Economical Operation & Estimation of Operating Cost of Draglines in Open Cast Mines

Abstract

Draglines are the most expensive piece of excavating equipment at the mine site and it is important that they are operated safely, efficiently and economically. Draglines are versatile and provide a low cost mining method. In order to achieve high production and productivity of heavy earth moving machineries in opencast mines, it is necessary to have high percentage of availability and utilization of the said equipment. The present study focuses on the importance of economic appraisal of dragline productivity parameters, such as, cycle time, swing angle, seating position, availability, utilization, etc., in the field scale application. In this contest, calculation of operating cost of dragline operation in various methods has been done and compared critically on case to case study basis. Principally, it will serve as a guideline to the method employed in determining the economical operating cost in various mining methods adopted in opencast mines.