1

Calculation of tonnage

Assuming an ore tonnage of 146 million.

Determination of Mine life

Tailor’s mine life

Mine Life (years) = 0.2 × 4√𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒

Or

Mine Life (years) = (1 ± 0.2) × 6.5 × 4√𝑂𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠

Example:

In the above case:

Using Formula 1:

4
Mine Life (years) = 0.2 × √146000000 = 0.2 × 110 = 22 years

Working regime

Working regime is the number of days a mine should work should work in 1 year in order to
achieve the desired the production rate. Working regime also specifies the number of shifts per
day and hours per shift.

In Kenya working regime ranges between 250 to 300 days with either 2 shifts per days of 8
hours per shift or 3 shifts per day of 8 hours per shift.

Assuming 1 year = 366 days

Number of Holidays in Kenya = 12 days

Weekends = 52

Number of Weekend days = 52 × 2 = 104 days

However, on Saturdays most companies work half days = 52 × 0.5 = 26 days.

None working days during the weekend = Number Sundays + (0.5 × number of Saturdays)

= 52 + 26 = 78 days.
 2

Working regime = 366 – Number of holydays – None working weekend days

= 366 – 12 – 78 = 276 days

OR

= 366 – 12 – 104 = 250 days, if company plans not work during the weekends.

Calculation of Production rate

Production rate in tonnes per year (tpy) = Ore tonnage ÷ mine life

= 140600000 ÷ 22 = 6390909 tonnes per year

Production rate in tonnes per day (tpd) = Yearly tonnage ÷ working regime

= 6390909 ÷ 250 = 25563 tonnes per day

Tonnes per hour (tph) = Daily tonnage ÷ working hours per day

Assuming 2 shifts of 8 hrs

Working hours per day = 2 × 8 = 16hrs.

Tonnes per hour (tph) = 25563 ÷ 16 = 1598 tonnes per hour.

Tonnage factor

1
𝑇𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦

If the Density of an ore body is 1.7 t/m3 ((g/cm3)

1
= = 0.5882𝑚3 /𝑡
1.7

Density of rock (most minerals) = 2.7 t/m3 (g/cm3)

Ore volume = Tonnage factor × Ore tonnage

 3

Mine machinery selection and matching

After calculation of the required tonnage and volume of overburden to be moved annually has
been determined, Mining Engineer is ready to begin the process of equipment selection and
matching. During equipment selection, the engineer should have at his disposal manufacturer’s
equipment specifications and listed price of each equipment.

During equipment selection, there are three factors that determine the actual productive
operating time for mine machinery:

1. Availability (Mechanical Availability), denoted by A

2. Utilization, denoted by U
3. Job Efficiency, denoted by J

Equipment availability (A): This is the percentage of scheduled work time the equipment will
operate. For the remaining time, the equipment will down for maintenance. Maintenance is
further divided into: mechanical, electrical and welding. Typically, this value ranges from 70%
to 85%.

Utilization (U): This is the percentage of scheduled work time that the equipment will is not
operating because of operation delays. Such delays include: Lunch breaks, shift changes, trucks
waiting for loader or blasting operations. It accounts for the time the equipment is physically
(mechanically) able to operate but does not operate for various reasons other. The value ranges
from 90 to 95%.

Job Efficiency (J): This is the percentage of scheduled work time that the equipment loses
because of work conditions. Such work conditions are: weather, unskilled operators or other
general operating conditions that would contribute to lower productivity. This value ranges is
usually 95%

Swell factor: This is the ratio of volume of disturbed materials (loose material) to the volume
of bank material (undisturbed material). The volume of volume of disturbed materials (loose
material) is known is Loose cubic metre (LCM), and the volume of bank material (undisturbed
material) is known as bank cubic metre (BCM).

Swell factor = LCM ÷ BCM

Load factor = 1 ÷ Swell factor

 4

Selection of mining equipment

Mining equipment (machinery) divided into the following:
1. Excavating and ore extraction equipment
2. Loading equipment
3. Haulage equipment

Selection of excavation and ore extraction equipment

These include:

1. Electric shovel.
2. Hydraulic excavator.
3. Bucket wheel excavator.
4. Scraper.
5. Draglines.

Hydraulic excavators

Hydraulic shovels, primarily a European development, have proven themselves on construction

and mining projects. They have now reached a level of reliability and have increased in size to
the point where units are common in surface mining application.
5
 6

(4)

Hydraulic shovel applications

Hydraulic machines are employed in overburden removal, loading or, in the smaller sizes, for
utility work generally related to mine drainage systems.

The hydraulic shovel is primarily an excavating and loading device. While it can swing and/or
propel to transport material short distances, it is used almost exclusively to load trucks or in
some cases, hoppers/crushers.

Hoes have similar uses to shovels. However, their below grade digging capability makes them
particularly suited to tasks such as trenching or excavating under water.

Hoes are utilized in mining when floor conditions warrant keeping machines off the bottom of
the pit.

Electric shovel

The shovel is one of the oldest types of excavating equipment.

In recent years, smaller shovels are being replaced by front-end loaders and hydraulic
machines.
7
 8

Electric shovel application

Electric shovels generally have the same applications as hydraulic shovels although the electric
units are considered to particularly suited to more digging conditions.

They are available in larger sizes and have a proven service record in multi-shift mining
operations. Electric shovels also tend to have longer range capabilities.

These shovels are applied in benching operations in either overburden or coal/ore.

Discharge is commonly into trucks but can also be into mobile hoppers.

The larger models and/or those equipped with long range front ends may be applied in direct
spoiling overburden removal operations.
 9

SELECTION AND MATCHING OF LOADING AND HAULAGE EQUIPMENT

To determine the type and fleet of the front-end-loaders that will be appropriate with this task,
it important to know the following factors:

Required yearly tonnage (or Bank cubic meter, BCM) = 20 million

Material to be mined is Titanium ore sand

Loose cubic meter (LCM) required = 25 million.

Working days per year = 250 days

Daily production needed (LCM)= 100, 000 m3…………(from 25million/250days)

Daily scheduled operating hours (S) = 16 hours

Mechanical availability = 70 to 85%

Job efficiency (J) = 95%

Utilization (U) = 80 to 95%

Daily effective operating time of the front-end loader (OT) = S × A × J × U

= 16 × 0.7× 0.95 × 0.8 = 8.512 hours per day

Shovel or bucket cycles per day = (Operating time × 3600) ÷ work cycle (in seconds)

Operating time (already calculated) = 8.512 hours per day

Work cycle = 1 minute (assumed) = 60 seconds

= (8.512 × 3600) ÷ 60 = 510 cycles per day

Lose cubic metre per cycle = Daily tonnage or LCM ÷ cycles per day

= 100000 ÷ 510 = 196 m3

Bucket size (cubic metre) = Lose cubic metre per cycle ÷ (Load factor × Bucket fill factor)

Bucket fill factor = values are shown in table 1

Estimated work cycle = values are shown in table 8

Load factor = 0.89……from Swell factor = LCM ÷ BCM

Load factor = 1 ÷ Swell factor

 10

Table 1 Front-end-loader and Shovel (Excavator) bucket fill factors

Type of digging Bucket fill factor

Loader (Front End Loader) Shovel (Excavator)
Easy digging 0.9 to 1 0.95 to 1
Medium digging 0.8 to 0.9 0.9 to 0.95
Hard digging 0.5 to 0.6 0.8 to 0.9
Very hard digging Not applicable 0.7 to 0.8

Easy digging refers to all the loose, free running material such as sand, crushed stone, gravel,
pellets and concrete. In general terms, the material should have uniform grain size. In this type
of material, when loading or digging is done using shovel, heaped or full load can easily be
achieved. In summary digging entails the following materials:

 Sand
 Crushed stone
 Gravel
 Pellets
 Crushed concrete

Medium digging refers to material associated with minor gradation of size. This type of
material include:

 boulders,
 coal,
 gravel with some boulders,
 earth and clay materials.

In this type of material little or no blasting may be needed before loading. It is important to
note that with this type of material, the shovel or front-end-loader may achieve full bucket as
material has a tendency of flowing when scooped (or penetrated by the deeper teeth).
 11

Hard digging materials are the type of materials that require blasting. This material,
however, achieves good (fairly) fragmentation upon blasting. Generally, there is gradation of
sizes which often range from small to medium sized materials. Examples of these types of
materials are:

 cemented gravel,
 laminated shales
 limestones.

Since this material tends to resist sliding or natural flow, the dipper (bucket) is unlikely to
achieve full dipper load.

The very hard material are those materials that need heavy blasting before they can be
handled by the front-end-loader and shovel. This type of material mainly contains very large
chunks of materials as well as small chunks of materials. In fact, material size ranges from
small to large. Owing to size and poor gradation the materials tend to interlock thereby resisting
penetration of the dipper (bucket).

These materials include:

 granite,
 conglomerates,
 basalts and
 some sandstones.

For this type of material, the shovel or bucket will considerably less than full load as the
interlocking particles hinder dipper or bucket penetration. It is also important note that for this
type of material, front-end-loaders are not recommended except for those with very large tyres.

The material to be extracted is sand which falls under free digging category, hence the bucket
fill factor = 1

Therefore:

Bucket size (cubic metre) = 196 ÷ (0.89 × 1) = 220 m3

Therefore, the required front-end-loader production per cycle (1 cycle takes 1 minute) = 220
m3 after all correction factors have been taken care of.
 12

Assumption: The sand to be used for construction of sand motor will be wet, therefore its
density is assumed to be 1922 kg / m3 = 1.922 t/ m3

Tonnage factor = 1 ÷ density = 1 ÷ 1.922 = 0.5203

Required front end load production per cycle (tonnes per cycle) = LCM per cycle ÷ tonnage
factor

= 220 ÷ 0.5203 = 423 tonnes per cycle.

Number and type of front-end-loaders

A number of CAT front-end-loaders are considered for this selection. These properties
of these front-end-loaders are shown in table 8 below.

Table 1: Different CAT front end loaders and their characteristics

Loader model CAT 994K CAT 993K CAT 992K

Load bucket 19.1 to 43.6 m3 12.2 to 23.7 m3 10.7 to 12.3 m3

volume
Maximum Standard lift 40.8 tonnes 24.9 tones 19.1 tonnes
tonnage (moderate to high
digging resistance)

Standard lift (low 54.4 tonnes

to moderate
digging resistance)

High lift (moderate 38.1 tonnes 21.1 tonnes

to high digging
resistance)
High lift (low to 49.9 tones
moderate digging
resistance)
Marching 777
truck type
Truck nominal 92.6 tonnes
payload
 13

Assuming high lift (low to moderate digging) since it is sand and hight lift since most probably
a larger trucker will be used in this operation. Based on the required tonnage per cycle which
is 423 tonnes per cycle, the number of each front-end-loader that will be needed for this
operation was determined as shown below.

CAT 994 K

Maximum tonnage for High lift (low to moderate digging resistance) = 49.9 tonnes

Number of CAT 994 K that can achieve the required tonnage = 423 ÷ 49.9

= 8.4 CAT 994K Front End Loaders

Calculating Fleet size of the CAT 994K Front end loaders

Fleet size = No. of front-end loaders ÷ Mechanical availability

Mechanical availability = 0.7

Fleet size = 8.4 ÷ 0.7 = 12 CAT 994K Front End Loaders

CAT 993K

Maximum tonnage = 24.9 tonnes

Number of CAT 993 K that can achieve the required tonnage = 423 ÷ 24.9 = 17 Loaders

Mechanical availability = 0.7

Fleet size = 17 ÷ 0.7 = 24.26 CAT 993K Loaders

0.26 CAT 993K Loader tonnage (decimal part) = 0.26 × 24.9 = 6.3 tonnes

Flee size = 24 CAT 993K Loaders and smaller loader that can carry 6.3 tonnes (the
loader can be found in the manufacturer’s manual)

CAT 992K

Maximum tonnage = 19.1 tonnes

Number of CAT 992 K that can achieve the required tonnage = 423 ÷ 19.1 = 22.15 Loaders

Mechanical availability = 0.7

Fleet size = 22.15 ÷ 0.7 = 31.63 CAT 992K Loaders

 14

0.63 CAT 992K Loader tonnage (decimal part) = 0.63 × 19 = 11.97 tonnes

Fleet size = 31 CAT 992K Loaders and smaller loader that carry 12 tonnes (the loader can be
found in the manufacturer’s manual)

Therefore, to achieve the designed tonnage, one of the following loader combinations may be
need:

i. 12 CAT 994K Loaders (Assumed cost of acquisition Ksh. 1.2 billion)

ii. 24 CAT 993K Loaders and 1 (one) 6.3 tonne Loader (Assumed cost of acquisition Ksh.
1.5 billion)
iii. 31 CAT 992K Loaders and 1 (one) 12 tonne Loader (Assumed cost of acquisition Ksh.
2.2 billion).

The selection of the most appropriate amongst the above depends on the cost. Therefore, the
most appropriate choice is 12 CAT 994 Loaders.

Important Note: Loader or Shovel work cycle time is usually 1 minute for most operations.
Therefore, a value of 1 minute (60 seconds) is often used in the initial calculation. However, it
may also vary with the size of loader or bucket shovel. These values are shown is table the
table below.

Work cycle time for Front end loader and Excavator

Front-end-loader capacity/Shovel Work cycle Time in minutes

Cubic yard Cubic metre

Up to 4 Up to 3 0.4 to 0.6

5 to 10 4 to 8 0.5 to 1

More than 10 More than 8 0.8 to 1.5

 15

Selection and matching of trucks with loading equipment

Number trucks needed per loader = Truck cycle time ÷ Load time

Average truck bed size

Assumption: Truck is filled in 4 loader passes

Loader work cycle = 1 minute = 60 seconds

Loading time = Number of passes × Loader work cycle = 1 × 4 = 4 minutes

Assuming truck cycle time = 20 minutes

Number trucks needed per loader = Truck cycle time ÷ Load time = 20 ÷ 4 = 5