GPS Mining Applications: Field Testing Results

摘要

Field testing of Global Positioning System applications for the taconite mining industry have been conducted over the last two years. Testing has been conducted on a variety of mining equipment including electric shovels, production haul trucks and rotary drills. The GPS hardware has provided consistent high resolution centimeter-level positioning in harsh taconite mining environments with availabilities exceeding 90 percent. A major cause for loss of high resolution positioning has been suboptimal GPS antenna mounting locations on the equipment, resulting in undue satellite visibility blockage and/or GPS signal multipath. The achievable precision for GPS positioning in taconite mines was demonstrated with baseline determinations between fixed dual GPS antennas mounted on a production drill mast, producing an error budget of only 0.07 foot at a 95 percent confidence level. Testing of a GPS-based drill navigation system demonstrated successful positioning of the drill within one drill bit diameter of the surveyed location 96 percent of the time, with drill depth determinations to within 1 foot 94 percent of the time. The data presented can be utilized for the design, specification and justification for GPS integration in the taconite industry.