The team works

摘要

Productivity and operational costs are two issues that greatly influence the success of an open-pit mine. Decreased commodity prices and increased operating costs have forced those in the mining industry to focus on new ways to lower cost/t and maximise production. One way that mines have responded to this challenge is by steadily increasing the size of loading and hauling equipment. TransAlta, a Canadian generation and marketing company, runs a power plant and coal mine out of Centralia, Washington, US. This is one of the few open-pit coal operations in the Pacific Northwest. Even with the mine immediately next to the power plant, the company previously had depended on coal from the Powder River Basin to provide 25 percent of the fuel for the Centralia power plant. By expanding coal retrieval operations at the Centralia mine, commissioning larger equipment and incorporating a state-of-the-art total mine management system, TransAlta has been able to reduce dependency on outside coal to 10 -15 percent, all while lowering operating costs. One factor that has led to increased production is the addition of larger haul trucks that help remove overburden and uncover coal at a faster pace. Komatsu America Corp. (KAC) introduced the 320 t, 930E-3 haul truck in 2003 and TransAlta's Centralia operation commissioned two of them shortly thereafter. While the sheer size of these machines is a benefit, operations are further streamlined with the addition of advanced mine management systems installed by Modular Mining Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of KAC.