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Determination of semi-mobile in-pit crushing and conveying (SMIPCC) system performance

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Abstract

In-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) systems are currently receiving more attention as a result of the existing characteristics of open-pit mining operations and what is likely to happen in the future. The use of trucks and shovels for loading and hauling has been used as a dominant system in open-pit and open-cast mines due to their large-scale operations compared with other mining methods. Presently, it has become more required than ever to minimise the cost of truck haulage, which reports for approximately half of the operating costs of the mining operation. Therefore, trucking costs can be considerably minimised by installing the crushers inside the pits. With the increased popularity of IPCC systems, it is necessary to investigate the overall performance and productivity of the systems. This paper employs mine productivity index (MPi) to determine the productivity of semi-mobile IPCC. From this study, it is evident that a reduction of number of loading equipment necessitated an increase in shovel’s bucket size and reduction of the trucks by 33%. Additionally, this study found that the scenario with more than one loading equipment has a higher MPi of 71% compared with the scenario with one loading equipment having an MPi of 67%. Further, SMIPCC scenarios record better MPi compared with the current truck-shovel transportation system which has an MPi of 67.14%.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Mombasa Cement Limited, Kenya for the provision of data used in this study.

Funding

The work reported in this paper is part of an MSc research study in the School of Mines and Engineering at Taita Taveta University. Financial support obtained from the Kenyan German Centre for Mining, Environmental Engineering and Resource Management (CEMEREM) for the MSc study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mines and Engineering, Taita Taveta University, Voi, Kenya

    Dickson Wachira, Joseph Githiria & Dalmus Mauti

  2. Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia

    Moshood Onifade

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  1. Dickson Wachira
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  2. Joseph Githiria
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  3. Moshood Onifade
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  4. Dalmus Mauti
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Correspondence to Dickson Wachira.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Murat Karakus

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Wachira, D., Githiria, J., Onifade, M. et al. Determination of semi-mobile in-pit crushing and conveying (SMIPCC) system performance. Arab J Geosci 14, 297 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-06550-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-06550-4

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