Medium-term planning systems for open-pit and underground mining operations: a unified methodology and import substitution experience at ALROSA

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The article presents the development and industrial testing of medium-term planning systems for open-pit and simultaneously account for the position of the mining front, mineral reserves and grades, equipment capacity, haulage schemes, technological dependencies, calendar constraints, and production targets within a medium-term planning time-frame. In manual planning workflows, these data are often collected from multiple sources, which makes it difficult to compare alternative scenarios and perform timely replanning when production conditions change. A unified methodological approach is proposed based on an object-oriented representation of the mining method elements, integrated use of the input data, and an iterative planning cycle: input data – target indicators – calculation – analysis – adjustment – replanning. The computational procedure combines optimization of the sequence in which the mining objects are brought into operation with simulation modelling of the mining progress. The system requirements were formulated in cooperation with specialists from the Production Planning Department of ALROSA, taking into account the practical experience of centralized planning and the need for rapid assessment of “what-if” scenarios under changing production conditions. The results show that the practical value of the proposed approach is not limited to automating calculations. It also reduces manual data preparation, improves the transparency of planning assumptions, and provides a basis for faster assessment of the consequences of production changes.