Abstract

The mining industry is under massive pressure to reduce carbon emissions and improve environmental performance against the backdrop of intensifying concerns about climate change. Simultaneously, the industry faces significant technological and operational challenges with employing decarbonized solutions capable of operating on the scale of open pit mining operations. Operating these projects in an environmentally conscious manner requires a solution to traditional, fossil fuel intensive truck-shovel operations. While decarbonized solutions for underground operations are more readily available, the significant energy requirements of open pit mining equipment yield a more significant technical challenge. Development of new technologies has not reached a degree of sophistication wherein fully decarbonized options are feasible, especially for large open pit haul trucks. In lieu of fully decarbonized solutions, the industry needs to shift to incrementally decarbonized options to assuage investor and public pressure for improved environmental performance. Trolley assisted haulage offers a partially decarbonized solution to open pit diesel truck shovel operations. Trolley assisted haulage employs electric driven propulsion from overhead trolley lines in place of diesel combustion on loaded, uphill haul routes to improve power delivery, travel speed and reduce fossil fuel consumption. This presentation details the methodology and results of investigating the benefits of implementing a trolley assist system for an open pit metallurgical coal mine in British Columbia using a discrete event simulation platform. The study investigated the operational and environmental benefits of employing trolley assist including opportunities for improved truck speeds, travel times, fuel consumption rates, emissions release and fleet size reductions. Results indicated a potential to decrease cycle times by 21% due to an increase in travel speed on trolley lines by 76%. This project analyzes the impact of trolley assist on a range of key performance indicators, emissions, and truck fleet reduction potential. This study highlights the potential to use discrete event simulation to highlight the significant potential benefits of employing trolley assist haulage to incrementally decarbonize large open pit mining operations.