Mining Equipment

The machines that move mountains. Selecting, sizing and managing mining machines: drills, shovels, excavators and loaders, haul trucks with rimpull and fleet matching, conveyors and hoists, and equipment reliability, availability and cost per tonne.

• Drilling Equipment — Drilling is the first unit operation. Learn rotary, down-the-hole (DTH) and top-hammer drilling, bit types, penetration rate factors, drill cycle time, drill productivity per shift, fleet sizing, underground jumbos and longhole rigs, and automation.
• Shovels, Excavators & Loaders — Loading equipment digs broken rock and fills trucks. Learn electric rope shovels, hydraulic excavators, front-end loaders and LHDs, bucket fill factor, swell and cycle time, productivity in bcm/h, passes to fill a truck, and matching loaders with trucks.
• Haul Trucks & Fleet Sizing — Haul trucks move most material in open pits. Learn truck classes, rolling and grade resistance, rimpull and speed, cycle time components, match factor, fleet size, productivity, fuel/energy and trolley assist, and truck dispatch.
• Conveyors & Hoists — Continuous and vertical transport: belt conveyor capacity and power, in-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC), overland conveyors, hoisting ropes and factors of safety, and when conveyors beat trucks.
• Reliability & Equipment Costs — Keeping machines working at low cost. Learn time definitions (availability, utilisation, efficiency), MTBF and MTTR, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), preventive vs predictive maintenance, component life, and owning and operating cost per tonne.