Requirement
Create a model of men, material and reef logistics in order to test if the planned ramp up in production could be supported. Model included:
- Loading, tramming and conveyance of reef and waste
- Skip loading and hoisting of reef and waste through Rock Hoists,
- Personnel and material loading, lowering and hoisting via the man winders,
- Horizontal transportation of personnel, material and explosive cars,
- Decline SD winder system operation.
Approach
- Project Objectives Definition
- Systems Analysis and Data Collection
- Model Construction
- Model Verification and Validation
- Sensitivity Analysis
- Identify Best Solution and Documentation
Outcome
The following outcomes were concluded from the study: Optimized reef and waste silo capacities.
- The current conveyor rate is sufficient to convey reef but cannot sustain waste production.
- The planned material and explosive cars can be transported with the vertical shaft but the SD winder shows a very high utilization and has a high risk of being a bottleneck.
- Optimized staging area requirement for material and explosive cars was determined.
- Model determined accurate traveling times for personnel from surface to their places of work for planning purposes.
Requirement
Create a discrete-event simulation model of production operations, including drawpoint loading by LHDs, secondary blasting and breaking, train haulage, ore crushing, hoisting and material handling operations. The model needed to accurately predict current and future mine production performance under various conditions and/or configurations.
Approach
- Project Objectives Definition
- Systems Analysis and Data Collection
- Model Construction
- Model Verification and Validation
- Sensitivity Analysis
- Identify Best Solution and Documentation
Outcomes
The model indicated that the mine could produce and maintain the target tonnage, based on the following conclusions / recommendations:
- The capacity of transfer conveyors needed to be increased
- Changes to the rail dispatch system were needed in order to alleviate potential bottlenecks
- Secondary breaking was a key element to sustain loader productivity.