Mine Transport

the transport of loads through underground mining excavations. Mine transport is one of the major processes involved in the mining of minerals, accounting for approximately 30 percent of labor and cost expenditures. The major load moved in mine transport is rock, which includes both useful minerals and gangue. Secondary loads are machines, equipment, and support materials. Mine transport is also used to move workers from the shaft bottom to the faces and back.

A distinction is made between the following: supply, in which rock is brought from the face to roadways or ore chutes; haulage, in which loads are moved along the main mine drifts; and hoisting, in which loads are moved along vertical or inclined excavations with an incline angle greater than 30°. Continuous mine transport is provided by conveyors, gravity-flow devices, and pipelines. Noncontinuous mine transport is provided by vehicles that run on rails, self-propelled vehicles that do not run on rails, and scrapers. The system and means used in mine transport depend on the magnitude of the freight flow, the mode of occurrence of the mineral deposit, the number of horizons being worked at once, the physicomechanical properties of the mineral, and the excavation system being used. The simplest systems of mine transport are used when a single horizon is being worked and only one type of transport is being used. Most systems include various types of transport devices.

In coal mines, the concentration of mine production and the growth of freight flows requires the maximum use of mobile scraper conveyors which not only transport coal but also serve as the base of the excavation complex. Loads are transported along horizontal and inclined excavations by means of conveyor belts with remote or automatic control.

In ore mines, the rock mass is transported by scraper devices. Expanded use is being made of vibration transport; self-propelled cars with pneumatic tires, freight capacity of 10–20 tons, and electric or diesel drive; and load-haul-dump vehicles with bins or front-mounted buckets.

The future may witness the introduction of special conveyors for transporting loads composed of large chunks of rock, an increase in the coupling weight of locomotives and the weight of trains, and the use of large-volume cars (up to 10 m³) of improved design.