Epigraph Solutions
Mine planning • Optimisation • Open source
Strategic mine plans you can open up, question and rerun.
The problem
The plan sets the value
Strategic mine planning answers three linked questions for every block in the model.
01
Which blocks
Where the pit limit sits, and what is left in the ground.
02
When
The period each block is mined, within wall slopes and fleet capacity.
03
Where to
Mill, stockpile or waste dump, decided per block and per period.
Each choice changes the others, and the timing of cash flow drives NPV. Solving them together beats solving them one at a time.
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Our approach
How we model your mine
Each planning reality becomes an explicit part of one optimisation model.
On site
In the model
Discounted value of each block
Objective: maximise NPV over the life of mine
Wall slopes and access
Precedence: a block is mined only after those above it
Fleet and mill limits
Mining and processing capacity, every period
Mill, stockpile or waste
A destination decision for each block, each period
Low-grade stockpiles
Inventory, capacity and reclaim tracked explicitly
Blend and grade targets
Bounds on the grade and quality of mill feed
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Example 1 · McLaughlin deposit
Scheduling a two-lobe pit
Precedence-constrained production scheduling, without a stockpile.
What you’re seeing
The optimised schedule, played back period by period. Colour shows when each part of the pit is mined.
- Wall-slope precedence honoured in every period
- Mining and mill capacity respected throughout
- Both lobes sequenced as one plan
Data: McLaughlin instance, MineLib public benchmark library
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Example 2 · Marvin deposit
Adding a low-grade stockpile
The same scheduling problem, now also deciding where every block goes.
What you’re seeing
Orange: ore sent straight to the mill
Green: low-grade ore to the stockpile
- Low grade is stockpiled early while the pit feeds the mill
- The stockpile fills to its 20 Mt capacity
- It is reclaimed to keep the mill fed as pit ore runs out
Data: Marvin instance, MineLib public benchmark library
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Every decision is visible, block by block and period by period.
Your planners can see why the schedule looks the way it does, and test it against their own judgement.
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How we work
From block model to working plan
Four steps, done alongside your planning team.
1. Frame
Your block model, economics and the constraints that really bind.
2. Model
Precedence, capacities, destinations and stockpiles in one model.
3. Solve
Schedules and scenarios across price, cost and capacity.
4. Deploy
Fits your planning workflow, so plans rerun as conditions change.
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Where else we help
Beyond the mine plan
The same optimisation and machine learning methods apply across the operation.
Blending and stockpiles
Hit grade and quality targets at the mill, shift by shift.
Predictive maintenance
Spot failures early on fixed plant and mobile fleet.
Grade estimation and control
Better ore and waste calls from drill and assay data.
Live process monitoring
Streaming models that adapt as plant conditions drift.
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Let’s run your block model.
Bring a block model and your planning constraints. We’ll show you a schedule you can inspect, question and rerun.