Mine excursion
The four assorted products are stacked into different stockpiles, from where
it is taken to the load-out station to be loaded onto rail wagons.
Pit optimisation
According to Mobwano, Sishen strips
about 180Mt of waste per annum, of
which it is able to mine more than
37Mt of ore. Eighty per cent, or
31Mt, of the 37Mt is converted into
saleable product. The mine employs
about 5 000 employees, of which more
than 1 400 are permanent mining
contractors, but these figures vary. In
its most basic form, Sishen manages a
drill and blast, transport and crushing
operation. Almost 60% of its costs are
incurred in the loading and hauling
operation, and to keep this unit cost in
check requires really efficient drilling
and blasting, something Mobwano
says management has been focusing
on over the past few years.
“Blasting is key to productivity
improvement in the load and haul
process; therefore, we have done a
lot of work in this department,” says
Mobwano. “We changed the blast
design and burden spacing, and we are
blasting bigger blocks. Furthermore, we
would like to increase our bench height.
Currently, the benches are about 12.5m
high, but it is still not optimal; we
would like to get to a height of 15m,”
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