Selection of appropriate loader-truck combination to achieve production target - a case study

Abstract

Materials handling can be very costly to a company if the selection and matching of equipment to be used is inappropriately done. Kibi Goldfields limited currently uses Cat 972H front end loader and Cat 336DL hydraulic backhoe excavator for loading Man diesel tipper trucks and Doosan articulated dump trucks. On the Kyekyewere mining face whose haul route is about 3 kilometres from the plant stockpile and characterised by high gradients, sharp curves and narrow bridges, there is need to consider the type of truck that will be most cost effective for the haulage operations. This study therefore sought to analyse the suitability of matching the different truck and loader types for re-handling of ore from the mining face to the plant stockpile using Talpac simulation software and selecting the best loader-truck combination and fleet size for the operations based on cost and productivity. Time and motion studies were conducted on the field to obtain equipment operational data which are loader cycle time, truck spot time and truck dumping time. These together with data on the material to be re-handled, shift roster, haul cycle and equipment cost were used to define a haulage system in Talpac which was subjected to simulation analyses. The two loading unit types and two hauling unit types were matched and six scenarios generated were simulated in Talpac. The results and interpretations showed that the best of the six options was - Cat 972H front end loader matched with 12 units of the Doosan articulated dump truck to produce 1,880,824 tonnes of ore in 246.24 days at a discounted average cost of 7.31 $/tonne.