Reducing Mining Costs Through

Computer Technology
tem operators. These systems differ
Small, inexpensive computers are showing up wherever
from other machinery in that they
data need to be communicated rapidly, control often must IK’ at least partially Custom
bui]t. Some systems will differ onlyby
exercised, or decisions made. The mining industry is the, computer programs they use,
taking advantage of the technology to reduce costs and while, others must be custom built
from scratch,
improve productivity. In order for technology to be
\vorth\vhile, its value must exceed its
“Soft technology’’-computcrs and Pit output is geared to the mill feed costs. If technology is used to increase
computer programs-brings to mind a rate and designed waste removal rate. productivity in the pit, then value
room full of machines, tape drives, must exceed savings in production
Pit productivity increases, therefore,
disks, plotters, and printers spitting costs. Decisions about whether or not
are usually taken as some form of sav-
out financial reports. Computers now to invest in technology are made
ings rather than increased production.
have a much broader scope of applica- easier if savings can be converted to
tions because of reductions in equil3- Interactive computer systems can
dollars so that costs and savings can be
ment size and cost, For examplv, be used to increase pri)ductivity compared in like terms.
people now interact directly with Costs associated \vith the systems in- There are three basic problems in
computers to control events. Such clude procurement and operating ex- assessing the impact of technology” on
computers and associated equip penses, as with any other e(luipment mine operations:
ment-called interactive control Operating cost iuclude maintenance, ● IIOW to measure productivity in-
systems—are often small, relatively consumables sLIch as paper, and sys- creases;
inexpensive, and can be designed to
increase productivity at mining opera-
tions, This is accomplished by im-
proving communications between in-
dividuals; giving emplovees the in-
formation lleed&l to ;nake decisions
in real time, m events are hoppeniug;
and giving individuals the back-
ground needed to perform more effec-
tively.
This paper will clc,scribc a proc(:-
dure for cletermining the return on in-
vestment for interatitive c(mtrol sys-
tems, and describe four such systems.
The analysis process is general in na-
ture and can he applied to any type of
mining operation or production pro-
cess.

Improving Mine Productivity

An open-pit mining opcratiou in-
cludes mine operations (pit, crusher,
ancl waste disposal areas), ancl mill
operations (stockpile, mill, al}d nlill
tailings disposal areas), The coarse
ore stockpile serves M a buffer be-
tween the mill and pit, which pro-
I,ides a degree of independence be-
tween the two components. The mill
is designed to occept ore at a specific
rate. Considerable expense is re-
quired to change the rate to :Luy alJ-
preciable degree.

Michael E. Stickney is a systems engineer

at Amax Explorotian Inc.’s Mount Tol-
man praject, Box 680, Grand Coulee, The abave diagram illustrates a portian of pit operations showing receivers and
WA 99133. associated suppliers of factar services,
Michael E.Stickney

. How to take the resulting sav-

ings; and
● How to mcwsurc those savings
In order t{) answer th(,se (]uestit)ns,
a special diagraming tc~chni(lne is
introduced that dividc>s the mine
component into constituent factors
callrcl factors t)f’t>roduction. In acidi-
tion, a diagram in:}icates relati(mships
hetweeu factor-s. The diagranl is part
of~~sirnl)letilli~lysis tooltoassnre that
a complete and accurate’ audit of pm first results firorn a change in the, other. prior to implementing the technology
tential returns (jr] invc’stmcnt is made. The total tons-per-shift attribute of the by using mocleliug and simulation.
A sample diagram is shown in tht> pit operations” factor is the sum t)fthc After irnplt’nlellt~itiorl, the gain can he
accompanying figure that decom- tt)ns-pc>r-trnck- shift attrihutv across computed from actual data.
p(xws a portion of pit operations. The all trllcks participating in the shift, The increase in dispatching prn-
lines iudicatt, the receivers and as- dnctivity can lw taken as a reduction
;md Ilc,nc<’ is depc’ndcnt on the attri -
sociated suppliers of factor scrvicc’s: hutc f’~)rCIach individwd tr{lck. Thws, in opc, ratin,g hours instead of an
. Maintenance, services trucks; t{)tal pit output will increase the pro- e(luipment savings. Assuming that
● Disp:\tch instructs drivers; material isdelivered toitsdestinati(m
ductivity of’ trucks.
● Training instructs personnel; OU(> of the advantages of the, atacoustant rate, an 11% decrease in
. Trucks deliver material to operating hours is possible. This
analysis tool being dc, scribed is that it
crushers and waste disposal areas; provides an easy \vay to account for t’(jui~tes toagainofeight,” result in gin
and wavs th:lt productivity increases a savings of 0.88 hours per shift.
● Shovels deposit material into cou”]d he lost. one of the fictors of Ac[mmulatiug the savings over a
trucks. period of 10 d:ays amounts to a savings
production in the associated figure is
Interactive control systems can im- If they are not ofone day. An ordoff schedule such as
haul trllck drivers.
prove productivity of dispatch, adcv]uatc’ly trained ill the use of a dis- 10 and 4 is not uncommon in the min-
maintenance, and training. To solvc~ ing industry. After introducing the
patch system or it is awk\vard f[rr the’m
the shove pr(~hlerns, iderrtify the fhc- dispatch system, such a schedule
to use, predicted productivity in-
tor with which tc,chno]ogy will cli- could prohab]y be changed to 9 and 5.
creases fhr trucks co~llde:lsilyf~~ilto”
rectly interact. For example, if’ dis- The schedule is kept flexible, provid-
n]ateri~dize.
patch is to he studied, locate the Savings resulting from productivity ing a techni(jue for adjusting pit out-
shovel and truck opemtors.
increases can he taken by altering at- put.

tributes in relatccl factors on which To review the concept of gain, it

~{ttrihutes recording productivity in- converts percentile increases in pro-
Converting Productivity creases depend. The accompanying ductivity intn savings. The larger the
Into Savings figure shuws ancxarnple ofhowsav- gain, the greater the savings. It can he
ings can he taken resu]tin~ from a measured prior to or after the applica-
The general techni(!ue for convert- c(lrllll~lt[~r-~~ssisted dispatch system. tion of tecllnolo~y. Before its intro-
ing productivity increases into sav- For the c’xample, the productivity in- duction, modeling and simulation can
ings can Iw illustrated I)y wsing the crease will be represented as an ll!ZO be used to estimate its value. After
comp~ltc’r-:ii[lc>(l dispatch system as an incrc~ast, in total t<)ns-ptlr-shift fi)rthc, technology application, real data can
example, For the dispatc}l system, pit This is the avc’rage value ofpro- lW used tu measure. gain.
productivity improvement rnmst IN’ dllctivity increas{j r(’aliz(~d at the’ Gain dt!pencls on where the produc-
identified somewhere in fhctors rt’- PhtIlps Dodge> mine at Tyrouc, NM, tivity increwe is measured MIC1 how
lated to truck and shovel opemtors. It according to a report at the, American tht, savings is taken. It is a]su (]uite
is designe(l to improve the productiv- Millillg CO1~gr{’ssc ollv(’Iltioll in SC’p- d[’pcndent on the mine production
ity of trucks imd shovels. This is ver- tc>mh(’r 1980. configuration. Gain is clifferc, nt for dif-
ified I)v (,xarnining the numc,ricn] at- The productivity increasv can lx’ ferc,nt mines and even for the same
trihutei of trucks and shovels Iwfore converted into a reduction in the truck mine nndc’r diffc>rerrt conditions. The
and nfter armlication of the technol- flec>t, resulting in the’ same total tons- gain is non-zc’rw for every attribute
ogy. F()]- ex~~llplc, the, tons-per-truck- prr-shift for the pitas heforc the tc’vh- dependent on the attributt> meosuring
shift attribute t)f trucks and the tons- nology” was introcluct>d. Tht’ conver- th(, productivity increase. For ttttri-
per-shovel-shift attribute of shovels si(~n frx)n~ total tons-per-shift to trllcks hutes of factors not related to the fac-
should incrcasc’. Attribute’s of relate’d is accomplished h,y a convc~rsion” fLtc- tor intcractiug with the technology,
factors derwndent on the i~lx)ve attri- tor callt’d the measur(’rnent gain, the gain is zero.
~.
I)utes \vil~ show corresponding pro- \vhich dcpc~nds on thl> mt’asur[’c ln - At the Mount T(llnum project, ex-
ductlwty Incrwklst,s. OUL, factor is de- cr(>asc, in pr(xlllctivity :md c’lemc’rlt of t[,nsivc> rc,search and d[,velopmt’nt are
pendent on another if a chang(’ in the savings. ThC’ gain can he computed unclc, r\vay to design a vehicle dispatch
 A computer-assisted maintenance program attempts to reduce equipment
waiting time, speed up the servicing process, and improve work quality.

system specifically tailored to rather control systems. Equipment produc- either the waste disposal area, ore
unusual needs. What makes Mount tivity can be improved by increasing stockpile, or crushers. After a truck
Tolman unusual is that a pit will not availability and utilization. E(]uip- deposits its load, it returns to the
be formed until about 20 years after ment becomes more available if down shovel for reloading. Manual dis-
mining commences. The first 20 years time is reduced, and better utilized if patching can he as simple as assigning
are spent removing the mountain top. idle time is reduced. Employee pro- trucks to fixed routes at the beginning
This means the dispatcher cannot ductivity can be increased by improv- of the shift, or as complicate’d as as-
view the entire mining operation. As a ing ability and knowledge. In this signing trucks to new routes with
result, assembling needed inftJrnla- context, ability is the capability to every load. Instructions to drivers can
tion for the dispatcher is so slow that (]ul~kly and accurately perform a be given by shovel whistle signals,
efficient dispatching is impossible. well-defined procedure, such as re- voice radio, or any other available
Routine dispatching can be con- placing a head gasket on an engine. means.
ducted by the computer without deg- Knowledge is defined as a store of in- With a computer-assisted dispatch
radation, but the handling of non- formation, including the ability to use system the situation is quite different.
routine situations suffers. To solve it to draw correct conclusions. Each truck has a specially designed
this problem, techniques are being Four interactive control systems computer terminal in the cab. All
tested to synthesize by computer a will be discussed. Two improve operator instructions are given to
picture of operations using a 480-mm machine productivity and two im- drivers on the terminal display. For
color graphic display. This will pro- prove individual capabilities. Dis- instance, a driver leuviug a shovel
vide a birds-eye view of operations patch and maintenance are applied to \vith a full load is told to go to waste
similar to an air traffic controller’s dis- equipment, but are used by people to dump #1. A driver returning empty is
play. Such extraordinary measures are achieve the increases. All savings that told to go to shovel #4. operators ac-
being considered because of the large result from these increases, however, knowledge recwipt of a Lnessaxe by
dollar value of efficient dispatching. are accrued by the e(]uipmcnt. pushinga button. The dispatchers’ job
is reduced to dealing with special
problems. Under normal circum-
Candidates for Improvement Computer-Assisted stances the computer issues instruc-
Dispatch System tions to truck operators.
Production elements f~dl into two
The computer is able to optimize
distinct classes, people and machines. In an open-pit mine, haul trucks
truck dispatching. This reduces the
Each can be helped by interactive carry material from shovel sites to
time that trucks spend waiting in line
for access to crushc,rs, shovels, or dis-
posal areas. As a result, truck utiliza-
tion is improvccl. Also, shovels do not
sit idle waiting fbr a truck, so their
utilization is inlproved as well. The
result is delivery of more material to
the crushers and disposal areas with
fewer trucks.

Computer-Assisted
Maintenance
Computer assisted rnaintcnance is
rc,ceiving attention because of possi-
ble large savings in e(]uipmcnt.
E(]uipment is available for use only
part of the time; it is unavailable at
times due to maintenance ancl repuir.
E(luipment uill sit in the nlaintc-
rrancc facility awaiting rcp~lir until rc-
(lUlrc’d parts and resources sllch as
t(x)ls, personnel, and space are avail-
able. Nc’cessary administrative work
must also be accomplished to deliver
needed resourccjs to the workplace at
th[ right time.
A computer dispatch system increased productivity an average of 11 O/.at the Phelps A collll>~lter-+issist(’[1 maintenance
Dodge mine in Tyrone, NM, as illustrated in the above diagram. program attempts to rcclucc e(]uip-
ment waiting time, to speed up the
servicing process, and to improve
work t]uality. This is achieved by de-
termining parts, tools, personnel,
space, and inventory re(luirements.
Determinations are based on arts re-
placement histories and ti e fre-
qUenCY Of rePair and maint~nan~e
procedures. Administrative overhead
is reduced and maintenance and re- A computer-assisted dispatch system OIIOWS greater material delivery with fewer
pair resources are optimally utilized trucks.
when the corn uter schedules work,
produces wor [ orders, and orders
parts. individual is asked to make a decision New techniques being tested and in
Using a computer-assisted mainte- without adcx~uate training and ex- use employ computers to accomplish
nance system can return equipment to perience, information can be su plied training, The aircraft industry, for
service more (luickly and at lower to the system, allowing it to ma ! e the example, has used expensive com-
cost, This is accomplished by reduc- decision. For example, with an puter-driven cockpit simulators for
ingthe time that tx]uipment sits await- expert-based system designed for use pilot training for several years. For
ing service, and reducing resource re- by haul truck mechanics, the most situations such elaborate tech-
(luirements to deliver service by im- mechanic receives information from a niques are not necessary.
proving their efficiency. monitor and communicates with the One simple system combines the
An increase in maintenance pro- computer through a hand-held termi- computer and audio visual training.
ductivity can be measured by noting nal. The system first presents the material
an increase in e(luipment ready for one expert-based system, called audio-visually. It then determines
use but sitting idle because it is not Prospector, is being developed by areas that need further reinforcement
needed. In the case of haul trucks for Stanford Research Institute. It is in- with an examination conducted by the
an open-pit mine, count the nurnberof tended for use by exploration computer. As a result of the examinat-
trucks on the ready line. Problems in geologists. Prospector stores informa- ion, deficient areas are determined
maintenance throughput are reHected tion about mineral exploration in a and additional audio-visual presen-
in the number of trucks at the dead- computer and make it available to ex- tations are made covering that par-
line awaiting service. ploration geologists through interac- ticular material.
tive discourse between geologist and The result of using computer-
computer. assisted training is achievement of
System Increases The result of using expert-based training levels at a lower cost than
Employee Productivity systems is an improvement in indi- more traditional methods. It has not
An expert-based system is specif- vidual productivity. This is accom- been established that computer train-
ically designed to increase individual Iished by augmenting skills and ing outperfbrrns an instructor. A small
productivity. One obvious way to in- Enowledge, allowing employees to computer, however, is far less expen-
crease productivity is to reduce the accomplish assigned tasks more sive than an instructor.
time required to perform services quickly without sacrificing quality, Each of these four interactive con-
without sacrificing work (Iuality or For e(luipment maintenance, the re- trol systems could potentially im-
undermining individual resolve to do sult is faster return of equipment to prove productivity of mining opera-
a good job. Traditional techniques for duty; for the exploration geologist it is tions. Preliminary analysis indicates
achieving productivity increases in- more accurate analysis at lower cost. that all four systems could easily pay
volve training and additional de- for themselves within the first year of
mands on performance, which can operation. To determine the return on
Computerized Training investment of systems and insure that
undermine resolve, Training removes
emp]oyees from the work force fbr a Since open-pit mining is so capital savings are not lost requires careful
period of time. Also, training must intensive, instruction is required to accounting and management. Produc-
often be reinforced periodically by re- train operators on the highly spe- tivity increases can be easily lost and
training or additional training. cialized equipment. The emphasis on systems discarded as unprofitable.
Computers can supplement our mine safety also re(luires training and This can happen because of improper
cognitive abilities from without rather retraining so that employees are sen- design, accounting procedures, or
than stretching our capacities from sitive to ‘unsafe cond?ti~ns and rac- management practices. With care and
within. If information is needed to tices. Traditional training met [ ods attention to detail, interactive com-
perform an assigned task, it can be include instructor/classroom teach- puter systems have a high probability
received from the system, easily un- ing, video tape or slide presentations, of being successful and realizing pro-
derstood, and put to use. Also, if an and reading. jected productivity increases.D