Economic Analysis of Roof Drill Bits and Continuous Miner Picks

摘要

The economic impact of substituting long life cutters for the tungsten carbide cutters presently used on roof bolt drill bits and continuous miner picks in underground coal mines has been analyzed. The analysis considers two room and pillar mines using continuous miners and twin boom roof bolters and one mine that employs an advanced miner-bolter extraction system. For each of these base cases, equipment lists, capitalization costs, and operating labor requirements are considered to determine mine performance in terms of cost of coal produced. Increased penetration rate was found to be of secondary importance compared to increased bit or pick life. Results are given that show tool life and tool cost required to achieve parity with tungsten carbide tools and percent savings when the long life tools exceed the parity. For example, a decrease in production costs of up to 8% is projected for mines using continuous miners and advanced technology roof bits with a 300' life. (ERA citation 06:004498)