UNIVERSITY OF MINES AND TECHNOLOGY (UMaT), TARKWA

FACULTY OF MINING AND MINERALS TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF MINING ENGINEERING

Material Handling

( MN 576)
ASSIGNMENT 1

BY
GROUP 2

1. Saye B. Dolo

2. Forster Teye

3. Francis Hackman

4. Nana Essel Mensah

LECTURER: Dr. Clara Akalanya Abuntori

April 8, 2023

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 Abstract

Materials handling is a very essential unit operation in any mining undertaking. The key to the
success of a mining venture largely depends on how efficiently and economically one can move
materials. The task of loading, hauling, and hoisting of rock in the form of waste or ore should
however not be considered in isolation. Ground fragmentation and mineral beneficiation are unit
operations that are interdependent with materials handling. Numerous materials handling
systems or equipment are available for application under various operating conditions. It is with
this concept that Tarkwa Rocky Gold Mining Company, an open pit mine wishes to determine
the annual production of each pair of the shovel to trucks and also determine the best
corresponding pair of shovel model (size) and truck model (size) to achieve the annual
production target by considering its annual production target. Haulage system simulation of the
two shovels and two trucks was performed using the Talpac Software analyzed it was observed
that the simulation of Liebherr R992 shovel vs CAT 773D and CAT 777D truck yields fleet sizes
of 3 and 2 with an average number of bucket passes of 4 and 7 respectively. The simulation of
Liebherr R994 shovel vs CAT 773D and CAT 777D truck yields a fleet size of 4 and 2 with an
average number of bucket passes of 3 and 5 respectively.

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Table of Contents
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… i
Chapter 1: Problem statement …………………………………………………………………………………………....1
Objective ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..2
Method use ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3

Facility use …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3

Chapter2 The input of the data in Talpac software…………………………………......................... 4

Haulage…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 5

Materials class ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………6

Roster………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7

Haul cycle………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….8

Loading unit/shovels………………………………………………………………………………………………..9

Haulage/trucks………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 10

Assumptions of costing data…………………………………………………………………………………. 11

Chapter 3: Result and Discussion ………………………………………………………………………………………………..15

Liebherr R992 vs CAT 773D ……………………………………………………………..15
Cash flow……………………………………………………………………………..16
Liebherr R922 VS. CAT 777D …………………………………………………………..17
Cash flow…………………………………………………………………………... 18
Liebherr R994 VS. CAT 773D …………………………………………………………..19
Cash flow………………………………………………………………………….. 20
Liebherr R994 VS. CAT777D …………………………………………………………...21
Cash flow…………………………………………………………………………….22
Chapter 4: Conclusion and Recommendation ……………………………………………………………………….23
References………………………………………………………………………24

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 Chapter 1: Problem statement

The Tarkwa Rocky Gold Mining Company is proposing to develop a new open-pit gold mine.
The plan is to remove the overburden using scrapers and then drill, blast and transport the
remaining oxidized ore to a crusher dump point using diesel-powered hydraulic front shovels.
The excavated material would then be dumped for a front-end loader to re-handle into the
crusher.
The management has recommended using Liebherr shovels, as Tarkwa Rocky Gold Mine has a
long-standing relationship with Liebherr. Two models of hydraulic shovels to be considered are
Liebherr R992 and Liebherr R994. The company is also considering two types of rear dump
trucks manufactured by Caterpillar, Cat 773D and Cat 777D, to haul the targeted tonnes of
21,000,000 t per year.

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 1.1 Objectives

The objective of the project is to determine the following

a) the annual production of each pair of loader/shovels to trucks

b) Considering the annual production target, determine the best corresponding pair of shovel model
(size) and truck model (size) to achieve the annual production target

c) Do a cash flow analysis given the assumptions that will be made on prices.

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METHODS TO BE USED

The methods to be used include the following:

a) Simulation using the Talpac software
b) Making necessary assumptions to meet current-day reality

FACILITIES TO BE USED
The facility to be used include the following;
a) Video tutorial on Talpac
b) Material Handling Handouts
c) Talpac software

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 Chapter 2: The input of the data in Talpac software.

The data given was input into the software using the following categories of information.

a) Haulage system

b) Materials class

c) Roster

d) Haul cycle

e) Loading unit/shovels

f) Haulage/trucks

g) Assumptions of costing data

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 Haulage system

The equipment selection process begins at the conception of mine development. In the mining
industries, materials handling represents a significant component of the operational cost, making
equipment selection a major challenge to management.

In Talpac software, the material handling encompasses the Materials class, Roster, Haul cycle, Loading
unit/shovels, Haulage/trucks, and also the Cost attached to this system.

Figure 1 shows the name of the haulage system constructed in Talpac software

Figure1: haulage system

Source: group construct

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 Materials class
The material to be mined is divided into three according to the project.
The overburden basically waste is to be mined by scrapers, the remaining oxidized ore would be
drilled, blasted, and transported to a crusher dump point, where it would be dumped for a front-
end-loader to re-handle into the crusher. The remaining ore material is quite hard and fragments
badly upon blasting.
In this project, our mean focus is on the hard fragmented ore that is blasted.
The following assumptions on the hard fragmented ore were made in Table 1.0.
Table 1.0 Hard and fragmented ore parameters
Insitu Bank density 1.0t/bcm
Swell factor
a) Shovel bucket 1.20
b) Truck tray 1.25
Fill factor 85%

Figure2: material class (hard fragmented ore)

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 Roster

Working and operating hours for the loader and trucks are defined in the shift roster. The weekly
shift (7 days a week and 12 hours per shift) pattern is specified, and then lost shifts per year and
delays within each shift are allocated. These lost shifts and delays are divided into the following
categories.
• Scheduled lost shifts;
• Unscheduled lost shifts;
• Non-operating shift delays; and
• Operating shift delays;
The choice of category for a delay depends on mine site work practices as shown in Table 2. By
definition, scheduled delays are those that may be fixed in time, eg. the public holiday on 25th
December. Unscheduled delays are delays that you expect but don't know exactly when they will
occur, for example, clean-up around the loader area and delays due to wet weather.
Table 2: roster parameters
Number of shifts per week 2

Shift per year

Total shifts 730

Scheduled lost shifts 15

Scheduled shifts 715

Loading unit maintenance 107

Unscheduled shifts 32

Operating shifts 576

Hours per shift(hr)

Shift duration 12

Non-operating shift delay 1

In-shift operating time 11

In-shift operating delays 1

In-shift working time 10

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Operating delays are those delays when the equipment's engine is running. Conversely, non-operating
delays are those delays when the equipment's engine is not running. Figure 3 shows the roster input
into Talpac software.

Figure2: roster

Haul cycle

The haul cycle is the time it takes the scraper or truck to haul a load to the dumping area and return to a
position in the loading area. It includes the sections of the ramp through the haul road to the waste
dump or stockpile.

Table 3 summarized the section of the route and its characteristics.

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Table 3: Summary of haul route and sections

Road Sections Distance( Grade( Rolling Max Final Loaded/emp

or segments m) %) resistance( velocity(km/ velocity(km/ ty
%) h) h)
%

Around shovel 10 0 3 30 Max Loaded

Point A 100 10 3 Max 30 Loaded

Point B 75 5 3 30 Max Loaded

Point C 300 5 3 Max 30 Loaded

Point D 100 5 3 30 30 Loaded

Dump 50 2 3 30 0 Loaded
approach/crush
er

Reverse

Dump 50 -2 3 30 30 Empty
approach/crush
er

Point D 100 -5 3 30 30 Empty

Point C 300 -5 3 Max 30 Empty

Point B 75 -5 3 30 30 Empty

Point A 100 -10 3 max 30 Empty

Around shovel 10 0 3 30 0 Empty

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To perform a simulation, TALPAC needs data regarding the haul route. The loading segments are
automatically included at the start of each new haul cycle.

Figure3: haul segments

Loading unit/shovels
The project is to use two models of hydraulic shovels (Liebherr R992 and Liebherr R994) as
recommended by management. The characteristics of those loaders/shovels have been
determined from historical data which is in the Talpac software. We need to use this data to
correctly define how the loader/shovels are to be simulated. Note: there were no changes done to
the parameters attached to each shovel since they have been determined by historical data.

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 Shovel types

Figure 4(Liebherr R992 and Liebherr R994) in Talpac

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 Costing data

Assumptions of Costing Data for Shovels

The management bases its cash flow on a 10% salvage value at the end of the shovels life of
25,000
hours or 5 years (whichever occurs first).
The capital cost to the Liebherr R992 and Liebherr R994 is $1,200,000 and $1,500,000
respectively
⇒ The shovels are depreciated at a rate of 15% on a straight-line basis.
⇒ The operating cost consists of the following components:
Operating Labour $54.76/op.hr
Maintenance Labour $19.52/op.hr
Lube $3.79/op.hr
Tyre Replacement $11.01/op.hr
Wear Items $6.00/op.hr
Repair Parts $45.00/op.hr
Major Overhaul $18.00/op.hr
Liquid Fuels $25.26/op.hr

Figure 5: costing of shovels

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 Haulage/trucks

The Tarkwa Rocky Gold Mine will be considering two types of rear dump trucks manufactured
by Caterpillar, Cat 773D and Cat 777D, to haul the targeted tonnes of 21,000,000 t per year.

For the Talpac software, the parameters input have already been determined by field studies just
like the shovels; so there were no changes made to those parameters as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Cat 773D and Cat 777D in Talpac

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Assumptions of Costing Data of Trucks

The truck’s capital cost for Cat 773D and Cat 777D is $850,000 and $950,000. A 10% salvage
value at the end of the truck life of 30,000 hours or 6 years is assumed. The trucks depreciate at
25% on a straight-line basis.
⇒ The operating cost consists of the following components:
Operating Labour $46.37/op.hr
Maintenance Labour $18.24/op.hr
Lube $2.59/op.hr
Tyre Replacement $10.91/op.hr
Wear Items $4.30/op.hr
Repair Parts $24.08/op.hr
Major Overhaul $10.75/op.hr
Liquid Fuels $17.24/op.hr

Figure7: costing data for Cat 773D and Cat 777D inputted in Talpac

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 Chapter 3: Result and Discussion

Once the haulage system has been defined it is ready to be analyzed. In assessing the productive
capacity of the system we have the choice, we need to do a full simulation. The other types of
calculations will be discussed later. An estimate assumes there is no variability in the trucks and
shovel parameters, and a deterministic analysis is performed. The full simulation takes the
variability of truck and shovel parameters. Parameters that may be varied in the full simulation
include loader bucket cycle time, loader bucket payload, truck travel time, truck dumping time,
and truck availability. The Excavation Target feature allows us to specify a production target.
When an excavation target is specified the Production Summary Report lists how many
days/years it would take to move the specified excavation target. The value for the target is
independent of the measurement basis chosen in the material class.
First, we will start the simulation of each shovel to the trucks and analyze the result.

Liebherr R992 vs CAT 773D

Figure 8: simulation result for Liebherr R992 vs CAT 773D for production

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 Cash flow

Figure 9: simulation result for Liebherr R992 vs CAT 773D for cost

The result from the simulation of Liebherr R992 vs CAT 773D shows that the number of the
fleet to match the shovels is 3 with an average pass of 4. The annual production is 4418029ton/yr
for 4.75 years for the targeted materials of 21000000tonnes. The net present value is summarized
in Table 4. The total cost to remove the targeted amount of materials (21000000ton) is
$23081002.

Table 4: Cash flow of Liebherr R992 vs CAT 773D

Cash flow
Year 0 1 2 3 4 5
NPV $ -3750000 1135917 1135917 1135917 -1916535 1135917
Discounted -3750000 987754 858917 746884 -1095785 672864
NPV@15% $

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 Liebherr R992 vs CAT 777D

Figure 8: simulation result for Liebherr R992 vs CAT 777D for production

The result from the simulation of Liebherr R992 vs CAT 777D shows that the number of the
fleet to match the shovels is 2 with an average pass of 7. The annual production is 4276345ton/yr
for 4.91 years for the targeted materials of 21000000tonnes.
The amount of $19353473 will be spent to remove the materials for the years.
Cash flow analysis is shown in the table5.

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 Cash flow

Figure 8: simulation result for Liebherr R992 vs CAT 773D for cost

Table5: Cash flow of Liebherr R992 vs CAT 777D

Cash flow
Year 0 1 2 3 4 5
NPV $ -3100000 939025 939025 939025 -1584336 939025
Discounted -3100000 816,543 710038 617,424 -905,849 556234
NPV@15% $

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 Liebherr R994 vs CAT 773D

Figure 8: simulation result for Liebherr R994 vs CAT 773D for production

The result from the simulation of Liebherr R994 vs CAT 773D shows that the fleet size is 4 and
the average passes of 3. The annual production per year is 5738522ton, this show that it will take
3.66 years to remove the targeted amount of materials of 21000000ton. The amount of
$22,937276 is needed to remove the said target.
The cash flow for this operation is shown in Table 6

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 Cash flow

Figure 9: simulation result for Liebherr R994 vs CAT 773D for cost

Table 6 Cash flow of Liebherr R994 vs CAT 773D

Cash flow
Year 0 1 2 3 4 5
NPV $ -4900000 1484265 1484265 1484265 -2504273 1484265
Discounted -4900000 1290666 1122318 975929 -1431826 879209
NPV@15% $

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 Liebherr R994 vs CAT 777D

Figure 8: simulation result for Liebherr R994 vs CAT 777D for production

Similarly, the result from the simulation of Liebherr R994 vs CAT 777D shows that the fleet size
is 2 and with average passes of 5. The annual production per year is 4643200ton, this show that it
will take 4.42 years to remove the targeted amount of materials of 21000000ton. The amount of
$18,352073 is needed to remove the said target.
The cash flow for this operation is shown in Table 7

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 Cash flow

Figure 8: simulation result for Liebherr R994 vs CAT 777D for cost

Table 6 Cash flow of Liebherr R994 vs CAT 777D

Cash flow
Year 0 1 2 3 4 5
NPV $ -3400000 1029898 1029898 1029898 -1737659 1227056
Discounted -3400000 895564 778751 677175 -993512 610063
NPV@15% $

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 Chapter 4: Conclusion and Recommendation

During the calculation of the fleet in open pit Mining, the number of loaders/shovels and their
productivity must be determined first, whereas, the truck productivity must be calculated based
on the productivity of the loaders/shovel.
Using the Talpac software for the Tarkwa Rocky Gold Mining Company, Liebherr R992 shovel
vs CAT 773D and CAT 777D truck yields fleet sizes of 3 and 2 with an average number of
bucket passes of 4 and 7 respectively with a production of 4418029ton/yr and 4776345ton/yr for
4.75 years and 4.91 years. The cost to remove the target of 21000000ton of material in each case
was determined to be $23801002 and $19353473 respectively. The simulation of Liebherr R994
shovel vs CAT 773D and CAT 777D truck yields a fleet size of 4 and 2 with an average number
of bucket passes of 3 and 5 respectively. With a target of 21,000000ton, a production of
5738522ton/yr and 4643200ton/yr for 3.66 years and 4.52 years was determined. The cost to
remove the targeted material in each case was determined to be $22937276 and $18352023
respectively.

For the project to be economical, the best match of the shovel to truck fleet size is the Liebherr
R994 hydraulic shovel and the CAT 777D rear dump truck. The amount of fleets (two fleets) is
less than all options and the number of years (4.52 years) to operate is also less as compared to
all other options in the simulations. In terms of finances, the amount of money to be spent on
removing the target is even less than all the other options.

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 References

1. Burton A. K., 1975, “Off-Highway Trucks: How to Calculate Truck Fleet Requirements”,
Mining Engineering, SME, New York, NY, p36 – 43.
2. Choudhary, R. P. (2015). Optimization of load – Haul – Dump mining system by Oee
and match factor for surface mining. International Journal of Applied Engineering and
Technology, 5(2), 96–102.
3. Edwards F. A., 1992, "Hoisting Systems", SME Mining Engineering Handbook, 2nd
Edition, Snr. Editor Hartman, AIME, Littleton CO, p1646 – 1678.
4. Fuentes, O. B. (1999). Mining machineries and installation. Moa: ISMM.
5. Hays, R. M., 1990, "Trucks", Surface Mining, 2nd Edition, B. A. Kennedy Editor, AIME,
Littleton CO, p672 – 691.
6. Kennedy, E. B. B. A. (2009). Surface mining. Littleton, CO: Society for Mining,
Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc. (SME).
7. Liu, J., & Bongaerts, J. C. (2014). Mine planning and equipment
8. selection. Mine Planning and Equipment Selection. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-
319-02678-7

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