Barrick Gold Corporation

MineHaul User’s Guide

 MineHaul User’s Guide

Contents

1.0 Purpose of Mine Haul ........................................................................................................................ 2

2.0 Information Required ......................................................................................................................... 2
3.0 Settings and Basic Definition Steps .................................................................................................. 2
3.1 File Menu....................................................................................................................................... 2
3.2 Mine Plan ...................................................................................................................................... 3
3.3 Topography ................................................................................................................................... 3
3.4 Conventional Dumps ..................................................................................................................... 5
3.5 Virtual Dumps .............................................................................................................................. 10
3.6 Crusher ........................................................................................................................................ 12
3.7 Defining Truck’s Parameters ....................................................................................................... 14
4.0 Defining your Haul Profiles .............................................................................................................. 15
5.0 Dump Unloading and Sequence ..................................................................................................... 16
6.0 Backfill Waste Dumps ..................................................................................................................... 20
7.0 Rehandled Material from Stockpiles ............................................................................................... 24
8.0 Setting Up and Defining Constraints ............................................................................................... 26
8.1 Constraints in Haul Profiles ......................................................................................................... 26
8.2 Constraints in Dumps and Stocks ............................................................................................... 30
9.0 Simulation........................................................................................................................................ 34
10.0 Checking your Haul Profiles ............................................................................................................ 41
11.0 Analysing Results ............................................................................................................................ 48
12.0 Reports Generation ......................................................................................................................... 51
Appendix A: Case of Study ......................................................................................................................... 57

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 MineHaul User’s Guide

1.0 Purpose of Mine Haul

The purpose of MineHaul is to provide as result the average distances, the cycles, the truck’s
effective hours, and finally the trucks’ requirements for each period and destination, using as main inputs
the results from a mine schedule as well as the open pit and waste dumps designs.

2.0 Information Required

The information required as inputs for MineHaul is as follows:

 Updated topography strings.

 Pit designs.
 Dumps and stocks designs.
 Crushers’ positions.
 Average truck’s speeds for each kind of haul profile.
 Trucks’ availabilities, utilizations and operational factors by period.
 Mine schedule results. Typically we import data from MinePlan software.

3.0 Settings and Basic Definition Steps

3.1 File Menu

When you start creating a project, please go to “File”; press “New” and then press “Save” or
“Save As”. In this step you are going to put a name to your project as shown in the next figure.

New Project

Open and Save

Figure 3.1 File menu

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As a recommendation to avoid losing information it is strongly recommended to save your project

every 1 to 2 hours while working.

3.2 Mine Plan

In this step you must define inputs such as calendar, mines considered and types of materials. It
is important to check that the information you are defining must be consistent with the one you have in
your mine schedule. You must also provide graphic data such as mine polygons. These mine polygons
mean the design string lines (toe lines) that define each bench for each stage. It is recommended to use
PrepPolyPlan to build the polygons, since it is a very simple tool which allows you to define mine
polygons in a fast and easy way. If you did your mine schedule using MinePlan, you don’t need to do the
polygons again because they are the same as the ones you generated previously for MinePlan. In the
next figure you can see where to input all the data described in this paragraph.

Define calendar, mines & stages

and materials. Provided data
must be compatible with mine
schedule.

Define constraints (if necessary)

Load Plan

Load Mine Polygons

Figure 3.2 Mine plan menu

3.3 Topography

The topography you are going to load on MineHaul must be the appropriate (to work on it) for the
software’s purposes. The level of detail of the topo will depend on how accurate you want to be with the
dumps’ volumetrics in MineHaul. But please remember that the main and final goal is to find out the
truck’s hours you’ll need. Having this in mind it is recommended to load a topography with an adequate
number of points on the strings that defines it. Following this same idea it is not recommended to have a
topo defined every meter (this would be difficult to work in MineHaul). It should be all right if you consider
topography strings every four meters, even though this could depend on every project.

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Figure 3.3.1 Topo menu

As shown on figure 3.3.1, the first step is to load the topography strings as a dxf file. After loading
your topo, you’ll see in your screen the strings you just loaded (Important: The button “Design” in your
main screen must be selected as shown in the red circle in the following figure). In the next step, please
go to “Project Limits Rectangle” or “Project Limits Polygon”. In the following figure you’ll see a screenshot
of how your project will look like, after loading the topo, while you are drawing your limit polygon (purple
line). It is important to cover all your working area with your polygon or rectangle (i.e. the final pit as well
as the stocks and waste dumps).

Figure 3.3.2 Project limit polygon and topo lines

After proceeding as described previously, please go in the topo menu to the option “Triangulate”.
By accomplishing this step your project layout should look as shown in the next figure.

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Figure 3.3.3 Topography triangulated

3.4 Conventional Dumps

Before defining waste dumps and stocks in MineHaul, please make sure that your dump designs
have a toe and a crest line for each lift. Also, it´s very important that your waste dumps strings must be
closed. After assuring this, please go to “Graphics” menu and then to “Maintain Backgrounds”.

Figure 3.4.1 Graphics menu

After Loading your dxf backgrounds, please press the “Layer” button, located on the upper right
section of your screen. A window for configuration should appear as shown in the next figure.

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Figure 3.4.2 Graphics display window

On this configuration window go to “Backgrounds” and then press “+” button to load your
backgrounds. By doing this step you should see your dxf lines in front of your project layout. Now you are
ready to define your waste dumps or stocks in MineHaul. Please go in the main menu to “Dumps” and
then go to “Maintain” as shown in the next figure. Please define your dump as a “Graphic Waste Dump”.

Figure 3.4.3 Dumps m enu

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Figure 3.4.4 Dump window

As shown in the previous figure, in this step you should define all the materials that will go to the
waste dump or stock. You should also define a density for the swell material, and other details such as
limits and targets (tonnage constraints for each period). Finally, you can define if your dump is a
conventional or a backfill. In this part of the guide we will focus ourselves to define and construct a
conventional dump. Further on, backfill dump construction will be explained in a whole chapter since it is
not a simple task to do. When you finish filling this window press “Ok” and then select the “Design” button
in your main screen.

The next step is to start constructing a waste dump. For doing this, you must go to MODS and
press the “Create” button. When start building a dump, you must go from bottom to top marking each of
the string lines that define your lifts. The first step is to click with the left button of your mouse the toe and
crest of the first lift (the bottom lift) respectively, and then press the right button. You must repeat this step
through all the lifts of a waste dump. The next figures will show how the graphics look before and after
building a waste dump.

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Figure 3.4.5 Graphics before b uilding a waste dump

Figure 3.4.6 Graphics after building a waste dump

After finish building your waste dumps in MineHaul, it’s important to do a comparison of the
volumetrics you have in MineHaul against the volumetrics you have in Vulcan or in any graphic software
you used for constructing waste dumps. In spite that MineHaul is not a graphic design tool, is important
that differences in tonnages must be acceptable (e.g. 3% to 5% of tolerance). To view the waste dumps
tonnages in MineHaul you can go to “Dumps” sheet as shown in the next figure (Please make sure that
you have previously selected the button “Tables” in your main screen as shown in the red circle in the
following figure).

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Figure 3.4.7 Dumps sheet in mine haul

A concept which you must have very clear together with the construction of waste dumps in
MineHaul is the dependant dumps. A correct configuration in MineHaul is necessary to avoid a bad
sequence of filling a dump. The next figure may help to illustrate this concept.

Waste Dump B
Waste Dump A

Figure 3.4.8 Plant view of dependant dumps (waste dumps A and B)

Waste Dump B Waste Dump A

Figure 3.4.9 Profile v iew of dependant dumps (waste dumps A and B)

As can be seen in the previous figures, dumps A and B are dependants. This means that they
share a common border. In this particular case waste dump A is dependant of waste dump B, which
means that B must and will be filled first than A. In the red circles on the next figure, is shown where to
input dependant dumps in MineHaul.

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Figure 3.4.10 Example of dump configuration where you can input dependant dumps

3.5 Virtual Dumps

Sometimes it is convenient, in cases where you have small and specific quantities of material with
a specific destination, to define a virtual waste dump or stock. This means you don’t have to do a waste
dump design (having in mind that this would not have a real impact on the average distances and thus in
the cycle´s time). For doing it in MineHaul, add a new waste dump by choosing the option “Virtual Waste
Dump”. In the next step you have to input the materials and the amount of tonnage that can be supported
by each module (lift) of the virtual waste dump. An example of the window that will appear in your screen
is shown in the following figure.

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Table 3.5.1 Virtual dump d efinition

After the step described in the previous paragraph, please define a node where your virtual waste
dump will be located. For doing it, make sure you are in the “Design” screen; go to NODES and press the
button “New”. Place the node where your virtual waste dump will be located with the left button of your
mouse. In your graphic screen please choose “Params” at NODES, and click with your left mouse button
the node. You will be requested to associate the node with the virtual dump you have already defined and
you will also have to introduce manually the haul distances for each module. An example is shown in the
next figure.

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Table 3.5.2 Node properties to associate with the virtual waste dump

As shown in the red rectangle in the previous figure, for each module you must introduce the
distances manually divided in flat, up and down.

Even though you can introduce for your virtual dump the number of modules you wish, it is
strongly recommended to use this option only when there are small quantities of material to be placed, or
if you are doing a high level study.

3.6 Crusher

From MineHaul’s point of view, a crusher could be defined as a destination where all your ore
from the mine and stockpiles goes for processing. The software takes the crusher as a special case of
dump where ore goes. For accomplishing this objective in MineHaul, first you have to define a node as
the crusher’s unloading point. Put the node at the crusher’s approximate position by doing the same
procedure we discussed some paragraphs before. To be precise with the coordinates, you must press the
“Move” button located at “NODES” and press your node by clicking first with the left and then with the
right button of your mouse. By doing this step you are allowed to enter the crusher’s specific coordinates.

After doing as described in the previous paragraph, go to “Dumps” on the main menu and instead
of adding a “Graphic waste dump”, please choose the option “Crusher/Dynamic Stockpile/IPCC” as
shown in the following figure.

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Figure 3.6.1 Destination type on the “Dumps” menu

Figure 3.6.2 Table for the crusher definition

As shown on the previous figure, for defining a crusher you must input three things: the materials
(typically ore and rehandled ore from stockpiles), the mine where this material comes from, and the
node’s name where the crusher is located.

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3.7 Defining Truck’s Parameters

Before starting with the haul profiles’ designs, you must input the truck’s speeds for each kind of
route. Using this information as an input, MineHaul will choose the shortest profile (in time) for each
destination depending on the material and the constraints defined in the project. Please go to the trucks
menu and choose “maintain slopes” where you have to input the slope grade you are working with (e.g.
10%) and then go to “Maintain Trucks” where you should define your truck model properties and input all
the data regarding the truck’s speed for each kind of haul profile as well as the availabilities, utilizations
and operational factors of the fleet for every period. It is important to mention that you can choose a
different truck model for different kinds of materials. Also you have to input the loading time (in shovel)
and the unloading time (for waste dump, stock or crusher) as fixed factors.

Figure 3.7.1 Trucks menu

Figure 3.7.2 Window for defining truck’s parameters

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4.0 Defining your Haul Profiles

If you have understood and applied the previous chapters of this guide, the process of defining
and drawing your haul profiles shouldn’t be a difficult task. Before start drawing any line of your haul
profiles please make sure that you have the infrastructure of your project very clear. You can load any dxf
line regarding the existing or future infrastructure you wish, by adding the string lines in the “Graphics”
menu and displaying them by pressing the “Layers” button. This step is the same as the one described
when you were loading the dxf strings of your waste dumps. Also in “Layers” you can display the stages
of the mine. For doing this, please go to “Pit Display” as shown in the following figure.

Figure 4.1 Graphics d isplay

As shown in the red circle in the previous figure, you can choose the stage you want to display
(the selected stage will be displayed with green lines). After displaying it, go to “ROUTES” (make sure you
are in the “Design” screen) and press the button “Normal”. With your mouse go to the screen and draw
your profile by clicking through the stage’s lines until you reach the topo. On the topo, the haul profile can
be snapped directly to the triangulated surface.

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Figure 4.2 Example of how your haul profiles will look in MineHaul

In the previous figure you can see how your profiles will look in MineHaul. As was explained
please load the infrastructure in the main screen to avoid your profiles passing through it.

5.0 Dump Unloading and Sequence

For graphic waste dumps it is necessary to define unload points in each lift or module. Otherwise
MineHaul will be unable to unload in the dumps (graphic waste dumps or graphic stocks). First put a node
at the entrance of each module (this node must be snapped to a point in the haul profile). Graphically
your waste dump should look as shown in the next figure.

Figure 5.1 Waste dump with nodes and haul profile

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After creating and placing the waste dump’s nodes, please go to “Layers” button and select the
first module of your waste dump and press “Ok” as shown in the following figure (Please have a look to
the red circle in the next figure, where you can define the waste dump module you want to display).

Figure 5.2 Displaying waste dump s modules

After selecting and displaying in your screen the first module of your waste dump, please go to
SEL and click “Sell All”. Then go to the screen and locate your mouse at any square that defines your
module (lift) and click using the left button. By doing this, you should see all the module’s squares painted
in blue. Please go to ELES; press “Unload”, and go to the node(s) you have defined as the unload
point(s) for that specific module (lift) and click it with the left button of your mouse (if your lift has more
than one node for unloading material, then you can mark all the required nodes). Then click any part of
the screen with the right button. By doing this, you are defining in MineHaul the selected node(s) as
unload point(s). When you have finished the process press “Esc” in your keyboard. To make sure you did
right, go to any square of your waste dump and look at the upper left corner of the screen. There it should
say that the unload point(s) is the name of the node(s) you have defined. The following two images will
show you how your screen should look before marking the squares and after marking the squares of the
waste dump module.

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Figure 5.3 Waste dump module (lift) before defining your unload point

Figure 5.4 Waste dump module (lift) after defining your unload point (Node A)

After you finish defining the unload point for your first module, you should do the same for every
one of them. The procedure for unloading in a module with a ramp entrance will be explained as follows.
First go to a lift with a ramp entrance and as explained before; on SEL click “Sel All”. Select the unload
node for the lift. Then, for marking the elements that belongs to the ramp entrance you must go to SEL
and now choose the button “Sel Pol”. You have to draw a polygon that must cover all the ramp’s elements
and select the unload point (typically is the node of the previous lift). The next figure shows the sequence
for this procedure.

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Figure 5.5 First you have to select all the lift’s elements and mark the unload point
(Node A1).

Figure 5.6 Select the ramp’s elements and select the node of your previous lift as an
unload point (Node A)

As can be seen and understood from the previous figures, the right sequence of filling a waste
dump would be first to unload in the ramp so that after having all the material on it, trucks can access to
the level of the new lift and unload material there.

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6.0 Backfill Waste Dumps

This is a complex step in MineHaul, but once you get used, it shouldn’t be a difficult task to
accomplish. As well as when you defined your conventional waste dumps, you must go to “Dumps” and
add a new graphic waste dump. On the bottom of the dump’s definition window you must tick the option
“Backfill Dump” and define to which stage (expansion) your backfill dump is associated. It is important to
clarify that the backfill waste dump will start to be used only after the stage to which is associated has
been completely mined (finished). The following figure shows where you have to tick to define a backfill
waste dump.

Figure 6.1 Defining a backfill waste dump

In the next step you must import the dxf strings of your backfill waste dump and display them at
the “Design” screen. Also you need to select and display the stage to which your backfill dump is
associated. After this, please go to “DUMP” which is at the upper left corner of your screen, choose the
backfill waste dump’s name you defined and click the option “Draw” as shown in the next figure.

Figure 6.2 Choosing the backfill waste dump to draw the top polygon

As shown in the red circle in the previous figure, at “DUMP” you can choose the backfill waste
dump’s name and immediately at the right you can click the option “Draw” and start drawing a polygon
which must cover all the top area of your backfill waste dump. As a matter of fact this option is also used
when you want to make high level dumps directly in MineHaul (something the user can experiment).

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Figure 6.3 Drawing a backfill waste dump polygon .

After finishing this step, please click the option “Make”, where you must define the level at which
the polygon was drawn as well as the batter angle.

Figure 6.4 Defining the reference level of your polygon and the batter angle

The next step is to create the lifts of the backfill waste dump. This follows the same logic as the
construction of conventional waste dumps.

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Figure 6.5 Backfill waste dump after construction

Usually according to geotechnical recommendations, backfill waste dumps are filled from bottom
to top. An important detail which must be explained here is that typically, since backfill waste dumps don’t
have a line where you can snap your haul profile (because they are built inside the existing pit), you must
set the levels of your profiles’ vertex manually. For doing it, please go to “Routes” menu and select “Set
the Z of a Route Vertex” as shown in the following figure.

Figure 6.6 Option for sett ing the level of a route vertex

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Figure 6.7 Example of a haul profile for a backfill waste dump

After drawing your haul profile, please define your nodes and set up your unloading sequence. To
avoid some problems in the filling sequence; you can configure each one of your lifts by allowing them to
be filled with waste material only after the precedent lift has already been used. This step can be
managed by configuring each one of the modules. To do this you must go to “Maintain” in the Dumps
Menu and select the option “Modules” as shown in the next figure.

Figure 6.8 Choosing the option “Modules” of a waste dump for configuring it

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Figure 6.9 Window for dump module configuration

The previous figure shows an example of the module configuration. Here you can choose in
which period you want to start filling a module or if there is any dependence with the previous lifts. For
this example, you can notice (see the red circles) that module 9 is configured to be filled after module 8 is
full.

7.0 Rehandled Material from Stockpiles

It’s important to clarify that rehandled materials from stocks to other destinations must be
provided to MineHaul manually.

In MineHaul please go in the main menu to “Dumps” and then to “Maintain” as we have seen
before. Please choose the stock you want to rehandle material from and then press the button “Rehandle”
as shown in the following figure.

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Figure 7.1 Choosing the op tion rehandle for a stock

Once you have pressed the “Rehandle” button as explained, a window will appear as shown in
the following figure.

Figure 7.2 Providing rehandle tonnage, material and destination

As shown in the previous figure, in the rehandle window you have to input manually the tonnages
of rehandled material and its destination.

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8.0 Setting Up and Defining Constraints

Sometimes it is necessary (according to the project’s infrastructure or other issues) to introduce

some constraints in your haul profiles as well as in your waste dumps, crushers or stocks. Also keep in
mind that you can add some restrictions to smooth the trucks’ requirements.

8.1 Constraints in Haul Profiles

You can choose the period when you want start using a certain haul profile as well as a limit in
the tonnages among other options. To do this, please go to ROUTES and press the button “Params” as
shown in the following figure.

Figure 8.1.1 Choosing the button “Params” to introduce constraints in the haul
profile

After selecting the button “Params” please go to the haul profile you want to add a constraint, and
select it by clicking with the left button of your mouse. A window as the one shown in the following figure
should appear in your screen.

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Figure 8.1.2 Route properties window

As can be seen in the previous figure, you can introduce constraints regarding limits on the
period’s movements. Also it is possible to restrict your haul profile by periods or stages, or by blocking
certain kinds of materials passing through it. Other detail you can also manage in the software is setting
your route as one way. For doing this, please select the option “One Way” as shown in the red circle on
the next figure. After ticking it, the selected profile in the “Design” screen should be drawn with orange
arrows showing the traffic direction.

Figure 8.1.3 Example of a how a “One Way” profile looks in the “Design” screen

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If you want to change the direction of the traffic for the selected profile, please go to the “Routes”
menu and choose the option “Reverse the Direction of a Route”.

Figure 8.1.4 Selecting the option “Reverse the Direction of a Route”

After pressing the option mentioned before, your haul profile should look as shown in the next
figure.

Figure 8.1.5 Example of a how a “One Way” profile looks after reversing its direction

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As can be noticed from the previous figure, the arrows have now changed their initial direction.

It is worth mentioning that in MineHaul it is possible to request the traffic density for all the periods
in a particular segment of a haul profile. This is useful specially when analysing the results given (we will
talk about results analysis in a whole chapter). For setting up this option, please go to the “Routes” menu
and select the option “Mark Segment as Reportable” as shown in the following figure.

Figure 8.1.6 Selecting the option “Mark Segment as Reportable”

Once you have chosen this option you will be requested to put a name for the segment.

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Figure 8.1.7 Report Description wind ow

After entering the name for reporting, your segment should look as shown in the following picture
at the “Design” screen.

Figure 8.1.8 Showing you reportable segment in the “Design” screen

As can be seen from the previous figure, the selected segment will be marked with the name you
put in the report description window.

8.2 Constraints in Dumps and Stocks

Some of the things we are going to talk in this chapter, have been explained briefly before. Even
though, we will explain and reinforce some additional complements focusing on how to introduce
constraints in dumps.

To set up tonnages constraints for a period in a waste dump or stock, please go to “Dumps”
menu; select “Maintain” and choose the waste dump you want to add a constraint by clicking twice with
the left button of your mouse. The following window should appear.

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Figure 8.2.1 Dump window

As can be seen in the red rectangle in the previous figure we can add tonnages’ limits by period.

If you need to set up constraints for a module (lift) go to “Dumps” menu and choose the dump you
need to add a constraint. Please press the button “Modules” as shown in the following figure.

Figure 8.2.2 Choosing the “Modules” option for a dump

After choosing the module in which you would like to add a constraint, a window as the next one
should appear.

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Figure 8.2.3 Dumps module window

As shown in the red rectangle in the previous figure, you can choose the materials you need to
constrain for that lift together with other restrictions shown in the blue rectangle. Also you can set up
tonnages’ limits in a period (in the previous figure this can’t be seen because it is beyond the right border
of the figure).

Additionally to what was explained previously, you can also set up constraints graphically for
certain regions and particular areas of a waste dump or stock. To do this, please make sure you are in
the “Design” screen and display the dump and module (lift) where you want to add a constraint. Select
with a polygon the restricted area as shown in the following figure.

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Figure 8.2.4 Selecting a waste dump area to add a constraint

As shown in the previous figure the selected squares elements of your waste dump should be
painted in blue. After this, please go to ELES and choose the option “Avail”.

Figure 8.2.5 Selecting the option “ Avail” in “ELES”

After selecting the option “Avail” a window as the one shown in the next figure should appear in
your screen.

Figure 8.2.6 Element state window

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As shown in the previous figure you can choose the period when you want the selected elements
to be available.

9.0 Simulation

Once you have finished drawing all your haul profiles and defined all your unload points for waste
dumps, crushers and stocks, please go to the main menu and in Simulation choose the option “Simulate”
as shown in the following figure.

Figure 9.1 Simulation option in the main menu

Is important to clarify that unless you have all the unload points defined you’ll not be allowed to
run a simulation. After choosing simulate, a window as the one shown in the next figure will be displayed
in your screen.

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Figure 9.2 Simulation window

As shown in the previous figure, when running a simulation you can choose up to what period
and which mine you want to simulate. After pressing the Ok button and once you have finished doing the
simulation, please go to the “Tables” screen and choose the “Summary Results” sheet. The first step is to
make sure all materials have a destination. We will explain this point with a real example.

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Figure 9.3 Summary results sheet

As can be seen from the previous figure there is a certain amount of material (look at the column
“NoDest”) which has no destination. In other words this means that there is a problem related to this
issue. To fix it you must identify where it comes from. To answer this question you have to go to the
“Results” screen. A screenshot is displayed in the next figure.

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Figure 9.4 Screenshot to analyse haul profiles

As you can notice, a “Results Navigator” window appears in the screen. If you press the button
“>Element” you will be able to see every profile from the beginning of your mine schedule till the end of it.
You can also select the profiles by mine, pit (stage), bench, material and destination. For the material
without destination, and which you want to identify please select in “Destination” the option “NoDest” as
shown in the red circle on the previous picture and then press “> Element”.

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Purple Line

Figure 9.5 Screenshot to analyse haul profiles

If you take a look at the red circle on the “Results Navigator” window in the previous figure, you
will be able to find the stage, bench, material type and amount of tonnage without destination. On the
layout you can identify the stage and bench by looking at the purple line. For inquiring deeper in it you
can do a zoom in the described area.

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Figure 9.6 Zoom in the specific stage for this example

As can be seen from the previous picture a profile is missing (please take a look to the red circle).
In the next step please go to the “Design” screen and press in FOTO the option “Results”, as shown in
the following figure (Do not misunderstand as the “Results” screen because they are different things).

Figure 9.7 Pressing the option “Results”

When pressing the “Results” option you should see the same photo as the one shown in figure
9.5, but now at the “Designs” screen (by choosing this option you can interact between the “Results”
screen and the “Design” screen at the same stages and benches). Please go to the area shown at figure
9.6 and add the missing haul profile segment.

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Figure 9.8 Drawing a profile segment

Adding a haul segment is very simple to do, since you can draw the missing part just as was
explained on chapter 4 in this guide. After fixing it you need to simulate again. When you have finished
this process go to the “Tables” screen and have a look at the “Summary Results” sheet.

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Figure 9.9 Summary results she et after fixing the missing haul profile

If you compare the table in the previous figure against figure 9.3, you will now notice that every
material has its destination.

10.0 Checking your Haul Profiles

Once you have finished with the first simulation process and assured that all materials have a
destination, it is strongly recommended to check out every haul profile for each element and stage. To do
it in MineHaul, please go to the “Results” screen and in the window “Results Navigator” please choose
the “Mine” and “Stage” you want to check. An example is shown in the following figure.

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Figure 10.1 Choosing the mine and stage in the “Results Navigator” window

As you can see from the red circle in the previous figure, you can choose each haul profile of a
mine and stage you want to show. By pressing the button “> Element” you can start visualizing each
profile.

Figure 10.2 Haul profile (pink line) from an origin to its destination

As you can see from the previous figure taken from an example, the haul profile must makes
sense to you, i.e., typically has to be the shortest available route, except for some cases which may have
certain constraints. In the next example we will see a profile which doesn’t have a logical sense, and
investigate the reasons of this and the way to fix it.

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Figure 10.3 Example of a haul profile

In the example shown in the previous figure the pink line represents the current haul profile, while
the green lines represent the available routes. Our common sense may suggest us that the current profile
is not the shortest, and you may guess that the haul profile would look better (in terms of a shorter
distance) if it follows the red arrow in the picture. If you take a look on the previous figure, specifically at
the orange circle you can see that there is no connection between the green line (available route) with the
pink line (selected haul profile). In the next figure we will make a zoom of this area.

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Figure 10.4 Zoom of the selected area in the “Results” screen

As you can see from the previous figure (please look at the orange circle), there is a missing part
of the haul profile. Now we will go to the “Design” screen to fix this problem.

Figure 10.5 Zoom of the selected area in the “Design” screen

As you can see from the previous figure, we must draw the missing part of the haul profile and
then repeat the simulation process again and see if there are any changes.

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Figure 10.6 Example of a fixed haul profile

As you can see from the previous figure, the fixed haul profile now looks better. Graphically is the
shortest one from the origin to its destination. If you want to check it with numbers you can go to the
bottom of the Results Navigator window and see if the cycle time is less than the one you had previously,
as well as the distances divided in flat, up and down.

A sort of “problem” you’ll probably find when becoming a MineHaul user, happens when you
notice (when checking your haul profiles) that a bench of a stage which is mined after a precedent stage
goes in a specific bench of a certain year below the bench of the precedent one. This situation can be
illustrated in the following figure.

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Figure 10.7 Example when a precedent stage is upper than the following one

As shown in the previous figure, the precedent stage (purple line) is upper than the following
stage. The first thing the user must do in this case (and similar ones) is to check the mine schedule. If the
mine schedule is all right then this problem happens because of MineHaul’s algorithm of mining benches,
and therefore you only need to adjust the mining rate of that specific stage in that specific period, since
there is no real problem. To fix this situation go in the main menu to “Mine Plan” and select the option
“Set Mining Rates” as shown in the next figure.

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Figure 10.8 Choosing the option “ Set Mining Rates”

After pressing this option, a window like the one shown in the next figure will appear in your
screen. Please go to the stage where you identified the situation and the year or period. You need to
“accelerate” the rate at which this stage goes down. Then, you must try to put a number greater than 0
and simulate again until the stage in question will never be at an upper level compared with the following
one. To illustrate this explanation please take a look at the following figure.

Figure 10.9 Setting the rate of a stage in a certain year

As shown in the previous figure (look at the red circle), we have increased the rate of the
precedent stage which was upper than the following one. After increasing the rate you must simulate
again and see if the “problem” has been solved.

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Figure 10.10 Precedent stage after setting the mining rate for that year

As you can see from the previous figure after increasing the mining rate of the precedent stage
the “problem” is now fixed (as a reference, please compare the previous figure with figure 10.7).

11.0 Analysing Results

Once you have finished with the simulation process and checked your profiles, the next step is to
analyse the results given by MineHaul software. This chapter will be focused on the writer’s way for
analysing results, but perhaps each user may have its own way.

Usually the first step is to make a graphic to illustrate the number of trucks by period together with
the tonnage multiplied by the equivalent distance (It is suggested to paste the sheet “Summary Results”
located in the “Tables” screen in Excel). Equivalent distance is understood in the writer’s way as setting

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all the average distances of the period to an equivalent flat distance. Let’s take the following example for
one period:

Speed
Kind of profile
[km/h]
Empty in Bench 20
Loaded in Bench 15
Empty Bench Crossing 20
Loaded Bench Crossing 15
Empty In Pit 30
Loaded In Pit 30 Distance
Kind of profile
Empty Outside Pit 30 [km]
Loaded Outside Pit 30 In Bench Flat 0.4
Up Empty 16 Bench Crossing 0.2
Up Full 8 Flat 2.1
Down Empty 25 Up 0.9
Down Full 20 Down 0.2
Figure 11.1 Speeds for each kind of Figure 11.2 Average Distances for a
Profile certain year

The way of calculating the equivalent distance is as follows:

( ) ( )

( ) ( )

Note: Expressions in brackets mean loaded speeds.

From the formula given and using the values of the tables, the equivalent distance (loaded way)
is 7.0 km.

The next step is to multiply the equivalent distance by the tonnage for each period. The result
obtained is going to be graphed in the second vertical axis of a graph, while the number of trucks for each
period is going to be graphed in the first vertical axis. An example of the table for building the graph and
the graph itself are illustrated in the following figures.

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Period Tonnage Equivalent Distance Tonnage*Eq.Distance Truck Number

[year] [kt] [km] [Mt*km] [Hitachi 4500 Units]
2015 70,691 5.7 405 26
2016 69,656 7.1 493 31
2017 77,070 7.0 540 34
2018 90,000 5.9 529 35
2019 90,000 6.5 584 37
2020 90,000 7.7 695 43
2021 90,000 8.1 733 44
2022 90,000 7.4 663 43
2023 90,000 8.6 773 48
2024 90,000 7.7 696 43
2025 89,997 8.9 799 49
2026 91,329 8.8 802 49
2027 90,000 8.0 716 44
2028 89,893 8.2 734 46
2029 90,000 8.7 779 48
2030 90,000 8.5 763 48
2031 90,000 8.8 791 49
2032 88,038 7.7 678 43
2033 90,000 8.5 761 47
2034 90,000 9.0 813 50
2035 89,929 9.6 860 51
2036 65,355 12.0 781 45
2037 35,086 14.3 500 29
2038 24,884 15.2 379 22
2039 11,391 0.4 5 2
Figure 11.3 Table showing tonnages, equivalent distances, tonnage*Eq.distance and
trucks’ number by period

60 1,000
Truck Number [Hitachi 4500 Units]

TonnagexEq.Distance[Mt*km]
50 800
40
600
30
400
20
10 200

0 0
2017

2027

2037
2015

2019

2021

2023

2025

2029

2031

2033

2035

2039

Period [Year]

Tonnage*Eq.Distance Truck Number

Figure 11.4 Graph for results’ analysis. The first vertical axis shows the number of
trucks and the second vertical axis shows the tonnage multiplied by the equivalent
distance.

As shown in the previous graph, you can see that the number of trucks has a direct proportion
with the tonnage multiplied by the equivalent distance, which is something that makes a lot of sense.

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It is important to avoid having peaks on the truck’s curve; otherwise this would become a case
where you would need to invest in trucks just for one or two years. Clearly this last is not convenient since
you are not optimizing the project’s CAPEX. In the Appendix at the end of this guide we will study a case
where the truck’s curve is not smoothed and investigate how we can get a smoother curve to optimize our
assets.

Other important result we can analyse is the traffic density for some routes. The importance for
what is mentioned is strictly related with potential traffic jams for certain roads and intersections. For
visualizing this result in MineHaul, a segment must be marked with the option “Mark segment as
Reportable” as was explained some chapters before. In the “Tables” screen please go to the sheet
“Traffic”. In this sheet you will see a summary of the movement passing through the selected segment(s)
for each period. An example is shown in the following figure.

Figure 11.5 Traffic sheet report

As shown in the previous figure, in the traffic sheet you can visualize the traffic movement for the
selected routes segments for every period. As we have explained before you can introduce limits to your
haul profiles if there is too much tonnage going through a specific segment.

12.0 Reports Generation

Normally, the final step in MineHaul is to generate reports that can be useful as inputs for
purposes such as financial models, cost models, speed validations or for internal analysis. For generating
a report please go in the main menu to the option “Reports” as shown in the next figure.

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Figure 12.1 Reports menu

As can be seen from the previous figure, there are plenty of reports you can generate. In this
guide we will give a brief explanation of the most important ones.

Detailed Report: As the word is saying, this is a report which has information for all the profiles
generated in MineHaul. Please have in mind that for the same stage, bench, material and destination,
there could be more than one profile, since MineHaul divides the bench into packets. This report gives the
following information: period, expansion (stage), bench, type of material, tonnage, packet, destination,
distance, cycle, and truck’s hours.

Summary Report: This report can be very useful as input for financial or cost modelling. The information
regarding the haul profiles is summarized (you will not find for example packets or packets Ids). This
report gives the following information: period, stage, bench, type of material, tonnage and destination,
with it cycle´s time and the truck’s hours. A screenshot with the main columns is displayed in the next
figure.

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Figure 12.2 Summary report

Centre of Gravity Report: This report can be very useful to the software’s user because it gives you
precise information about where the centre of gravity of the chosen materials is located. After pressing
the option to generate this report, a window as the next one should appear.

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Figure 12.3 Centre of gravity report window

As shown in the previous figure, you need to choose the materials. The report will give you the
centre of gravity in the vertical axis (z coordinate) for every period.

Figure 12.4 Centre of gravity report

Improved Talpac Report: This report is often used as an input data for Talpac to find out or validate the
speed of a truck’s fleet. After choosing this option a window as the one shown in the following figure
should appear.

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Figure 12.5 Improved Talpac Report window

As shown in the red rectangle in the previous figure, you need to introduce the maximum truck
speed for every kind of profile. The rolling resistance for each period should also be introduced as shown
in the blue rectangle.

In the report you will find for every profile the following information: distance, road grade, rolling
resistance, maximum speed and the truck’s state (full or empty).

Xeras Plan Report: For reporting the information as input for Xeras you need to go to the “Reports”
menu; then choose where it says Barrick, and press the option “Xeras Plan Report”.

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Figure 12.6 Choosing the option Xeras Plan Report

After choosing this option a window as the one shown in the next figure should appear.

Figure 12.7 Window for reporting to Xeras

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As shown in the previous figure you’ll need to specify the materials and its destination to generate
the report.

Appendix A: Case of Study

In this appendix we are going to study an example of a case by simulating it, and do the results’
analysis.

Please take a look at the following graph taken after the simulation of the case we are going to
use as example for the whole chapter.

70 1,200
Truck Number [Hitachi 4500 Units]

TonnagexDistance[Mt*km]
60 1,000
50
800
40
600
30
400
20
10 200

0 0
2023
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022

2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034

Period [Year]

Tonnage*distance Truck Number

Figure A.1 Truck’s curve for the case in study

If you look at the red circle in the previous figure you will notice that in year 2026 there is a big
jump on the required trucks (from 57 units in 2025 to 63 units in 2026). If we go to previous years you can
see that the maximum number of trucks takes place by year 2022 (around 56 trucks). How can we try to
decrease trucks for year 2026 in MineHaul? The first thing you must do is to see what happens in year
2026, which stages are active, and how the filling sequence of waste dumps and stocks is being carried
out.

In MineHaul go to the “Results” screen, and use the Results Navigator to see the filling sequence
of waste dumps period by period until year 2026. In this particular example it is interesting to notice as
can be seen from the next figures that one of the backfill waste dumps of the project, is being filled from
bottom to top (as it has to be). However a question that arises is the following: Can we take advantage
from the ramp configuration of the pit and insert a haul profile somewhere to have a shorter distance to fill
this waste dump? How feasible this would be?

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Stage W5
Stage W5

Figure A.2 Backfill waste dump Figure A.3 Backfill waste dump
at end of year 2025 at end of year 2026

As shown in the previous figures, the backfill waste dump present in the pit is being filled from
bottom to top as shown by the white arrows. As was mentioned in the previous paragraph, we can study
the possibility of doing an entrance to the backfill dump taking advantage of the current ramp
configuration for the pit, as shown by the blue arrows in both figures. The purpose for doing this is to have
shorter haul profiles for the waste material coming from stage W5. To see how feasible this option would
be, we will do a zoom where the blue arrow is located and go to the “Designs” screen to display all the
modules of the backfill waste dump.

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Figure A.4 Backfill waste dump in the “Design” screen

As we can see from the previous figure where the blue arrow is located, an entrance for the
waste dump can be built from the main ramp of the pit and could be a good idea to reduce the number of
trucks on year 2026. Let’s make an entrance from year 2026 as shown in the next figure and see what
happens with the truck’s curve.

Figure A.5 Connection from the main ramp to the backfill waste dump

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After doing the simulation the obtained graph is the following.

70 1,200
Truck Number [Hitachi 4500

TonnagexDistance[Mt*km]
60 1,000
50 800
40
600
30
Units]

20 400
10 200
0 0
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
Period [Year]

Tonnage*distance Truck Number

Figure A.6 New graph obtained after doing a new entrance

As can be seen from the previous graph compared to graph of figure A.1 the number of trucks
has decreased from 63 units to 59 units for year 2026.

There is also another detail which could be interesting to analyse. Please see on graph A.6 the
peak of trucks that appears on year 2028. A question one should ask is the following: is there any
possibility to reduce the number of trucks by year 2028? What can we do about it? The answer is the
same as the one we discussed before. We have to see what happens in the filling sequence and in the
active stages up to year 2028, and see if there is something which we can still improve.

Figure A.7 Filling sequence for the Figure A.8 Filling sequence for
east dump at the end of year 2027 the east dump at the end of year 2028

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Please take a look at the previous figures. If you watch them carefully there is a tendency to
unload waste material by year 2028 in the south-east area of the east dump (see blue circles in both
figures and how the waste dump grows). By the end of year 2027 we can see that there is some material
that has been unloaded in the east dump. One could think that if we put a constraint to begin filling the
south-east area of the east dump from 2028, the number of trucks for that year will decrease because of
shorter haul profiles (perhaps this would have an impact in the previous years). Let’s try this alternative.
We can do it in MineHaul as explained in chapter 8 of this guide.

Begins to be
filled by 2028

Figure A.9 Constraining the south-east area of the east dump

After constraining the south-east area of the east dump please run a new simulation and see
what happens with the truck’s curve.

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70 1,200
Truck Number [Hitachi 4500 Units]

TonnagexDistance[Mt*km]
60 1,000
50
800
40
600
30
400
20
10 200
0 0
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
Period [Year]

Tonnage*distance Truck Number

Figure A.10 New graph obtained after setting u p constraints for the east dump

As can be seen from the previous graph, the number of trucks has decreased in year 2028 from
64 units to 63 units, while on year 2026 has increased from 59 to 60, if we compare against graph in
figure A.6 (year 2027 is the same). It is good to have in mind that any changes you make for optimizing
and smoothing the truck’s curve could have an impact in previous and future periods.

Perhaps there are still opportunities to continue smoothing the truck’s curve, but finally is the
mine planner’s criteria to decide up to when it is relevant to continue optimizing the trucks’ requirements,
since simulations and configurations can take some time in the planning process.

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