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The process of creating a geological block model as the basis for a further detailed design and planning of mining operations is a very responsible task. Errors made during this initial process are transferred to all other phases of the mining project. Certainly, one of the most important decisions for the modelling process is the choice of the appropriate size of the blocks that form the model itself. The determination of the optimal block size is not a simple process, because it depends on a large number of affecting factors and criteria. This process can be significantly facilitated by the application of multi-criteria analysis methods, which enable establishment of interdependence between the criteria in order to select the optimal solution. This paper presents the possibilities of applying the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) method for selecting the optimal block size for the needs of the coal deposit modelling process and mine planning, as well as the way in which this method can significantly facilitate problem solving, by looking at it from several aspects. The analysis included six criteria and four potential solutions, and the results themselves indicated the advantages and disadvantages of the applied method.

Today deposits are often, small in size, with poor quality and with complex structure and geometry, which makes them very difficult to mine. For this reasons, taking into account a wide range of parameters is the most important thing for the successful managing of the economically viable project. The problem is that practically, value of every parameter is strongly connected with many uncertainties. That's why, all uncertainties should be incorporated in calculations in order to provide more realistic solutions. The core of pit optimization is the economic value of every block in block model. The economic block value depends on many parameters of an uncertain value. This paper presents a model for calculating the economic block value and generating optimal pits that can be used for the uncertainty assessment. The developed model is a combination of conventional (deterministic) and stochastic approaches. The presented model takes into account the uncertainty of parameters for the determination of block value. The paper also makes a comparison between ultimate pits generated by conventional and stochastic models of economic block value. This comparison can be used for the uncertainty assessment associated with the optimization of pit limits for coal or metal deposits.

In contemporary mining industry is very difficult to achieve production targets and profit without investing effort in detailed excavation planning. It is especially true for deposits with complex geological structure and production technology, as is the case for many coal mines in Serbia. The majority of coal production is used for generation of electricity in power plant. This fact is the main reason why production objectives of coal mine and power plant are strongly connected. Due to the fluctuation of the coal quality, operational mine planning (as a part of coal homogenization process), is of critical importance for managing successful coal quality control and meeting criteria of power plant. This paper investigates advantage of proper operational planning on coal quality control process and overall production performance. For better understanding case study is conducted on open pit Tamnava West field. Successful operational mine planning is almost impossible without use of modern software packages. For that reason in presented case study operational mine planning is done with Minex software.