2.1. Mining method selection
Mining method selection (MMS) is a crucial issue in the plan-ning process of mining, and choosing the most appropriate miningmethod for a given mineral deposit among available alternativesis the goal of MMS. In fact, MMS significantly influences the eco-nomics, safety, and productivity of mine. Furthermore, MMS isrecognised as a multiple-attribute decision-making (MADM) prob-lem that requires concerning numerous factors, such as technicaland industrial problems, financial concerns, and mining relatedpolicies, environmental and social issues. Fig. 1 demonstrates aconceptual frame work of MMS.As shown in Fig. 1, not only numerous main criteria but alsotheir sub-criteria need to be in the consideration of MMS pro-cesses. For instance, Nicholas [9] categorised the factors consideredin MMS process, i.e., the 3D features of the deposit, geological andgeotechnical surroundings, environmental and economic consider-ations, and other industrial factors. In addition, political and sociallimitations, machinery, and workforce supply conditions are alsoimportant factors. Besides, it is rather difficult to delimit the rangesof criteria which have a huge influence on the selection process. Inaddition, there are a few mines that can be mined by a single min-ing method, but the majority of them require the use combinationsof two or more feasible methods.