Creating the optimal coal working section.

Factors which should be taken into account when deciding what to include in a coal working section are: thickness and washability of coal and waste layers, coal loss and dilution if a layer was mined individually, costs of mining as a function of thickness, process costs, sale value of products, and processing plant capacity and costs. A methodology is presented which ensures the optimal working section is selected. The model was tested at a mine with seams between 0.5 and 2.5 m thick separated by partings of 40 to 50 cm where the practice was to separate any waste with a thickness of 30 cm or more. Results using the model showed that although product yield would reduce from 66.5% to 21.7% due to additional dilution, recovery could improve from 90.5% to 95.5% , product tonnage increase by 5.9% and costs per product tonne decrease by 9%.
Factors which should be taken into account when deciding what to include in a coal working section are: thickness and washability of coal and waste layers, coal loss and dilution if a layer was mined individually, costs of mining as a function of thickness, process costs, sale value of products, and processing plant capacity and costs. A methodology is presented which ensures the optimal working section is selected. The model was tested at a mine with seams between 0.5 and 2.5 m thick separated by partings of 40 to 50 cm where the practice was to separate any waste with a thickness of 30 cm or more. Results using the model showed that although product yield would reduce from 66.5% to 21.7% due to additional dilution, recovery could improve from 90.5% to 95.5% , product tonnage increase by 5.9% and costs per product tonne decrease by 9%.