COMPARISON OF TONS FROM SURVEY REPORT VERSUS PRODUCTION REPORT AT BUZWAGI MINE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................... ii
DEFINITION OF TERMS .......................................................................................................................... iii
ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................................... iv
1.0 MINE BACKGROUND AND GENERAL INFORMATION ............................................................... 1
1.1 LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY: ............................................................................................... 1
1.2 GEOLOGY AND RESERVES. .......................................................................................................... 1
2.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT ..................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 MAIN OBJECTIVE ............................................................................................................................ 3
2.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................... 3
2.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................................... 3
3.0 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................. 4
4.0
LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................. 5
4.1 VOLUME SURVEYING ................................................................................................................... 5
4.1.1 PRINCIPLES OF VOLUME CALCULATION .......................................................................... 5
4.1.2 TRAPEZOIDAL METHOD ........................................................................................................ 6
4.1.3 SIMPSON METHOD ................................................................................................................. 7
4.1.4 DIGITAL CLOSE RANGE PHOTOGRAMMETRY ................................................................. 9
4.1.5 GPS SURVEYING .................................................................................................................... 13
4.1.6 DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL ( DTM ) ................................................................................... 14
4.2 SHOVEL TRUCK PRODUCTION SYSTEM ................................................................................. 21
4.3 MINE FLEET DISPATCHING SYSTEM ....................................................................................... 23
4.3.1 BENEFITS OF FLEET DISPATCHING .................................................................................. 23
4.3.2 TRUCK DISPATCH SYSTEM ................................................................................................. 23
4.3.3 MANUAL DISPATCHING SYSTEM ...................................................................................... 25
4.4.4 SEMI-AUTOMATED DISPATCHING SYSTEM ................................................................... 25
4.4.5 FULL AUTOMATED DISPATCHING SYSTEM ................................................................... 26
5.0 POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM .................................................................................. 27
6.0 DATA COLLECTION PLAN .............................................................................................................. 28
7.0 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................... 29

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LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1 : A map showing the location of Buzwagi mine. ........................................................ 1
FIGURE 2: Coordinate of object points (Pi) by triangulating bundles of observation rays from
different image planes (Li)............................................................................................................ 10
FIGURE 3: Conical Stockpile ...................................................................................................... 14
FIGURE 4: Triangles making up TIN that defines the ground model ......................................... 16
FIGURE 5: Thiessen-polygon ...................................................................................................... 19
FIGURE 6: Vonoroi-diagram, Delaunay-triangulation and the empty circle ............................... 20
FIGURE 7: Truck dispatch system ............................................................................................... 23

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 1: Action plan .................................................................................................................. 28

















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DEFINITION OF TERMS

Cycle time is a Time used by a machine to complete a single unit of operation.
Density is the ratio of the mass of a substance to its volume, and it can be calculated by dividing
the mass by the volume.
Digital imaging is a method of making images without the use of conventional photographic
film. Instead, a machine called scanner records visual information and converts it into a code of
ones and zeroes that a computer can read.
Fleet is a number of loading and hauling equipment working and managed as single unit
Mine dispatch is a center of information between the machines and equipment operation,
performance and mine production.
Payload is the quantity of load that a truck, or other vehicle that can carry, often expressed in
terms of weight or volume.
Software is a computer program; instructions that cause the hardware or the machines to do
work.
Stockpile is a collection and storage of large amounts of material.
Surveying is a mathematical science used to determine and delineate the form, extent, and
position of features on or beneath the surface of the earth for control purposes.
Swell factor is the percentage increase of material volume when are removed from in situ.
Terrain is a ground or a piece of land seen in terms of its surface features or general physical
character, especially for crossing it.
Truck factor is percentage of the rated capacity that a truck is assigned to carry at a particular
time and particular conditions.


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ABBREVIATIONS

3D – Three Dimension
BCM – Bank Cubic Meter
DEM – Digital Elevation Model
DGM – Digital Ground Model
DGPS – Differential Global Positioning System
DHM – Digital Height Model
DTEM – Digital Terrain Elevation Model
DTM – Digital Terrain Model
EDM – Electronic Digital Measurement
GCP – Ground Control Point
GNSS – Global navigation satellite system
GPS – Global Positioning System
HEX – Hydraulic excavator
ILRIS- Intelligent Laser Ranging & Imaging System
JDS – Jigsaw Dispatching System
KPI – Key Performance Indicator
LCD – Liquid Crystal Display
LCM – Loose Cubic Meter
MHz – Megahertz
OHT – Off- Highway Truck
SAE – Society of Automotive Engineers
TIN – Triangulated Irregular Network
UHF – Ultra High Frequency
VHF – Very high Frequency
WL – Wheel Loader
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1.0 MINE BACKGROUND AND GENERAL INFORMATION
1.1 LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY:
The Buzwagi Project is located in Kahama District, Shinyanga region, in northwest Tanzania.
The mine lies on the divide defined by boundaries of the Hindagi river watershed, which drains
toward Lake Victoria, and the Kagozi river watershed, which drains toward Lake Tanganyika.
The mine is located approximately 6 km east of Kahama town along the tarmac road, and
approximately 100 km west of the town of Shinyanga.

Figure 1 : A map showing the location of Buzwagi mine.
The Buzwagi open pit is located on land for which Pangea Mineral Limited (PML) acquired a
prospecting license in 1992. Between 1995 and 2000, this land was optioned to and explored by
Anmercosa Service (East Africa) Limited. In 2003, Pangea initiated its own exploration
program. Because of this exploration program, a design was made in 2004 to move the project
into development phase and in 2008 started the mining operations.

1.2 GEOLOGY AND RESERVES.
Buzwagi is hosted in the Nzega Belt, which consists of the lower portion of the Nyanzian
system. This belt is composed of basalts and intermediate volcanic intruded by granitoid masses.
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The regional structure elements are dominated by a deep seated structural trend referred to as the
Nzega shear. This shear comprises numerous second and third order structures in which the
Buzwagi deposit is likely hosted in one of these supplementary shears. Buzwagi mine operates a
single open pit mine; the size of the pit is approximately 0.9 km wide and 1.2 km length.
Production began in may 2009, expecting to generate 250 thousand to 260 thousand oz of gold
per year in its first full five years of operation. Proven and probable reserves at Buzwagi are 3.3
million oz of gold and 79 million kg (175 million lb) of copper. The expected mine life based
upon proven and probable reserves is about 15 years. With continued exploration indicating
additional reserves, it is anticipated that the life of mine may be extended.















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PROJECT TITLE:
A COMPARISON OF TONS MINED ON A MONTHLY BASIS MEASURED AGAINST
THE TONS REPORTED FROM SURVEY VOLUMES AT BUZWAGI GOLD MINE
2.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT

In mining industry, it is vital to get correct production figures as they are presented before
stakeholders and different shareholders. At Buzwagi mine, production figures are tracked and
recorded on daily basis by using a jigsaw dispatching system and at the end of the month are
compared to the monthly surveyed volumes.
A big difference has been noticed to exist between the production reports and the survey reports
whereas figures reported by dispatcher are higher than those reported by the surveyors.

2.1 MAIN OBJECTIVE
To investigate the causes of the variation and the best way to ensure the two reports are
presenting the same figures.

2.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
 To determine the effectiveness of the jigsaw dispatching system
 To review the material density and the swell factor
 To review the truck factor
 To review the volume computation by surveying methods
 To compare the tons from production against surveyed volumes
2.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The project will deal with blasted and mined material from the pit for the purpose of mine
production at Buzwagi mine.

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3.0 METHODOLOGY

1. Literature review
Literature review method includes reading books, journals, papers, past technical and
professional reports and searching the internet on selected items of concern to this
project. Notes taking technique of the important points from the literature review material
is applied to make the literature meaningful and clear to understand. The selected topics
in the literature review are outlined below;
 Volume Surveying
 Introduction to volume surveying
 Principles of volume calculation
 Volume computation methods
 GPS surveying
 Digital terrain modeling
 Shovel truck production system
 Mine fleet dispatching system
2. Data collection
Data will be collected on site from Geology, survey and production sections/departments.
Data collected will range from material density, stockpile volumes, truck factors and
production data.
3. Data analysis
Data collected will be analyzed to bring the meaningful interpretation. Tables, graphs,
variances, deviations and other statistical presentations of data will be applied.
4. Conclusion
Discussion and conclusion from the analysis of the data done above will be presented.
5. Recommendation
Recommendations will be given as solution to the problem of this project. The
recommendation will depend on the findings done while conducting this project through
the steps outlined above.

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4.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
4.1 VOLUME SURVEYING
Volume surveying is the process of gathering location and other information that can be used to
determine the volume of an object or area. Volume surveying may be used to determine the
amount of material that is available in a mound of Earth (such as in mining applications to
measure the volume of a mound of material). Calculation of excavation and filling volumes is an
important issue in many engineering and mining disciplines. Accurate 3D shape reconstruction
and volume estimation are important in applications of estimation of the ore removed from a
mine face. There are many surveying classical methods for volume computing. The trapezoidal
method (with rectangular or triangular prisms), cross sectioning (trapezoidal, Simpson, and
average formulae), and improved methods (Simpson-based, cubic spline, and cubic Hermite
formulae) are well known. Efficient high accuracy volume computation is an important question
both theoretically and practically.
The accuracy of volume depends on the way the land surface is presented. The total number of
X,Y,Z coordinate points, the distributions of these points and the interpolation methods are also
important. Without doubt, a sufficient number of properly distributed points provide better
representation of the land surface. However, extra points mean more time and cost. Sometimes
obtaining geodetic points can be risky if not impossible. For this reason, the surface of land in
most cases cannot be represented correctly.

4.1.1 PRINCIPLES OF VOLUME CALCULATION
Several methods can be used to calculate a volume. Every method has its own advantages and
disadvantages depending on the shape of the object. Those can be differed in two groups: linear
and surface objects. Streets, railways, dams, tunnel etc are seen as linear objects whereas surface
objects are landfills, shaft pits, dumps etc. For linear objects, the common used method is the
cross sectioning method. The volume of a surface object can be computed with the trapezoidal
method ( rectangular or triangular prisms ), classical cross sectioning ( trapezoidal, Simpson, and
average formula ) and improved methods ( Simpson-based, cubic spline, and cubic Hermite
formula ).
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