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MineHAUL

mineHAUL is a mineCAD plugin which has been developed to assist in the determination of haul truck fleet requirements. It does this by reducing the time consuming task of measuring each haul route distance in a mine.
From user input, mineHAUL determines:

  • Haul route distances for various load & dump options; 
  • Haul route cycle times based on route distance, gradients & conditions, as well as trucking information

mineHAUL subsequently exports the data in a format that can be read into EPS (as lookup tables) so that haul truck fleet requirements can be calculated.

Cycle Times vs TKMs

mineHAUL can report cycle times which are a more accurate measure of trucking requirements than TKM (tonne-kilometre) limits. This is because the TKM capacity of a truck will depend on the gradients on which it needs to travel, and the speeds on those gradients, which can vary from one mine to another (or one part of the mine to another). TKM limits can only be used with confidence for fleets that stay on a fixed haul route (eg. single orepass to single tip point).

Major Features

mineHAUL Workflow

As with the rest of MineRP's mining software, mineHAUL has a simple workflow enabling the user to step through each process in a logical manner.

  • The Layout tab includes a settings area and tools for importing or creating the haulage network, validation of the network and testing of the network. 
  • The Calculation tab includes basic calculation & results table viewing functions, as well as more advanced functionality for route editing and data export to TALPAC.

Calculation Parameters

mineHAUL allows engineers to enter various configurable calculation parameters, including:

  • Load, dump and spot times and
  • Rolling Resistances (loaded and unloaded haul speeds for various gradient ranges)

Haulage Network Import

The import function of mineCAD allows the user to import the centreline strings of a mine design from most current mine design packages including Mine2-4D, Datamine, Vulcan, Surpac and Microstation.
  • Application of rolling resistances to network
  • Application of nodes to network
    • Designate “virtual” stockpiles from which ore or waste is trucked to another “virtual” stockpile.
    • Designate “paths” or options which can be travelled by a truck (eg. junction of two declines).

Network Validation

The next step in the process is to validate the haulage network
  • A number of validation tests / search criteria are available
  • Identified issues can be filtered & rectified through automatic or manual methods

Test Network

Ensures all paths in the mine design can be travelled (i.e. they are joined at all intersections). 

Run Simulation (Calculate)

MineHAUL runs simulations and yields output tables which include a distance and time from every node in the design to every other node in the design. MineHAUL then:

  • Calculates the distance and cycle time between every node in the network
  • This information forms the basis for lookup tables in EPS

Advanced Functionality

  • “Via Nodes” function allows the user to create modified haulage paths by inserting intermediate nodes
  • “TALPAC” function allows the user to export the mineHAUL network to TALPAC software

Application of mineHAUL Results to EPS

EPS can be setup to incorporate mineHAUL data to determine haul truck requirements.  Through a process of setting up various fields in EPS and then importing mineHAUL output, a variety of Haul Truck Analysis/Outputs can be obtained.