Reduction of Direct Greenhouse Gas
Emissions from an Open Pit Copper Mining
Operation
In order for a mining operation to become carbon
neutral, it must eliminate or offset direct emission sources and attempt
to minimize or replace indirect emissions resulting from purchased
energy with energy from renewable sources. In an open pit mining
operation, haulage of ore and waste material by large capacity haul
trucks consumes over half of the total energy required in mining. These
energy-intensive rear dump trucks, run on diesel fuel, as do other large
pieces of equipment including bulldozers, graders, water trucks, service
trucks, and pickup trucks. These direct emissions must be minimized,
sequestered, or eliminated.
Research and develop a proposal to minimize,
sequester, or eliminate direct greenhouse gas emissions resulting from
mobile equipment at an open pit copper mining operation. The preferred
solution will result in the elimination of direct greenhouse gas
emissions without simply trading direct emissions for indirect
emissions. Your proposal should include a detailed economic analysis of
the cost of implementing the proposed technology and the economic impact
to a copper mining operation. Examples may include, but are not limited
to impacts to equipment availability or maintenance schedules, impacts
to copper mining production, impacts to existing infrastructure of the
mine, etc. Assume the cost of CO2 generation to be $25/ton. Research the
costs associated with the generation of other greenhouse gasses and
apply these costs if they are relevant to your proposed operation.
The proposed
full-scale design must consider and include:
-
Corporate social
responsibility
-
A specified
location of the simulated open pit
copper mining operation that takes into
account the location of known or
probable copper reserves
-
Adherence to
federal, state, and local environmental
laws and regulations
-
Compliance with
MSHA regulations
-
Estimated baseline
carbon footprint of the operation before
your proposed changes, compete with any
assumptions you needed to make to
calculate this
-
Carbon footprint
of the operation after your proposed
changes using assumptions consistent
with those of your base case
-
List of
assumptions your team made in order to
solve the problem and the reasoning
behind these assumptions
-
Cost of additional
land or resources necessary for your
proposed solution
-
The vehicle fleet
at a typical mine includes:
-
(18 to 22) haul trucks, typically CAT
793B, C or D models each with the 316 HD
engine
-
(12) D10 dozers
-
(6) CAT 824 rubber tire dozers
-
(3) CAT 16H graders
-
(3) 777 water trucks
-
(10) heavy duty utility trucks
-
(40) pickup trucks
- Assume that direct
carbon emissions are charged a penalty
of $25/ton of CO2
-
Assume that the
mine produces 200 million pounds per
year of electrowon cathode copper from
an oxide leach operation followed by
solvent extraction and electrowinning.
-
Assume that mining
rates are 300,000 tons per day with
100,000 tons per day delivered to the
leaching operation. Assume non-leach
tonnage is placed in stockpiles.
-
Assume that the
utilization of availability of the
trucks and other mobile mining equipment
is 80% of possible yearly hours.
-
Assume that the
truck operates at full RPM and power
(2200 RPM) when loaded, but at low RPM
and power when idling or returning to
the shovel – leading to an assumption of
60% average rated power.
Each team is
advised to read the Participation Guide for
a comprehensive understanding of the contest
evaluation criteria. Upon your
registration, WERC will provide you with a
copy of the Public Involvement Plan and
Participation Guide. Additionally, your
proposed design will be evaluated on issues
identified in the problem statement as well
as the following:
-
Potential for
real-life use and implementation
-
Minimization of
impact to open pit copper mine
production
-
Comprehensiveness
of literature review and presentation of
the advantages/disadvantages of all
technologies considered
-
Level of detail of
economic analysis, including detailed
capital and operating cost scenarios for
various solutions considered
-
Consideration of
health and safety aspects of proposed
solution
Your team should develop
a visual model, either physical or
computer-based, showing how the proposed
solution impacts greenhouse gas emissions
from the open pit copper mine. This
should be presented as if your solution were
being presented to the Board of Directors of
the mining company. Your demonstration
should include a clear statement of the
problem and associated costs, a detailed
description of your solution, and an
economic analysis that includes any impact
to the mining operation.
The written report is
the best means to demonstrate your team’s
insight into the problem, to allude to other
possibilities considered but not pursued and
why and to give the reader full
understanding of the magnitude of your
team’s involvement with the problem details.
The report will be evaluated for clarity,
logic, and coherence. Standards appropriate
for publications in technical journals
apply. In addition to the listed
requirements, the following must be included
in your report:
-
A detailed
literature review of possible
technologies for direct greenhouse gas
reduction from diesel fueled vehicles
-
A clear
explanation of the assumptions and
calculation methods used to arrive at
the carbon footprint of the mining
operation before your solution is put
into place
-
Discuss
advantages, disadvantages, and
limitations of the selected method and
compare this to other methods considered
-
Include recent
references and sources of information
-
Address any safety
issues or considerations associated with
the process
-
Include a timeline
for implementation
-
Include and
discuss your detailed economic analysis
Some background
reference materials for your use
includes:
Contact:
Barbara Valdez,
Program Facilitator
(575) 646-7821
(800) 523-5996
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