Maintaining product grade from diverse mine sites at BHP Billiton Iron Ore Newman Joint Venture

At BHP Billiton Iron Ore Newman Joint Venture (NJV) ore is railed, from four separate mine operations in the Newman area to Port Hedland, where the ore is screened, crushed and blended to produce lump and fines NJV products. Each mine's grade varies separately, so it is important that a centralised system is in place to control the overall blend and ensure that the products meet customer expectations. It is important that grade related decisions are built into the normal production process and have minimal impact on production rates. A continuous stockpile management system (CSMS) covering the whole NJV production process is used to generate the daily crushing schedule taking into account all currently available ore sources. Innovative additions to the CSMS provide more accurate information to support decision making by the mine schedulers; for example, blast hole estimates are continually adjusted for bias compared to crusher and port rake grades; Lump-fines grade split and beneficiation plant upgrade algorithms are updated on a continuous basis, and the dilution effect which impacts on reported port rake grades is removed.