The DICE Simulation Model Unlocks Significant Value for a Large Greenfield Mining Project
BHP Billiton’s greenfield potash mining project will establish a foundation for its entry into bulk fertilizer commodities. Our clean slate approach fully integrated a broad and complex scope of underground mining, ore processing, and outbound logistics. During the pre-feasibility phase, the project sought higher returns from lower capital expenditures (capex), lower operating expenditures (opex), and higher production capacity. Competitive advantage in these value drivers was derived from innovative advanced modelling. DICE – a Detailed Integrated Capacity Estimate model – was created using discrete event simulation techniques. Using DICE, we worked with the Engineering Services provider, concerned with capex, and the Owner’s Operations team, concerned with opex, to perform holistic trade-offs to maximize the project’s return on investment. In the pre-feasibility study, this collaborative approach delivered a significant capacity increase with no capex impact, which added more than $100 million to the project’s net present value (NPV).