In today’s competitive mining landscape, small operational improvements can unlock big savings. Here’s one such powerful hack: increase the number of trips per hour without increasing fleet size or manpower — and watch your cost per ton of coal mining go down.
This is where digitalization in mining plays a key role. With smart technologies and real-time fleet visibility, you can move more coal faster, with the same resources.
Let’s explore this through a real-world scenario with actual cost and productivity calculations from Indian coal mines.
Increasing Tripper Performance
If existing fleet carries optimal load and completes more trips per hour, you can move the same or even more coal in fewer total trips. This increases efficiency and reduces cost per ton — even if fuel consumption per trip stays the same.
Let’s see what this looks like in numbers.
The Optimization Scenario: A Case for Smarter Movement
Imagine if you could increase the number of trips per hour and simultaneously reduce the number of trips required to move the same amount of coal — all without adding more tippers or manpower. With the same resources making more optimal trips, not only is productivity improved, but the cost per ton of coal mining reduces significantly.
Let’s dive into the numbers.
Assumptions for the Scenario
|
Parameter |
Current |
Proposed (After Optimization) |
|
Number of Trips per Hour |
10 trips/hr |
12 trips/hr |
|
Trips Required for Same Volume |
100 trips |
80 trips |
|
Cost per Ton of Coal Mining |
₹2,500/ton |
Reduced |
|
Fuel Consumption per Trip |
10 liters/trip |
Same |
|
Fuel Cost |
₹70/liter |
Same |
|
Equipment Depreciation |
₹500/hour |
Same |
|
Labor Cost |
₹1,000/hour |
Same |
Cost Calculations
Current Cost per Hour:
- Fuel Cost: 10 trips/hr × 10 liters × ₹70 = ₹7,000/hr
- Equipment Depreciation: ₹500/hr
- Labor Cost: ₹1,000/hr
- Total Cost = ₹8,500/hr
Proposed Cost per Hour (after optimization):
- Fuel Cost: 12 trips/hr × 10 liters × ₹70 = ₹8,400/hr
- Equipment Depreciation: ₹500/hr
- Labor Cost: ₹1,000/hr
- Total Cost = ₹9,900/hr
- Cost per Ton (Current Scenario):
- Coal Production = 10 trips/hr × 10 tons/trip = 100 tons/hr
- Cost per Ton = ₹8,500 ÷ 100 = ₹85/ton
- Cost per Ton (Proposed Scenario):
- Coal Production = 12 trips/hr × 10 tons/trip = 120 tons/hr
- Cost per Ton = ₹9,900 ÷ 120 = ₹82.50/ton
The Impact: Nearly 3% Reduction in Cost per Ton
- Cost Reduction = ₹85 – ₹82.50 = ₹2.50 per ton
- Percentage Reduction = (₹2.50 ÷ ₹85) × 100 = ~2.94%
This seemingly small percentage reduction translates to huge savings when you multiply it across millions of tons of coal transported annually.
How Does Digitalization Enable This Mining Hack?
Without real-time data and monitoring, such trip optimization is guesswork. But with Digital Mining Solutions, you get:
These technologies help supervisors monitor every trip, identify delays, improve route efficiency, and make data-driven decisions.
✅ Mine Transport Surveillance Systems (MTSS)
✅ Operator Independent Truck Dispatch System (OITDS)
✅ Cycle Time Monitoring with GPS/IoT Sensors
✅ Digital Fleet Management Dashboards
✅ Real-time Alerts for Delay, Overloading or Underloading
✅ Data-driven Decision Making for Route Optimization
These systems track and analyze every vehicle movement, loading time, haulage road performance, and idle hours — enabling managers to identify bottlenecks and push for better trip frequency and load utilization.
Final Thoughts
The coal mining industry is under constant pressure to deliver more at lower costs. Digital transformation isn’t just about automation—it’s about smarter, leaner operations. As shown in our example, even without increasing fleet size or headcount, optimizing trips through digital tools can bring significant cost savings and higher ROI.
Road ahead for MDOs
Mine Developer & Operator (MDO) or a coal mining companies, need to harness digitalization tools like MTSS and OITD to unlock a mine’s full potential.
Let Softweb Technologies help you reduce your cost per ton and maximize output — smartly and sustainably
