Grant: Alliance Grants
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
$45,000.00
From mine to client: improving the performance, robustness and resilience of mineral supply chain logistics systems
FY 2024-25
Summary
Minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, and zinc are indispensable for the functioning of our technological society and for the green energy transition, essential to the fight against climate change. Therefore, the efficient flow of mineral-rich materials from mines to refined mineral products in the market is a critical issue not only for mining companies but also for the entire global economy and the world's transition to a lower-carbon future. This multidisciplinary research project will explore how digital-intelligence technologies can be leveraged to develop efficient, robust, and resilient logistics solutions that account for the particularities of the mining sector.
We focus on ore transportation, one of the most vital concerns in mining operations, and one that presents many challenges. Typically, ore from the mine goes to processing plants, and the refined products are subsequently shipped to customers using some combination of conveyor, truck, rail, and ship transport. This process is affected by several sources of uncertainty, including but not limited to supply, demand, costs, and equipment availability. We aim to develop decision-making tools for the design and planning of ore transportation logistics that explicitly account for the various uncertainties as well as the interactions among the stakeholders, thereby improving performance, robustness, and resilience and proactively managing potential mineral supply chain disruptions. Those tools will be based on optimization, analytics, and information technology.
As we are dealing with a context where there are decision makers at different levels and many sources of uncertainty, our results will have implications for other sectors with similar characteristics such as multimodal freight transportation. Our mining-industry focus will yield results that are directly applicable to Quebec's and Canada's mining industries, which in 2020 accounted for 21% of Canada's total merchandise exports and contributed $9 billion to Quebec's gross domestic product (GDP) and $107 billion to Canada's GDP.
Program
Alliance Grants
Location
Quebec, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
577201-2022
Name nom
Lamghari, Amina A
Department département
Management
Organization id
59
Institution établissement
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Province en
Québec
Province fr
Québec
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2024
Competition year année de concours
2022
Award amount
45000
Program id
ALLRP
Program name en
Alliance Grants
Program name fr
Subventions Alliance
Group en
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
Group fr
PARTENARIATS DE RECHERCHE
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
700
Area of application group en
Transportation systems and services
Area of application group fr
Services et systèmes de transport
Area of application en
Transportation systems and services
Area of application fr
Services et systèmes de transport
Research subject code
2956
Research subject group en
Applied mathematics
Research subject group fr
Mathématiques appliquées
Research subject en
Optimisation and optimal control theory
Research subject fr
Optimisation et théories de commande optimale
Field of research list names en
Not available
Field of research list names fr
Non disponible
Socioeconomic objective list names en
Not available
Socioeconomic objective list names fr
Non disponible
Application title
From mine to client: improving the performance, robustness and resilience of mineral supply chain logistics systems
Keywords
data analytics; digital intelligence; information technology; logistics and transport; mineral supply chains; optimisation; uncertainty and risk management
Application summary
Minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, and zinc are indispensable for the functioning of our technological society and for the green energy transition, essential to the fight against climate change. Therefore, the efficient flow of mineral-rich materials from mines to refined mineral products in the market is a critical issue not only for mining companies but also for the entire global economy and the world's transition to a lower-carbon future. This multidisciplinary research project will explore how digital-intelligence technologies can be leveraged to develop efficient, robust, and resilient logistics solutions that account for the particularities of the mining sector.
We focus on ore transportation, one of the most vital concerns in mining operations, and one that presents many challenges. Typically, ore from the mine goes to processing plants, and the refined products are subsequently shipped to customers using some combination of conveyor, truck, rail, and ship transport. This process is affected by several sources of uncertainty, including but not limited to supply, demand, costs, and equipment availability. We aim to develop decision-making tools for the design and planning of ore transportation logistics that explicitly account for the various uncertainties as well as the interactions among the stakeholders, thereby improving performance, robustness, and resilience and proactively managing potential mineral supply chain disruptions. Those tools will be based on optimization, analytics, and information technology.
As we are dealing with a context where there are decision makers at different levels and many sources of uncertainty, our results will have implications for other sectors with similar characteristics such as multimodal freight transportation. Our mining-industry focus will yield results that are directly applicable to Quebec's and Canada's mining industries, which in 2020 accounted for 21% of Canada's total merchandise exports and contributed $9 billion to Quebec's gross domestic product (GDP) and $107 billion to Canada's GDP.
