major process plant systems required for a mining project. The output data provided by this high-level dynamic simulation approach will enhance the confidence level of engineering carried out during the early stage of the project. This study discusses the capabilities of the approach, and a test case compared with standard techniques used in mining project front-end studies.

This work adds the Activity-Based Costing Approach in mining operations with a product mix. After analyzing and collecting data from an aggregate mine located in Brazil, a cost model was built, and from that, a cost management and analysis methodology of a mine in operation is created. This work has the innovation advantages of using ABC as a tool for planning the operation of the mine, identifying the more profitable products. At the end, it is concluded that the creation of a cost model to be used in the operation of mining is a rewarding investment as it shows the profitable and unprofitable products.

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The use of dynamic simulation is technically advantageous for the project as shown by various authors. However, is it economically advantageous in the early stages of the project (FEL1 and FEL2)? The methodology to economically evaluate the use of dynamic simulation considers the time and development cost compared with the time and cost spent to change the project in the next phase, considering changes that could be avoided with the use of dynamic simulation. Five process plant projects were evaluated, each one with an estimated CAPEX of US$ 300 million. The saved average is US$ 44,200.00 and US$ 182,400.00 for FEL 1 and FEL 2 respectively. The percentage cost savings for FEL2 (2.0%) and FEL3 (3.1%) are significant. The estimated delay avoided for FEL2 (3 weeks) and FEL3 (8 weeks) is directly related to the implementation delay, whose cost is expressively greater than the savings shown. The study concludes that the use of dynamic simulation is economically advantageous for the project.