1 INRODUCTION

Modern mine control systems and mine equipment

are highly computerized. One result o this situation
is that large !olumes o data are collected that deine
mine perormance and equipment condition. "ome
o this data is processed in real time to pro!ide
inormation that allo#s or optimization o mine
perormance. $%amples are the leet dispatch
systems that de!elop equipment assignments& 'est
matched to the stated o'(ecti!es o the mining
operation and 'ased on real)time processing o data
that deines equipment status and location.
Most o the collected data& ho#e!er& is used or
reporting and post)mortem analysis o mine
perormance& or equipment ailure analysis and or
pre!ention o its catastrophic ailures only. *n
e%ample are the !ital signs monitoring systems
installed on larger pieces o mining equipment.
These systems collect data generated 'y a !ariety o
sensors and store it to acilitate easy ailure
diagnostics. In addition these systems ha!e a
capa'ility to #arn the operator o impending ailure
or to conduct orderly equipment shut)do#n i an
emergency situation occurs.
*!aila'ility o huge data'ases and spreading
computerization has led to large strides in data
processing capa'ilities and techniques. +ariety o
po#erul data processing methods ha!e 'een
de!eloped o!er the last years that acilitate rapid
processing o !oluminous data or e%traction o user
riendly inormation. One o such methods is data
mining. Originally de!eloped 'y intelligence
community to loo, or inormation in huge
communication data'ases& data mining has since
ound a range o commercial and scientiic
applications. No#adays it is #idely used 'y retail
industry to analyze sales& direct promotion and
mar,eting eorts& 'y cellular telephone companies
to assure client retention& 'y scientists to search or
inormation in large data'ases created 'y -u''le
space telescope& and in many other applications.
This paper 'riely re!ie#s data mining and the
related techniques& and proposes their use or
disco!ery o ,no#ledge in data acquired 'y a !ariety
o data acquisition systems used in today.s mines. In
particular the paper suggests that data mining can 'e
used to de!elop predicti!e capacity related to
equipment condition and its perormance. Data
mining oers a potential or urther& signiicant
impro!ement o mine perormance.
/ D*T* MININ0
Data mining is an iterati!e process that in!ol!es
setting the o'(ecti!es o the search& selecting and
cleaning input data& transorming it& running a
mining unction and interpreting the results. The
schematic in ig.1& adopted rom I1M 2International
1usiness Machines& /3334& presents these tas,s
graphically.
The selection o data to 'e analyzed may in!ol!e
integration o data rom !arious sources and oten
requires their ormatting to it the ormat accepta'le
to the data mining sot#are. In a mining situation
#here the o'(ecti!e may 'e optimization o
5omatsu truc, perormance& data on load carried& on
cycle times& and on truc, component perormance
may 'e needed& acquired in dierent ormats rom
engine monitoring system 2say Cummins engine
monitoring system4& rom truc, dispatch system
Data mining uses in mining
Tad ". 0olosins,i
University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, MO, USA
*1"TR*CT6 The paper discusses potential use o data mining techniques in mining. It re!ie#s the 'asic
techniques and methods o data mining and proceeds to identiy possi'le mining applications o this
methodology. In particular the paper proposes use o data mining to de!elop predicti!e capacity related to
condition and perormance o mining equipment. Other possi'le uses o data mining include optimization o
mine perormance as #ell as equipment operator training.
2say Modular Mining.s Dispatch4& and rom an on)
'oard #eigh


7igure 1. The data mining
process
measuring system pro!ided 'y a third party. Ma(or
pro'lem may 'e aced #ith ma,ing data ormats
compati'le #ith each other and #ith that o data
mining sot#are to 'e used.
The ne%t step& transorming the data or its pre)
processing may in!ol!e iltration& discretization&
data (oining and similar actions. It allo#s
organization o the data so that it may 'e mined
eiciently. In the case o 5omatsu truc, mentioned
a'o!e the data (oining #ould 'e a ma(or tas,& as
#ould its discretization and iltration.
Mining data is done using one or more o data
mining techniques 'riely discussed 'elo#. It needs
to 'e noted that data mining did not originally relate
to mining. It is a general)purpose data processing
method that permits disco!ery o inormation that
may e%ist in !arious data'ases.
Interpreting the results is the last and a !ery
important step o data mining. Usually !arious
!isualization tools are used in the process& #hich
allo# or easy !ie#ing o the inormation and
identiication o inormation disco!ered during the
data mining process.
D*T* MININ0 T$C-NI8U$"
* num'er o techniques are used in data mining&
each #ith its o#n interesting applications. "e!eral
te%t'oo,s summarize and descri'e these techniques
21erson and "mith& 199:& ;estphal and 1la%ton&
199<& ;eiss and Indur,hya& 199<& others4. *s an
e%ample. 1erson and "mith 2199:4 classiies data
mining techniques as ollo#s.
/.1 Decision trees
The decision trees are predicti!e models that an 'e
!ie#ed as a tree& #ith tree 'ranches representing a
classiication question and the lea!es representing
partitions o the data set #ith their classiication.
The prediction is made on the 'asis o a series o
sequential decisions. Thus in case o mining truc,s
the decision tree could 'e used to identiy #hich
truc,s are most li,ely to ail& and #hen& 'ased on
such questions as6 #hat is the truc, ma,e& ho# old is
it& ho# long it has operated& #hat is its past repair
history& #ho #as its operator and the li,e. * decision
tree model can 'e conirmed or modiied 'y hand
and it can 'e directed 'ased on the e%pertise o the
person constructing it.
The decision tree models are 'est used or
e%ploration o the data sets and that o the pro'lem
at hand. It is done 'y loo,ing at the predictors and
!alues that are chosen or each split o the tree. They
can also 'e used or data pre)processing or other
prediction algorithms. *n e%ample o such
application is sho#n in the companion paper
20olosins,i et al& /3314.
/./ Neural networks
Neural net#or,s are computer implementations o
sophisticated pattern detection and machine learning
algorithms used to 'uild predicti!e models rom
large historical data'ases. They allo# or
construction o highly accurate predicti!e models
that ser!e to sol!e a large num'er o dierent
pro'lems. The main pro'lem #ith neural modeling
is lac, o clarity& the price oten paid or their
comple%ity and high accuracy. To o!ercome this
pro'lem& !arious !isualization techniques are used
in con(unction #ith neural models to help e%plain
and control the model.
The primary application o neural models in data
mining is clustering& the technique that is used to
segment a data'ase into clusters& or su')sets& 'ased
on a set o predetermined attri'utes. The a'ility o
neural models to perorm accurate numerical
predictions led to !ariety o applications& including
predictions o the stoc, mar,ets 'eha!ior. *s related
to a mining truc,& neural clustering may 'e used to
deine and quantiy the relations 'et#een !arious
data streams collected on this truc,& ollo#ing 'y

clustering o these streams into mutually dependent
groups. Thus& or e%ample& the actors that ha!e an
impact on cycle time o the truc, can 'e deined and
quantiied.
/.= Nearest neighbor and clustering
1oth these techniques are !ery intuiti!e and 'et#een
the irst used or data mining. Nearest neigh'or
prediction algorithms are con!enient and simple
predicti!e tools that allo# or clear e%planation o
#hy a prediction #as made. The predictions are
'ased on 'eha!ior or properties o the >neigh'or?
data #ith the highest #eight assigned to the data that
is closest. Clustering is grouping& or >clustering.
together the data that has the same or similar
attri'utes.
1oth clustering and nearest neigh'or techniques
are 'et#een the easiest to use and ha!e a !ariety o
applications. 1oth are primarily used or prediction
o ne# data rather than e%traction o rules rom an
e%tensi!e data'ases. Using the mine truc, e%ample&
these techniques appear to 'e most suited or
prediction o #hen and ho# this truc, #ill ail& a
,ey piece o inormation or a mine operator.
/.@ enetic algorith!s
0enetic algorithms reer to simulated e!olutionary
systems that dictate ho# populations should 'e
ormed& e!aluated and modiied. One o a !ariety o
algorithms ,no#n as optimization techniques
generic algorithms are in their inancy and more
e%perience #ith them is required 'eore a mine)
related use can 'e proposed.
/.A Rule induction
Rule induction is one o the most common orms o
,no#ledge disco!ery in unsuper!ised learning
systems. This technique is oten used to >mine?
data'ases& to disco!er inormation that is not
o'!ious or readily a!aila'le. The technique
retrie!es all potentially interesting data patterns in
the data'ase #ith the ound rules 'eing generally
simple and easy to understand.
The rule induction can 'e used to ma,e
predictions& 'ut its main use is or unsuper!ised
learning to ind rules that are not already ,no#n. In
reerence to the mining truc, the rule induction may
'e used to deine relations 'et#een !arious data
streams collected on this truc,. *s an e%ample a rule
can 'e disco!ered that states6 "if this truck is
o#erated by o#erator $ and it is Monday, the
#erfor!ance of the truck will be dis!al%& Bi,e#ise a
rule can 'e deined that states "if the truck engine
overheats and strut #ressures are within certain
range, the truck is overloaded%.
This technique oers a great promise i applied to
mining equipment operator training.
/.C Statistical !ethods
Use o statistics is 'y ar the most common approach
to data analysis and !arious statistical theories and
calculations can 'e used to disco!er hidden patterns
in the data'ases. These include& 'ut are not limited
to regression& cur!e itting& principal component
analysis& actor analysis and other.
*s the statistics is one o the #ell esta'lished
sciences and a huge !olume o inormation on its
application to pattern disco!ery is a!aila'le& this
data mining technique is not discussed urther in this
paper.
= MININ0 U"$" O7 D*T* MININ0
The ocus o data mining is to disco!er and deine
hidden patterns and trends. Once a pattern is deined
it can 'e used in many #ays& such as a training input
into a neural net#or, or encoded as a rule into an
e%pert system. Traditional applications o data
mining include those or monitoring medical 'ill
raud& mar,eting #ith coupons& monitoring credit
card transactions& and the li,e 2;estphal and
1la%ton& 199<4.
The data mining is estimated to 'e a D/3 'illion
industry today. In spite o this& to the 'est ,no#ledge
o the author& no attempt #as made to use data
mining techniques to address mining related
pro'lems so ar.
-uge !olumes o !arious data are collected on
today.s mining equipment. *s and e%ample each
large o)high#ay truc, manuactured 'y Caterpillar
is equipped #ith the so called +IM" 2+ital
Inormation Management "ystem4 system that has a
capacity to collect& store and transmit inormation
rom o!er 1A3 sensors installed throughout the truc,.
;ith the sensor indication sampling rate o one per
second& and truc, operating :&333 hrs per year& o!er
=&:<3 M1 o data can 'e collected or each truc,
during one year o its operation.
;hile some o this data is used to generate
inormation descri'ing truc, perormance and
condition& most o the collected data remains
unused and is not analyzed. +ery little o it& i any at
all& is used to orecast truc, condition or
perormance into the uture. Instead the #hole data
analysis eort directed on assessment o past
perormance. Use o data mining techniques or
inormation disco!ery in this huge data'ase appears
to 'e one o the promising #ays to impro!e
perormance o many mines.
Re!ie# o current industrial applications o data
mining indicates that there are numerous
opportunities or its use in mines. Three most
o'!ious applications are 214 mining equipment
condition monitoring and ailure prediction& and 2/4
quantiication o and prognostication the mining
equipment perormance 2=4 training o equipment
operators.
=.1 '(ui#!ent condition
This application oers the highest potential or
successul application o data mining in mining. The
approach (udged most promising is to 214 ind&
deine and quantiy the relations 'et#een !arious
indicators o equipment condition 'ased on data
mining o the data collected 'y rele!ant sensors& and
2/4 use the disco!ered relations to 'uild predicti!e
models that #ould permit prognosticating uture
equipment perormance.
Data mining techniques o clustering and
association appear to 'e the most promising in
deining the relations and associations that may 'e
o interest. On the other hand rule induction and
polynomial regression& the latter not discussed here&
may 'e the 'est techniques to de!elop the predicti!e
capa'ility.
=./ '(ui#!ent #erfor!ance
In addition to equipment condition related data&
!ariety o perormance related data is a!aila'le or
each piece o mining equipment. This data is
collected though leet dispatch systems no# used 'y
a ma(ority o surace mines and some underground
mines. *lternati!ely& this data can 'e collected 'y
on)'oard monitoring systems& an e%ample 'eing
Caterpillar +IM" system discussed a'o!e. I
installed on a mining truc, the +IM" collects data
on truc, load size& truc, speeds& and the li,e. It also
calculates cycle times and other truc, perormance
related data& and stores all or do#nloading or
transmittal to mine data'ases.
"imilar to equipment condition monitoring&
discussed a'o!e& the data'ase that contains
equipment perormance data can 'e mined or
pattern disco!ery. Disco!ery o patterns #hich
undou'tedly e%ist in this data'ase may then permit
construction o a model a'le to prognosticate
perormance o the mining equipment under a
!ariety o scenarios. ;hile this concept is some#hat
similar to leet simulation models that may 'e a part
o the dispatch system it oers a num'er o added
'eneits. These include& 'ut are not limited to& a'ility
to set perormance standards or uture enorcement
and to deine the optimum operating parameters or
!arious pieces o equipment.
=.= O#erator training
*s an e%tension o data mining use or mine
perormance impro!ement& hidden pattern and trend
disco!ery can 'e used to design and implement more
eecti!e operator training program. 1ased on
quantiied patterns and trends the optimum operator
responses to !arious operations conditions can 'e
deined and communicated to the operator. This may
include deinition o optimum speed at a speciic
segment o a haulroad& deinition o optimum load&
deinition o the optimum accelerating and 'ra,ing
patterns& and the li,e.
@ CONCBU"ION"
Modern mines generate huge quantities o data that
descri'e and quantiy condition and perormance o
mine equipment and o the mines themsel!es.
*!aila'ility o this data creates a unique opportunity
to impro!e perormance o 'oth.
Data mining& a set o techniques used to disco!er
hidden relations and trends in large data'ases& is the
li,ely tool that #ill permit this to realize this
opportunity.
The most o'!ious mining applications o data
mining are to prognosticating condition o mining
equipment& to prognosticating its perormance and to
training o equipment operators.
R$7$R$NC$"
1erson& *. and "mith& ".E. 199:. Data #arehousing& data
mining and OB*F. Mc0ra#)-ill
0olosins,i& T.".& -u& -ui and $lias& R. /331. Data mining
+IM" or inormation on truc, condition. *FCOM /331&
1ei(ing& China.
International 1usiness Machines Corp. 1999. Using the
Intelligent Miner or data. Company pu'lication.
;eiss& ".M. and Indur,hya& N. 199<. Fredicti!e data mining.
Morgan 5auman Fu'lishers& Inc.
;estphal& C. and 1la%ton& T. 199<. Data mining solutions. Eohn
;iley G "ons& Inc.