LKAB

As LKAB expands into a new, deeper section of their orebody they are seeking to leverage the advantages of automated underground equipment to increase productivity and cope the risks of escalating rock stresses.
Smaller tunnel profiles require smaller equipment, which necessitates a larger fleet to maintain target productivity. However, the larger fleet will see diminishing returns in productivity after a certain size due to traffic management issues. These issues may be mitigated by utilizing novel tunnel layouts, but not enough is known about new tunnel layouts for sublevel stoping to determine if this strategy would work. A larger fleet will also require increased maintenance and fuel costs. A smaller fleet of larger profile vehicles will be able to maintain productivity in a traditional tunnel layout while minimizing traffic management issues, but require larger tunnel profiles which therefore necessitate greater expenditure on ground control.
This series of simulations was designed to provide data to inform decisions regarding the optimal automated fleet size and tunnel profile to maintain high productivity while minimizing total expenditure.