Adapting methodologies from the forestry industry to measure the productivity of underground hard rock mining equipment

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop and apply a framework to characterize the ground support installation component of the mining development cycle in underground hard rock mines for the purposes of comparing equipment. A secondary goal is to identify opportunities to improve the productivity of the ground support installation process. It was found that the forestry industry faces similar challenges as the mining industry when measuring equipment output in a variable environment where equipment productivity is affected by a range of external conditions. Despite this challenge, forestry researchers successfully developed and applied a standardized methodology and nomenclature to measure the productivity of equipment for the purposes of equipment and process comparison in variable external conditions. The methodology used in the forestry industry was modified to measure mechanized and semimechanized ground support installation productivity in three Canadian underground hard rock mines. Furthermore, opportunities to improve the ground support installation process were identified. This framework can be modified to measure and compare other types of mining equipment. By using a standardized methodology to measure, compare and improve mining processes, development and production rates can be increased in underground hard rock mines. In summary, a framework was adapted from the forestry industry to measure and compare the productivity of the ground support installation cycle in three Canadian hard rock mines, and opportunities to improve the process were found.