Engineering & Mining Journal

JUN 2012

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

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OPERATING STRATEGIES (RAC) which is an on-board information provider source integrated with Cat's VIMS (Vehicle Information Management System). RAC quantifies and monitors haul road conditions and identifies events at a range of severity that are damaging to: • Machine performance • Component and frame life • Availability/Utilization • Machine productivity The RAC warnings can be local to the truck only, with real-time feedback to the operator; or with a wireless sys- tem in the pit, this information can be transmitted back to a dispatcher, engi- neer, or supervisor. However, to utilize the data back at the office, you will need proprietary Caterpillar desktop software. To monitor and improve road condi- tions: Using RAC and activating a GPS unit with your dataset, you can then start to identify where haul road prob- lems should be avoided/corrected and better allocate your resources—grader, operators and training dollars. Also, you can respond quicker to needed road repairs. With improved pit planning, Quick Analysis of Cost Savings by Increasing Tire Life by 10% (from 7,000 to 7,700 hours) With simple reallocation of mine re- sources to prioritize haul road mainte- nance and training for proper load dis- tribution, a 10% increase* in tire life leads to an easy $665,000 savings per year for a fleet of 30 trucks at this imaginary mine. And this does not even account for less frame cracks/welding downtime, or longer major component life due to lower vibrations. • New tires for one truck: six tires @ $40,000 each** = $240,000. • An extra 700 hours generates tire savings per hour = $3.12 ($34.29 – $31.17). • 365 days per year x 24 hr per day x 90% availability x 90% utilization = 7,096 equipment hours per year. • Savings per truck per year = 7,096 equipment hours per year x $3.12 sav- ings per equipment hour = $22,138. • Fleet savings per year = $22,138 x 30 average trucks per fleet = $664,148 per year. * A 10% improvement figure is used here sim- ply as a discussion point. Actual improvement will depend on the current effectiveness of a mine's tire life improvement program, if a plan is already in place. ** The referenced cost of tires is only an esti- mate, based on a 46/90/R57 size tire. www.e-mj.com JUNE 2012 • E&MJ; 145

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