ABSTRACT
Open pit mining by its very nature normally involves the haulage of moderate to large amounts of waste and ore to out of the pit for relatively long distances at steep grades. These requirements affect the layout of the pit, selection of equipment, and production rate. That’s why, the detailed technical calculations must be applied to technical formulas and machines technical characteristics must be profit to the working conditions. In this paper, the software TruckMac that was written for an open pit mine equipment selection is presented in detail. The structure of database is explained. The equipment selection for an open pit coal mine that feeds the thermal power plant, was done with the aid of the software TruckMac. Four different shovel + dump truck combination alternatives for the overburden excavation were analyzed and, as a result, the optimum equipment selection for the open pit was decided.
