Fresh Thinking by Snowden Optiro16 Heinä 2025

Ep 119: The Dangerous Comfort of One Mine Plan

What if your mine plan is giving you a false sense of security?

In this episode of Fresh Thinking, Dr Gregory Zhang is joined by Dr Tarrant Elkington, General Manager of Snowden Optiro, to discuss the shift from traditional deterministic planning to stochastic mine planning - and why it matters more than ever.

They explore what stochastic planning really is, how it can improve confidence in your production forecasts, and why the mining industry has been slow to adopt it despite decades of development.

Key Topics:

00:04 – Introduction: Traditional vs. stochastic mine planning
02:33 – What is stochastic planning and how is it different?
04:00 – Real-world benefits: From robust forecasts to better design
06:19 – Why industry adoption has been slow
09:35 – The challenge of conditional simulations in practical workflows
11:23 – Insights from ASX market announcements and reporting methods
12:52 – Why mining engineers don't use geological simulations (yet)
13:57 – Is using one realisation enough?
15:16 – Open pit vs. underground: different design approaches
17:00 – Bridging the gap with better models and tools
18:30 – The rise of COSMO & other stochastic tools
19:05 – Being pragmatic: How to link theory to real-world value

🔗 Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all your favourite podcast platforms.

👍 Like, comment and subscribe for more insights from the team at Snowden Optiro.

If you would like to contact Tarrant or Greg: contact(at)snowdenoptiro.com

Who we are:
Snowden Optiro is a resources consulting and advisory group that provides independent advice, consulting and training to mining and exploration companies, their advisors and investors.

We help mine developers to advance their projects, mining companies to improve their operations and their professionals, and investors to de-risk their investments by the provision of quality advice, training and software in the field of Mineral Resources and Mineral/Ore Reserves.

For training or consulting enquiries: training(at)snowdenoptiro.com contact(at)snowdenoptiro.com

https://snowdenoptiro.com/

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