01 / Product mix
Product mix over the planning horizon
Decide how much of each product to make in each year of a multi-year plan, so the portfolio holds up across the whole horizon rather than in a single period.
Customer case study · Coal
Product Portfolio Optimisation Software for Mining
BlendOpt is a configurable optimisation platform for mining value chains. Configured for product portfolio optimisation, it searches for the product mix that best fits the ROM the mine plan will actually deliver over a long-term planning horizon, deciding how material is stockpiled and blended into each product while every quality specification and operational constraint is met.
Customer resultLatin American coal operation
Powered by BlendOpt
Outcome
Order of magnitude
Less time spent on long-term product portfolio planning, freeing users for critical tasks such as day-to-day operations.
Data validationAutomated
ScenariosMultiple what-ifs
StakeholdersSingle point of truth
Coal · open pitCase study below
What BlendOpt optimises
What BlendOpt optimises in your product portfolio
Stockpiles, blending decisions and product distributions are optimised together across every year of the plan, not one period at a time.
02 / Specifications
Product quality specifications
Build every product to its specification, such as a fixed CV range for coal, even when the blending problem leaves little room to move.
03 / Mined quality
Matching products to mined quality
Align the product portfolio with the frequency distribution of the grade actually being mined, pit by pit and year by year.
04 / Blending
Stockpiling and blending decisions
Model ROM stockpiles, washing, crushing and blending together, so each blending decision is valued by its effect on the product portfolio.
05 / Scenarios
What-if scenario planning
Test alternative product portfolios and operating conditions side by side to find a robust long-term plan.
06 / Reporting
Data validation and reporting
Check input data automatically and report results clearly, giving planners and other stakeholders a single point of truth.
Customer results
Product portfolio optimisation results
Results BlendOpt customers have measured in planning time, plan value and product quality.
Order of magnitude
less time spent on long-term product portfolio planning
Read the portfolio case study below →
+18% NPV
over life of mine, like for like, against the customer’s existing Xpac plan
Multi-plant life-of-mine optimisation →
35% → <5%
coal quality specification violations across a five-year plan
Coal quality consistency optimisation →
The whole value chain
Product portfolios in the context of the whole value chain
Which products an operation can sell depends on what each pit delivers, how material is stockpiled, washed and crushed, and how it is blended.
BlendOpt acts as a value chain solver for integrated operations, so the product portfolio is planned against the mine plan and together with ROM stockpiles and processing rather than in a separate spreadsheet. See how this works for coal blending software, multi-mine optimisation, stockpile optimisation and integrated mine planning and scheduling.
Product portfolio value chainMany pits. The right products.
BlendOpt model
- Mine planpit quality varies over time
- ROMstockpiles
- Processwashing & crushing
- Blendsblend decisions
- Productsfixed CV ranges
Optimisation objective
A product mix that fits what the mine produces
Blending decisions are optimised while satisfying the product distribution and operational constraints in every year of the plan.
Customer case study · Coal
Case study
Product portfolio optimisation
An order of magnitude less time spent on portfolio planning
An open-pit coal operation in Latin America producing over 31 million tonnes a year used BlendOpt to search for an optimal product portfolio across a 10-year planning horizon.
- 31+ Mtannual production capacity
- 10 yearsplanning horizon
- Fixed CVproduct ranges
Customer outcomes
- Optimal portfolio planning
- Automated data validation
- Transparent model, actionable insights
01
The challenge
An open-pit coal mining operation in Latin America containing many pits with varying coal quality over time needed to optimise a product portfolio across a long-term planning horizon of 10 years. The operation involved washing of a fixed proportion of material placed onto ROM stockpiles and crushing activities. Exported coal is transported to the port via railway and the operation has an annual production capacity of over 31 million tonnes.
The product portfolio consisted of many products based on fixed CV ranges. The operation presented a challenge for optimisation because the highly constrained, complex blending problem presented minimal flexibility in delivery of alternative products or adjusting quality specifications. Additionally, the product portfolio mix had to align with the frequency distribution of the grade of mined coal.
02
The solution
Using BlendOpt, the client modelled numerous stockpiles, blending decisions and product portfolio distributions over many years. For our client’s subject matter expert, this manual process had been very time consuming and prone to mistakes, despite their intimate knowledge of the operation. BlendOpt was used by the operation as a value chain solver for integrated operations, optimising the blending decisions while satisfying the product distribution and operational constraints.
03
The value unlocked
With BlendOpt our client tested multiple “what if” conditions to ensure robust planning of different product portfolios, in order to discover an optimal plan for their long-term planning problem. BlendOpt’s user-friendly UI and data validation provided transparency and confidence in the generated result. Our client reduced the time taken in planning activities by an order of magnitude, allowing users to spend more of their time on critical tasks such as day-to-day operations. The data integration and reporting functionality of BlendOpt also allowed the operation to use BlendOpt as a single point of truth for discussion with other stakeholders within the organisation.
FAQ
Product portfolio optimisation FAQ
How BlendOpt searches for the product portfolio that fits a long-term mine plan.
What is product portfolio optimisation in mining?
Product portfolio optimisation is deciding which products an operation should make, and how much of each, over a long-term planning horizon so it gets the most value from what it mines. It has to account for the quality of material coming from each pit over time, how that material is stockpiled and processed, and the specification of every product. BlendOpt treats this as a mathematical search, optimising the blending decisions while satisfying the product distribution and operational constraints.
Why is long-term product portfolio planning difficult?
Many operations have several pits whose quality changes over time, and products with tight specifications, such as fixed CV ranges for coal. That makes the blending problem highly constrained, with little flexibility to deliver alternative products or adjust quality specifications. The product mix also has to match the frequency distribution of the grade actually mined, which is hard to keep in balance by hand over many years.
How much time can product portfolio optimisation save?
In the case study on this page, a Latin American coal operation had been planning its product portfolio manually, which was time consuming and prone to mistakes even for an expert who knew the operation well. With BlendOpt it reduced the time taken in planning activities by an order of magnitude. That freed planners to spend more of their time on critical tasks such as day to day operations.
Can different product portfolios be compared before committing to one?
Yes. BlendOpt lets planners run multiple what-if scenarios, testing different product portfolios and operating conditions to find a plan that is robust over the long term. Automated data validation and a transparent model give confidence in each result, and the reporting makes it easier to discuss options with other stakeholders.
Does product portfolio optimisation add value beyond saving time?
Planning the whole value chain together, rather than in isolated steps, can change the value of the plan itself. On another project, BlendOpt delivered an 18% NPV increase over life of mine, like for like, against a customer's existing Xpac plan for an operation with multiple processing plants. At a coal operation, optimised planning cut quality specification violations from about 35% to under 5% across a five-year plan.