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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GOOD ROADS, MORE LOADS This article contains third-party observations, advice or experiences that do not necessarily refl ect the opinions of Vermeer Corporation, its affi liates or its dealers. Testimonials and/or endorsements by contractors of specifi c circumstances may not be representative of normal circumstances experienced by all customers. Vermeer, the Vermeer logo, Equipped to Do More and Terrain Leveler are trademarks of Vermeer Manufacturing Company in the U.S. and/or other countries. © 2016 Vermeer Corporation. All Rights Reserved. As the adage "good roads, more loads" sug- gests, underinvesting in haul roads can be a costly mistake for mining companies. Re- search has found that truck haulage costs can account for up to 50 percent of surface mining expenses. James Miedecke, roads and drainage specialist for mine road consultant Proof Engineers, shares another stat: "A rule of thumb is that a poorly constructed road costs 10 times that of a well-constructed road just in maintenance costs alone." He saw a change in mining companies' attitudes toward haul roads when commod- ity prices started dropping and it became critical to improve a mine's overall productiv- ity and effi ciency. Australia-based Proof Engineers is helping to pioneer an innovative approach to haul road construction and maintenance by using a Terrain Leveler ® surface excavation machine (SEM) from Vermeer, a U.S.-based mining equipment manufacturer. Proof Engineers has found the machine produces a higher- quality road, reduces the number of resources required in road construction and mainte- nance, enables a signifi cantly faster construc- tion process, and creates a road that allows for faster equipment speeds. "I would expect a cost savings of at least 30 percent by using the surface excavation machine compared with the conventional method," Miedecke says. The conventional method is to import material to the road site. Due to the scale of mining operations, the size of the material is often larger than is desirable, which leads to incon- sistent compaction and settlement that in turn results in high maintenance and grading costs after construction. This traditional approach also requires a fl eet of equipment, including shovels or wheel loaders and haul trucks to move material, large bulldozers, large grad- ers, a water cart and a compactor. Proof Engineers has found that the Vermeer Terrain Leveler SEM provides solutions to most of these issues. The company has used a Vermeer T1255III Terrain Leveler ® SEM, which can cut an area up to 27" (68.6 cm) deep and 12' (3.7 m) wide in a single pass. Miedecke says it can mill and crush in situ material to produce a more consistent and ideal particle size, offers improved grading and eliminates several steps from the traditional approach. A Proof Engineers project at a South African coal mine demonstrates the advantages of the T1255III. The company tried two ways to improve a haul road. One used bulldozers with rippers and other machines. The other used a single Vermeer T1255III Terrain Leveler SEM, which far exceeded the productivity of the bulldozers, had less oversized particles and had better particle size distribution. The SEM did the work in half the time, and the road travel speeds were about 50 percent higher than the traditional method and the one using bulldozers. "It was a faster process, which ended up with a better outcome for the client," Miedecke says. HAUL ROAD CONSULTANT GETS SUPERIOR RESULTS WITH SURFACE MINING MACHINE MINING COMPANIES ARE EARTH MOVERS, NOT ROAD BUILDERS. PERHAPS THAT'S WHY THEY TOO OFTEN FAIL TO PUT ENOUGH RESOURCES INTO HAUL ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE. Visit Vermeer at Booth #8401 at MINExpo. PAID ADVERTISEMENT