Abstract
Relevance and Objectives. The emergence of new advanced mining machines, as well as conveying, drilling and loading equipment, predetermines changes in conventional opencast mining systems and introduction of new systems, in particular those relying on surface miners. Multi-purpose open pit transport finds an ever growing range of applications. At the same time, conveyors fall under the category of long-haul transport, while mine dump trucks or mining-and-hauling machines perform a gathering function as they collect rock from several surface miners and transport it to the transfer point of the conveyor. There are transfer systems that are equipped with receivers used to transfer rock from mine dump trucks onto belt conveyors. If production units that use surface miners are located at different distances from the conveyor transfer point, the use of various machinery sets may be feasible to support mining and hauling operations. Objective. The objective of this research is to optimise the use of wheel scrapers for collecting rock and unloading it on the belt conveyors and to optimise the design of such wheel scrapers to ensure efficient excavation and further transfer of rock loosened by a surface miner. Findings. This article examines the possibility of enhancing the mining-and-hauling complex by adding surface mining machinery. It is proposed to use retrofitted wheel scrapers for rock excavation and transportation in the areas that are not far from the transfer point while using bucket loaders and dump trucks to excavate and move rock from remote areas. A wheel scraper of the newer design is equipped with an active blade designed to intensify the final stage of the filling process and ensure a high hopper fill factor. The scraper turns its hopper and the material tumbles out into the receiving hoppers of the transfer point due to gravitation effect. Conclusions. One can optimize the costs of running collecting machinery and enhance the profitability of mining operations due to the application of different sets of mining equipment depending on the haulage range when hauling rock loosened by surface miners.
Keywords
Surface miners, rock mass, retrofitted wheel scrapers, dump trucks, transfer point, conveyor transport.
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