For smaller mines it's often just chuck rock in truck, drive tuck out of mine. It becomes more challenging when you're looking at the large block/panel/sub-level caving mines. For example, the Kiruna iron ore sub-level caving mine in Sweden produces between 20 and 25 million tonnes per year. To achieve this, there is an extensive Material Handling System (MHS), consisting of orepasses where ore is dropped down to a deeper haulage level, into a train. Major issues in a situation like this are:
- Orepass stability, these get damaged over time due to rocks being thrown down as well as stress fracturing.
- Orepasses getting blocked by large boulders, these need to be broken up (usually with explosives)
- Stability of the haulage level, due to the train track here, this level is very sensitive to deformation
Many larger stoping mines will use a shaft to get material out.
Other underground mines with very extensive MHSs would be El Teniente and Grasberg
Mate you need to take a sabbatical. Preferably to a working mine site. Talk to some on-site engineers, maintenance staff, etc..
Not sure about the US. But here in Australia. We have shit loads of work available all year round.
I'm guessing OP is talking about more than just crushed ore.
If you are having hazardous materials transported to site the driver will require a TDG certificate.
If heavy machinery is being transported there will be a dedicated pickup truck upfront with blinkers on guiding the way.
In any case, there are a few different radio channels onsite.
One will be for the access road (site main), another will be for the road leading to site
On the access road, there are markers for every half or full kilometre which the vehicle is required to call out.
There are rules on who has priority on the road (haul trucks, skid steers, light vehicle, buses for transporting workers in and out of site.
When it comes to heavy equipment (wide load), and other vehicles that take up more space, vehicles with lower priority will be forced to pull over to the side of the road until that vehicle has passed.
Some dangerous goods pose more danger than others and will be tracked via GPS.
Edit: If the site is transporting con via sea they will need to verify that the moisture content falls within a certain range otherwise the ship can capsize.
If the site does refining and is sending out bullion to a refinery, it will need to get tested for grade, insured and sent out on an armoured truck.
Majority of answers will be about moving ore. Lots forget about the transportation of materials that are used underground. Some deep mines take a lot of logistic to move gear. Worked at a deep mine that routinely lost gear in transit when it was sent down and reorders were common .
Constraints may be if the mine is shaft access, Then shaft availability from maintenance, man runs, etc. is a factor.
Materials like dry shotcrete may be in bags. Piercing holes in bags with forklifts is a common issue. Majority of gear is on pallets, skids or inside bins so tractors with forks is commonly used.
Dragging heavy gear on skids with multiple scoops towing / controlling it.
RFID tags have been tried in cases, issue with them is multiple tags close together messes up the scans as they pass by a point scanner.
Underground Coal, all supplies and materials are handled with LHD’s (loaders with various attachments) by the operators in the mine.
https://preview.redd.it/sla2cxnhmcad1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=db067fda6ba68ab4d2bdd89d62ed7deca1b2174b
Nah, once you’re in the coal seam development is with a continuous miner that munches away and coal is loaded straight into a shuttle car which takes it to the conveyor belt out of the pit. Bolt and mesh is done with the miner or some methods have a seperate bolting rig that comes in after the miner is out of the way.
It's mostly big trucks in Australia.
Big trucks have big problems however, I work with tyres, so our biggest enemy is heat.
It's basically drive fast, carry heavy, or decrease downtime.
Choose 2.
High speed, high weight can be done, but it'll increase downtime as tyres will wear faster and suffer more unplanned removals. It can also increase rapid deflation, which is dangerous for people and vehicles.
You can carry more and go slower, but you'll also need good loader operators to avoid bias loading in the trays. Bias loading (off centre weight distribution) can severely impact certain tyre positions. As you're taking all the challenges a tyre goes through carrying 250 tons and amplifying it by how badly the tray is loaded.
You also need to be careful of how sharp your corners and inclines are. Corners can be managed to a degree by managing the lateral acceleration. That means putting the corners in a angle to act almost like a velodrome.
Going fast generates a lot of heat and that is multiplied with higher payloads and uneven haul roads. But it can be managed just like anything else, you just need to account for it and understand your problems are magnified by how hard you get the people (or robots) pressing the go pedal.
Consequences of mismanagement are pretty severe with tyres. 110 psi wants to leave the tyre its going to do so with style.
A tyre can let go with the force of 2 tons of TNT and is directional.
It is possible to survive being near that, but not unaltered.
A tyre fire is another potential outcome, if the belts exceed roughly 250° they will ignite and ignite suddenly. This may also create a rapid deflation event that resembles a flamethrower with an attitude problem. This can be extremely difficult and dangerous to extinguish. In some cases you may have to let the vehicle burn up.
Now all that is just tyres on dump trucks. Dump trucks are near bottom of the machine hierarchy on most sites. With only graders below them.
I haven't touched on Crushers, loaders, digger/excavators, water carts graders and dozers.
But they're all their own unique brand of fun.
I’m now working in mining innovation and this is a big focus area, as from the face to conveyor/processing plant is often high energy (diesel).
There is lots of work going on in the electrification space. I just online yesterday that BHP are now moving to large scale trolley assist in Chile as an example.
Underground to surface a cool business to check out are EcoHoist.
Happy to chat more and give more colour on the problem statements if it helps. Drop me a DM.
Telehandlers and 6 or 3.5 yrd LDH machines for materials... the occasional flat bed if your company vs a contractor for anything not ore body.
Ore body gets tossed onto a network of conveyance systems and skipped up to surface for processing.
It depends on the type of mine. I work in coal, so everything gets dumped into a feeder, then goes down miles of belt lines until it gets outside. Supplies come down the slope on trailers behind a Getman (basically an underground semi), and they get delivered to whatever unit the driver is supplying
Put rock in truck
*32 cigarettes later* Dump rock out of truck
Put rock in train
Put crushed rock on conveyor
Run rock through chemistry set
Very important step.
For smaller mines it's often just chuck rock in truck, drive tuck out of mine. It becomes more challenging when you're looking at the large block/panel/sub-level caving mines. For example, the Kiruna iron ore sub-level caving mine in Sweden produces between 20 and 25 million tonnes per year. To achieve this, there is an extensive Material Handling System (MHS), consisting of orepasses where ore is dropped down to a deeper haulage level, into a train. Major issues in a situation like this are: - Orepass stability, these get damaged over time due to rocks being thrown down as well as stress fracturing. - Orepasses getting blocked by large boulders, these need to be broken up (usually with explosives) - Stability of the haulage level, due to the train track here, this level is very sensitive to deformation Many larger stoping mines will use a shaft to get material out. Other underground mines with very extensive MHSs would be El Teniente and Grasberg
You guys have haul trucks? Must be nice 😔
Mate you need to take a sabbatical. Preferably to a working mine site. Talk to some on-site engineers, maintenance staff, etc.. Not sure about the US. But here in Australia. We have shit loads of work available all year round.
Just don't ask this sub how to get started
I'm guessing OP is talking about more than just crushed ore. If you are having hazardous materials transported to site the driver will require a TDG certificate. If heavy machinery is being transported there will be a dedicated pickup truck upfront with blinkers on guiding the way. In any case, there are a few different radio channels onsite. One will be for the access road (site main), another will be for the road leading to site On the access road, there are markers for every half or full kilometre which the vehicle is required to call out. There are rules on who has priority on the road (haul trucks, skid steers, light vehicle, buses for transporting workers in and out of site. When it comes to heavy equipment (wide load), and other vehicles that take up more space, vehicles with lower priority will be forced to pull over to the side of the road until that vehicle has passed. Some dangerous goods pose more danger than others and will be tracked via GPS. Edit: If the site is transporting con via sea they will need to verify that the moisture content falls within a certain range otherwise the ship can capsize. If the site does refining and is sending out bullion to a refinery, it will need to get tested for grade, insured and sent out on an armoured truck.
Majority of answers will be about moving ore. Lots forget about the transportation of materials that are used underground. Some deep mines take a lot of logistic to move gear. Worked at a deep mine that routinely lost gear in transit when it was sent down and reorders were common . Constraints may be if the mine is shaft access, Then shaft availability from maintenance, man runs, etc. is a factor. Materials like dry shotcrete may be in bags. Piercing holes in bags with forklifts is a common issue. Majority of gear is on pallets, skids or inside bins so tractors with forks is commonly used. Dragging heavy gear on skids with multiple scoops towing / controlling it. RFID tags have been tried in cases, issue with them is multiple tags close together messes up the scans as they pass by a point scanner.
You load big rock on your back. Problem is back hurt
Solution: make big rock small rock. Problem: boss want more rock, make carry more little rock.
Underground Coal, all supplies and materials are handled with LHD’s (loaders with various attachments) by the operators in the mine. https://preview.redd.it/sla2cxnhmcad1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=db067fda6ba68ab4d2bdd89d62ed7deca1b2174b
My generations spoiled. Could never imagine mucking in an open cab
Yet to see a sealed cab in coal.
Ah, I'm hard rock. We used to have open cab mucking. What's the development process like for coal? Drill blast muck bolt?
Nah, once you’re in the coal seam development is with a continuous miner that munches away and coal is loaded straight into a shuttle car which takes it to the conveyor belt out of the pit. Bolt and mesh is done with the miner or some methods have a seperate bolting rig that comes in after the miner is out of the way.
Interesting. Is it all block and pillar? I work at a stoping mine and it's the only site I've seen.
Nah there are a few different methods. I work in a Longwall mine. https://youtu.be/q9GqO0r-_lo?si=sr_0wXbY1jvuGxQT
Interesting
Trucks, trains, and conveyor belts. Â
And slurry pipelines!
It's mostly big trucks in Australia. Big trucks have big problems however, I work with tyres, so our biggest enemy is heat. It's basically drive fast, carry heavy, or decrease downtime. Choose 2. High speed, high weight can be done, but it'll increase downtime as tyres will wear faster and suffer more unplanned removals. It can also increase rapid deflation, which is dangerous for people and vehicles. You can carry more and go slower, but you'll also need good loader operators to avoid bias loading in the trays. Bias loading (off centre weight distribution) can severely impact certain tyre positions. As you're taking all the challenges a tyre goes through carrying 250 tons and amplifying it by how badly the tray is loaded. You also need to be careful of how sharp your corners and inclines are. Corners can be managed to a degree by managing the lateral acceleration. That means putting the corners in a angle to act almost like a velodrome. Going fast generates a lot of heat and that is multiplied with higher payloads and uneven haul roads. But it can be managed just like anything else, you just need to account for it and understand your problems are magnified by how hard you get the people (or robots) pressing the go pedal. Consequences of mismanagement are pretty severe with tyres. 110 psi wants to leave the tyre its going to do so with style. A tyre can let go with the force of 2 tons of TNT and is directional. It is possible to survive being near that, but not unaltered. A tyre fire is another potential outcome, if the belts exceed roughly 250° they will ignite and ignite suddenly. This may also create a rapid deflation event that resembles a flamethrower with an attitude problem. This can be extremely difficult and dangerous to extinguish. In some cases you may have to let the vehicle burn up. Now all that is just tyres on dump trucks. Dump trucks are near bottom of the machine hierarchy on most sites. With only graders below them. I haven't touched on Crushers, loaders, digger/excavators, water carts graders and dozers. But they're all their own unique brand of fun.
first time hearing my truck tire pop scared the living fuck out of me. Just a gun shot in my ear lol
Biggest gun I’ve never heard. Monstrous sound.
Make big rock into smaller rock
I’m now working in mining innovation and this is a big focus area, as from the face to conveyor/processing plant is often high energy (diesel). There is lots of work going on in the electrification space. I just online yesterday that BHP are now moving to large scale trolley assist in Chile as an example. Underground to surface a cool business to check out are EcoHoist. Happy to chat more and give more colour on the problem statements if it helps. Drop me a DM.
Drill blast load haul
Telehandlers and 6 or 3.5 yrd LDH machines for materials... the occasional flat bed if your company vs a contractor for anything not ore body. Ore body gets tossed onto a network of conveyance systems and skipped up to surface for processing.
It depends on the type of mine. I work in coal, so everything gets dumped into a feeder, then goes down miles of belt lines until it gets outside. Supplies come down the slope on trailers behind a Getman (basically an underground semi), and they get delivered to whatever unit the driver is supplying