Energy consumption in open-pit mining operations relying on reduced energy consumption for haulage using in-pit crusher systems

Abstract

In open-pit mines, the traditional truck-based haulage system has consumed large amounts of energy in the haulage sector for many years. The use of continuous in-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) systems is a viable option to significantly reduce energy consumption in this sector. Considering the relationship between the energy data and the amount of mineral extracted in the haulage sector of an open-pit titanium mine and the production of open-pit iron, copper and coal mines between 2013 and 2017 and 2028, this paper estimated the energy consumption in the haulage sector using a continuous system and a traditional system and also the potential for energy savings in case of using an IPCC system instead of the truck-based system in the mines. It was estimated that a continuous system consumes, on average, 303.94 GJ and a traditional system consumes, on average, 471.48 GJ to transport the minerals under study. In addition, it was estimated that in 2028, the use of IPCC system instead of the truck-based system in the haulage sector to transport 3482, 28.7 and 9746.4 million tons of iron, copper and coal minerals will save energy consumption in this sector by 28.26, 0.23 and 79.90 MMBTU, respectively. Finally, the use of IPCC systems instead of the traditional system was economically examined and the superiority of continuous systems over traditional systems was demonstrated from the two perspectives, operating costs and energy costs.