Transporting Mined Material

Abstract

Mined material is transported within and outside a mine (10) in containers (26) that are fixed. discrete load units. namely containers that define a fixed maximum volume that can be carried in each container. The containers can be carried on or coupled to and then removed from vehicles (16) or other transport options. such as flatbed trucks. flatbed rail carriages or overhead suspension units. The containers can be stored at designated container storage facilities (28) in the mine. The container storage facilities are holding areas for loaded containers at mines until decisions are made to transport the containers to mineral processing plants (30) in the mine or to end-use customers. for example via rail to a shipping port (24).

Claims

1. A method of mining in a mine includes: (a) mining an area in the mine; (b) loading a mined material in the mining area into a container that is or can be demountably located on a movable unit or is or can be demountably coupled to a moving unit; (c) transporting the loaded container from the mining area on the movable unit or the moving unit to a container storage facility in the mine or a mineral processing plant in the mine; and (d) removing the loaded container from the movable unit or the moving unit in the container storage facility and storing the loaded container in the facility; or (e) removing the loaded container from the movable unit or the moving unit at the mineral processing plant and processing the material in the plant.

2. The method defined in claim 1 includes loading the stored loaded container at the storage facility onto a movable unit or a moving unit and transporting the loaded container to (i) the mineral processing plant and discharging the material from the container at the plant and processing the material in the plant or (ii) a railhead or other transport terminal and transferring the container from the movable unit or the moving unit onto flatbed rail carriages and transporting the container to another location, such as a port.

3. The method defined in claim 1 includes transporting the loaded container on the movable unit or the moving unit from the mining area to a mineral processing plant and discharging the mined material from the loaded container at the plant and processing the material in the plant.

4. (canceled)

5. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the mined material includes as-mined material.

6. (canceled)

7. (canceled)

8. An engineered stockpile for storing mined material or processed mined material in a mine, the stockpile comprising a plurality of containers each containing a volume of mined material or processed mined material and a tracking identifier for each container, the tracking identifier associated with a digital record identifying a location of the container and one or more properties of the material in the container.

9. The stockpile defined in claim 8 includes a retrieval system for identifying where in the stockpile a specified container is located and retrieving the specified container from its location.

10. The stockpile defined in claim 8 wherein one or more properties includes a grade of the mined material, a mineralogy of the mined material such as an average particle size or a chemical composition of the mined material in the container.

11. The stockpile defined in claim 8 wherein the containers include container identification, including data on the minerology and mass of a payload in the container at a given point in time.

12. A mine includes: (a) an area to be mined or being mined in the mine; and (b) a storage facility for containers of mined material transported from the mine area, the containers being configured to be demountably located on a movable unit or demountably coupled to a moving unit.

13. The mine defined in claim 12 wherein the container storage facility includes carrier units for moving and locating containers in selected locations and for retrieving the containers from the locations, when required.

14. The mine defined in claim 12 includes a container tracking system for tracking movement of containers within and from the mine and at downstream locations such as a shipping terminal or a customer location.

15. The mine defined in claim 14 wherein the container tracking system is configured to track the location of a container in the container storage facility.

16. The mine defined in claim 14 includes a mine planning and scheduling system that is responsive to information in the container tracking system, operating capabilities and availability of equipment in the mine, transportation scheduling within and from the mine, customer requirements for mineralogy of mined material, and scheduling and processing equipment capability/availability in a port or other product shipping terminal.

17. The mine defined in claim 16 wherein the mine planning and scheduling system is configured to adjust operations within the mine or in transporting material from the mine or at a port or other shipping terminal to optimise production and shipping to customers.

18. The mine defined claim 12 wherein the containers include container identification, including data on the minerology and mass of a payload in the container at a given point in time.

19. The mine defined in claim 12 wherein the movable unit includes an autonomous, movable vehicle that is configured to receive and support the container while the container holds a payload of material.

20. The mine defined in claim 12 wherein the moving unit includes an overhead suspension unit that is configured to support and transport the container along a pathway between a loading location and an unloading location.

21. (canceled)

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0170] Embodiments of the invention are described further below by way of example only with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:

[0171] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a typical open cut mine;

[0172] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an open cut mine according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0173] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a container for use in the mine shown in FIG. 2 with the container in a closed configuration;

[0174] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a container for use in the mine shown in FIG. 2 with the container in an open configuration;

[0175] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a movable unit in the form of a flatbed truck and the container shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 located on and being transported by the vehicle;

[0176] FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a moving unit in the form of an overhead suspension system, such as a ski lift type haulage system, and the container shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 suspended from and being transported by the overhead suspension system;

[0177] FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a moving unit in the form of a train with multiple flatbed rail carriages and a plurality of the container shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 located on the flatbed rail carriages and being transported by the train;

[0178] FIG. 8 is a schematic view illustrating a plurality of the container shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 stacked in an intermodal, such as a shipping port-like, storage and handling facility in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

[0179] FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the intermodal storage and handling facility of FIG. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0180] The invention has particular application to open cut mining iron ore and the description focuses on this application to an extent.

[0181] The description mentions other materials, such as copper-containing materials, and processing steps that are relevant to these materials.

[0182] The invention is not limited to mining iron ore. The invention extends to mining other materials, such as by way of example only metalliferous materials containing copper, nickel, lithium, aluminium (such as bauxite and alumina), and cobalt, and non-metalliferous materials such as coal, and metalloid materials such as boron (such as borates). The invention also extends to underground mining of materials.

[0183] Conventional open pit mining of iron ore comprises progressively drilling and blasting sections of an area to be mined and removing material in those sections from a mine. It is known to mine iron ore in large blocks using a series of benches so that various mining activities can be carried out concurrently in a pit. A bench, which may contain many thousands of tonnes of ore and/or other material is first drilled to form a pattern of blast holes. The blasted material is picked up by earth-moving vehicles in the form of front-end loaders and excavators (such as by way of example, electric rope shovels, diesel or electric hydraulic excavators, bucket wheel excavators, dragline excavators) and placed into haulage vehicles such as trucks and transported to a stockpile or to downstream processing plants to produce marketable products to customer specifications.

[0184] Downstream processing options in iron ore mines include (a) crushing and screening of mined material to different-sized specifications, such as lump and fines products and (b) more extensive processing in a mineral processing plant that upgrades the mined material. These upgrading processes may be wet or dry processes.

[0185] Typically, depending on scheduling requirements, option (a) material is either stored in a stockpile or is transported directly to a railhead (or other transportation option) and then by rail to a port for shipping to a market. Typically, the material is stockpiled at the port and blended with other mined material from the same or other mines and then loaded onto ships that transport the material to markets. Materials handling at ports tends to involve multiple, complex bulk handling steps for mined material.

[0186] It is noted that some conventional iron ore open pit mining operations use haul trucks as the only transportation option.

[0187] Generally, the sequence of stages of mine.fwdarw.stockpile (coarse ore).fwdarw.crush/process.fwdarw.stockpile.fwdarw.transport.fwdarw.stockpile.fwdarw.ship in conventional iron ore open pit mining operations are arranged so that each transportation stage .fwdarw. uses haul trucks, trains, ships or a mixture of these options.

[0188] Typically, operations in a mineral processing plant in option (b) in an iron ore mine (and in mining operations generally, and not confined to iron ore) involve: (i) coarse comminution (crushing and screening); (ii) fine comminution (grinding); and (iii) recovery stages (e.g. flotation, leaching).

[0189] The term comminution as used herein describes processes which reduce the particle size of rocks by, first, crushing (most often in combination with screening or other size separation) and, secondly, grinding (in combination with screening or other size separation).

[0190] A recovery stage that applies to a range of mining operations, iron ore, copper-containing material, etc. refers to processes where: (a) valuable minerals are separated from non-valuable material; and/or (b) valuable metal (where metal is a target element) is extracted from the minerals; and/or (c) valuable minerals are separated from other neighbouring valuable minerals. Recovery stage techniques are typically used in combination. A recovery stage technique is usually classified as either wet (using water as a significant part of the process) or dry (largely in the absence of water). Some examples of recovery stage techniques are leaching (wet recovery); flotation (wet recovery); gravity concentration, also referred to as gravity separation (wet recovery); magnetic separation (wet or dry recovery); and particle sorting (dry recovery).

[0191] Conventional vehicles for moving mined material include large haul trucks for open cut mines and load, haul, dump (LHD) vehicles for underground mines.

[0192] Mined material can also be transported via a conveyor, for example via in-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) systems.

[0193] As noted above, the invention transports mined material within a mine and from a mine using containers that may be readily mounted on and dismounted from movable units and moving units, with the applicant being interested particularly in movable units in the form of RSATs.

[0194] The containers may have a form factor that is similar or identical to intermodal containers (i.e. shipping containers). The invention transports mined material within a mine and from a mine in fixed, discrete load units; namely a container load. The containers are mountable onto and dismountable from movable units and moving units, such as RSATs, for transportation within the mine or from the mine. The containers may be (a) unloaded and stacked at designated stockpile locations or (b) discharged directly into comminution units of mineral processing plants or (c) loaded onto other transport options, such as rail transport and taken to other locations such as shipping ports or (d) otherwise processed.

[0195] The containers may be any suitable shape and size and construction. For example, the containers may have an openable top, allowing for mined material to be loaded therein by excavators and other loading vehicles/devices similar to how open tray trucks are conventionally loaded.

[0196] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a typical open cut mine 10 and mining method. The mine 10 comprises a pit 12 that extends below ground level. Inside the pit 12 front end loaders or excavators 14 (or any other suitable earth moving vehicles) dig material that is in the pit 12 after being blasted from benches (not shown) and loads the material into trays of conventional rear-tipping haul trucks 16. The haul trucks 16 transport the mined material from the pit 12 along haul roads 18 to an exit point at ground level. Typically, the haul trucks 16 have rear-tipping trays and are large vehicles capable of transporting large payloads of in excess of 200 tonnes.

[0197] At ground level, depending on mine scheduling, the haul trucks 16 transport the material along roads to: [0198] (a) a railway 20 where the material is dumped into rail cars, or [0199] (b) a stockpile where the material is dumped into open-air stockpiles 22.

[0200] The haul trucks 16 then travel back to the pit 12 to repeat the cycle.

[0201] As required, stockpiled material is loaded onto a conveyor (not shown) or a different haul truck (not shown) and transported from the stockpiles 22 to: [0202] (i) the railway 20 and dumped into rail cars or [0203] (ii) a mineral processing plant (not shown) that includes comminution units and mineral processing units for upgrading the material.

[0204] The railway 20 (option (a) or (i)) transports the material to a shipping port 24 where the material can be further processed, for example, blended and then shipped to overseas markets.

[0205] Alternatively, the mined material is discharged from the haul trucks 16 at the mineral processing plant and processed in the plant (option (ii)). The haul trucks 16 return to the pit 12. The processed material is transported to the shipping port 24 and can be further processed before being shipped to overseas markets.

[0206] FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of an open cut mine 10 according to the present invention.

[0207] The mine of FIG. 2 operates to an extent in the same way as the mine of FIG. 1, where like reference numbers represent the same elements, noting that as well as similarities there are also significant differences between the mines and mining methods in the mines.

[0208] The mine and mining method of FIG. 2 differs from the mine and mining method of FIG. 1 in the way in which mined material is transported from the pit 12 and within and from the mine.

[0209] With reference to FIG. 2, in the pit 12, mined material is loaded into a container 26 by a loader/excavator/shovel, etc. 14 at a dig face of a blast site and the container is closed once it reaches a payload limit.

[0210] The container 26 may be any suitable size.

[0211] For example, the container 26 may be capable of containing a payload of at least 10 tonnes and up to a maximum of 80 tonnes or more, typically 10-80 tonnes, with options of 30-70 tonnes, and 40-60 tonnes. The payload limit may be reached when the container is full or when it is decided that no more material should go into the container, for example when a change in a grade or certain mineral characteristic of the mined material is detected and it is not desired to have mined material of mixed grades or mineral characteristics in the one container. An embodiment of the container 26 is described below in relation to FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0212] The closed container 26 is then carried by a movable unit, in this embodiment in the form of a haulage truck 16 configured to support the container 26, for example by providing a haulage truck 16 with a flatbed tray. This is a different vehicle to the haul truck 16 described in relation to FIG. 1.

[0213] The haulage truck 16 may have any suitable container mounting, i.e. locating, member.

[0214] The haulage truck 16 may include elements to releasably retain (i.e. secure) the container on the container mounting member and consequently on the haulage truck 16.

[0215] It is noted that the empty container 26 may have been transported into the pit 12 on the haulage truck 16 or may have been already located in the pit 12 and loaded onto the flatbed tray haulage truck 16 in the pit 12.

[0216] The movable unit may be a RSAT having a flatbed tray that is configured for carrying a container 26.

[0217] The movable unit may be any other suitable unit that is configured for carrying a container 26.

[0218] The haulage truck 16 transports the container 26 with the material payload along haul roads 18 from the pit 12 to the perimeter of the pit 12 up to an exit point at ground level.

[0219] At ground level, one option (indicated by one of the arrows in the Figure) is for the haulage truck 16 to transport the container 26 along roads to a stockpile in the form of a container storage facility 28 where the container 26 with the material in the container is off-loaded from the flatbed tray haulage truck 16 and stored at the facility 28 and the haulage truck 16 picks up an empty container (not shown) from an empty container storage facility (not shown) and returns to the pit 12 to repeat the process. FIGS. 8 and 9 show an embodiment of the container storage facility 28.

[0220] With further reference to FIG. 2, as required by mine scheduling, containers 26 stored at the storage facility 28 are loaded onto other flatbed tray haulage trucks 16 (an embodiment of which is shown in FIG. 5) and are transported to a mineral processing plant 30, at which the mined material in the containers 26 is off-loaded, for example into comminution units at the plant, and thereafter processed through the plant to upgrade the material. The upgraded material is transferred into other containers 26 on flatbed tray haulage trucks 16 and (a) transported to and off-loaded and stored at the container storage facility 28 or (b) transported to and off-loaded onto flatbed railway carriages at a railway 20 and transported on the train to a shipping port 24.

[0221] The train with flatbed railway carriages is another embodiment of a movable unit in accordance with the invention. FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the train with flatbed railway carriages.

[0222] With further reference to FIG. 2, as required by mine scheduling, loaded containers 26 stored at the storage facility 28 are loaded onto flatbed tray haulage trucks 16 (an embodiment of which is shown in FIG. 5) and are transported to and off-loaded onto flatbed railway carriages at the railway 20 and transported on the train to the shipping port 24.

[0223] With further reference to FIG. 2, another option is for the flatbed haulage trucks 16 to bypass the storage facility 28 altogether and transport the material along roads directly to the mineral processing plant 30 and off-load the material in the containers at the plant for processing in the plant.

[0224] With further reference to FIG. 2, another option (indicated by one of the arrows in the Figure) is for the flatbed haulage trucks 16 to transport the material along roads to the railway) at which the containers 26 are off-loaded onto railway carriages and are transported on the train to the shipping port 24.

[0225] Decisions to select any one of the above options can be made based on a range of factors, including the concentrations of key elements of material in the containers, the total weight of the material, the customer requirements, the available access to the mineral processing plant 30, the storage capacity at the storage facility 28, the storage capacity at shipping port 24, the capacity of blending facilities (not shown) at the shipping port 24, and the availability of material from other mines.

[0226] FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of an embodiment of a container 26 with a lid 27 for use in the mine shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 shows the container 26 in a closed configuration with the lid 27 closing the container. FIG. 4 shows the container 26 in open configuration with the lid 27 removed from the container. Typically, the container 26 is configured to carry a payload of at least 10 tonnes and up to a maximum of 80 tonnes or more, typically 10-80 tonnes, with options of 30-70 tonnes, and 40-60 tonnes. The container 26 is a cuboid-shaped unit made from steel panels that are welded together, with a floor, a pair of upwardly extending opposed side walls, and a pair of upwardly extending opposed end walls. It is noted that the container 26 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is an embodiment amongst many possible embodiments of the container.

[0227] FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the movable unit in the form of a conventionally-sized (as described above) flatbed haulage truck 16. The truck 16 may be configured to transport the container 26. The truck 16 may be an electric powered vehicle. One example of a truck 16 is a Right Sized Autonomous Truck (RSAT). The truck 16 may be any one or more of autonomously-operated, manually-operated, or semi-autonomously operated. The truck 16 may be a wheel-mounted that can move along a road. The truck 16 includes a retaining element (not shown) to releasably restrain, i.e. secure, the container on the flat-bed tray and consequently to the haulage truck 16. The use of a conventionally-sized flatbed haulage truck 16 makes it possible to construct more conventional roadways rather than those used currently in mines operating with large haul trucks 16 carrying large payloads.

[0228] With reference to FIG. 6, instead of a movable unit such as the flatbed haul truck 16, other embodiments of the invention operate with a moving unit in the form an overhead suspension unit 32, such as a ski-lift type unit, that is configured to support and transport the container 26 along a pathway between a loading location and an unloading location.

[0229] FIG. 6 shows the overhead suspension unit 32 located at an incline, for example for the purpose of transporting suspended filled containers 26 out of the pit 12. It is noted that the invention also extends to embodiments where the overhead suspension unit 32 is horizontal.

[0230] In use, the containers 26 may be loaded with mined material while the containers 26 are on the ground and then lifted onto the overhead suspension unit 32. Alternatively, mined material may be loaded onto containers 26 while the containers 26 are on the overhead suspension unit 32.

[0231] Ski lifts have an advantage that the stored gravitational potential energy of the raised empty containers on the way down the lift can be converted to kinetic energy to assist in movement of the filled containers on the way up the lift. As such, energy can be conserved. In contrast, other than regenerative breaking, no energy is recouped by trucking empty containers down to the pit.

[0232] In one example, a ski-lift type arrangement picks up containers at a pit bottom from an RSAT and transports the material to a processing plant, where the material is tipped into a crusher. The empty container is then transported back into the pit and transferred onto the RSAT truck, which itself is driven to a dig face to pick up the next load.

[0233] It can be appreciated that in some embodiments, a combination of movable units (such as the flatbed haul truck 16) and moving units (such as the overhead suspension unit 32) may be used to transport material from the pit 12 and within and from the mine. For example, in these embodiments, the selections of movable units and moving units may be governed by the transport requirements in the pit 12, from the pit 12, and within and from the mine.

[0234] FIG. 7 illustrates a movable unit in the form of a train 34 and a series of interconnected flatbed carriages 36 with containers 26 located on the carriages 36.

[0235] FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate an embodiment of the container storage facility 28.

[0236] FIG. 8 shows a plurality of the containers 26 stacked at the container storage facility 28.

[0237] FIG. 9 shows a layout of the container storage facility 28.

[0238] It can be appreciated that the layout is similar to that of a layout at a container shipping port.

[0239] The FIG. 9 layout includes: [0240] (a) a plurality of parallel, rectangular container storage sections 38, with stacked containers 26 on the sections; [0241] (b) a gantry crane 40 or any other suitable type of container transportation unit configured to traverse each section 38 and deliver containers 26 to and pick-up containers 26 from the sections; [0242] (c) roadways 42 providing access to the container storage facility 28 and to the sections 38.

[0243] The container storage facility 28 includes a container tracking and monitoring system. In an embodiment of the invention, this system is linked to a more extensive tracking and monitoring system that covers movement of containers 26 from the pit 12 through the mine and on the rail transport network and at the shipping port and which includes recording mineralogy data for the material in the containers 26.

[0244] In use, a flatbed haulage truck 16 carrying a container 26 filled with material can transport the container into the container storage facility 28, and one of the gantries 40 can pick-up and move the container 26 to a pre-selected location on the associated section 38.

[0245] Similarly, as required, the gantry crane 40 can pick-up the container 26 from the stack in the section 38 and load it onto a flatbed haulage truck 16 so that the container can be transported to the mineral processing plant or other location.

[0246] It can be appreciated that the above-described embodiment provides considerable flexibility for mine operators and can provide the above-described advantages.

[0247] Many modifications may be made to the embodiment of the invention described above without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[0248] The embodiment is meant to be illustrative only and is not meant to be limiting to the invention.

[0249] Reference throughout this specification to one embodiment, some embodiments or an embodiment means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases in one embodiment, in some embodiments or in an embodiment in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment but may be in some appropriate cases. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments.

[0250] In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practised without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

[0251] In the claims below and the description herein, any one of the terms comprising, comprised of or which comprises is an open term that means including at least the elements/features that follow, but not excluding others. Thus, the term comprising, when used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being limitative to the means or elements or steps listed thereafter. For example, the scope of the expression a device comprising A and B should not be limited to devices consisting only of elements A and B. Any one of the terms including or which includes or that includes as used herein is also an open term that also means including at least the elements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others. Thus, including is synonymous with and means comprising.