Jim Butler, CEO of Minemax, commented: “Our customers have been asking for this functionality, and we are very happy to deliver this new capability in this release.”

Minemax Scheduler is a strategic scheduling tool incorporating integrated optimisation of trucking, waste dumps, mineral processing and capital expenditure options that enables users to maximise the net present value of their projects and operations.

The company said that the new Minemax Scheduler Batch Optimizer functionality brings even greater efficiency and precision to the planning process, saving time and providing a greater volume of information on which to base strategic business decisions.

Butler advised: “Running multiple mine schedule optimisations for different scenarios can be very time consuming, but batch optimisation makes this process more efficient.”

Rather than sitting around and manually starting each scenario when the previous one finishes, users can start the batch optimisation, and then move on to other tasks while the Batch Optimizer runs all the scenarios in the background. The Batch Optimizer also displays notifications on the system taskbar, so users can check the results of the scenarios when they’ve been completed.

Butler added: “For a large number of scenarios, you can set up a delayed start to run the batch overnight and have the results waiting for you in the morning.”

Minemax Scheduler 6.2 with batch optimisation also includes further enhancements such as the definition of a per-period variable discount rate, improved pivot table outputs, the searching and filtering of lists, the selection of multiple source files on import and general bug fixes.