Enhancing mineral transportation systems in underground mines: A framework for capacity analysis

The transportation of materials in mining constitutes more than half of the operating costs. The efficient operation of mineral transportation systems significantly influences the production capacity and cost-effectiveness of mining operations. The occurrence of unavoidable failures within these systems presents a substantial production risk. Consequently, investigating the primary causes of failures and assessing the resulting production losses due to operational interruptions have become critical issues in mining engineering. However, there have been limited studies on the capacity analysis of mining operations through the failure analysis of mineral transportation systems. In response to this challenge, this paper introduces an enhanced framework for conducting capacity analysis of mineral production in underground mining operations using Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Event Tree (ET), which are well-established techniques in risk management. Given the lack of sufficient data, FTA can be applied to problems within a fuzzy environment. The proposed framework integrates FTA and ET within a fuzzy logic context to comprehensively evaluate system performance. By conducting a case study on a mineral transportation risk assessment at the Qaleh-Zari underground copper mine, the effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated. In this study, all potential scenarios that could lead to mineral transportation failures were identified, and the risks associated with each scenario, as well as the overall risk to the system, were assessed to evaluate potential production losses. The results of this study provide valuable guidance to mine managers, directors, and contractors, enabling them to optimize operational procedures, enhance equipment safety, and effectively mitigate risks associated with mineral production during underground mining operations.