Pit to Plant - Current Trends

A.D. Fernie
Abstract - Growing interest in pit crushing and
conveying is evident from the recent many articles,
technical papers, and new equipment development.
Application of a pit crushing and conveying system
is complex. Many factors, such as mine design,
production scheduling, as well as initial and ongoing
capital and operating costs must be thoroughly and
realistically examined.
This paper will address the fundamentals to be
considered and review several approaches to developing a total system for a new and existing mine
situution. The planning function will be outlined and
operating and design criteria defined to interface the
mining operation and the pit crushing conveying
system.
Introduction
In-pit crushing and conveying (ICC) is not the
universal panacea for reducing operating costs of
open-pit mining operations. However, economic forces
have caused a move towards ICC due to the rapid
increase in labor, fuel, and maintenance costs.
As all open-pit mines are different, and since
planning a multi-system method of ore and waste
extraction is far more complex than following the
traditional truck/shovel method with its built in
flexibility, an independent evaluation of several
mining schemes is required to select the most
economical operation.

Mine Planning
There are two planning scenarios for ICC to consider
in today's changing mining scene. First, new mines
must develop basic concepts and long-range plans.
Second, an operating mine must develop concepts that
can be worked into the existing pit without interference
with daily production.
Both planning functions may require evolving
several different schemes to find the most practical
and cost-effectivemethod of transporting the ore from
pit to plant.
There are a number of basic fundamentals that must
be addressed in the development of an ICC system,
whether it is planned for a new mine or an existing
operation. For example :
Can a permanent high wall be established? ;
Is it mandatory that the pit develop as a cone no fixed wall? ;
Can the pit be mined with push backs, alternating
from side to side? ;
Can a permanent ramp be established part of the
way into the pit, or to the pit bottom? ; and
Is the surface topography and plant site or waste
dump such that a system of ore passes and a conveyor
ramp to an adit would be practical?
In planning the pit, it must be remembered that
access or service ramps need not be as wide as
haulage ramps and do not have to follow ore production. The pit ramp exit is not as critical for a service
ramp as for a haulage road, but should provide ready
access to the pit shop.
In developing an ICC system, considerably more
detailed long-term planning is required. It is possible
MINING ENGINEERING

that more initial drilling might have to be done to

establish confidence in being able to reach the ore with
a conveyor system and moveable crusher, say 20 to 30
years hence. This does not mean loss of flexibility. I t is
to prove that it is possible.
It is possible that phased development will become
part of the overall scheme. Also for a new mine, it is
likely that a pit rim crusher (fixed or moveable) will
be required for a period of time, as the economics of
ICC hinge on replacing the high lift and long truck
haulage ramp.
To establish a fixed ramp for some length into the
pit, it may be necessary to remove additional waste
during pre-production or during the first few years of
mining. This additional cost may be offset in later
years by providing extended pit life with mineable ore
at depth by the use of ICC.
One notable difference in ore/waste haulage by
conveyor versus truck is the much narrower conveyor
ramp at 20% to 25% slope, rather than the 7% to 8%
limit placed on truck ramps. This results in a much
shorter overall distance from the shovel at the face to
the pit rim. In some cases, the service ramp for pit
equipment access and conveyor ramps together are
the same cost as the much wider main haulage ramp.
An important part of the concept planning process is
applying financial analyses for various schemes
projected for at least 20 years. Comparative system
and financial analyses will indicate the concept most
suited to the mine. Further detailed planning on the
selected scheme can then be done to prove the
feasibility and viability through the various phases of
the operation.
One sensitive economic factor in financial projections relates to petroleum fuel cost compared to
electric power cost. The higher the price of electricity,
the less cost advantage there is to ICC. This can
influence a decision i f or when to proceed with a
system.
Taking the complexity of the ICC planning function
into account, it is not practical to develop a pit and
then try to fit an ICC into it. Planning must be an
integrated process.

Materials Handling
Large volume movement of ore/waste by truck from
an open pit is usually classified as cyclic or noncontinuous, as compared to continuous systems such
as a bucket wheel excavator combined with moveable
conveyors.
The combination of a truck/shovel operation with
ICC brings the materials handling system very close to
continuous. Elimination of long uphill haul distances,
travel time, delays on the ramp, and truck queuing at
the crusher and shovel means that with short-haul,
fast-cycle truck haulage and a feeder ahead of the

A.D. Fernie is with Wright Engineers Ltd., Vancouver, British

Columbia. SME preprint 83-417, SME-AIME Fall Meeting, Salt
Lake City, UT, October 1983. Manuscript October 1983.
Discussion of this paper must be submitted, in duplicate,
prior to March 31,1985.
JANUARY 1985

49

crusher, continuous movement of material from the

pit can be achieved.
It is acknowledged that the in-pit crusher can have
20% to 30% greater use than the surface crusher, thus
achieving greater tonnage with a smaller unit (1.4 m
or 54 in. gyratory instead of 1.5 m or 60 in. ).
Conveyors do not run out of fuel, develop flat tires,
get stuck with a box that will not lift, or have to wait for
the snow plow. Conveyors have a history of high
availability when operated and maintained as a
transportation system. This means providing a weekly
scheduled preventative maintenance program, diligently followed, and preferably computer monitored.
Location of ICC equipment from benches being
blasted is of concern. Today's blasting equipment and
techniques keep fly rock to a minimum, allowing
mining and materials handling to work closely
together.
It is wise to keep the main haulage conveyors more
than a safe distance from blasting. However, the
crusher and in-pit conveyors can be within 100 to 120 m
(330 to 390 ft) with relative safety. The most vulnerable
parts of the crusher and conveyors are the drives.
They can be shielded to a degree, thus reducing the
risk of being struck.
System downtime for moving the crusher is of
concern. Most large open-pit operations that are
adding ICC have at least one fixed crusher on surface.
It is often possible to find some "make-up" ore in the
limbs of the pit that can be kept in-hand and hauled by
truck to the surface crusher during the pit crusher
move. Each mine will be different, but a way to keep
the mill going for several days can usually be found.
Two important things to remember are to minimize
the number of moves, and if possible, to schedule the
moves at a time when the plant stockpile is full and
when the mill is scheduled for a maintenance
shutdown.

A criticism of ICC is loss of flexibility in an ore body

with varying types and grades. Location of the pit
crusher under these circumstances becomes critical
as blending in the pit to one feed point becomes
difficult. In some cases, it may be more economical to
have two pit crushers in different locations feeding a
main conveyor haulage system.
An ore pass system with two raises to separate
locations in the pit is another alternative for dealing
with the blending problem.
There are several basic configurations for pit
crushing/conveying. All have been successfully
applied: Fig. 1,underground ramp system; Fig. 2 ( a )
( b ) and ( c ) , conveyor ramp system; Fig. 3, active ore
pass, underground crusher and conveyor ramp; and
Fig. 4, mobile crusher, cross-pit conveyor and highwall bridge conveyor to pit rim.

Design Criteria
A comprehensive design criteria is usually defined
after a pre-feasibility study. The study usually defines
the production rate based on ore grades, reserves, and
indicated metallurgical recoveries.
Design criteria for a mining materials handling
system must be clearly defined to correctly select,
size, and determine all components that influence
capital and operating costs. This paper does not
attempt to give a complete design criteria outline, but
deals more specifically with factors that influence
in-pit crushers and large capacity high tension
conveyors.
Many of the factors set out a basis for equipment
tender documents and construction/installation
contracts.

CONVEVOR RAMP SECTION

Fig. 1 - Underground conveyor ramp system

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50 JANUARY 1985

General
Geographic location, elevation, and topography;
Access, transportation, roads, rail, etc.;
Climatic conditions: temperature range, precipitation, rain, snow, wind velocity, and seismic data;
Operating data: mine ore/waste production;
system use in hours per year deducting statutory
holidays, unscheduled delays, fog, whiteout days,

snow days, p.m. shifts, and equipment moves; operating hours per day actual, deducting lunch breaks, shift
changes, and travel time; system mechanical/electrical availability; unscheduled shutdown; and system
start-up/shutdown;
Annual production ore and waste in tons;
Daily production to meet plant rate in tons;
Average production/hour ; and
Design rate +20% over average rate, peak rate
(short term) +20% over design rate.

CQlVLIOll lu

CoNVEIOll Ql R A W
ORE CllVSHER FIXED OR MOVABLE

Fig. 2a - Conveyor ramp system, phase I

Fig. 2b - Conveyor ramp and in-pit movable conveyors, phase II

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JANUARY 1985 51

_---.
ORE CONVEVOR TO

ORE CONVEIOR

Fig. 2c - Conveyor ramp and in-pit movableconveyors, phase Ill

Material Cltaracteristics
Ore type, waste rock type, and overburden
description;
Specific gravity of ore/waste;
Bulk density of crushed ore/waste;
Run-of-mine lump size;
Characteristics of blasted ore/waste: slabs,
blocks, high fines;
Size analysis of run-of-mine broken ore/waste;
Size analysis of crushed ore/waste;
Moisture conditions in pit influencing ore/waste;
Ore/waste hardness and abrasion;
Angle of repose crushed ore/waste; and
Angle of withdrawal, crushed ore/waste.
From the foregoing design criteria, ICC system
concepts can be evolved. Following a screening study,
the most acceptable scheme can be chosen for further
study. The next stage involves equipment selection to
set into the concept.

Crushing Plunts
Crusher fixed, moveable, mobile (walking or
crawler mechanism) :
Type - jaw, impact, roll, gyratory, feeder
breaker;
Size - related to pit equipment;
Setting - related to plant requirement;
Feed arrangement: double truck dump, apron or
belt feeder; and
Discharge arrangement: feeder, "take away"
conveyor.

to one or two, a s a spare belt is a high-cost inventory

item. The use of multiple drives reduces the spares
inventory and also allows continued operation of a
conveyor at reduced tonnage should a drive fail. When
lengthening or shortening conveyors within the pit,
drive units may be added or reduced accordingly.
Conveyor design must fully address temperature
criteria, a s well a s characteristics of the material to be
handled. This paper is not intended to treat the subject
of conveyor design, but the success of an in-pit
conveyorsystem hinges on many component selection
features. These are highlighted for consideration.
Conveyor Selection:
Belt Width - To avoid spillage from a belt carrying
coarse crushed ore/waste, particular attention must
be paid to the load points and belt edge distance to the
load on the belt.
Based on 305 mm (12 in.), maximum lump size
(which could have a long dimension of 457 mm or 18
in. ) , a minimum of 203 mm (8 in. ) edge distance a t the
load point should be allowed. For coarse ore belts, it is
desirable to keep the cross-sectional load to less than
80% of the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association (C'EMA) standards when carrying the design
tonnage. This means that flowsheet tonnage will be
65% to 70% of CEMA, depending on control of feed to
the conveyor system. Peak tonnage can be as high as
85% of CEMA. The cross-sectional load should then be
calculated using a 20 surcharge angle using 35 O equal
length idler rolls. As the material is conveyed over a
long distance, the dynamic settling of the load can often reduce the surcharge angle to 15'. This reduces the
edrre distance to 198 mm (8 in.), which is adequate to
c o k i n the load.
Speed
For coarse ore conveyors 4 to 5 m/s (1.2 to
1.5fps) . For overburden conveyors 5 to 8 m/s (1.5 to 2.4
fps).
Incline Angle - A 25% ramp is considered maximum for maintenance access.
Decline Angle - A 20% ramp is considered
maximum for containing material on the conveyor
under braking conditions.

Two major components must be considered in the

design and selection of high tension conveyors,
particularly for high lift, long center pit conveyors.
The most costly part of the system for both capital and
operating are the belts. The second is the initial cost of
the drives. Horsepower and belt tension must be
optimized to reduce the number of belt tension ratings
52

JANUARY 1985

MINING ENGINEERING

Fig. 3 - Active ore pass underground crusher conveyor ramp system

Fig. 4

- Mobile crusher, cross-pit conveyor, waste stacker

Conveyor Components:
Belt
Carry side cover thickness 14 mm (0.5 in.) minimum. Back cover 6 mm (0.2 in.) minimum;
Temperatures below -3SC ( -31aF) have a
dramatic effect on rubber flex resulting in high
friction factors ;
Safety factor of the belt should be 6.7 minimum for
all running conditions. For acceleration and braking
the safety factor must not go lower than 3.0;
Cord pressure on pulleys for steelcord belts can be
about 16 kg/cm2 (5 psi).
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Drives
Controlled torque and acceleration/braking is a must.
Pulleys and Shafts - For high tension conveyors,
the pulley, hub and shaft combination must be carefully designed a s an integral unit to transfer large
dynamic forces to and from the belt. Metallurgy and
treatment of steel used for pulleys, particularly if cast
end disks are used, should be carefully specified.
All welds should be subjected to thorough examination. Pulleys should be stress relieved after welding
and machining.
Heavy-duty diamond lagging for drive pulleys pays
off, a s pulley change outs for relagging are costly in
JANUARY 1985 53

down time.
Non-driving pulleys that are in contact with the
carry side of the belt should have plain lagging.
All pulleys for belt speeds over 5 m / s (16 fps) should
be turned and dynamically balanced.
Idlers - Belt tensions often are sufficiently high to
permit wide idler spacing with minimum sag. Idlers
should be checked for load capacity, particularly the
returns, a s the high tension belt weight can be significant.
Idlers should be heavy-duty, high-quality rolls with
through bored end discs. Minimum total indicated
runout of 0.8 mm (0.03 in.) should be specified to
prolong bearing life, particularly on high speed belts.
For belt tracking, two roll V-return idlers have been
found desirable with the added benefit of having four
bearings to carry the heavy return belt.
Special attention should be paid to idler spacing and
blocking on convex and concave curves. Even though
the radii appears to be large, the load imposed on the
idlers, particularly on convex curves, is significant.
Impact idler life can be greatly extended by using
resilient mountings. At load points having high impact, the entire support frame for all the impact idlers
can be vibration isolated to the benefit of idler and belt
life.
Structure -Conveyor drive heads, tails, and take-up
modules should have supporting steel designed with
allowance for fatigue stresses resulting from 100,000
load cycles.
Control - Control of a large crushing conveying
system and the ability to quickly ascertain the cause of
and respond to unscheduled shutdown is an area that
must be considered.
First, define the extent and location of control and
monitoring by producing an Instrument Control Diagram. From instrument data sheets, loop diagrams
can be prepared.
The use of video display, programmable logic controllers, combined with a telemetering system to a
central control panel allows complete monitoring and
control of the system.
The foregoing discussion of design criteria and

component features covers a small part of the total.

Areas such a s mechanical, structural, electrical,
instrumentation, dust control, fire detection, and
suppression requires complete coverage to define the
system.

Summary
In-pit crushing and conveying is in the development
phase. New equipment and design innovation will
come about in an effort to reduce the cost of mine
materials handling for all open-pit operations.
Planning an in-pit crushing and conveying system is
a complex procedure. I t requires careful consideration to confirm its practicability and economic benefit.
As the pit configuration is influenced by the
materials handling system, mine planning incorporating pit crushing and conveying must be an integrated
design. Applying crushing and conveying to a pit
requires long-term planning and possibly more initial
drilling a s it is difficult to change basic concepts after
10 or 15 years of production.
In pits with varying ore types, weekly scheduling
may be necessary to determine the practicality of
feeding a blend to an in-pit crusher. This complication
combined with grade cutoff and strip ratio becomes a
vital part of planning crushing plant relocations.
The in-pit conveyor system must be designed for
high use and availability. To this end, preparing a
comprehensive design criteria is necessary. It plays
an important role in estimating capital costs, projecting operating costs, and sustaining capital requirements.
All these factors become part of the total economic
picture. They determine the success of the mining
operation incorporating in-pit crushing and conveying.

References
Hays, R.M., 1983, "Mine Planning Considerations for
In-Pit Crushing and Conveying," SME-AIME, Salt
Lake City, UT, October.

Rock Stability Analysis by

Acoustic Spectroscopy
D.R. Hanson
Abstract - The acoustic vibrational spectra of
impacted rock slabs were examined at the Denver
Research Center, US Bureau of Mines, in an attempt to
characterize the behavior of partially detached mine
roof rocks. The ultimate goal of this study was to
develop a technique or instrument that could provide a
quick, accurate, quantifiable measure of mine roof
stability. The power spectra of unstable rock slabs
--

D.R. Hanson, member SME, is a mining engineer with the US

Bureau of Mines, Denver Research Center, Denver, CO. SME
nonmeeting paper 84-205. Manuscript January 1984. Discussion of this paper must be submitted, in duplicate, prior to
March 31, 1985.
54

JANUARY 1985

were found to contain more energy in the range of 200

to 1000 Hz than solid rock. Comparison of the power
contained between 500 and 1000 Hz with thtt between
5000 and 5500 Hz provided a quantitative measure of
rock stability.
A lightweight prototype field instrument was d e signed, constructed, and field tested. l%is batterypowered instrument computes the power contained in
the two frequency bands, compares their magnitude,
and displays a number related to the stability of the
block tested. Field tests showed the imtrument provided reliable measurements of block stability even
under conditions of noise that would have seriously
degraded the accuracy of the standard methods of roof
sounding.
MINING ENGINEERING