What is it about?
A large, complex discrete-event simulation model is developed to create an over-arching tool to estimate the production volume of a new potash project being designed by BHP. This model encompassed all areas of the production chain from the mine to the customer, including underground mining, ore handling, hoisting, processing, rail transportation, marine terminal operations, and shipping.
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Why is it important?
Using this model, BHP was able to examine all areas of the project and identify capital and operating strategies that would increase the production capacity of the project for minimum cost. The overall result of the exercise improved the net present value of the project by over $500 million.
Perspectives
This model was, by far, the largest and most complex ever developed by Amec Foster Wheeler and is likely unparalleled. The model has over 140,000 inputs, allowing the user to configure the project in almost any way imaginable. The net result, after performing thousands of scenarios, was a mine and logistics system design that maximizes production and minimizes risk, thereby improving the chances that the project will proceed to construction.
Keith Quan
INFORMS
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Discrete-Event Simulation Modeling Unlocks Value for the Jansen Potash Project, INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics, February 2018, INFORMS,
DOI: 10.1287/inte.2017.0930.
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