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Abstract

A mining contractor is expected to provide equipment flexibility in spite of the fact that haulage unit production varies as mining progresses. Consequently, predicting the equipment needs well in advance is important for the mining contractor. African Mining Services (Ghana) Limited (AMS) is a mining contractor, responsible for the loading and hauling operations of Abosso Goldfields Limited (AGL) in addition to other tasks. This paper seeks to forecast the truck and shovel requirements in the Juno II Pit of AGL for the years 2001–2004. The load and haul practices of AMS have been studied using time and motion studies as well as other data collected from mine records. These data were used to construct a simulation model of the system using the SIMAN computer simulation package. This study shows that AMS will need 6, 7 and 8 Caterpillar 777D dump trucks to achieve the required production rate in December 2001, 2002 and the period 2003–2004, respectively.

Keywords

EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS SIMAN SIMULATION

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Predicting equipment requirements using SIMAN simulation - a case study

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