Performance Report: Cat 6050 FS and 6060 FS at La Herradura Gold Mine (Sonora, Mexico)
Performance Report: Cat 6050 FS and 6060 FS at La Herradura Gold Mine (Sonora, Mexico)
Performance Report: Cat 6050 FS and 6060 FS at La Herradura Gold Mine (Sonora, Mexico)
Performance Report
February 2015
Cat® 6050 FS
and 6060 FS at
La Herradura
Gold Mine
(Sonora, Mexico)
Cat® 6050 FS
Cat 6060 FS
2
The La Herradura gold mine operates a large mining fleet Mine Site Information
of more than 300 Cat machines. The loading and hauling
fleet consists of:
• Five (5) hydraulic mining shovels
• 11 large wheel loaders (994, 993, 992)
• 86 trucks
The standard bench height in the mine is 8 m, to allow safe Bench Height
loading operations of the wheel loaders. This is also acceptable
for the hydraulic mining shovels, however their production
would be higher at about 12 m high benches (in rolling material)
as less repositioning would be necessary.
Machine cycles were timed using a portable computer and Test Procedure
software. During each cycle, four separate time segments were
collected. The sum of the segments is combined to produce
the total cycle time per pass.
3
Executive Summary of Results
a) RH200 and 6050 FS Studies
Shovel Pala 201 – RH200 Pala 3 – 6050 FS
Date Oct. 28, 2014 Oct. 29, 2014
Operator Julio Julio Mark Julio Mark Julio Mark
Galvez Galvez Kafarela Galvez Kafarela Torres Kafarela
Duration 80 min 90 min 92 min 93 min 85 min 55 min 92 min
Special condition Toes at ground Better Old waste dump, but compacted and
than stands straight-up; thus not so easy
Julio’s to dig
Cycle Times
Evaluated number of cycles 97 94 96 127 125 79 128
Average swing empty 7.0 s 8.1 s 7.1 s 8.0 s 7.0 s 7.6 s 7.7 s
Average bucket fill 10.7 s 11.5 s 9.6 s 11.6 s 10.5 s 11.2 s 10.9 s
Average swing loaded 7.0 s 7.9 s 6.7 s 7.4 s 6.7 s 6.8 s 7.2 s
Average dumping 2.7 s 2.8 s 2.6 s 2.9 s 2.6 s 2.6 s 2.4 s
Total average cycle time 27.4 s 30.3 s 26.0 s 29.9 s 26.8 s 28.2 s 28.2 s
Productivity
Evaluated number of trucks 30 30 30 30 30 19 30
Actual average 70 s 86 s 103 s 60 s 57 s 57 s 62 s
truck spotting time
including delays
Actual production at 3264 t/h 2895 t/h 2949 t/h 3536 t/h 3953 t/h 4003 t/h 3684 t/h
above spotting times @ 70 s @ 86 s @ 103 s @ 60 s @ 57 s @ 57 s @ 62 s
including delays
Theoretical production 3490 t/h 3379 t/h 3827 t/h 3536 t/h 3884 t/h 3942 t/h 3717 t/h
at equalized spotting time @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s
of 60 seconds
Theoretical production 3874 t/h 3735 t/h 4267 t/h 3838 t/h 4251 t/h 4301 t/h 4050 t/h
at equalized spotting time @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s
of 45 seconds
4
Executive Summary of Results
b) 6060 FS Studies
Shovel Pala 4 – 6060 FS Pala 5 – Pala 5 – 6060 FS
6060 FS
Date Oct. 30, 2014 Oct. 30, Oct. 31, 2014
2014
Operator Julio Mark Mark Diego Mark Dioscoro Mark
Galvez Kafarela Kafarela Fierros Kafarela Rangel Kafarela
Duration 73 min 82 min 52 min 85 min 72 min 96 min 79 min
Special condition Reasonable
fragmentation
Poor and good Poor
fragmentation fragmentation
Poor and good Poor
fragmentation fragmentation
Good fragmentation
Cycle Times
Evaluated number of cycles 81 89 50 85 75 80 81
Average swing empty 8.4 s 7.1 s 7.3 s 7.9 s 8.0 s 8.4 s 7.1 s
Average bucket fill 12.2 s 12.4 s 13.9 s 11.6 s 12.8 s 14.3 s 12.8 s
Average swing loaded 7.4 s 7.0 s 6.7 s 6.6 s 7.4 s 7.7 s 7.0 s
Average dumping 3.0 s 2.9 s 3.2 s 3.2 s 3.2 s 3.0 s 2.8 s
Total average cycle time 31.0 s 29.5 s 31.1 s 29.3 s 31.4 s 33.4 s 29.8 s
Productivity
Evaluated number of trucks 22 27 15 23 22 28 30
Actual average 87 s 85 s 105 s 116 s 88 s 110 s 78 s
truck spotting time
including delays
Actual production at 4093 t/h 4420 t/h 3618 t/h 3575 t/h 3924 t/h 3825 t/h 4802 t/h
above spotting times @ 87 s @ 85 s @ 105 s @ 116 s @ 88 s @ 110 s @ 78 s
including delays
Theoretical production 4727 t/h 5111 t/h 4602 t/h 4748 t/h 4568 t/h 5039 t/h 5419 t/h
at equalized spotting time @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s
of 60 seconds
Theoretical production 5154 t/h 5640 t/h 5058 t/h 5204 t/h 5010 t/h 5567 t/h 6054 t/h
at equalized spotting time @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s
of 45 seconds
5
Mine Overview – Oct. 27, 2014
Pala 4 and 5 – 6060 FS Pala 4 and 5 load area Pala 201– RH200 Pala 3 – 6050 FS
Oct. 30/31 with better blast
6
Pala 201 – RH200 Comments on Tests with Julio Galvez
• During both tests with Julio Galvez in the morning, it
appeared that the material was more compacted at the lower
part of the bench
• He achieved good bucket fills when digging out of the bench
• When digging from ground or doing clean-up in front of
tracks the bucket fill could be improved
– However, this could had been also affected by toes in the
ground as a dozer was ripping the ground later on
7
Pala 201 – RH200 Test Results – Truck Spotting
Operator Julio Julio Mark
Galvez Galvez Kafarela
Number of trucks evaluated 30 30 30
Average truck spotting time 70 s 86 s 103 s*
including delays
Average of all regular truck 55 s 66 s 65 s
spotting times
Fastest regular truck 28 s 43 s 40 s
spotting time
*Includes a seven (7) min break due to mine surveyors
8
Pala 201 – RH200 Test Results – Cycle Times
Operator Julio Julio Mark
Galvez Galvez Kafarela
Evaluated number of cycles 97 94 96
Average swing empty 7.0 s 8.1 s 7.1 s
Average bucket fill 10.7 s 11.5 s 9.6 s
Average swing loaded 7.0 s 7.9 s 6.7 s
Average dumping 2.7 s 2.8 s 2.6 s
Total average cycle time 27.4 s 30.3 s 26.0 s
Number
Cycle Times
9
Studies – Oct. 29, 2014 Pala 3 – 6050 FS General Conditions
Pala 3 – 6050 FS • Old waste dump with 15 m high face
with 26 m³ FS • Material quite compacted and stands straight-up and
therefore was not so easy to dig as expected from a waste
dump (Material did not flow down on its own)
• Wide space for truck spotting
• Shovel #3 was slow on boom-up and even more on boom-
down which was slightly affecting cycle times
Pala 3 – 6050 FS
Comments on Test with Julio Galvez (1st in the morning)
• When digging from ground Julio Galvez seemed to be very
careful but fill factors could be improved here
– Maybe Julio should leave some more material in front of
tracks before clean-up
• Very dusty conditions during this test so that it was difficult
to see the face on some occasions
• Occasionally a last quick bucket was filled ~50% only
Pala 3 – 6050 FS
Comments on Mark’s First Test (2nd in the morning)
• Conditions had been very similar to the previous test,
but less dusty
• Mark often did a last quick bucket which was filled
30–50% only
– As per dispatch screen in cab he often achieved 160–172 t
with the first four (4) passes (he guessed about 50% of the
789 loads) and decided to load another last pass with
30–50% capacity to achieve 180 t plus
– 160–172 t at four (4) passes would mean 85–92% bucket fill
10
Pala 3 – 6050 FS
Comments on Test with Julio Torres (1st in the afternoon)
• Very similar conditions to previous tests in the morning
• Julio Torres worked very consistent and fast. He loaded also
some last 30–50% capacity passes similar to Mark.
• Julio Torres achieved slightly higher production figures than
Mark, which is remarkable
Pala 3 – 6050 FS
Comments on Mark’s Second Test (2nd in the afternoon)
• Similar conditions to previous tests but with more tails in the
spot areas
• Loading of those tails restricted the quantity of high material
within reach and thus affected the achieved average bucket
fill factor
11
Pala 3 – 6050 FS Test Results – Production
Operator Julio G. Mark K. Julio T. Mark K.
Number of trucks 26x 789 26x 789 15x 789 27x 789
evaluated 4x 793 4x 793 4x 793 3x 793
Average cycle time 29.9 s 26.8 s 28.2 s 28.2 s
Average bucket fill 75.8%* 77.6%* 81.6%* 76.5%
Avg. no. of passes 5.0 5.0 4.9 5.1
On
Avg. loading time 120 s 107 s 112 s 116 s
789s
Avg. payload 179.6 t 182.8 t 186.8 t 184.5 t
Avg. no. of passes 6.5 6.5 6.3 5.1
On
Avg. loading time 191 s 155 s 150 s 183 s
793s
Avg. payload 225.3 t 219.0 t 235.0 t 225.0 t
Actual average truck 60 s 57 s 57 s 62 s
spotting including
delays
Actual production at 3536 t/h 3953 t/h 4003 t/h 3684 t/h
above spotting @ 60 s @ 57 s @ 57 s @ 62 s
Theoretical production 3536 t/h 3884 t/h 3942 t/h 3717 t/h
at 60 seconds spotting @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s
Theoretical production 3838 t/h 4251 t/h 4301 t/h 4050 t/h
at 45 seconds spotting @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s
*Often last bucket was filled ≤ 50%
12
Pala 3 – 6050 FS Test Results – Cycle Times
Operator Julio G. Mark Julio T. Mark
Evaluated number of cycles 127 125 79 128
Average swing empty 8.0 s 7.0 s 7.6 s 7.7 s
Average bucket fill 11.6 s 10.5 s 11.2 s 10.9 s
Average swing loaded 7.4 s 6.7 s 6.8 s 7.2 s
Average dumping 2.9 s 2.6 s 2.6 s 2.4 s
Total average cycle time 29.9 s 26.8 s 28.2 s 28.2 s
Again all operators had been working very fast and consistent,
which is also shown by the following cycle time charts.
Number
Number
13
Studies – Oct. 30, 2014 Pala 4 – 6060 FS General Conditions
Pala 4 and 5 – 6060 FS • 8 m bench
with 34 m³ FS • The fragmentation had been varying considerably within
the bench
• Quite narrow space for truck spotting and Pala 4 and 5 had
been working in so close proximity that truck spotting of
both machines had been interfering with each other
14
Pala 4 – 6060 FS Comments on Test with Julio Galvez
• Reasonable fragmentation with few interlocked sections
• Quite good fill factors when digging out of the bench
• Occasionally a last quick bucket was filled ~50% only
Test 2
• The mine site requested Mark to move back to the berm side
of the bench
• Poor fragmentation during the entire 2nd test
15
Pala 5 – 6060 FS Comments on Mark’s Test
On Oct. 30th Mark did another test on Pala 5.
• Reasonable blast but with interlocked sections and some
really big boulders
16
Pala 4 – 6060 FS Test Results – Production
Shovel Pala 4 Pala 5
Operator Julio G. Mark K. Mark K. Diego F. Mark K.
Number of trucks evaluated 2x 789 5x 789 5x 789 2x 789 27x 789
20x 793 22x 793 9x 793 21x 793 3x 793
Fragmentation Reasonable Poor & good Poor Poor & good Poor
Average cycle time 31.0 s 29.5 s 31.1 s 29.3 s 31.4 s
Average bucket fill 81.0% 86.4% 80.2% 78.5% 80.0%
Average no. of passes 4.0 3.4 3.4 4.0 5.1
On
Average loading time 105 s 78 s 80 s 91 s 116 s
789s
Average payload 165.0 t 184.4 t 167.8 t 194.5 t 184.5 t
Average no. of passes 4.8 4.5 5.0 4.8 5.1
On
Average loading time 118 s 105 s 150 s 113 s 183 s
793s
Average payload 238.8 t 236.8 t 242.9 t 228.5 t 225.0 t
Actual average truck spotting including delays 87 s 85 s 105 s 116 s 88 s
Actual production at above spotting 4093 t/h 4420 t/h 3618 t/h 3575 t/h 3924 t/h
@ 87 s @ 85 s @ 105 s @ 116 s @ 88 s
Theoretical production at 60 seconds spotting 4727 t/h 5111 t/h 4602 t/h 4748 t/h 4568 t/h
@ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s
Theoretical production at 45 seconds spotting 5154 t/h 5640 t/h 5058 t/h 5204 t/h 5010 t/h
@ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s
17
Pala 4 – 6060 FS Test Results – Cycle Times
Shovel Pala 4 Pala 5
Operator Julio G. Mark K. Mark K. Diego F. Mark K.
Evaluated number of cycles 81 89 50 85 75
Average swing empty 8.4 s 7.1 s 7.3 s 7.9 s 8.0 s
Average bucket fill 12.2 s 12.4 s 13.9 s 11.6 s 12.8 s
Average swing loaded 7.4 s 7.0 s 6.7 s 6.6 s 7.4 s
Average dumping 3.0 s 2.9 s 3.2 s 3.2 s 3.2 s
Total average cycle time 31.0 s 29.5 s 31.1 s 29.3 s 31.4 s
Again all operators had been working fast and consistent, which is also shown by the following cycle
time charts.
Number
Number
Cycle Times
18
Pala 5 – 6060 FS General Conditions Studies – Oct. 31, 2014
• Bench height approximately 8 m Pala 5 – 6060 FS
• Really well blasted and well fragmented material with 34 m³ FS
– Mine stated to have used a higher powder factor to blast
this area
– Best fragmentation of all tests during the entire week
• Although more space than the day before, Pala 4 and 5 had
still been working in so close proximity that truck spotting
of both machines had been interfering with each other
19
Pala 5 – 6060 FS Comments on Mark’s Test
• Very well fragmented material during the entire test
• Mark was also consistently 4-pass loading on 793s and
3-pass on 789s with the exception of 4 passes on 789s
during clean-up in front of tracks
• Also achieved some very good bucket fills
• Although more space than the day before, Pala 4 and 5 had
still been working in so close proximity that truck spotting
of both machines had been interfering with each other
• Pala 5 was under-trucked during both tests, in particular
during Dioscoro’s test
20
Pala 5 – 6060 FS Test Results – Production
Operator Dioscoro Dioscoro Mark
first 3 trucks
Rangel not considered Kafarela
Number of trucks evaluated 7x 789s 7x 789s 11x 789s
21x 793s 18x 793s 19x 793s
Average cycle time 33.4 s 33.1 s 29.8 s
Average bucket fill 93.8% 96.4% 95.0%
Average no. of passes 3.0 3.0 3.2
On
Average loading time 67 s 67 s 68 s
789s
Average payload 189.6 t 189.6 t 182.2 t
Average no. of passes 4.1 4.0 4.0
On
Average loading time 109 s 103 s 92 s
793s
Average payload 232.1 t 231.2 t 234.2 t
Actual average truck spotting 110 s 102 s 78 s
including delays
Actual production at 3825 t/h 4053 t/h 4802 t/h
above spotting times @ 110 s @ 102 s @ 78 s
Theoretical production at 5039 t/h 5177 t/h 5419 t/h
60 seconds spotting @ 60 s @ 60 s @ 60 s
Theoretical production at 5567 t/h 5742 t/h 6054 t/h
45 seconds spotting @ 45 s @ 45 s @ 45 s
Pala 5 (Oct. 31) – Dioscoro Rangel Pala 5 (Oct. 31) – Mark Kafarela
Number
Number
21
Conclusion Operators
All operators were well skilled and worked effectively and
fast. There had been very few things where the operators
might improve, however this would not lead to significant
higher production.
Truck Spotting
The biggest potential to improve the productivity would have
been the reduction of truck delay times but also an improvement
of regular spotting times. During the four tests with Pala 3 on
Oct. 29, 2014 the average of all 105 truck spotting times had
been 59 s including delays and the average of the regular truck
spotting times had been 48 s. The tables used above to summarize
the production results show what production figures could have
been achieved a) at 60 seconds spotting as this had been achieved
with Pala 3 and b) at an ideal spotting time of 45 seconds.
5567 t/h
at 45 sec
5039 t/h
at 60 sec
Productivity
3825 t/h
in test
110 sec (1.83 min) 60 sec (1.0 min) 45 sec (0.75 min)
during this test Truck Spotting Time during Pala 3 tests ideal
22
Material Fragmentation
The results achieved on the 30th and especially on the 31th of
October in better fragmented material, due to a higher powder
factor used here for blasting, show clearly the positive affect on
the achieved productivity. This is the result of the high (<95%)
bucket fill factors achieved and consequently the even number
of passes per truck.
23
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