Chap-5.

Production Operations and Auxiliary

Operations -II
•Loading: Types of loading
•Haulage: Types of haulage, Hoisting – inclined and vertical
•Auxiliary Operations: Ventilation, Pumping, Lighting

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 1. Loading
• Since prehistoric time, Loading and haulage was performed by
manual labor with stone, wooden, and bronze tools for excavation
and animals and human beings were used for haulage.
• Recently the performance and productivity of the mine’s mobile
equipment are very crucial .
– The development and application of high-angle elevating, and
cross-pit conveyors (transporting machines) results in considerable
reductions in transportation costs.
– Material handling generally encompasses loading, excavation,
haulage (horizontal transport) and hoisting (vertical and inclined
transport).
– As the production operations are separate and cyclic in nature, the
modern trend in mining is to eliminate this separate activity or
combine the functions so as to increase continuity and in turn
production.

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 Types of loading

• Loaders lift the ore or waste material onto the trucks for removal from
the mine.
• A loader can be; bucket loader, front loader, frontend loader,
payloader, scoop, shovel, skip loader, or wheel loader
 All classes of conventional loading equipment have undergone design
changes, including improved electrics and incorporation of health
monitoring and diagnostic systems.
– These changes are resulting in increased reliability, improved
performance, and a lower unit cost of production.
• Loaders and Excavators: Different types of loaders and excavators
used in the:
1) surface mining –
a) cyclic (shovel, dragline, dozer, scraper, front end loader),
b) continuous (bucket wheel excavator);

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 2) underground mining-
a) cyclic (loader (shovel), shaft mucker, LHD (load haul dump),
slusher,
b) continuous (continuous miner, tunnel boring machine).
• Since the range and capabilities of the machines is quite variable
– Selection of the machine is made on the basis of certain factors like
performance, design, support and cost.
• The three shovel, dragline, bucket wheel excavator machines are the
biggest/ largest size mining machines created by mankind.
– They are also known as boom type excavators
• Three Basic Types of Loaders
– Front End Loader
– Cable Shovel
– Hydraulic Front Shovel (also called hydraulic excavator)

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1.Front End Loader (FEL)
F is the Bucket - note that it is a
solid unit.
Dumping is achieved by
rotation. Can be critical
consideration in loading height
G is Teeth - FELs known as
whimpy diggers
I, J, H, and E are the hinges and
hydraulics used for rotating the
bucket
- They provide limited pry and
dig motion
C is a one piece arm moved by
hydraulic cylinder D
The machine drives Forward and
Powered by Diesel Engine A

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Front end loader

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2. Hydraulic Front Shovel Has a two piece bottom dump
bucket
- Higher wear from two
pieces
- Bottom open eliminates
need to pivot to dump -
helps loading height
- Can get a rock stuck too
Hydraulic bucket opening for
gentle loading
- can position low over
truck and open bucket at
a controlled rate

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Hydraulic Shovel & Dumper000

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3. The Cable Shovel
Tall Massive Machine So Can Load Almost
anything with no loading height problem
Has Cables rather than hydraulics to drive
motions
- Can move in tension but gravity needed
for other motions
- dipper door is tripped and swings open
under gravity
Is a track and pivot machine like hydraulic
excavator
- big inertia and slower moving
Has a full field shop on back

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An opencast mine with dragline

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Underground Mining Loader

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Underground Mining

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 Cont…
Significant characteristics that affect the overall possible
utilization of the loading equipment are in terms of:
• Availability the proportion of time the equipment is
available to work;
• Maintenance needs the proportion of time required for
general maintenance, overhauls and unexpected
maintenance;
• Compatibility with different truck types the suitability of
loader to truck height and loader bucket to truck tray size;

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 Haulage: Types of haulage, Hoisting – inclined and vertical
• There are various methods employed to transport the ore, waste
and work force.
• The Haulage method is selected on the basis of the gradient.
A) Simple haulage methods used in the case of low gradient
B) Haulage methods used where gradient increases up to 20
degrees

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A) Simple haulage methods used in the case of low gradient are:
1). Hand Tramming: In this method men push the empty tubs to the
working face and the loaded tubs to the main haulage roadway by
pushing.
• A small gradient is provided in favour of the load when hand
tramming is adopted so that workers find it easier to push the loaded
tubs down grade.
2). Locomotive haulage: Diesel or petrol locomotives are used for this type
of haulage. Generally such transport is employed for surface transport.
• Special type of electric locomotives working on D.C mains or on
batteries are used for working underground.

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3) Dumpers and trucks: These are either diesel or petrol driven are
often employed in surface mines and also for transport of material
on the surface.
• Dumpers are also trucks which are provided with mechanical
arrangement for emptying.

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B) Haulage methods used where gradient increases more than 20.
1). Direct haulage: This will have a winch (pulley crane) with two
drums, actuated by an engine driven either by compressed air, steam
or electricity.
• This is a two track system. The loads move on one track and
empties move on the other. There is a rope attached to each drum.
• The ropes are wound in such a manner that when one drum pays
off or unwinds, the other drum takes in or winds up. The loaded
tubs or mine cars are attached to one rope and the empty tubs to
the other. Further, the lengths of the ropes are adjusted in such a
way that when the empty tubs reach the bottom of the mine, the
loaded tubs reach the surface at the same time.
2). Main and Tail: This is also a two track system. This system is used
when the gradient is constantly changing on the roadways.

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3). Aerial ropeway: This is used in the surface transport particularly in the hilly areas or in an
undulating country.
– It is also an endless ropeway carried on pillars and trestles.
– The material is loaded into buckets at the loading station and a special clip is used to attach the
bucket to the rope. At the unloading station the bucket is lifted off the rope and detached
automatically. This is a slow moving haulage system.

• 4). Gravity or Jig haulage: In this method gravity is made to do the job.
– It is useful when the loads are to be brought down from a higher elevation. The loaded tubs going
down hill pull up the empty tubs. The arrangement is simple and consists of a jig or drum around
which the rope is wound 2 or 3 times. Brake is fitted to the drum to control the speed. 19
 Belt conveyor
• The belt conveyor is an endless belt moving over two end pulleys at fixed positions
and used for transporting material horizontally or at an incline up or down.

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Continuous Miner with Belt conveyor

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Operation safety

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“Dead truck” syndrome

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 Auxiliary Operations: Ventilation, Pumping, Lighting,
• These are the supportive operations facilitate smooth functioning of the mine
and do not interfere with production operations.
– The types of operations are different in both surface and underground
mines.
• Slope stability, waste disposal, land reclamation being important among
others in surface mine,
• roof support, ventilation, lighting, pumping etc are important in
underground mine.
• Following are some of the important operations carried out in surface
and underground mines.

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 1. Ventilation
• Ventilation refers to the movement of air around the mine to provide suitable
quality and quantity of air to maintain a safe and healthy environment in which
workers may work.
• A mine ventilation system includes fans, airways, control devices to direct or
restrict air flow, cooling and filtering air and systems for monitoring air quality and
quantity.
• To effectively control the risks at a mine, requires the mine operator to follow a risk
management process.
• The hazards which are controlled by ventilation include:
– oxygen content
– toxic and asphyxiate gases
– flammable gases
– airborne dust
– Fumes (poisonous gases)
– products of combustion
– humidity
– temperature, and
– naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs).
• These hazards may occur naturally or as a result of mining operations.
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Safe oxygen level : The mine ventilation system must provide air at
sufficient volume and velocity to all places where people travel or work
to maintain a safe level of Oxygen, between 19.5% and 23.5% by
volume.
Gaseous contaminants: Gases in mines may be naturally occurring, the
products of combustion or fumes from vehicle exhaust emissions or
activities such as blasting.
• The gases may be toxic, asphyxiate or flammable.
– They include methane and other hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide,
carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen
sulphide, ammonia and radon.
• As well as creating hazards through toxicity, asphyxiation (deprived of
oxygen) or flammability.

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Air quality monitoring instrument

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 Drainage and Pumping
• Accumulation of water in a mine may be due to either
(1) percolation of surface sources such as stream, lakes, ponds etc and
rain water, or due to
(2) seepage from water bearing horizons (aquifers),
(3) influx from a water logged old and abandoned workings in the
adjoining areas of the mines, especially from caved or mined areas
in the coal fields.
• Pumps used in mining are commonly driven by electricity, or by
compressed air, or by petrol engine, or by diesel engine, or rarely by
steam.
• Electricity is almost universally employed in underground mines, as it
is very flexible and entails comparatively less losses in transmission.
• Compressed air is employed in sinking pumps (shafts), and in
headings.

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 Lighting
• Lighting is one of the important requirement in an underground mine or a tunnel.
• Electric cap lamps are similar in construction to electric torches.
• The bulb and reflector are separated from the battery portion.
– The battery which comprises nickel-iron (Ni-Fe) cells is attached to a belt fastened the
hip.
– The reflector and the bulb part are fixed to the hard board or fibre hat or helmet by clip
and connected to the battery by a flexible rubber cord.
– A switch is fitted and it is conveniently operated. Since the light is attached to the helmet
or cap, the hands of the worker are free.
– The acetylene lamp is used in many metal mines, i.e. non-coal mines.

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Alkaline batteries: consist of flat negative plates containing finely divided
particles of iron, and the positive plates will consist of a perforated
nickel sheet or cylindrical nickel tube containing nickel hydroxide.
The life of an alkaline battery is about ten years. They are capable of
standing up to rough use but are more expensive. These batteries are
also charged by D.C.

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