Evaluation of Haul Trucks Performance

in a CSN Mine
Adilson Curi1, Walter Schmidt Felsch2,3,
E. Cunha Rodovalho3, and B. Prado Meireles3
1

UFOP, Univ. Fed. Ouro Preto, Dept. Mineral Eng.

CAPES, CNPq, Brazil
2
Mineral Eng. UFOP, Brazil
3
Mining Eng., CSN, Companhia Siderrgica Nacional, Brazil

Abstract. The "Casa de Pedra" iron ore mine, a division of the CSN (Companhia
Siderrgica Nacional) Group, is located in the city of Congonhas, in the Brazilian
state of Minas Gerais. The exploitation methodology differs a little according to
each one of the four sectors that the mine is divided: - main ore body and West ore
Body (open pit with horizontal ground surface); - North ore body and Mascate
Mountain ore body (open pit on a mountain slope). "Casa de Pedra" is a
conventional open pit mine that uses trucks and front-end loaders to transport ore
and waste. Two types of trucks are used: - one is using just a mechanical system
(with a fleet of 20 trucks) and another one using an electro-diesel system (with a
fleet of 13 trucks). The trucks of the "Casa de Pedra" mine have some alternatives
of haulage routes that directly influence their performance. The objective of this
study is to evaluate the performance of the trucks in terms of the average of fuel
consumption and times of cycle of the trucks in each one of the haulage routes.
Primarily, the haulage routes can be defined as transport of material to an upper
level or to a lower level. In this study tests were performed to quantify the
characteristics of each one of the fleet of transport in the available mine routes.
Through these tests it was possible to compare the advantages and disadvantages
in using each one of the truck fleet listed.
Keywords: trucks, fuel, haulage routes, mining.

Introduction

The "Casa de Pedra" iron ore mine, a division of the CSN Group, is located in the
city of Congonhas, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The exploitation
methodology differs a little according to each one of the four sectors in with the
mine is divided, that is: - Main ore body and West ore Body (open pit with
horizontal ground surface); - North ore body and Mascate Mountain ore body
(open pit on a mountain slope). Casa de Pedra is an open pit mine that uses a
C. Drebenstedt and R. Singhal (eds.), Mine Planning and Equipment Selection,
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-02678-7_111, Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014

1143

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A. Curi et al.

conventional system to transport the ore and waste based in trucks and loaders.
Trucks are used to haul overburden and ore from the pit to a dump site, stockpile
or to the next stage of a mining process. Their use is scheduled in conjunction with
other machinery, such as excavators, loaders and diggers, according to the site
layout and production capacity.
According to Baloo (2008) [1] , the mine haulage truck selection was based on
the following criteria:
- Loading tool match required for mining ore and waste;
-Availability of capital to and delivery dates;
-Productivity rate to achieve the mine plan;
-Pit geometry and haulage routes.
Trucks use a significant amount of diesel, and are expensive to purchase and
maintain. Diesel is a significant energy source for the mining industry. It is used
for material transport processes such as the hauling of ore and overburden. Trucks
constitute to one of the key dieselusing activity. Operating procedures influence
energy use and maintenance costs [2] . Truck velocity, especially cornering
speeds, braking patterns and road surface characteristics can affect fuel
consumption, tire wear and replacement costs [3]. In open pit mining, many
parameters can affect the efficiency of the fleet, such as [4] , [5] :
- Mine plan and mine layout;
- Speed, payload and cycle time;
- Tire wear and rolling resistance;
- Age and maintenance of the vehicles;
-Dump site design;
- Idle time;
- Engine operating parameters and transmission shift patterns;
The understanding of the energy efficiency of a haul truck should not be limited to
the analysis of vehicle-specific parameters. Mining companies can often find
greater benefits by expanding the analysis to include many other factors that affect
the amount of energy used across an entire fleet, including road gradient and
elevation (the road configuration).
The "Casa de Pedra" iron ore mine, a division of the CSN Group, have
developed a thorough analytical method [6] to investigate energy use in their haul
truck operations. This method uses the characteristics of the haul route travelled
to analyses and compare the energy use of the trucks.
The exploitation methodology differs a little according to each one of four
sectors in with the mine is divided, that is: - Main ore body and West ore Body; North ore body and Mascate Mountain ore body. Casa de Pedra is an open pit
mine that uses a conventional system to transport the ore and waste based in trucks
and loaders. Two types of trucks are used: - one using just a mechanical system
(20 trucks) and another one using an electro-diesel system (13 trucks). The trucks

Evaluation of Haul Trucks Performance in a CSN Mine

1145

of the Mining Casa de Pedra have some alternatives of haulage routes and it
influences directly in its performance. The objective of this study is to evaluate the
performance of the trucks in terms of the average consumption of diesel (liters
consumed for transported mass) and times of cycle (minutes) of the trucks in each
one of the transport routes. Primarily, the haulage routes can be defined as: transport of material to an upper level or to a lower level. In this study several
tests were performed to quantify and to verify the trend of each one of the fleets of
transport in the available mine routes. Through these tests it was possible to
identify, clearly, the differences, the advantages and the disadvantages of each
fleet of transport.

Objective

Considering the several alternatives to transport the material in the mine this study
has as its main objective to evaluate the performance of the haul trucks in two of
the main routes of the mine that represents 68 % of all haul route travelled.
The parameters to be evaluated are: diesel consumption and operating cycle
time. These indicators will be compared in the following operating modes:
travelling empty / to an upper level and travelling loaded / to a lower level versus
travelling empty / to a lower level and travelling loaded / to an upper level. The
concept of the "Equivalent Flat Haul" can be appropriate to apply in this case
study. The equivalent flat haul (EFH) parameter was defined to describe the
characteristics of the haul route travelled. The EFH is a calculated parameter that
accounts for both the distance from the source to the destination, and the elevation
change from the source to the destination. The EFH normalises the elevation
change and distance travelled, which enables a comparison of the energy
consumed and tonnage moved for a mining activity.

Methodology

In the mine two types of fleet are used: - a mechanical fleet (with 20 haul trucks)
and an electro-diesel fleet (with 13 haul trucks). The trucks of the Mining Casa de
Pedra have some alternatives of haulage routes and it influences directly in their
performance. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of the
trucks in terms of the average consumption of diesel (liters consumed for
transported ton) and times of cycle (minutes) of the trucks in each one of the
haulage routes. Basically, the haulage routes can be defined as: - transport of
material to a lower level with empty displacement in the descendant route or
transport of material in a descendant route with empty displacement in the
ascendant route. In this study several tests were performed to quantify and to
verify the trend of each one of the fleets of transport in the available mine routes.

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3.1

A. Curi et al.

First Phase of the Test: Transport to a Lower Level

In this specific case (CSN, 2012) the equipment used for loading was an excavator
Komatsu PC5500 (EX 44) located in the ore body North at the elevation of
1445 meters. The destination was a crusher at the elevation of 1210 meters. The
average displacement of the trucks was estimated in 5.5 km. The Figure 1
illustrates a typical route outline for transport to a lower level.

EX44

Crusherr

Fig. 1 Characteristic route outline for transport to a lower level

3.2

Second Phase of the Test: Transport to an Upper Level.

In this specific case (CSN, 2012) the equipment used for loading was an excavator
Komatsu PC5500 located in the bench at the elevation of 1220 meters. The
destination was a waste pile at the elevation of 1365 meters. The average
displacement of the trucks was estimated in 4.0 km.
The Figure 2 illustrates a typical route outline for material transport to an upper
level.
Waste pile

EX42

Fig. 2 Characteristic route outline for transport to an upper level

Evaluation of Haul Trucks Performance in a CSN Mine

1147

Results

In the Table 1 and Table 2 are presented the average cycle time of the equipment
for the first phase of the test. In the Table 3 are presented the results of fuel oil
consumption (l/h), specific fuel oil consumption (l/t) and productivity (t/h) of the
haul trucks.
Table 1 Operating modes within a payload cycle for the mechanical fleet

Mechanical fleet
Equipment
reference

Waiting to
unloading
(min)

Waiting to
loading (min)

Positioning
Loading (min)

to loading
(min)

Unloading
(min)

Total
travelling
(h)

Velocity
(km/h)

TB 403

0,70

1,69

2,29

1,09

1,23

7,51

17,56

TB 418

0,80

1,33

2,44

0,85

1,34

9,62

18,48

Total

0,75

1,51

2,37

0,97

1,29

17,13

18,02

Table 2 Operating modes within a payload cycle for the diesel-electric fleet

Diesel - eletric fleet

Waiting to

Waiting to

unloading

loading

(min)

(min)

TB 502

1,65

1,62

2,21

1,21

1,31

9,13

21,37

TB 510

0,73

0,52

1,98

0,98

1,26

8,41

21,92

Total

1,19

1,07

2,10

1,10

1,29

17,54

21,65

Equipment
reference

Positioning
Loading (min)

to loading
(min)

Unloading
(min)

Total
travelling
(h)

Velocity
(km/h)

In the Table 4 and Table 5 are presented the average cycle time of the
equipment for second phase of the test. In the Table 6 are presented the results of
fuel oil consumption (l/h), specific fuel oil consumption (l/t) and productivity (t/h)
of the haul trucks.

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A. Curi et al.

Table 3 Fuel consumption (l/h), specific fuel consumption (l/t) and productivity (t/h) of the
haul trucks for the first phase of the test

Haul Trucks performance - Phase 1

Origem

Destination

TB 403
EX 44

Fuel

travelling

consumption

(h)

(l)

3018

7,51

1105,8

3610

9,62

1462,9

(t)

Mechanic fleet

TB 502
EX 44

fuel

(t/h)

ccconsumption
(l/h)

401,86

147,24

Specific fuel
consumption
(l/t)

0,3664

375,26

152,07

0,4052

388,56

149,66

0,3858

3315

9,13

1415,4

363,09

155,03

0,4270

3206

8,41

1310,2

381,21

155,79

0,4087

372,15

155,41

0,4178

crusher

TB 510
Total

Average
Productivity

crusher

TB 418
Total

Total

Production

Diesel-eletric fleet

Table 4 Operating modes within a payload cycle for the mechanical fleet

Mechanical fleet
Waiting to

Waiting to

unloading

loading

(min)

(min)

TB 403

0,82

1,34

2,63

1,17

1,26

7,25

15,12

TB 418

0,48

1,71

2,82

0,94

1,21

7,47

16,39

Total

0,65

1,53

2,73

1,06

1,24

14,72

15,76

Equipment
reference

Loading
(min)

Positioning
to loading
(min)

Unloading
(min)

Total
travelling
(h)

Velocity
(km/h)

Table 5 Operating modes within a payload cycle for the diesel-electric fleet

Diesel - eletric fleet

Waiting to

Waiting to

unloading

loading

(min)

(min)

TB 502

0,09

0,62

2,36

1,26

1,39

6,91

18,42

TB 510

0,25

0,61

2,52

1,21

1,28

7,12

17,72

Total

0,17

0,62

2,44

1,24

1,34

14,03

18,07

Equipment
reference

Loading
(min)

Positioning
to loading
(min)

Unloading
(min)

Total
Travelling
(h)

Velocity
(km/h)

Evaluation of Haul Trucks Performance in a CSN Mine

1149

Table 6 Fuel consumption (l/h), specific fuel consumption (l/t) and productivity (t/h) of the
haul trucks for the second phase of the test

Haul Trucks performance - Phase 2

Origem

Destination

TB 403
EX 42

EX 42

(l)

2299

7,25

1255,7

2533

7,47

1389,9

Average fuel

Specific fuel

consumption

consumption

(l/h)

(l/t)

317,10

173,20

0,5462

339,09

186,06

0,5487

328,10

179,63

0,5475

Productivity
(t/h)

2729

6,91

1163,7

394,93

168,41

0,4264

2311

7,12

1261,6

324,58

177,19

0,5459

359,76

172,80

0,4862

Waste pile

TB 510

(h)

Mechanic fleet

TB 502

Total

Fuel
consumption

Waste pile

TB 418
Total

Total
travelling

Production (t)

Diesel-eletric fleet

Conclusion

Several factors can influence the energy intensity measured and more specifically,
haul truck performance, across different mine sites:
- Rock hardness and fragmentation. Sites with hard rock are often more
energy-intensive to excavate.
- Density of the material being excavated and hauled.
- Material moved through blasting, and work required by dozers and loaders
to shift material into haul trucks.
- Fleet selection, including size of equipment in use at the site, as fewer
numbers of larger equipment can result in greater energy efficiency and
productivity.
- Mine planning integrating energy efficiency, including haul slope
optimization, haul road and dump configuration and optimization can
reduce the energy intensity.
- Energy-efficiency measures deployed that include a cumulative suite of
improvements, including operator training, automation of lighting plants
and idle time minimization. According to the specific tests carried out at
the mine (First phase and second phase) can be concluded [7]:
-

The mechanic fleet is more productive and uses less fuel transporting
material to a lower level.
The diesel electric fleet is more economic and productive transporting
material to an upper level.

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A. Curi et al.

The final conclusions of the results ( Table 6) are schematically represented in the
Fig.3.
Besides reduction of fuel consumption and increase in productivity should be
emphasized the environmental gain. In the three months of testing were saved
134,769 liters of fuel.

Fig. 3 Final conclusions of the tests representing the specific tests carried out at the mine
(First phase and second phase)
Acknowledgments. Special thanks to CSN (Companhia Siderrgica Nacional), CAPES
( Coord. Aperf. Pess. Niv. Superior, Brazil) and CNPq (Brazil) for their support.

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[2] Thompson, R.J., Visser, A.T.: Maintenance scheduling and management of surface
mine haul roads. Haul roads research project, Stage III, contract report for AMCOAL.
University of Pretoria, South Africa (1996)
[3] Chester, A., Harrison, R.: Vehicle operating costs evidence from developing
countries. Highway design and maintenance standards series. Transportation
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