Introduction
Coal production from surface mining has been on the increase ever since 1960, during the last 10 years coal production [1] from surface mining has grown enormously (Table 1). In fact, since 1974 the production from surface mining has exceeded that from underground mines. The US Federal Energy Administration [2] has predicted that surface mined coal would play an even more important role in meeting the projected production increase for the coal segment of the energy market (Table 2). Large production requirements from surface mines necessitate deployment of many large pieces of equipment. This equipment must be utilized efficiently by maintaining production at or near designed capacities. Basically, the problem is to select, size and schedule equipment to maximize production and minimize adverse environmental impacts [3]...
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