Coal Age

MAY 2017

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May 2017 www.coalage.com 29 moving overburden continued "After about 15 minutes, we had to hold the trucks up for 4 minutes while the shovel catches back up," Pitchford said. "The good news is that the shovel never stops loading. In the first 20 minutes, the surge production outpaced the traditional method substantially." Some incidental benefits for the tech- nique have been identified that primarily result from not dropping 100 tons in the truck bed. "You're no longer shock loading the driver," Pitchford said. "It also relieves stress on the shovel operator." Basically, the mine should see the fol- lowing savings: • High volume due to precise truck fill factors; • Savings on operating expenses due to reduced truck fleet; • Truck body wear and damage is re- duced; and • Tire life should increase with cleaner pit floors. After operating for 20 hours (two 10- hour shifts) with one rope shovel and a dozen trucks, MMD can show an addi- tional 1,400 tph more than loading in a conventional manner. "If you adjust the Arena software so that both systems are producing the same amount, the software shows that a mine could eliminate two of the trucks," Pitchford said. MMD has not built a Surge Feeder yet, but they have six of these machines out for bid with major mining companies. They believe the first will go to a copper mine in Chile. SEE US AT LONGWALL USA, BOOTH #542 The Surge Feeder would be positioned between the shovel and the truck. The feeder is continuously processing the rock that the shovel dumps into it as the trucks queue. They never reverse into position.

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