Production evaluation of surface miners from rock/rockmass properties: some investigations

Surface miners have proved to be one of the major mechanical excavators, particularly in soft and medium hard rock for meeting the higher demand for minerals. Selecting proper specifications of surface miner in a given geo-excavation set up is still a challenge faced by excavation engineers. Selection and performance of surface miner is influenced by a host of intact rock/rock mass properties apart from various machine design and operating parameters. These parameters need to be identified for their successful application and operational effectiveness. Production evaluation of surface miners was done in three limestone mines and three coal mines located at various parts of India. This paper presents the influence of rock/rock mass properties, namely, uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength, P-wave velocity, modulus of elasticity and brittleness index on normalized production potential of surface miner. Laboratory P-wave velocity modulus of elasticity and brittleness index showed better relation with normalized production in comparison with other parameters. A multiple regression model considering these variables has been developed for production evaluation using surface miner. The model has a reasonable degree of index of determination (0.78) and can be used as a good starting point for production evaluation in new projects