Days 3–4
Design the mine
Pay boundaries, sequencing and mine layout.
Mine design is where geology becomes a season. This module treats layout as an operating system: pay boundaries, stripping, roads, ponds, plant placement, haul distance and the order of cuts.
Students choose a cut and defend a sequence. They audit how a site actually moves dirt and water, then identify the layout decisions that quietly tax every hour of production — a plant too far from pay, a pond that starves the wash plant, a road that fights the grade.
What we cover
- Turning exploration results into working pay boundaries
- Cut selection and seasonal sequencing
- Stripping, stockpiles and how waste movement consumes the year
- Roads, benches, plant pads and haul distance
- Ponds, ditches and the mine as a water machine
Field connection
On site, groups walk layouts with the same questions they will use on their own ground: why is the plant here, what happens when the cut advances, and which constraint will stop production first?
Output: a mine layout audit and a defended sequence.
