Author(s)

J.E. Everett

Abstract

In Western Australia, iron ore is extracted from inland mines and railed to a port, where it is loaded onto ships for export. Quality depends upon uniform composition (\“grade control”), not only in iron, but also in several contaminant minerals. To achieve grade control, and to provide a buffer between production and demand, crushed ore is stored on to large stockpiles and then reclaimed, either at the mine or at the port. Environmental impact (and cost) is reduced if the land area devoted to stockpiles can be reduced without loss of grade control. There may also be environmental benefits in building the stockpiles at the mine rather than at the port. The stockpile array can be considered as a low-pass filter, filtering out short-term fluctuations in composition. Techniques considered include the use of multiple build and/or reclaim stockpiles, wi

Keywords