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Amongst the various activities within iron ore exploitation, the open pit mining process (ore extraction, truck transportation, and primary crushing) represents the very beginning of the iron ore supply chain, therefore the front line of the ore exploitation process. Important strategic decisions are necessary in order to effectively execute all activities, to fulfill every market demands, and to efficiently utilize all resources. In this context, allocating certain resources, such as machines and other equipment, represents the main problem in open-pit mine planning. The allocation decision may influence the production capacity and also the balance between utilization levels of all resources of the system. In this paper, we applied computer simulation as a tool to aid decision-making in open-pit mine planning. Therefore, we mapped the iron ore exploitation process with block diagrams and then we built a simulation model which, after the proper tests, provided results adherent to the observed reality. The simulation model was also capable of supporting resource allocation decision through various experiments.