Mining Supply Chain Design
Client Issue
Client was developing a new mine to serve the export market. A supply chain had to be designed to move product from the mine to the ports. We assisted the client in better understanding its supply chain options through flow-based, fault-based simulation modeling.
Project Approach
- Developed flow-based, fault-based model to analyze the product flow from the mine onto the ship and out to open water
- Conducted primary and secondary research to determine capacity and throughput rates of various supply chain components
- Determined potential planned and unplanned outage/delay frequency and duration ranges
- Ran model simulations to determine required capacity for:
- Mine storage
- Railcar fleet
- Rail loadout throughput
- Rail holding tracks
- Port storage
- Ship loading throughput
- Assessed trade-offs between capacity, operating cost, and CapEx
- Developed options for launching the business under various combinations of production levels, operating expenses, and CapEx
Client Results
Client is moving forward with developing the mine, including mine-based storage, railcar fleet, rail loadout, track infrastructure, port storage, and ship loading.