EM 10 Mine Calculations Exercise

1) Consider a bench (bench height = 15 m) consisting of 3 different materials: high and medium
grade and waste. The waste, high grade and low grade ore cover areas of 1850 m , 420 m2 and
2

570 m2 respectively. The specific gravities of the materials are as follows:

Waste = 2.75
High grade ore = 2.30
Low grade ore = 2.50

a) Determine the volumetric and weight stripping ratio of the bench.

b) Determine the total tonnage factor of the bench.
c) If the swell factor of all materials is determined to be the same at 1.27, determine the added
volume after fragmentation.
d) Determine the loose density of each material.
e) Determine how many trucks are needed to be filled if all of the bench material is to be extracted.
f) Determine the number of passes needed to fill a 360-tonne truck using an excavator with bucket
capacity of 20 cu. yd.

2) Consider the following lateritic ore piles:

A – 24% Fe, 0.30% Ni, 8% moisture

B – 12% Fe, 1.50% Ni, 6% moisture

a) How many dry tonnes of each material should be mixed to create a 200 dry tonne-blend
(Blend X) containing of 20% Fe?
b) Determine the amount of Ni in the blend.
c) Determine the moisture of the blend.
d) Repeat questions a-c considering creating a 200 dry tonne-blend (Blend Y) containing 1% Ni.
e) Determine the revenue of blends X and Y considering the pricing scheme:
a. If Fe<18% and Ni>0.85%, price is $3.50/lb.
b. If Fe>18% and Ni>0.85%, price is $3.50/lb with penalty (deduction) of $0.10/lb
for every 0.05% excess Fe. Minimum price of $2.00/lb.
c. If Fe>18% and Ni<0.85%, price is $2.00/lb with bonus of $0.20 for every 0.05%Ni
in excess of 0.30%.