Strategic mine planning and a decision - Making behaviour model

This paper presents a decision-making behaviour model in the domain of Strategic Mine Planning. The model provides a link between strategic business planning and mining optimization. Because of the nature of the model it is necessary to articulate concepts in a variety of fields before drawing them together in the final discussion. The fields are organised under the following headings: Strategic Business Planning, Market Analysis, Economic Evaluation. These sections of the paper constitute a rather lengthy but very necessary background setting to the decision-making behaviour model itself. The model consists of a two-dimensional chart of the feasible domain of designs for a mine, and a conceptual map of the feasible domain, showing how different ranges of reserve estimates and designs relate to different types of decision-making behaviour. The use of the model is designed to provide a framework for understanding the way in which business objectives influence reserve estimation and mine planning.