Comparative economics truck haulage vs. conveying for lignite mines

Conference · Tue Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1983 · Coal Technol. (Houston); (United States)

OSTI ID:5878770

Williamson, K L

The traditional method of material transportation in open pit mines has been truck haulage. Principally, this is because trucks offer a high degree of flexibility which permits the operator to modify and redirect the mining plan in order to change production goals as variable factors dictate. In recent years, the trend in open pit mining has been to minimize truck haulage and substitute belt conveyor systems. Initially the crusher was placed at the pit perimeter, with the natural evolution to ''in-pit'' crushing, and finally, the relative recent development of portable in-pit crushers. Reduction of the ROM (run-off mine) material at the working face combined with belt conveyor haulage has long been recognized as an economically desirable method for transporting material from the mine to a location where it may be further processed. This method of mining and moving material was pioneered in Europe, and in particular, in the brown-coal fields of Germany. This was due to the fact that European countries are generally more dependent on imported oil, and truck haulage is extremely sensitive to escalating oil prices. In addition, in-pit crushing and conveying requires a significant capital expenditure. In the case of the open cast lignite mines of Germany, long term contracts were available to reduce the economic risk that this large capital expenditure would impose on the mining operation. This general world-wide trend to minimize truck haulage and maximize conveyor transport has slowly been implemented in the United States, and is now being fully recognized as a viable cost cutting measure. The reluctance to substitute conveyors for truck haulage may be attributed to the following factors: Natural resistance to change. The misconception that conveyors do not provide sufficient flexibility. Reluctance to apply ''state of the art'' technology when conservative, conventional methods are available.

• Research Organization: Rust International Corp., Birmingham, AL
• OSTI ID: 5878770
• Report Number(s): CONF-831112-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Coal Technol. (Houston); (United States) Journal Volume: 6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
013000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Transport
Handling
& Storage
BELT CONVEYORS
BROWN COAL
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COAL
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONVEYORS
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
EARTHMOVING EQUIPMENT
ENERGY SOURCES
EQUIPMENT
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HAULAGE EQUIPMENT
LIGNITE
MATERIALS
MATERIALS HANDLING
MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT
MINE HAULAGE
MINING
SURFACE MINING
TRUCKS
VEHICLES