{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,6]],"date-time":"2026-06-06T04:55:00Z","timestamp":1780721700938,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,5]],"date-time":"2023-05-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1683244800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002848","name":"Chilean National Agency for Research and Development\u2014ANID","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["72200205"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["72200205"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002848","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Minerals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Digital technologies are continually gaining traction in the mining and mineral processing industries. Several studies have shown the benefits of their application to help improve various aspects of the mineral value chain. Nevertheless, quantitatively assessing new technologies using a holistic approach is vital to evaluate whether the potential localized benefits ultimately translate to an overall increase in project net present value (NPV). This study develops an integrated system-wide methodology for open-pit mines, supporting the technoeconomic assessment of implementing new technology that impacts strategic and operational timeframes. The first part of the framework relies on a state-of-the-art mine plan optimization algorithm that incorporates geological uncertainty. The resulting outputs are then fed into the discrete event simulation portion of the framework (second part) to maximize plant throughput using alternate modes of operation (blending strategy) and operational stockpiles to deal with unexpected changes in ore feed attributes. Sample calculations loosely based on a gold deposit located in the Maricunga belt, Chile, are presented in the context of evaluating different intelligent ore sorting technology options.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/min13050642","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,8]],"date-time":"2023-05-08T03:00:28Z","timestamp":1683514828000},"page":"642","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Technology Upgrade Assessment for Open-Pit Mines through Mine Plan Optimization and Discrete Event Simulation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3002-4014","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aldo","family":"Quelopana","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Universidad Cat\u00f3lica del Norte, 0610 Angamos, Antofagasta 127079, Chile"},{"name":"Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, McGill University, 3610 University Street, Montreal, QC H3A 0C5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8107-9424","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Javier","family":"\u00d3rdenes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, McGill University, 3610 University Street, Montreal, QC H3A 0C5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ryan","family":"Wilson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DRA Americas Inc., 555 Ren\u00e9-L\u00e9vesque Blvd. West 6th Floor, Montreal, QC H2Z 1B1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6613-6750","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandro","family":"Navarra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, McGill University, 3610 University Street, Montreal, QC H3A 0C5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"747","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijmst.2020.07.003","article-title":"Identification of digital technologies and digitalization trends in the mining industry","volume":"30","author":"Barnewold","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. 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