The new Anglo Grosvenor mine has aggressive production ramp up requirements. Therefore, the introduction of the longwall gate road entry driver machines at Grosvenor needed to be flawless. Anglo American needed an entry driver at Grosvenor that could deliver the high productivity of the Joy Global continuous cut and bolt machines in the U.S., while also meeting the challenges of the greater roof support density requirements in Australia without compromising safety and productivity. “With the Grosvenor Mine being a major new project for Anglo, and facing the head winds of a tough coal market, we have high expectations on Joy Global’s entry development equipment,” said Glen Britton, head of underground operations for Anglo American Coal.

The mining industry is changing rapidly due to the need to improve efficiency, reduce costs and increase safety. With these challenges in mind, Joy Global is helping bring mining performance to the next level. Through JoySmart Solutions, Joy Global helps solve its customers’ toughest challenges using data-driven intelligence, collaboration through partnership and experienced-based service execution. It is a solutions-based offering designed to help reduce costs and increase productivity for customers, while helping them achieve or exceed their operating and financial goals. JoySmart Solutions are integrations of our smart connected products and systems, advanced analytics and direct services customized to solve customers’ toughest challenges.

A mining customer’s maintenance strategies were producing good availability results, but to achieve consistency, the customer wanted better visibility on potential upcoming causes of downtime. In this tough environment, major component failure events need to be controlled to minimize impact against budget, and an enhanced solution was required to improve margins. Joy Global approached an existing customer about engaging in a trial period where the two would partner through the company’s JoySmart Solutions offering to improve machine reliability and avoid catastrophic failures on major components. The customer agreed to give Joy Global six months to prove the value of the offering at its coal mine in Australia. The JoySmart team proposed implementation of a newly-developed automated monitoring system that trawls through machine data with the ability to detect any changes in component behavior to predict an onset of failure.

Mining is an expensive business. The costs of equipment, fuel, payroll and maintenance add up quickly, and every dime spent detracts from the mine’s profits. You want to get the most out of your mining operation, so it’s in your best interest to make sure all aspects of your operation are performing as cost-effectively as possible. Caterpillar understands this challenge, and we have the expertise and technology to help you meet it. We asked our customers to identify their biggest sources of increased costs, and many of them gave us the same five answers: process variability, unscheduled repairs, fuel costs, collisions and shift change. In this paper, we’ve gathered brief explanations of each of these challenges and offered our advice on how you can measure and respond to them. In addition, we’ve included information on how Cat® technologies can help you get the lowest possible cost per ton from your mining operation.

The Robinson Nevada copper and gold mine is a big place, but it has no room for guesswork. Just ask Production Analyst Leatham Hendrix. Located in rugged White Pine County near Ruth, Nevada, the Robinson site—operated by Robinson Nevada Mining Company, a division of QuadraFNX Mining, Ltd.—employs 510 people and runs a large mixed fleet that includes 29 haul trucks of 150- and 240-ton capacities. That’s a lot of equipment and manpower for Hendrix to keep tabs on, and small data collection errors can add up quickly to big management problems. “It’s one thing to capture data manually,” Hendrix says, “but there’s always the question of the ‘human factor.’ Somebody puts the wrong number in the wrong place and everything looks different from that point on.” To minimize those compounding errors, the Robinson site has used Cat® MineStar™ System since 2007.

The mining sector throughout its history has been receiving pressure to increase production, with lower costs and with less environmental impacts. This pressure has been transferred to the OEMs to manufacture faster equipment, with more horse power, higher efficiencies, while generating lower emissions. This can be seen in the evolution of equipment that have become ever larger and more efficient. To meet this need the engines and transmissions need to produce/transmit increasing power and the hydraulic systems need to work with extremely high pressures, requiring that these components be designed with tighter clearances and therefore requiring lubricants and fuels with a high level of cleanliness. In order to meet the increasingly stringent emissions requirements, engines need to work with higher pressures and increasingly cleaner fuels. Year after year the contamination impact in the mining sector is becoming more critical due to: • New fuels technologies, such as ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) and biofuels • New legislation with greater emissions restrictions • New equipment technologies to improve energy efficiency, power and speed It is important to highlight the importance of fuel and lubricant cleanliness due to: • Higher pressure of fuel and hydraulic systems • Closer tolerances

Productivity has become the new mantra in recent years for the mining industry. Ever since the “super cycle” of the commodities price boom came to an end, industry executives have realized that a blind chase for value can lead to significant structural costs and productivity defects in the mining process, which ultimately decrease profit. Many chief executive officers (CEOs) have responded to this market volatility by making significant cuts in capital investments. Possessing more operational (“back to basics”) profiles than their predecessors, industry leads now realize that in addition to improving short-term cash flows, they need to: ●● Make sustainable gains in productivity. Programs aimed at improving productivity need to have an enterprise-wide impact, beyond pilot programs that address people or equipment. These productivity initiatives also need to be accepted across all operations and made sustainable going forward by emphasizing truly continuous improvements. ●● Respond with more agility to fluctuating market demands. Business agility requires a supply chain design that enables faster responses to shifts in market demands and prices. With improved business agility, it’s possible to optimize net results per quarter—right down to margin-per-hour operations. Transforming the supply chain design in this way requires a forward-looking understanding of market demand, scenariobased planning, optimal resource allocation and flexible scheduling decisions—all of which necessitate changes across people, technology and processes.

Dexter Sand and Gravel is part of Delta Companies, a subsidiary of Colas USA. Delta owned another sand and gravel operation near the current Dexter, Mo., site that was running out of reserves. So in 2009, Area Manager Mike Martin and Delta Mining Engineer Scott Jinks started looking for a new site close to the old operation. They found it in Dexter, just two miles south of the old site. The company broke ground at the Dexter site in February 2012. By April, crews were pouring concrete for the foundations, and construction was underway in May. The site was producing sand by the end of July. Problem “This site is a great sand deposit with a small amount of gravel that is easily separated,” Martin said. “The challenge with this deposit is that it contains trace amounts of lignite.” Martin said that lignite, a material similar to soft coal, causes problems with concrete sand because it is lighter than the sand and essentially pops out as the concrete sets, causing voids in the finished concrete. Martin and Jinks were concerned with the quality issues caused by lignite and looked at viable options from several aggregate processing equipment manufacturers. Ultimately, they decided to work with McLanahan Corporation, which was represented in Missouri by Mike McCarron, Sales Manager for Continental Equipment. The team came together to design the plant and make sure the equipment could separate the lignite and make the desired products.

In 2007, Armstrong Energy began making preparations and buying equipment to facilitate their planned operations in Muhlenberg and Ohio Counties in Western Kentucky. Today, Armstrong Coal controls more than 300 million tons of proven and probable coal reserves in Western Kentucky and produces approximately 9.5 million tons of coal annually from three surface mines and three underground mines. Problem When reviving the mines, officials at Armstrong had many equipment needs, one being an efficient system that could size the coal to their specifications. For one mine, the need was for 2" (5 cm), and for two nearby sites, the need was for 2.5" (6.3 cm) coal. “We were in need of a system that would size the coal consistently to spec and separate out the quality coal from the unusable rock and other material,” said Sonnie Baird, Director of Coal Preparation for Armstrong. “Rocks and timbers getting into the system can cause downtime and wear and tear on the machines.” “The system had to be high-efficiency and low-maintenance as we run all day every day,” Baird continued. Dust was another big concern for Armstrong. Coal mining generates dust, which can build up on the ground and damage the equipment. It’s also unsafe for workers and is regulated by environmental laws.

The annual Crushing & Breaking Spec Guide is published by the editors of Rock Products magazine. It contains a comprehensive guide to major manufacturers' crushing and breaking product lines along with company contact information.

Masaba creates innovative aggregate solutions whether it is sand, gravel, limestone or concrete, we offer the most efficient and safest material handling equipment that will increase the productivity of your site. With custom mining equipment and full service operations, we will perfect the process from crushing and screening to material handling and conveying to washing and stockpiling.

Conn-Weld Industries was founded in 1975 by James D. Connolly based on his philosophy to serve the customer by offering a quality product, produced in a timely fashion backed by dependable service. Today Conn-Weld does business around the world still guided by this same philosophy. Through persistence and commitment, Conn-Weld's state-of-the-art facility in Princeton, WV USA continues to grow becoming the leading manufacturer of quality equipment servicing the industries of coal, aggregate, pulp and paper, minerals, corn, hydro power, and many more. Conn-Weld's experience combined with the latest technology offers engineering solutions for unique needs.

Milton Quarry using Breaker Technology's Rock Breaker.

STT Enviro Corp engineers and supplies a range of cost effective environmental and industrial products and services. By combining the highest quality products with cost competitive prices we deliver superior customer value to the biggest and most respected names in the mining and oil & gas sectors. Plus, we are continuing to work to find ways for our customers to reduce their environmental footprint, cost effectively. We’re the experts in the engineering and design of chemical makedown systems and liquid and bulk material storage and handling. We’re also the experts in how to optimize these systems afterwards.

Monitoring systems detected excessive startup torque on a 4,200-foot underground-to-surface conveyor system at an Illinois coal operation. Site operators needed the issue resolved quickly to avoid months of potential downtime, as the system is the main production artery for the mine. Through data tracking, consistent monitoring and quick action, JoySmart Solutions experts quickly addressed the issue and devised a solution.

The annual Crushing & Breaking Spec Guide is published by the editors of Rock Products magazine. It contains a comprehensive guide to major manufacturers' crushing and breaking product lines along with company contact information.