This paper discusses the application of simulation for comparing underground development mining operations. The simulation-modelling environ ment, WITNESS by the Lanner Group, is used to model a typical drill and blast development min ing system as a benchmark and conceptual min ing systems for automated/tele-remote mining. The benchmark model is verified and validated and the proposed development mining systems are developed and evaluated. Simulation experiments are constructed to investigate the performance of the proposed models in terms of advance footage obtained over a 30-day period. The results indi cate that automating an underground develop ment mining system can increase the advance rate of a system as compared to a typical current de velopment mining operation. In addition, if a shift schedule for tele-remote mining operations is in troduced (elimination of travel time to and from the workplace), a further increase in the total ad vance of a mining system can be achieved.
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