Dragline monitoring, control, and navigation

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 93, No. 1040, 2000

J. Hansen, Thunderbird Mining Systems, Redmond, Washington, U.S.A.

The paper addresses the application of automated monitoring, control, and navigation to improve dragline performance. Summary Improving dragline performance in the Canadian coal mines is critical to the continued success of the industry. Draglines represent a large capital investment and coal prices are low by historic standards. This paper argues that the introduction of monitoring, control, and navigation on draglines offers an opportunity to significantly reduce a dragline's operating cost per cubic metre moved. To place the importance of this in perspective, a North Dakota mine calculates that every 1% increase in dragline productivity means a savings to the mine of US$340,000 per year.

Mots Clés: Dragline cruise control systems, Open pit mining, Equipment.