Control of an open-pit mine digger, for continuous mineral extraction, uses electromagnetic waves to measure the densities of material layers to set the digger depth for optimum mining extraction

摘要

To control the operation of an open-pit mine digger, in a continuous extraction of raw mineral material, electromagnetic waves are used to determine the boundaries between two or more layers (A-C) of different densities. The working face (13) is monitored continuously from behind the digger (8.1), in the working direction (7), to measure the density up to a given depth using radiometric back scattering for comparison with calibrated values. The measured values give the material separations at different depths. If the density changes at a given measured depth, the digger remains at the depth setting for an optimum extraction. The digger position is set by a setting cylinder (11) in steps, from a control program.