The access roads in a mine consist mainly of unpaved roads, which may be deficient due to the constant traffic of equipment. Thus, requiring good management for their conservation, however, monitoring all points of the road is a major challenge for the infrastructure team. One way to indirectly perform this management is through the monitoring of operational indicators of transport, which provide useful information for the identification of problems and the assertive direction of the infrastructure and maintenance teams.

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ACCESS ROADS IN MINES:

Mine access roads are built for the passage of large vehicles, usually larger than conventional roads. For this reason, they need to be designed considering the specific characteristics of the region where they will be built and operational aspects, such as: the size of the equipment that will transit on the roads, the intensity of vehicle traffic, the raw materials available in the region for construction and maintenance, the legislation and associated technical standards. The access roads must follow these good design and construction practices, but maintenance must be a permanent process.

OPERATIONAL INDICATORS THAT PROVIDE CLUES ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE ACCESS ROADS:

The immediate identification of problems in access roads is a complicated task due to the difficulty in inspecting all points. However, the mine’s operational indicators provide indications of the existence of defects, which can help in better directing infrastructure resources and understanding the events that are causing these problems.

Below we list some of these indicators that may be useful for monitoring the quality of access roads:

• Average speed: The average speed is strongly affected by the conditions of the access roads, the existence of problems causes its reduction;
• Transport cycle times: Defective roads tend to increase the empty and full transit times of trucks;
• Average Haul Distance (DMT): Measures the distance traveled by the transportation equipment from the mining fronts to its final destination; the existence of defects causes its increase;
• Productivity: The productivity of the transport operation is affected by the condition of the access roads, its reduction is a good indication of the existence of defects;
• Asset Availability: Poor access roads directly affect the availability of equipment.

IMPORTANCE OF A QUICK IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEMS ON ACCESS ROADS:

The presence of problems in the accesses brings with it increases in travel times, thus interfering directly in the productivity of the operation. Besides this, the existence of these problems entails great safety risks, promotes a reduction in the useful life of the equipment and its components, increases maintenance and fuel costs, causes premature tire wear and excessive and inadequate spending of infrastructure resources.

HOW DOES FAST2 MINE CONTRIBUTE TO ROAD AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT?

To contribute to this difficult mission, Mining Control allows the real-time monitoring and easy access to operational indicators that provide information about the quality of access, in addition to mapping the points where speed reductions and route deviations occurred, thus increasing operational visibility and facilitating quick and efficient decision-making.

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