Modeling the integrated mine-to-client supply chain: a survey

ABSTRACT

Mining is an important economic activity and a highly complex industry. As such, it demands a complex supply chain to connect mines to clients, often involving railways, ports and long-distance maritime shipping. State-of-the-art optimization tools are an invaluable asset to help manage such a complex environment, which makes mining industry a very fertile ground for operational research applications. This paper aims to present a bibliographical review of published works involving operational research applications in the mining industry. We start by mapping applications within each isolated link of the chain. Then, we make inroads into the researches involving and connecting multiple links of the mining chain. Finally, we present summaries of our finding and pinpoint some directions for research opportunities in the mining industry.