Abstract
A significant cost in the operating budget of most mining operations arises from purchasing and maintaining haulage trucks. Recently, in-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) has been subject to research because of its potential to reduce haulage costs. The objective of this study is to identify early on in a project, by means of a decision-making method, whether or not the semi-mobile IPCC (SMIPCC) is an appropriate alternative to the conventional truck haulage method on the loading and hauling approaches. This method is based on cost analysis and the evaluation of environmental impacts, being successfully tested at an existing open-pit mine, where the results indicated that the IPCC was the most cost-effective option for the operation. Although the IPCC's initial CAPEX was 60% higher than the conventional approach, the IPCC's OPEX was 43% lower, resulting in a 28% reduction of the life-of-mine net present cost (NPC).
keywords:
semi-mobile IPCC; cost saving; decision-making method; initial design study; CO reduction
