MM 311

MINE TRANSPORTATION AND

MATERIALS HANDLING

COURSE INSTRUCTOR
MR ASANTAEL H. MLAY (ENGINEER)

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 Course contents
1. Broken Rock Loading Machines – Rope Shovels, Hydraulic
Mining Shovels, Front End Loaders, Trackless Load Haul
Dump Units
2. Off Road Haul Trucks and Trackless Haul Trucks;
3. Railway Tramming
4. Queuing Theory and Application
5. Conveyor Systems design
6. Mine water services (mine drainage and dewatering)
7. Pneumatic Conveying of Solids
8. Hoisting Systems
9. Slurry Transportation
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 Recommended Books
• Alexandrov, M.P., (1981) Material Handling Equipment,
Mir Publishers, Moscow, Latest Edition
• CEMA (Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association)
(1997) “Belt Conveyors for Bulk Materials", 5th Edition, 1
volume, 464 pages.
• Hartman H. L. (1992) “SME Mining Engineering
Handbook”, 2nd Edition, 2 volumes.
• Hustrulid W. et al (1983) “Underground Mining Methods
Handbook”., Publisher: SME,
• M.A., Alspaugh, R.O. Bailey (1996) “Bulk Material Handling
by Conveyor Belt”. 12
 Course Assessment
2 Tests, 2 Assignments, 4 Quizzes and University
Examination.
• Assignments- 6%
• Quizzes - 4%
• 1st test -15%
• 2nd test - 15%
• University Exam - 60%

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 Course Teaching Schedule
WEEK 1 Registration
WEEK 2 and 3 Broken Rock Loading Machines (loading), Off road and
trackless haul tracks (hauling) and Railway tramming (hauling)
Production calculations (for loading and hauling units)
WEEK 4, 5 and 6 Queuing theory , Conveyor systems design
WEEK 7 Test one
WEEK 8 & 9 Mine drainage and dewatering (water services)
WEEK 10 Pneumatic conveying of solids
WEEK 11 Slurry transportation
WEEK 12 & 13 Hoisting systems design
WEEK 14 & 15 Test 2 + 2nd Assignment (presentation)
WEEK 3, 5 & 6 Public holidays (9TH DEC, 25TH DEC & 1st JAN)

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 TOPIC 1
LOADING AND HAULING OF MATERIALS

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 CLASSIFICATION OF LOADING AND HAULAGE EQUIPMENT
Load Haul Combine
No Minimal Non-fixed Fixed path Mobile Fixed-base
tramming tramming path

Discrete Loading Front-end Truck Rail, Tractor scraper Dragline

shovel, loader Shuttle car Skip hoist, Dozer Stripping-
Unit Backhoe, (FEL) Slusher, Load-haul-dump shovel
Hydraulic Aerial (LHD)
front shovel tramway

Continuo Bucket Bulk Solids This category is characterized by

Wheel Belt single machines. Rather,
us flow Excavator , Conveyor continuous loaders and haulers are
(BWE) Screw placed in series to create a
Bucket Conveyor continuous flow of material eg
Chain Pneumatic long wall shearer and chain
Excavator, transport conveyor, BWE and belt conveyor
(BCE) auger head and screw conveyor.
Dredge, Therefore, production capacity of
Continuous the combined system is the
Miner smaller production of the two
components.
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 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES THAT AFFECT THE HANDLING OF
MATERIALS
 Abrasion - scrape, scratch, scuff, graze;

 Adhesion - the ability to make firm contact with a surface without

slipping;

 Cohesion - the state or condition of joining or working together to

form a united whole;

 Angle of repose

 Compressibility

 Bulk density

 Particle density

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 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES CONTINUED…..
 Friability- powdery , brittle

 Moisture content

 Hygroscopicity – Ability to absorb moisture from the air

 Fragment size

 Fragment shape

 Void ratio

 Angle of surcharge
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 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES CONTINUED…..

 Swell
– Swell factor
 Shrinkage
– Shrinkage factor

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SWELL AND SHRINKAGE CALCULATION

OR

OR

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 FUNDAMENTAL TERMS THAT ARE INDEPENDENT
OF SPECIFIC EQUIPMENT TYPES:

 Production

 Production rate

 Productivity

 Efficiency

 Availability

 Utilization
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 FUNDAMENTAL TERMS CONTINUED…..
 Capacity - Struck capacity and Heaped capacity

 Rated capacity

 Swell factor

 Bucket fill factor

 Cycle

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 FACTORS AFFECTING SELECTION OF MATERIALS
HANDLING SYSTEMS:
 Material property
 Haulage distance
 Production rate
 Cost
 Compatibility with chosen mining systems (Access to
the destination)
 Roadway conditions(gradient, undulation, soft floor
etc)

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 STEPS IN EQUIPMENT SELECTION:

The basic steps are as follows:

 Determine required production

 Determine reach or haul path

 Calculate cycle time

 Calculate capacity

 Iterate to improve productivity

 Calculate fleet size

 Iterate to reduce owning and operating costs

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 SURFACE MINING HAULING AND LOADING EQUIPMENT:

Excavating and loading equipment

Shovel – include electric and rope shovel

Back Hoe Excavator – hydraulic

Front End Loader

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Electric Rope Shovel with Rack & Pinion Crowd
91 tonne nominal payload
Bucket capacities: 24.5 to 64.3 m3

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Electric Rope Shovel with Rope Crowd
100 tonnes nominal payload
Bucket capacities: 30.6 to 61.2 m3

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 CROWD
MECHANISM

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HYDRAULIC FRONT SHOVELS

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BIGGEST HYDRAULIC SHOVEL – O&K RH400
Weight – 800 t
Engine – 2984 kW
Digging height – 16.4 m
Digging reach – 17.5 m
Breakout force – 2100 kN
Bucket payload – 72 t
Bucket Size – 40-45 m3

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 Electric Cable Shovels
 Shovels are the primary excavation tools used in
surface mines
Electric cable shovels use a combination of hoist cables
(hoist), rack and pinion drives (rotation and crowd), and
hydraulics (bail) to remove material from the muck pile .

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Some of the largest shovel buckets

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 EQUIPMENT SELECTION
 Some of the important variables in selecting a shovel
include:
a) Infrastructure
b) Bench height
c) Tonnage required
d) Maintenance facilities
e) Truck size
f) Dipper size
g) Mine layout
h) Selectivity requirements

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 ESTIMATING CYCLE TIMES (EXCAVATOR):
 The digging cycle of the excavator is composed of four
segments:
 Load bucket
 Swing loaded
 Dump bucket
 Swing empty

 The total cycle time is dependent on machine size (small

machines can cycle faster than large machines) and job condition.

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 EXAMPLE OF LOADING SHOVEL MODELS:
Loading Shovels
Flywheel Horsepower Operating Weight Bucket Capacity
Model
(kW) (HP) (kg) (m³)
PC400-7 246 330 43100 2.6
PC400-8R 270 362 43440 2.6
PC400LC-7 246 330 44300 2.6
PC400LC-8R 270 362 44840 2.6
PC600-7 287 385 61100 4
PC600-8R 320 429 61300 4
PC600LC-7 287 385 62200 4
PC600LC-8R 320 429 62300 4
PC750-7 338 454 76000 4.5 - 5.1
PC800-8R 363 487 77000 4.5 - 5.1
PC1250-7 485 651 110000 6.5
PC1250-8R 502 672 110900 6.5
PC2000-8 713 956 195000 11
PC3000-6 940 1260 250000 10 - 20
PC4000-6 1400 1875 380000 16 - 28
PC5500-6 1880 2520 527000 20 - 36
PC8000-6 3000 4020 700000 28 - 50

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 HYDRAULIC EXCAVATORS:

 Favorable: Non–Favorable
 Single Loading Face
 Requires Clean-Up
 Tight Digging Materials
Support

 Face Height to Stick Length  High Benches

 Short Swings (15o)

 Low Angle of Repose
 High Production/Job Set-Up

 Dig Below and Above Grade

 Tight Quarters
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HYDRAULIC BACK HOE EXCAVATOR

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FRONT END LOADER:

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SMALL KOMATSU WHEEL LOADER LOADING HOPPER
FROM STOCKPILE FOR CONVEYOR BELT SYSTEM

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CAT - FRONT-END-LOADER SERIES:

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 Net Power Operating Bucket Capacities
Model Weight

481 hp 109249 lb
988H 354 kW 50800 kg 6.3 - 7.0 m3
627 hp 171642 lb
990H 468 kW 77842 kg 8.4 - 9.2 m3
812 hp 209278 lb
992G 597 kW 94930 kg 10.7 - 12.3 m3
801 hp 214948 lb
992K 597 kW 97295 kg 10.7 - 12.3 m3 14 - 16 yd3
950 hp 294800 lb
993K 708 kW 133637 kg 12.2 - 23.7 m3 16 - 31 yd3
430782.75 l
1600 hp b
994F 1176 kW 195400 kg 14 - 36 m3

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Front End Loader [FEL] continued………

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 STEPS IN SELECTING THE PROPER SIZE LOADER

1. Determine the production required

2. Determine the loader cycle time and cycles per hour

3. Determine required payload per cycle in loose cubic metres or kgs

4. Determine bucket size needed

5. Make machine selection using bucket size and payload as criteria to

meet production of the machine selected.

6. If there is a difference, re-work the process beginning at step 2.

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 Loader Cycle Times
This includes: Load, Dump, and maneuver

 A basic cycle time (Load, Dump, Maneuver) of 0.45 -

0.55 minutes is average for an articulated loader, but
variations can be anticipated in the field.

 Using actual job conditions and corrective factors.

 Note that larger machines have higher cycle times.

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PRODUCTION CALCULATIONS

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 Production Calculations
 Volume Measure:

 BCM (BCY) – One cubic metre ( yard) of material as it lies in the

Natural bank state.

 LCM (LCY) - One cubic metre (yard) of material which has been
disturbed and swelled as a result of movement.

 CCM (CCY) -One cubic metre ( yard) of material which has been
compacted and has become more dense as a result of compaction.

 1+ swell = Loose cubic volume for a given weight

Bank cubic volume for the same given weight

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 Production Calculations Continued…………
 Bank = Loose
1+ swell
 Loose = Bank × (1+ swell)

Example:
If material swells 20%, how many loose cubic metres (loose
cubic yards) will it take to move 1,000 bank cubic metres?

Loose = Bank × (1 + swell)

= 1,000 BCM × (1 + 0.2) = 1,200 LCM

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 Production Calculations Continued…………
 The ratio between compacted measure and bank measure is called
shrinkage factor (S.F)

S.F = Compacted cubic metre (CCM)

Bank cubic metre (BCM).

 Material density: Density is the weight per unit volume of a material.

 Fill factor: The percentage of an available volume in a body, bucket, or bowl

that is actually used.

 A fill factor of 87% for a dumper body means that 13% of the rated volume
is not being used to carry material. Buckets often have fill factors over 100%

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 Production Calculations Continued…………
 Load factor:

 If 1 BCM is compacted (or 1.3 LCM) its volume may be reduced to 0.8
CUM and the weight remains the same. Instead of dividing by (1+
swell) to determine bank cubic volume, the loose volume can be
multiplied by the load factor (LF).

 If the percent of material swell is known, the load factor ( L.F) may
be obtained;
LF = 100%
100% + % swell

 Hence;
Load (BCM) = Load (LCM) × L.F

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 Production Calculations Continued…………
Example:
A 14 cubic metre (heaped 2: 1) bucked has a 105% fill factor when
operating in a short sandstone 2000kg / BCM and a 35% swell.

 Solution:
 What is the loose density of material?
 1 kg / LCM = (kg/ BCM) ÷ (1 + swell)
= 2000 ÷ 1.35 =1481.5

 What is the usable volume?

 LCM = Rated LCM ×fill factor

= 14× 1.05 = 14.7 LCM

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 Production Calculations Continued…………

 What is the bucket payload per pass in BCM?

 Kg / pass = Volume × density (kg / LCM)

= 14.7 × 1481.5 = 21,778 KG.

 BCM/ Pass = weight ÷ density (kg /BCM)

= 21,778 ÷ 2000 =10.89 BCM
Or bucket LCM from part b ÷ (1 +swell) = 14.7 ÷1.35
=10.89 BCM

 What is the bucket payload per pass in tonnes?

 Tons / pass = kg ÷ 1000 kg/ tonne

= 21.778 ÷ 1000 kg / tonne
=21.8 tons 53
 ESTIMATING CYCLE TIME (EXCAVATOR)

 The digging cycle of the excavator is composed of four

segments:
 Load bucket
 Swing loaded
 Dump bucket, and
 Swing empty

 Total cycle time is dependent on machine size (small machines can

cycle faster than large machines) and job conditions.

 With excellent job conditions, the excavator can cycle quickly.

As job conditions become more severe (tougher digging,
deeper trench, more obstacles, etc.) the excavator slows
down accordingly.

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 EXAMPLE

• Select a bucket size for a given fleet of 3 mining

shovels at an iron ore operation, given the following
assumptions about the operation:
• Daily required capacity or Production = 98,100 tpd
• Estimated daily operating time = 17.02 hours
• Diggability rating = Very hard digging
• Estimated work cycle = 37 seconds
• Material bulk density = 3,000 kg/m 3
• Swell factor = 60%
• Dipper fill factor (or LF) = 80%

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 SOLUTION

 Shovel cycles per day = Operating Hrs x 3600 / Work cycle in seconds
=[17.02 x 3,600] / 37 seconds = 1,656 cycles per day

 Required production (material) = 98,100 tpd

 Tonnage per cycle = Daily tonnage / [3 shovels x no. of cycles per day]
=98,100 / 3 x 1656 = 19.8 tonnes

 Dipper size = [tonnage per cycle x 1000 kg per cycle]

===========================
[Bank density x swell factor x dipper fill factor]

=[19.8 x 1000] / [3000 x 60% x 80%] = 13.75 m3

= Approximately 14 m3 bucket

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BACKHOE-LOADERS

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 BULLDOZER PRODUCTION

 You can estimate bulldozer production using the production curves and
the use of correction factors that are applicable. For example:

 Production (LM3/Hr) = Maximum Production x Correction factors.

 Maximum production is read from the Bulldozer performance Chart and

correction factors from job conditions.

 Example:
 Determine average hourly production of a D6N/6SU (With tilt cylinder)
moving hard –packed clay an average distance of 45m (150 ft) down a
15% grade using a slot dozing technique. Estimated material weight is
1600 kg/Lm3(2650lb/LCY ). Operator is average and job efficiency is
estimated at 50min/Hr. Take theoretical weight of hard packed clay as
2300lb/LCY

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 SOLUTION

 From the graph, uncorrected maximum production =

600 LCM/Hr = 458 Lm3/Hr

 Applicable Correction factors:

 Hard packed clay is “Hard to cut” material = 0.8
 Grade correction (from graph) = 1.3
 Slot dozing = 1.2
 Average Operator = 0.75
 Job efficiency (50 min/Hr) = 0.83
 Weight correction – [2300/2650] = 0.87

 Production = maximum Production x Correction

factors
Production = 458 Lm3/Hr x 0.8 x 1.3 x 1.2 x 0.75 x 0.83 x 0.87
Production = 309.6 Lm3/Hr
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 EXAMPLE
• A Wheelloader, model 953B, has a bucket size of 1.75m3 and works in
moist loam material, with a bucket fill factor of 1.15 and loose density
of 1.7 t/m3. The equipment is to put up a pile some 30m away.

For this type of equipment, the loading time is 0.03 min., maneuver time
is 0.2 min., travel time is 0.40 min., for one-way travel only and dump
time is 0.02 min.

The loader works 50 min. per hour for 6 hours in a shift. The wheelloader
works for two shifts per day, 5 days in a week for 50 weeks per year.

Based on the information provided, estimate the yearly production of the

wheel loader.

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 HAULAGE SYSTEM
• This can be described under two headings – track
and trackless.
• Track haulage includes rope and locomotive haulage,
which run on rail or track.
• Trackless system includes automobile, conveyors and
transportation through pipes.

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 HAULAGE SYSTEM
General classification of mine haulage system

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 HAULAGE SYSTEM
General classification of mine haulage system

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 HAULAGE SYSTEM
Trackless haulage system
 Trackless units operate on roads and are tyre wheel
mounted. Mainly following units are available for their
use in surface and underground mines:
1. LHD – when used as transporting unit, the hauling
distance should not exceed 150m
2. Shuttle cars – the limiting distance for these units are in
the range of 1–2km
3. Low Profile Trucks/Dumpers for their use in u/g mines.

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 HAULAGE SYSTEM
 Off road trucks -Surface Haulage trucks/dumpers
 Articulated
 rigid body

 These trucks/dumpers could be of rear discharge type,

bottom discharge type or side discharge type.
 In mines off road/highway trucks for carrying heavy
loads on abnormally uneven surface, with slow speed
and for a shorter hauling distances, are used and their
speed is limited to 80 km/hr.

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 HAULAGE SYSTEM

Some mistakes in haulage 69

 Off road truck sizes:
Normal sizes
(tons) 22 30 35 40 55 85 100 130
Normal
sizes(tonnes) 20 27 32 36 50 77 90 117

Giant sizes (tons) 150 175 200 250 300 350

Giant sizes (tonnes) 135 158 180 225 270 315

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 Diesel Trucks
Trolley Assist Truck
70 – 360 tonnes

Articulated Dump Truck (ADT)

20 – 50 tonnes

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Articulated trucks (ADT)

In poor underfoot conditions

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 Turning –Spotting –Dumping Time (min)

Bottom-dump Side-dump
Operating Rear-
Conditions tractor-trailer dump Semitrailer
Favorable 0.3 1.0 0.7
Average 0.6 1.3 1.0
Unfavorable 1.5 1.5-2.0 1.5

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 Rolling and grade Resistance
 Rolling Resistance (RR) is a measure of the force that
must be overcome to roll or pull a wheel over the
ground.

 It is affected by ground conditions and the load - the

deeper a wheel sinks into the ground, the higher the
rolling resistance.
 RR = 2% of GMW + 0.6% OF GMW per cm tire penetration.
(GMW = Gross Machine Weight)

 RR = 2% of GMW + 1.5% of GMW per inch tire penetration.

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 Grade Resistance is a measure of the force that must
be overcome to move a machine over unfavorable
grade (uphill).
 Grade resistance is a measure of the force that assists
machine movements on favorable grades (downhill)
 Grades are generally measured in % slope, which is the
ratio
 The grade resistance, GR, is calculated by
 GR = 10kg/t * Vehicle weight in tonnes * % grade or
 GR = 20lb/ton * vehicle weight in tons * % grade
 GR = GRF * vehicle weight in tonnes (tons)

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 Total resistance, TR, is the sum of grade and rolling
resistance. Total resistance is the total resistance force
to vehicle motion and usually is expressed as effective
grade or percent of vehicle weight

TRACTION- Is the usable driving force developed by truck

tire on the road surface
 The maximum force, FM, which can be transferred from
tire to road surface is a function of the coefficient of
traction between tire and road surface, µ and normal
force at the road surface, N.
FM = µN=µWcosθ where W is the weight on the tire and
θ is the grade angle
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 HAULAGE CYCLE TIME

 A haulage cycle is made up of:

 Loading
 Hauling
 Dumping
 Returning, and
 Spoting

 Loading time
 [Time to dig, swing load, swing empty] x [No. of passes to load a truck]
 Normally, 3 passes are considered minimum and 5 passes are optimal for
most types of operations

 Turn, Spot and Dump time:

 Depend upon the type of unit and the specific operating conditions.

 Spot time and Loading Position:

 Depend upon the type of haulage unit and the operating conditions.
 Haphazard spoting at the shovel is one of the most common and wasteful
malpractices of the shovel cycle. 77
 Haul Time:
 This is a function of the Total Resistance in percent of vehicle weight + Rim
pull.
 =Grade Resistance + Rolling Resistance + Rimpull
Rimpull- term used to designate the tractive force between the rubber tires of
driving wheels and the surface on which they travel
 Return Time:
 Is often governed by job conditions and safety precautions rather than by the
unit performance.
 Travel times = Distance / Speed

 To measure the performance or gradeability of the vehicle, one must

have:
 Engine performance
 Gear Ratios
 Tire data
 Weights, etc.

 This data is normally not available, so the engineer, in order to determine

the speed a vehicle will negotiate a particular grade having a certain
rolling resistance (total resistance), will have to refer to the vehicles
Manufacturer’s performance chart.
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 Types of dump trucks

2 Axle bottom dump 2 Axle rear dump

truck

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 Types of dump trucks

3 axle bottom dump truck 3 axle rear dump truck

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 RAILWAY TRAMMING
• This method of moving material is primarily used in coal
mines or mines with straight somewhat horizontal hauls
over distances in excess of 2000 meters.
• The locomotives generally range up to 54 t (60 t) per
unit.
• Increases in haulage distances have little effect on the
costs of a rail system.
• Capital costs for rail are significant and only large scale
mines with significant reserves and lives consider this
method.
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Railway tramming cont…

Locomotive haulage

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 Railway tramming cont…
• Fixed infrastructure such as tracks leads to reduced
mining flexibility.
• Cutting back walls over a pit will be limited if a rail
system has been employed
• Some operations overseas still attempt to load rail cars
directly from shovels.
• This introduces significant issues in flexibility and issues
encountered in advancing the operating areas.
• A more flexible solution (although with elevated costs) is
to use trucks and an in- pit crusher before the rail system
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PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF CONTINOUS FLOW
LOADERS/MINERS

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 BUCKET WHEEL EXCAVATORS

BWE are probably the predominant type

of equipment in this class, but it also
includes Bucket Chain Excavators and
Bucket Dredges.

The theoretical output of a BWE is based

on the bucket size and the number of
bucket discharges per minute.

 If “I” is nominal bucket capacity in m3

 “Z” is the number of buckets in the wheel,

 “V1” is cutting speed of the wheel in m/s, and
 “D” is the diameter of the wheel in “m”, then;
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 S = V1 x Z/лD, where S is the number of bucket discharges per second

 Qt = I x S x 3600, where Qt is the theoretical capacity of the excavator in m3/Hr

 From these equations, the number of bucket discharges is dependent on the peripheral
speed.

 The peripheral speed of the bucket wheel is limited by the ability of the wheel to discharge
its bucket content on the chute against the counteracting centrifugal force,

 In theory, the maximum peripheral speed must be such that the bucket discharge will be
ensured. Mathematically:

 M x g = M x V12/R, where M is mass of material in a bucket (kg),

R is radius of the wheel in (m), and g is acceleration due to
gravity in (m/s2), which yields the following expression:

 V1 = Sqrt (g x R) = Vmax

Practical Values of speed lie between 0.4 to 0.6Vmax

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 To keep the wear of the bucket’s cutting knives or teeth to a minimum,
speeds do not exceed 5m/s

 Other factors affecting output of BWE are:

 Nature of material (Double speed, halves output)

 Bucket filling capacity, in hard ground is 30 – 40%

 Relationship between digging resistance and the hourly capacity of the

BWE is:

 Q1/Q2 = K 2/K 2, where Q

2 1 1is the BWE hourly capacity in m3 in soil with cutting
resistance K1, Q2 is BWE hourly capacity in m3 in soil with cutting resistance K2. Thus the
actual capacity of the BWE in any soil is given by:

 Qa = I x Bf x Ss x 3600, where Bf is bucket filling capacity in the soil

expressed as a fraction of the nominal bucket capacity, S s is the number of
bucket discharges per second, and Qa is actual capacity of the BWE in m3/hr

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 EXAMPLE

 A bucket wheel excavator has eight buckets with a

nominal capacity of 2m3/bucket. The wheel has a
diameter of 15m and operates at a speed of 0.4m/s.
In a material with a digging resistance of 25kg/cm,
the BWE is producing 400 m3/hr.

If the speed of the bucket does not change, what

would be the bucket fill factor for the buckets when
cutting a material with a digging resistance of
45kg/cm?

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 SOLUTION
 The production rate in the new material can be
determined from the following equation:
 Q2 = [K12/K2 2] x Q1
= 252/452 x 400
= 123.5 m3/hr

 The production rate can also be expressed as:

 Qa = I x Bf x Ss x 3600, Solving for Bf

 Bf = Qa / [ I x Ss x 3600], But, S = V1 x Z/лD

 Therefore, Bf = Qa / [ I x V1Z/лD x 3600],

 Bf = 123.5 / {2 x [(0.4 x8)/лx15] x 3600} = 0.252 or 25.2%

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 EXAMPLE
 A Bucket Wheel Excavator (BWE) works on a blasted bench of waste to uncover
a bituminous coal seam, which is being mined with a power-loading shovel in
combination with a series of rear dump trucks. An area of 2,000m x 1,000 m
should be uncovered over a 15m bench of waste to provide an annual supply of
coal to the overseas market.

A 12-m diameter wheel of a BWE has been fitted with 8 buckets each with a
capacity of 4 m3 and rotates on an average speed of 1.65 revolutions per
minute. The digging resistance on the waste material that has swelled by 54%
allows a bucket fill factor of 80% to be achieved.

If the mine works for 2 shifts of 8 hours each per day with no break in-between
shifts, with Saturdays and Sundays being days off, and if the mine operates for
50 weeks in a year:

a) Will the excavator be capable to fulfill the conditions to uncover the

required volume of material?
b) If yes, for how many weeks?
c) If not, how many BWE will be needed?
(Assume there will be no downtimes on the BWE scheduled time)

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 SOLUTION
 Bank Vol. of material to be excavated
= 2,000 x 1,000 x 15m = 30,000,000 m3

 Swelled material to be excavated

= 30,000,000 x 1.54 = 46,200,000 m3

 Capacity of the BWE per year in loose m3:

= 8 buckets x 1.65 rev/min x 60 min/hr x 0.80 f.f x 4 m3 x 16 hrs x 5
days/wk x 50 wks.
= 10,137,600 m3 of loose material

The BWE will not be capable to uncover the waste bench in time.

 Number of BWE needed will be:

= 46,200,000 / 10,137,600 = 4.56  5 units of BWE

91
 EXAMPLE
 An open pit Iron mine has a loading shovel with a capacity of 15 m 3. This shovel
is being served with three rear- dump trucks each with a rated capacity of 170
metric tonnes.

The shovel is capable to load each truck with 8 passes, each pass taking up a cycle
time of 39 seconds. The spotting time of trucks at the shovel is 0.8 minutes.
Digging conditions of the bench allows a bucket fill factor of 90% on material
that swells by 74%. The in-situ bank density of rock is 2.7 t/m 3

Similarly, the average speed of these trucks when loaded is 15 km/hr and when
empty is 25 km/hr. Spotting and dumping time at the crusher is 1.5 minutes.
Utilization of these trucks during the entire shift is estimated to be 75%.
Haulage distance (single way) to the crusher is 3.5 km and the road profile is
considered flat.

The mine works for 1000 shifts per year with an effective working time per shift
of 6 hours.

Assuming there will be no queuing of trucks at the shovel, and that these trucks
will not be used for waste removal, estimate the yearly production of the shovel
– truck system based on the information provided.

92
 Combine Load and haul
• Dragline
• Scraper
• Dozer

93
DRAGLINE

94
Dragline

95
CYCLE TIME = DRAG TO FILL + HOIST AND SWING + DUMP + RETURN SWING + POSITIONING

The time required for each of these functions will depend

on a number of factors:
• Slope of the digging face
• Material characteristics
• Bank preparation
• Digging depth
• Hoisting height
• Swing Angle
• Rope and swing speeds
• Operator proficiency

96
 Scrapers
 Scrapers are a highly productive piece of equipment
designed to rapidly mine soft materials.

 They literally scrape material with a blade under the

body and lift or elevate the cuttings into the bowl.

 To increase their productivity they are often used in a

way that allows other equipment to push or pull them
whilst being loaded.

97
 Scrapers Cont…
 Selecting the best scraper depends on
 Type of material to be moved
 Distance material must be moved
 Surface conditions
 Capital expenditure and volume of material to be moved
 Owning and operating costs are high, but matched with high productivity,
the unit costs remain highly competitive

Load time - open bowl/push-

loaded WTS.
 Target 24-30 sec.
 Average 36-43 sec.
Shorter time for tandem.
Longer time for single powered.

98
Tractor-type Scraper
- Scraping and moving of material
- Road construction
- Land reclamation
- Support functions

Dozer
- Ripping and moving of material
- Bench cleaning
- Waste dump operations
- Road construction
- Land reclamation

99
 Example1

Select the bucket size for a fleet on mining shovels at an iron ore operation
given the following assumptions about the operation.

Daily required capacity/machine

(3 machines) 32,700 tpd
Estimated daily operating time 17.02 hours
Diggability rating very hard digging
Estimated work cycle 37 seconds
Material bulk weight 6000 lb/yd3
Swell factor 0.60
Dipper fill factor 0.80

100
UNDERGROUND LOADING AND HAULAGE

 Underground haul trucks require the low-profiles and

sharp turning radius of their loading counterparts.
 Trucks can also be loaded using chutes.
• They have a wide variety of designs and options.
• Their capacities range from 2.5 to 75 tons.
• Costing and selection procedures are similar to those
used to evaluate surface load-haul systems.
• The general types of trucks are discussed below.

101
Hauling Equipment
Trucks
LHD's
Continuous Loaders

102
Tip Dump

103
 Tip dumpers are generally used to haul muck from a stope
to drawpoint to the surface.

 However, dumping areas can be constructed underground.

 The truck end-dumps (from rear) by lifting the truck box

whereupon the material is ejected using gravity.

 These trucks are limited to approximately 12% grades.

 Major constraints are their height, dump height, and

turning radius.
104
 Loading Equipment:
 LHD's
 Overhand Loaders
 Slushers
 Gathering Arm Loaders

105
Wheeled load-and-carry dumps:
 Bucket loads into rear dump
 Good for small sublevel development (trackless)
 Small tonnage/machine
 Easy to dismantle and move
Rail or rubber-tired overhead loaders
 Designed to load rail cars/wheeled buckets
 Air powered
 Rail mounted in track mine drawpoints

106
Slushers
 Used to load and transport ore 8 m - 150 m
 Low initial investment ($10,000 - $80,000)
 Minimal development required
 High availability/low cost maintenance
 Low mobility (especially large slushers)
 Operator visibility poor
 High accessory consumption (wire rope, scraper,
sheaves)

107
 LHD's (Load-Haul-Dump)
 Articulated diesel or electric underground loaders for
combination loading / hauling /dumping of ore/waste.

 Typically mucking from stope (face, drawpoint) to ore

pass or truck haulage.

 Similar to surface front end loader.

108
Main features:
 Four wheel drive rubber-tired
 Low profile for underground
 Articulation for high maneuverability
 Forward or reverse operation
 Bucket mounted at front
 Operator at side

109
LHD 110
 CAPACITY CALCULATION
 When talking about capacities in mining and processing, one has to
make a distinction between:-
The capacity of a deposit
The capacity of the different pieces of equipment used and
The capacity of the whole mine system or plant
 Capacities can be estimated per hour, shift, day, week, month or year.
When talking about long range capacities, it is necessary to know the
yearly working time. Most open pits and plants operate 24 hours a day
and (almost) 365 days per year.
 Many underground mines must cease production during nights, because
of the need for ventilation during nights and weekends. The extra bonus
for night-work can be rather high. Some countries have laws that
prevent work during nights. 111
 To minimize the total cost an the investment requirements, it
is normally advantageous to try to use as many hours per year
as possible, especially in open pit mines and processing
plants.
 This has become more and more important during the past
decades, as a result of the fact that mining equipment has
become more and more expensive to purchase.

112
 EXAMPLE
• In an open pit mine where a single shovel loads several trucks at a
time, a waste bench having dimensions 300m by 100m is necessary
to allow drilling, blasting, loading and hauling to take place
efficiently. This waste bench is a new pushback on the footwall side
of the open pit mine.

It has been determined that the bottleneck in the system is the

electric shovel, which has a yearly capacity o 4.5 mtpy. The density
of the broke rock is 3 tons/cubic metre.
What is the maximum speed, with which the waste can be removed?

300

100

113
SOLUTION
 The maximum speed, Y, will be:
-100m x 300m x Y x 3-tons/m3 = 4.5 mtpy
Y = 50 metres/year
• Most equipment manufacturers provide free technical
manuals with equipment features and application data for its
products. Such manuals also show how to calculate capacities
for the corresponding equipment.

• Perhaps 10 minutes per hour are excluded for such shorter

services and maintenance that the operator can perform at
the face.

114
 EXAMPLE: CAPACITY OF AN OPEN PIT HAULAGE TRUCK

 Type of loader – KOMATSU 1100

 Size of truck – 170 short tons
 Cycle – time/pass for shovel – 40 seconds
 Haulage distance,
 single way
 Horizontal – 0.5km
 Ramp (1:10) – 2.0 km
 Speed:
 Horizontal - 20 km/hr
 Ramp, average – 12km/hr
 Effective working time per shift - 6 hrs
 Shifts/year – 1000
 Utilization - 75%
 Number of load passes/truck - 7 passes
 Specific gravity of rock (S.G) - 2.7 t/cum
 Swell factor - 74%
 Fill factor – 90%
 Bucket capacity - 12.2 m3
 Spotting time - 0.8 minutes
 Swing time – 40/60 minutes
 Turn and dump time - 1.5 minutes
Determine the yearly truck production capacity 115
 SOLUTION
 Load/pass: 2.7 t/cum (S.G.) x 1.74 x 90% (fill factor) x 12.2 cum = 22 tonnes.

 Cycle-time:
 Load-time: 7 (passes) x 40/60 (swing time)= 4.7 minutes
 Sport-time: 0.8 minutes
 Turn and dump time = 1.5 minutes
 Haulage-time, horizontal: 2 x 0.5km x 60min/20km/hr = 3.0 minutes
 Haulage time, ramp: 2 x 2.0km x 60min/12km/hr = 20.0 minutes
 Total cycle-time = 4.7 + 0.8 + 1.5 + 3.0 + 20.0 = 30 minutes

 Round trips per shift: 6 hours/shiftx60min/30min/trip = 12

trips/shift

 tonnes per shift: 12 trips x 7 loads x 22 t/load = 1,850 tonnes

 tonnes per year: 1,850t x 1000 shifts/year x 75% utilization = 1.4 mtpy

116
 CAPACITY OF A SYSTEM

• A large mine or plant can consist of many different

machines, in series or in parallel, with bins or buffer
between.

• If one studies the production intensity of such a

system, one will find that the intensity in tons per
hour is not the same, sometimes the output of ore
from the mine is high, sometimes low.

• These variations are larger than in other types of

process industries.

117
 This illustrates how important it is when planning a
new mine system. To dimension all the systems and
the ore bunkers between them in such a way that
disturbances are avoided and a high capacity
utilization will be possible.

 However, it is difficult to calculate the capacity of a

system like the one discussed. People therefore,
often have to rely on thumb rules, build on
experiences from other mines, which of course can
be somewhat dangerous.

 The use of computer simulation and other operations

research methods can be helpful tools when
designing a complex mine system.
118
 To get the right total capacity in a mine system, one
has to study and compare:
• The different machinery capacities in the different sub-
systems
• The different sizes of the bins and ore-bunkers between
the different systems

 One should finally choose the machinery capacities

and the sizes of the ore-bunkers, that yield the total
lowest cost for the planned production-level.

119
 INCREASED CAPACITY BY INCREASED MACHINE CAPACITY

 Looking briefly at a transport system, where trucks or trains

transport ore from loaders or chutes to crushers, one may
start with a small number of transport units in the system and
then increase the number of units.

 The capacity of the whole system will first increase

proportionally, but when the number is further increased,
queuing problems will show up and sooner or later there are
too many units in the system, where the space is often
limited. The total capacity will decrease. The maximal
capacity in the system will therefore be determined by the
queuing situation.

 Capacity studies of such a system can as a rule only be made if

a computer model is used.

120
 ORE BINS IN MINES

 There are many reasons, behind the existence of such bins,

such as:
 To connect activities at different levels in a mine (example:
Ore passes in a sublevel caving mine)
 To transfer ore from one unit to another one (example:
From a truck to a conveyor)
 Because of differences in working times (example:
Between an underground mine working 2 shifts and a plant
working 3 shifts/day).
 To eliminate the effects of variations in production intensity
as described above.
 For homogenization (example: Mining low and high-grade
ore)

121
 For underground mining, this variation in the amount
of ore coming to the crushing station will influence the
capacity-utilization in the crusher and the amount of
ore kept in the ore bunker under the crusher, before
the hoisting system.

 So even if a machine like a truck, a train or a crusher, is

available for work, it cannot always work, because:-
 The production unit earlier cannot supply with ore
 The production unit later cause problems.

 The result will be that the capacity of the total system

will be lower than the capacity of each sub-system.

122
 EXAMPLE

In an underground mine, an LHD is dumping ore into a bin,

from which trains transport the ore to a crusher.

What is the minimum size of that bin if the loader has a

capacity of 250 tons/hour and the train can take 400
tons/round trip. It will take 15 minutes to load a train
Solution:
• The minimum size of the bin is 338 tons, given by:

400 tons – (250 tons/hr x 15 minutes)/(60 minutes/hr) = 338 tons.

Or 200 cum if a loose density of 1.7 tons/Lcm is assumed

• With a bin diameter of, say 4m, this corresponds to a height of 16 meters,
given by;
– 200 cum/[(3.142 x 42)/4] = 16m
123
 EXAMPLE

 Sizing of a stockpile between an underground mine

and a plant with different working times is required.

The mine is operated 5 days/week (M-F), with 2

shifts/day and produces 10,000 tons per day. The
plant is operated 7 days/week with 3 shifts/day.

How large should a stockpile be for operations to run

smoothly.

124
 SOLUTION

 The production in the mine is 50,000 tons/week.

 The consumption in the mill is;

 50,000/(3x7) = 2,380 tons/shift

 It is necessary to have a stockpile for 7 shifts

(Saturday, Sunday and one night shift)
 The size must be: 7 shifts x 2,380 tons = 16,700 tons.

125
 ORE PASSES
 An ore pass is a vertical or inclined passage for the downward
transfer of ore, and is equipped with gates or other appliances
for controlling the flow.

 Ore passes can be vertical or inclined with:

 Knuckle at the bottom
 Bulldozing chamber and storage bins
 Inspection raises and drifts

126
Important factors that must be considered in the
design of ore passes include:

 The size distribution and size segregation of the Particles in the ore mass.

 The shear strength (S) of the ore mass, with S = C + ρtan θ where C is the
cohesive strength, ρ represents the compressive loading on the material
and tan θ is the coefficient of internal friction.

 The height of fall in the ore pass, as related to the tendency of the ore to
crush and pack.

 The characteristics of the wall rock of the ore pass, - its resistance to
stabbing and abrasive wear, with resultant friction factor (U) between the
sliding ore mass and wall.

 The flow rate and storage capacity desired.

 The climatic conditions (snow, freezing temperatures, rain etc).

127