Optimization of a joint purchasing-blending problem for a multi-level mine supply chain

The mine supply chain (MSC) is recognized as one of the basic industries in the world. As minerals are limited, planning for their extraction, logistics, and production not only increases the mine’s life cycle (MLC) but also optimizes the utilization of all available resources, including minerals, machines, transportation facilities, as well as financial and human resources. In this paper, an MSC has been studied and its supply, production, and inventory control have been modeled in such a way that the expected product is ready for delivery with desirable quality and quantity, and at the right time. A blending problem (BP) has been provided as a linear programming (LP) model. Also, unlike common mathematical models in the literature review, the focus has shifted away from extraction -due to a lack of mine-blocking (MB) data- and instead, it is assumed that minerals are purchased from upstream suppliers of this supply chain (SC). Also, a Reduction weight rate due to stockpiling is considered. The results show that increasing the inventory level of minerals improves the quality of the products expected by the customers, although the total system costs increase.

Keywords:

Mine supply chain , Blending problem , Purchasing , Linear programming , Inventory control