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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SHOVELS & EXCAVATORS 46 E&MJ; • MAY 2018 www.e-mj.com Since shovels and excavators direct- ly contribute to mine productivity, they are some of the most important pieces of equipment on a mine site. Therefore, optimizing shovel productivity, uptime, and compliance to a plan can directly and significantly impact open-pit mining practices and productivity. While these optimization efforts are often difficult to execute effectively, advanced and emerg- ing technologies and services are avail- able that further enhance technological capabilities, helping mines turn optimi- zation efforts into accomplishments. Inefficient shovel cycles, difficult ma- terial identification, unclear progress line definitions, and extensive manual surveying are some of the challenges that shovel and excavator operators face on a regular basis. High-precision machine guidance solutions can help resolve these challenges by using GPS signals to provide equipment opera- tors with impressive positional accuracy. Modular Mining Systems' ProVision Machine Guidance solution, which was released for excavators 20 years ago this year, provides positional accuracy to the centimeter. The system also employs high-precision elevation control, which helps to improve bench height manage- ment, ramp accuracy, and current floor elevation accuracy, while drastically re- ducing ore boundary staking and manual progress surveying. The high-precision elevation control also allows shovel oper- ators to remain on grade as they dig into the face to virtually eliminate rework due to under- and over-cutting. Machine guidance technologies that fa- cilitate accurate material identification and delineation, like the ProVision solution, can also help mines improve their shovel productivity by reducing misrouted ma- terial. In addition, the system's real-time availability of geographical data improves adherence to the mine plan, and quickly notifies operators of plan deviations to fur- ther improve accuracy and productivity. Challenges With Current Spotting Methods Typical truck spotting methods employed across many mine sites today are often inefficient. As the shovel operator maneu- vers his bucket into the desired loading location prior to a truck's reversal, he creates an extension in the overall cycle time, resulting in productivity loss. This "spotting time" is a non-productive and unnecessary portion of the loading cycle, and is exacerbated by the time required for the truck operator to reverse to the correct loading spot and reposition as necessary. In addition to contributing ex- tra time to the loading cycle, the shovel's resulting hang time consumes unneces- sary energy in its requirement to hold a full bucket while waiting for the truck. These spotting methods can also cre- ate potential safety risks from truck-shov- el impacts. "The truck-shovel exchange is one of the most frequently occurring processes in a mine," said Charles Orr, product manager for Modular's machine guidance systems. "It can occur more than 800,000 times per year at a large site. Even if an impact occurs in only a fraction of those interactions, the poten- tial safety risk and equipment damage that often results can be significant." By reducing the spotting segment of the loading cycle, even by seconds, mines can potentially increase their overall production capacity by millions of tons annually. SHOVELS & EXCAVATORS Proper positioning prevents poor performance Technology Improves Shovel Productivity