Performance assessment of draglines in opencast mines

Abstract

The present paper investigates a few important productivity parameters of draglines operating in some major opencast coal-mines in India. The parameters, such as, average total cycle time, availability, utilization, annual output and influence of fragmentation on the overall performance of the draglines, have been critically analyzed with studies in mines. The results indicate that there is a considerable scope for improvement in performance of draglines mines by reducing the cycle time, improving the maintenance strategies, reducing the idling losses and improving the degree of fragmentation, especially at the collar regions.