A decision-making method to assess the benefits of a semi-mobile in-pit crushing and conveying alternative during the early stages of a mining project

Abstract

A significant cost in the operating budget of most mining operations arises from purchasing and maintaining haulage trucks. Recently, in-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) has been subject to research because of its potential to reduce haulage costs. The objective of this study is to identify early on in a project, by means of a decisionmaking method, whether or not the semi-mobile IPCC (SMIPCC) is an appropriate alternative to the conventional truck haulage method on the loading and hauling approaches. This method is based on cost analysis and the evaluation of environmental impacts, being successfully tested at an existing open-pit mine, where the results indicated that the IPCC was the most cost-effective option for the operation. Although the IPCC's initial CAPEX was 60% higher than the conventional approach, the IPCC's OPEX was 43% lower, resulting in a 28% reduction of the life-of-mine net present cost (NPC).

Description of the IPCC mining process and analysis of the profile of productivity losses applied by a mining company in northern Brazil

“…Several studies in the literature indicate that the IPCC methodology has received more attention due to the current characteristics of open-pit mining operations and what is expected to occur in the future. (Nehring et al, 2018;Nunes et al, 2019;Paricheh and Osanloo, 2020;. However, those studies focus on technical, economic and sustainable development aspects, along with comparative analysis to conventional mining methods and lack detailed descriptions of the process.…”

Development of a measurement instrument to evaluate integrated management systems and differences in perception: an approach to item response theory and the quality management process

“…In addition to the perspective of technological and competitive evolution, strategic management elements linked to the objectives of companies should guide how they distribute their resources in the production process (Mohammadi et al, 2017;Nairn et al, 2020;Nunes et al, 2019;Pereira & Nunes, 2018;Santos et al, 2020). In other words, strategic management elements establish structured management routines, methodologies, and tools to sustain and improve results, and are essential to solve problems and ensure the principle of continuous improvement, that is, failure to meet the schedule by the KPIs constitutes the identification and prioritization of improvement opportunities in which their support elements point to improvement opportunities.…”

Integrated management analysis of production performance, maintenance, and PDCA Cycle

“…Differential aspects that contribute to a better performance of the maintenance sector, with regard to the increase in available hours for production, can be to improve the preventive maintenance process and seek more resistant materials and of standardized use. Nicholls, 2020;Nunes et al, 2019;Paricheh & Osanloo, 2020). However, such studies have focused on investigating aspects of technical, economic and sustainable development, together with a comparative analysis to conventional mining methods, but have not described in detail how the IPCC process works.…”

“…The specific equipment used in the IPCC process has robust structures and need performance monitoring, and for this a measure known as Key Performance Indicators is used (Nunes et al, 2019;Osanloo & Paricheh, 2020). KPIs play an important role in the process as they need to provide quick project and current performance information to achieve objectives (Gackowiec et al, 2020;Parmenter, 2015).…”