# Assessing of Losses and Dilution Impact on the Cost Chain: Case Study of Gold Ore Deposits
## 1 Introduction
### Mine-to-Mill Concept  
Mine-to-Mill (translated from English as \"from mine to factory\") is a methodology that focuses on the development of an integrated strategy for optimizing production, crushing of ore, as well as its further grinding, in order to reduce costs per ton of ore and increase profitability of production. Mine-to-mill links aspects of mining industry to mineral processing. The goal of this linking is optimization of all processing stages. When the concept is effectively implemented, it can bring huge productivity gains in the range of 10-20% [11]. Therefore, starting in the 1990s, the concept of \"Mine-to-Mill\" was formed, which is based on the task of effectively combining the processes of extraction and enrichment, as well as on the total cost of production instead of the cost of individual operations. The first simulation studies and research projects, based on the mine-to-mill concept, started in the 2000s. From the 2010s the mine-to-mill concept has been used as a production tool and an ongoing population of block model with orebody and processing parameters [11]. According to [PERSON] [12], mine-to-mill is really just a code for making effort and putting the processes in place to record, in an accessible format, an understanding of the orebody, how changes in the orebody and operating practice drive productivity and production, and understanding the operating parameters in the mine and mill, which can be manipulated to improve productivity and operating costs. The other definition, made by [PERSON], is concentrated on energy consumption. In his concept, mine-to-mill is a holistic approach to the optimization of mining and processing operations. It attempts to minimize energy consumption of particle size reduction processes [13]. Another definition was made by [PERSON]. According to him, mine-to-mill is an improvement that involves optimizing the chain of rock breakage process from the in situ rock in the mine to the output of the concentrator [14]. Development of the mine-to-mill concept was carried out by foreign studies in the framework of the following issues:  
* Simulation studies on the relationship between fragmentation and throughput of a SAG mill [15,16];
* Ore hardness indicators [17] and geotechnical parameters in mine block models and subsequent optimization of mill productivity [18];
* Integrated communication modeling systems for blasting, grinding and flotation [19,20]. Many researchers tried to develop a methodology to analyze and optimize the whole production process in the mine [21]. For example, they introduced the concept of a holistic approach to mine-to-mill process optimization. Using this concept, authorities of the company could achieve an increase in profitability [22]. Those mine-to-mill optimization concepts were based on many case studies, for example, open pit mining [23] or pit-to-plant operations [24]. The ultimate goal of mine-to-mill optimization is to improve the energy efficiency of rock breakage by optimizing blast fragmentation [25,26]. Crushing and grinding in the mines are some of the most energy-intensive processes in the industry. Rock breakage comprises of about 30-60% of total energy consumption in the mines. Because of that, this process impacts not only energy consumption, but total mine productivity. An improvement of this process can be made using mine-to-mill optimization [27]. The common goal of many mine-to-mill studies is whole mill performance [28, 29, 30], but some authors concentrate on drilling and blasting performance [31, 32, 33]. The use of the mine-to-mill concept is very beneficial for organizations. First, we can achieve many productivity benefits using it. Analyses were made in many countries including Canada, Argentina, Papua New Guinea, Australia, USA, Indonesia, Peru, Chile, Laos, Ghana, Mali, and Mongolia; these found the product increase to be mainly at 10-20%, but in some cases up to 60% [34,35]. Using assets available in the organization, we can maximize production volume and minimize the cost per ton.