Development of a Real-Time Adherence to Mine Plan Tools as Part of an Integrated Remote Mine Control Centre

摘要

In one of North America’s largest mines, which contains more than six active coal-producing faces,rnmine controllers must meet the complex challenge of adhering to the mine plan while also ensuringrncustomer quality. Fleet management systems (FMS) provide many different avenues to controlrnproduction fl ows, from the faces to the various pit crushers. Nonetheless, mine controllers mustrnbalance a variety of factors such as unplanned downs, differing customer demands, their own dailyrnkey performance indicators (KPIs) related to equipment utilisation, among others. Deviating fromrnthe short-term mine plan is the most common means of balancing the other factors, since adherencernto the plan is traditionally only measured during the weekly variance meeting with engineering staff.rnHowever, such deviation may be one of the most costly responses, as long-term scheduling issuesrnmay arise such as multi-face dead-heading or insuffi cient stripping.rnThis paper focuses on the development of a system for real-time adherence to mine plan withinrna control room environment. This system is part of a larger blending-focused, multi-million dollarrnproject with elements of a centralised remote control room, developed at the University of Arizona’srnMining Information Systems and Operations Management (MISOM) Mine Control Center (MC2).rnThe mine plan (MPL) component of the overall blending system integrates both historical and realtimernFMS data with mine plan requirements directly sourced from original systems (no additionalrninput required). The measures, displayed largely as graphs, have tools to help controllers managernthe production to facilitate adherence to the plan. Some measures are designed to motivate crews tornperform by inciting competition between crews, softened through a study of the controller culture.rnThe MPL component was deployed at the mine, and the before and after deployment adherence wasrnmeasured.rnThis paper discusses the technical development of the new tool, its deployment, and an ethnographyrn(study of culture) to understand controller motivation.