Loading and transport operations represent about 60% of the total mining expenses. In order to minimize these costs, we seek a higher productivity of the equipment, avoiding idle times as much as possible. One way to achieve this is by monitoring transport cycle times, especially queue times in loading and tipping.

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LOADING AND TRANSPORT CYCLES

Trucks perform loading and tipping cycles, starting from the loading point to the unloading point and back to the loading point. These cycles are made up of times that correspond to each stage of the truck cycle.

WHAT ARE QUEUE TIMES?

Queue time is an operational indicator that represents the time a truck waits in line to be loaded or tipped, there being queue time at loading and queue time at tipping.

The queue time at loading is the time in which the truck, operating, waits in a queue next to the loading equipment. Tipping queue time, on the other hand, occurs when the tipping point (truck destination) is already occupied by another truck that is tipping, and the truck must wait in a queue to tip later.

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS INDICATOR?

High queue times represent a sign of operational bottlenecks in the cycle, the formation of queues negatively impacts the productivity of the equipment, because the transportation equipment is considered productive when it is loaded, and the loading equipment when it is in the loading process. Operationally, it is important to have control and analysis of these parameters and try to minimize them.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO DEFINE AN OPTIMAL QUEUE TIME FOR THE CYCLE?

The optimal loading queue is one of the most technical issues that exists in the mining operation, because there are several variables that influence it. The decision to add, remove and/or reassign trucks to a loading equipment cycle can increase or decrease the queue time, however, it is important to pay attention to the idle time of this equipment.

In some situations, through an economic analysis, an average queue time is adopted to avoid idleness in the loading equipment, because the idleness of this equipment represents higher costs in the operation.

SOME REASONS MAY INCREASE THE QUEUE TIME

As every operational indicator, the queue time is influenced by some factors that may affect its results. Below we list some of the main reasons:

• Poorly sized fleet (Higher amount of trucks than necessary or low amount of loading equipment);
• High maneuvering time;
• Access problems;
• Sections with speed restrictions;
• Problems with Material Disassembly;
• Train effect;
• Lack of queue management.

HOW FAST2MINE CAN COLLABORATE WITH QUEUE TIME REDUCTIONS AT THE LOADING AND DUMPING POINTS?

To contribute with the difficult mission of a more efficient operation, Mining Control has several functionalities that favor the identification of operational bottlenecks in this indicator and give subsidies for improvement decisions.

Because it is an efficient system in data collection, it is possible to monitor the progress of operations in real time, with measurements of their respective times and mapping of loading and unloading points. Thus, bringing precise information about how long the equipment was queued, which loading equipment and destinations that there are many trucks waiting in line.

In addition, it is also possible to analyze all available transport routes, allowing the management and monitoring of the allocation of loading and transport equipment, facilitating decisions of route choice, withdrawal and/or reassignment of trucks to the cycle, in order to avoid the formation of long queues.

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