Optimal Open Pit Design and Life of Mine Scheduling of the Bisha Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide Deposit

Peter Arroja Eshun

Abstract


Bisha Mining Share Company (BMSC), Eritrea, is a subsidiary of Nevsun Resources of Canada. BMSC has completed an exploration work which discovered Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) deposit containing commercial quantities of gold, silver, copper and zinc at Bisha. The objective of this paper is to design an optimal open pit and generate a Life of Mine (LOM) schedule for the profitable exploitation of the deposit. Thus, Net Smelter Return values were modelled using a script developed in Surpac. The deposit was optimised and an open pit was designed using MineSight software under the given geotechnical and economic parameters with a marginal tonnage deviation of 3%. A Life of Mine (LOM) schedule carried out in MineSched predicted a mine life of 10 years and defined the transitional periods for the exploitation of gold, copper and zinc deposits. It is recommended that the designed optimal pit and the LOM schedule should be used for the exploitation of the Bisha VMS deposit. Also, extensions to the primary massive sulphide mineralisation, including the Primary Zn Domain, should be tested with further drilling. This may have the effect of increasing the mineable reserve and extend the project life.


Keywords


Volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit; pit optimisation; pit design; net smelter returns; LOM Scheduling

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References


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