Computerized mine reclamation planning at Highland Valley Copper

Highland Valley Copper is a large low grade open pit copper mine in the Southern Interior of British Columbia and has one of the largest land disturbance areas amongst mining companies in the province. Mining operations have occurred since the early 1960's in four locations: Bethlehem, Highmont, Lornex and Valley, with the latter two still being active. In total, there is 6000 hectares of disturbed ground on the property. Reclaim Scheduler is a computerized mine reclamation planning program developed by Highland Valley Copper to manage this disturbance. Reclamation Scheduler, designed in Visual Basic, assists in creating annual, five year, mine life and decommissioning reclamation plans. Input data consists of the mine plan reclamation file, a cost file, a work location file and equipment availabilities. This program is run one year at a time, manipulating data from the work location file by reclaiming certain tracts of land. Output from the program includes a summary report of all the reclamation activities and costs and an updated work location file. The summary report presents costs and numbers relating to ground preparation, seeding, maintenance fertilizing, and equipment requirements. The updated work location file reflects all land inventory changes made over the year. In turn, it will be used as an input file for the subsequent year's reclamation plan.Non UBCUnreviewedOthe