Consulting · Mine Design
Mine Design & Infrastructure
Open pit and underground mine designs, layouts, access and infrastructure planning that balance safety, productivity and capital efficiency across the life of the asset.
Designs built to be mined
Engineering that works on the ground
Good mine design is where geology, geotechnics, economics and operability meet. We provide mine planning consulting services and designs for open pit and underground mines that are not only optimised on paper, but practical to build, safe to operate and efficient to run.
From pit shells and pushback staging to decline and stope layouts, ventilation and surface infrastructure, our designs are grounded in real operational experience.
A design is only as good as its execution. We engineer for the operator, not just the model.
Scope
What our design service covers
Open pit design
Ultimate pit and staged pushbacks, ramp and bench design, and waste dump and stockpile layouts.
Underground design
Decline, level and stope design, development layouts and extraction sequencing.
Infrastructure & layout
Surface and underground infrastructure, ROM and materials handling, and site layout planning.
Geotechnical integration
Designs that incorporate slope angles, ground support and hydrogeological constraints.
Ventilation & services
Primary ventilation, services and the engineering that keeps underground operations safe.
Equipment & haulage
Fleet selection, haulage profiles and productivity assumptions matched to the design.
Outcomes
From concept to construction-ready
- Pit and underground designs aligned to the resource model and study stage
- Designs that satisfy geotechnical, ventilation and safety requirements
- Layouts that optimise haulage, materials handling and infrastructure cost
- Designs reconciled to schedules, equipment and development rates
- Clear drawings and documentation for study reporting or execution
FAQ
Mine design, answered
Do you design both open pit and underground mines?
Yes. For open pits we design stages, dumps and haul networks to the geotechnical slope parameters; for underground mines we design declines, level layouts, stope shapes and ventilation and services — including projects transitioning from open pit to underground. Every design is integrated with the schedule and cost model so it is minable and financeable, not just drawable.
How does mine design fit into a study?
Mine design defines the physical basis of a study: design quantities drive the schedule, the capital and operating cost estimates, the economic analysis and ultimately the Ore Reserve. The level of design detail rises with each stage — conceptual at scoping, engineered at pre-feasibility, detailed at definitive feasibility — to match each stage's accuracy target as described in the AusIMM Study Processes Handbook.
What software do you use?
Industry-standard mine planning and design packages, selected to suit the commodity, mining method and the client's environment, with designs reconciled against the geological, geotechnical and scheduling models so the outputs agree with each other.
Sources: AusIMM Study Processes Handbook — Monograph 35 (2024) · AusIMM codes & standards
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Designing a pit or a decline?
Tell us the orebody, the mining method and the constraints, and we will scope the design and infrastructure work.