Application of high precision mining as a way of optimizing loading and hauling operations at Kansanshi mining Plc, Zambia.
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Date
2021
Authors
Katongo, Kangwa
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
Mining at Kansanshi is currently conducted in two pits namely Main and North West pit.
Mining at both pits is conducted by conventional open pit methods involving 18 hydraulic
excavators and a mining fleet of haul 86 trucks.There has a been a general concern on the mined
material tonnes (BCMs)/reconciliation and misplacements of material at Kansanshi Mining site
which has led to increased mining costs as a result of: reduced truck deployment, increased
truck and shovel waiting time, reduced production and reduced grade/quality of ore delivered
to crushers.With the in-pit haulage distance increasing from 1335 RL to 1195 RL, there is need
to address the issues causing the increase in mining cost which currently stands at
US$12.4/BCMs as a matter of priority. The other problem has been on the inconsistencies of
reporting fleet performances in terms of Availability and Utilisation. This has resulted into
manipulation of figures by some operators. This study therefore seeks to monitor and compare
the application of high precision mining through optimised loading and hauling operations. The
study focuses on the optimization of haulage using High Precision Mining (HPM) through use
of Wenco’s dispatching algorithm, which is designed to automatically assign trucks in order to
achieve the best utilization of all mining equipment and maximize production. In order to
accomplish the set objectives, the study involved establishing the precise bucket positioning,
determining production rates and monitoring the material type and quality /grade of ore
delivered to the crushers. With the tolerance of X=0.5m, Y=0.5m and Z=0.5m, it was noted
that the events of a bucket mining out of the assigned polygon were reduced to a few cent
meters in distance from 34% to 15% and from 10% to 8% in terms of mismatches and cannot
reconcile bucket loads respectively. This entails a reduced mining dilution in the X and Y axis
of about 85% based on the quality of ore delivered to the crushers. In terms of mining to correct
elevations, a tolerance in the Z axis of ±0.3m was achieved based on the bucket size of the
loading equipment. The X and Y axis tolerance was also reduced to ±0.3m for improved
accuracy in between boundaries of various material types. The use of precision mining has
therefore resulted in reduced mining cost of about US$10.3/BCM, improved fleet/production
reporting, high grade of the material delivered to the crushers of about 75% from the previous
65%.
Description
Thesis
Keywords
High precision mining. , Mining--Operations. , Mining--Zambia.