Loading and haulage in quarries: criteria for the selection of excavator - dumper system

The optimisation of loading and haulage is one of the most important issues for the yield of quarrying activities. Many external factors may affect loading and haulage system selection: amongst them a very important role is played by local topography, stability conditions, size of the excavated material and capacity of the crusher. Of course, loading and haulage equipments affect one another and should be matched in order to get an efficient system, considering both production and economical aspects; selection criteria should be mainly based on: optimisation of loading system (sometimes working as excavation equipment too); optimisation of haulage system (in terms of both single equipment and fleet); optimisation of maintenance programs and organisation (in terms of availability of the system). In particular, the paper deals with the hydraulic excavator – dumper (or truck) system, focusing on the relations between the technical characteristics of the equipments. Many loading and haulage operations have been analysed in different Italian open cast mines and quarries, in order to identify the best working relations and to derive a simple procedure for a proper selection.