Benefits of studies on LHD reliability and availability for mines

摘要

Performance of mining equipment in a modern underground mine is an important issue since it affects a volume of production and operating cost. In this respect, reliability studies may become an important tool for mine operators in order to maximize equipment availability and minimize their maintenance cost. Some mining people however, seem not to see all their benefits. In this paper some aspects of such studies done on load-haul-dump machines are presented and discussed. It is shown how reliability and availability studies help identify problems concerning machine performance, its use and maintenance. In the conclusion the need for the improvement of mine data bases and for more collaboration between mine operators, manufacturers and researchers is also stressed.