VALORIZACIÓN DE LOS SISTEMAS DE CONTROL AUTOMÁTICOS DE MAQUINARIA EN GRANDES PROYECTOS DE MINERÍA A CIELO ABIERTO

Abstract

Open pit Mining is characterized by the movement of large quantities of solid material. These materials are subject to long-distance transport, therefore logistics costs have a significant influence on total costs. In the last decades, different mining machinery management systems have been developed using technologies like GPS, tachographs, computers, etc. that allow us to obtain real time data about machine parameters. The most important parameters that these systems develop are the geolocation of vehicles and fuel consumption. The knowledge of these parameters allows operators to plan real time motions optimizing the extraction process. There are currently some commercial solutions consisting of hardware-software sets which can obtain real time data and show them to the operator in the vehicle cabin. These systems tend to automate mining processes thus reducing operating costs and staff occupational hazards. This paper pretends to verify the impact of these systems in mining production analyzing the developed systems, assessing the necessities that systems must have to satisfy the objectives according to the characteristics of each exploitation. Keywords: mining; optimization; automation; measurement