The Use of Continuous Materials Handling Equipment in an Open Cut Iron Ore Mine
Abstract
The scarcity of truck tyres combined with increases in the cost and decreases in the availability of labour, increases in fuel costs and a buoyant international economy driving project budget blowouts, have all combined to change the paradigm behind mining equipment selections. The escalation of commodity prices has occurred in parallel with an increasing maturity in continuous mining machinery, mobile in-pit crushing systems and very large-scale conveyor belt systems. This paper will consider the merits of operating continuous materials handling systems, mobile in-pit crushing systems, relocatable crushing systems, relocatable conveyor systems and automated waste handling systems in place of the more conventional approach of truck haulage.
Author:
D J Morrison
Materials Handling Manager, Sinclair Knight Merz