ABSTRACT
Mining operations may be classified into surface mining, where the operations are unconstrained and open to the sky, and underground operations, where mining takes place in tunnels and galleries. In contrast, underground operations material transportation takes place by load-haul-dump units, delivering to an ore or waste-pass system which then either feeds underground haul trucks, or a conveyor or shaft system which delivers the material to surface. Consequently, the road design and its performance and maintenance management processes should be integrated with the process of mine haulage systems management. Under-performance of a haul road will impact immediately on operational safety and cost-efficiency, since up to 50% of the total costs of surface mining can be ascribed to haulage costs and mining is dependent on well-designed, constructed and maintained haul roads. The location and position of a mine haul road is dictated to a great extent by the mining method used and the geometry of both the mining area and the orebody.
