A method of moving waste material from a mining site using at least one excavator and a plurality of dozers, including excavating material with the at least one excavator from a dig area, said at least one excavator moving along an excavator path that is parallel with the dig area, transferring the excavated material to a plurality of slots, each of said slots are positioned at an angle to the excavator path, and pushing the transferred material by one of said plurality of dozers along the slot and away from the excavator path; wherein each slot allows each of the plurality of dozers to move between a proximal position and a distal position relative to the excavator path.

The present invention relates to an improved bitumen recovery process from oil sands. The oil sands may be surface mined and transported to a treatment area or may be treated directly by means of an in situ process of oil sand deposits that are located too deep for strip mining. Specifically, the present invention involves the step of treating oil sands with an ethylene oxide capped glycol ether described by the structure: RO(CH.sub.2CH(CH.sub.3)O).sub.m(C.sub.2H.sub.4O).sub.nH wherein R is a linear, branched, cyclic alkyl, phenyl, or alkyl phenyl group of greater than 5 carbons and m and n are independently 1 to 3.

An open cut mine includes an area to be mined bounded by a perimeter. The area to be mined includes (a) a manned zone within the perimeter in which manned resources operate to the exclusion of unmanned resources, (b) an unmanned zone within the perimeter in which unmanned resources operate to the exclusion of manned resources, (c) a first manned resource access location in the perimeter including a roadway through which manned resources move into and from the manned zone, and (d) a separate second unmanned resource access location in the perimeter including a roadway through which unmanned resources move into and from the unmanned zone.

An open cut mine includes an area to be mined bounded by a perimeter. The area to be mined includes (a) a manned zone within the perimeter in which manned resources operate to the exclusion of unmanned resources, (b) an unmanned zone within the perimeter in which unmanned resources operate to the exclusion of manned resources, (c) a first manned resource access location in the perimeter including a roadway through which manned resources move into and from the manned zone, and (d) a separate second unmanned resource access location in the perimeter including a roadway through which unmanned resources move into and from the unmanned zone.

A mining machine management system includes a detection unit mounted on a mining machine that travels in a mine in which a plurality of landmarks is installed, and which detects a position of the landmark with respect to the mining machine in a non-contact manner, and a traveling control unit which corrects a current position of the mining machine based on a position of the landmark, the position having been obtained in advance, and the position of the landmark obtained by the detection unit and causes the mining machine to travel by dead reckoning navigation, and which does not use at least the position of the landmark detected by the detection unit in causing the mining machine to travel by the dead reckoning navigation, when a vehicle traveling in the mine exists around the position of the landmark detected by the detection unit.

A mining machine management system includes a detection unit mounted on a mining machine that travels in a mine in which a plurality of landmarks is installed, and which detects a position of the landmark with respect to the mining machine in a non-contact manner, and a traveling control unit which corrects a current position of the mining machine based on a position of the landmark, the position having been obtained in advance, and the position of the landmark obtained by the detection unit and causes the mining machine to travel by dead reckoning navigation, and which does not use at least the position of the landmark detected by the detection unit in causing the mining machine to travel by the dead reckoning navigation, when a vehicle traveling in the mine exists around the position of the landmark detected by the detection unit.

An aerial rope tramway or slope hoist system suitable for use in an open pit mine or similar application. According to an embodiment, the aerial slope hoist system comprises an upper station and a lower station. The upper station is configured in proximity to a surface section of the open pit and the lower station is configured at a lower section of the open pit mine. According to an embodiment, the upper station comprises first and second towers and the lower station comprises first and second towers. The towers are configured to support respective ends of first and second suspension cable assemblies. Each of the suspension cable assemblies is configured to support and carry a trolley or skip. The system comprises a hoist configured to move the respective trolleys in opposite directions. The towers for the lower station are configured to be moveable and provide the capability to break down the system and/or lengthen or reduce the span of the system.

The present disclosure teaches Real-time mobile broadband data access via satellite to mobile heavy equipment and personnel, focusing on health and safety solutions to open-pit mining operations in remote areas of the world. The system consists of a platform which allows for the integration of health and safety solutions, status monitoring systems, and transmitting broadband information in Real-time from these systems to anywhere in the world. The present disclosure's teachings include: 1) Gathering information from the sensors on work vehicles and personnel; 2) Transmitting Real-time broadband data packets over a wireless appliance; 3) Translating and processing information obtained through an intelligent diagnostic application which is placed on board heavy mobile vehicles and personnel and then transmitting it via a wireless network; and 4) Displaying the information collected in Real-time anywhere in the world via host computers or on a web page.

A system for mining site production planning includes a control system configured to specify a problem-solving technique and associated optimization problem for a mining site by setting production goals and priorities for each of loading tools, processors, production arcs, and materials of the mining site, sorting the production arcs in an order based on travel distances, modifying the order based on the production goals for each of the loading tools, processors, production arcs, and/or materials, and further modifying the order based on set priorities for the loading tools, processors, production arcs, and/or materials. In addition, target values are set for each of the loading tools, processors, and production arcs according to their order of the sorted production arcs. The control system is further configured to solve the optimization problem to produce production values for each of the loading tools, processors, and production arcs based on the target values.

A system for mining site production planning includes a control system configured to specify a problem-solving technique and associated optimization problem for a mining site by setting production goals and priorities for each of loading tools, processors, production arcs, and materials of the mining site, sorting the production arcs in an order based on travel distances, modifying the order based on the production goals for each of the loading tools, processors, production arcs, and/or materials, and further modifying the order based on set priorities for the loading tools, processors, production arcs, and/or materials. In addition, target values are set for each of the loading tools, processors, and production arcs according to their order of the sorted production arcs. The control system is further configured to solve the optimization problem to produce production values for each of the loading tools, processors, and production arcs based on the target values.