1. On-site performance
What problems will the mining area see?
- When the Shatter Line is activated, camp lighting, office communications, or repair shops are also affected.
- After the pumping station fails or the line trips, it is not clear which part should be restored first.
- There are more and more temporary cables stretched, and production, drainage, dormitories, canteens and warehouses share the same set of protection.
- After a power outage, the switching sequence must be judged manually, and the recovery time is uncontrollable.
2. Risk causes
The reasons behind the power layout
In the early days of mine construction, temporary power supplies were often used to run the site first, and then equipment was added continuously, without re-dividing production load, security load and living load.
When production, drainage, camps and maintenance workshops share a power supply zone, any overload, short circuit, misoperation or generator failure may affect other areas.
There is no load priority, and there is no clear power distribution zone. During a power outage, the site can only decide based on experience to protect production, drainage, or camp first.
3. Scope of influence
Production suspension, fuel consumption, maintenance, safety and environmental protection will all be magnified
- When the production line stopped, the maintenance workshop also had no power, and the recovery speed was even slower.
- Drainage pumps, tailings pumps or communication equipment are towed away together, which will increase safety and environmental risks.
- Camp lighting, canteens, communications and security are affected, and the pressure on mining area management increases.
- Every failure will become a mine-wide investigation, and the downtime will be extended.
4. How to avoid before construction
What do mine owners need to confirm in advance?
- The electricity consumption in the mining area is first divided into several categories: production, drainage/tailings/safety, maintenance workshops, camp offices and temporary construction.
- Clear which loads cannot be stopped for even one minute, which loads can be restored with a delay, and which loads can be temporarily shut down when the generator is insufficient.
- Set up independent circuits, independent protection and clear switching logic for critical loads, and do not rely on temporary cable splicing for a long time.
- Before expansion, review whether the low-voltage cabinet, cables, circuit breakers, ATS and generator capacity can still keep up with the new load zone.
5. On-site confirmation information
The closer the information is to the scene, the faster the plan will be implemented
- Plane or simple hand-drawn layout of the mining area, marking the crushing line, pumping station, tailings, workshop, camp and office area.
- The main equipment in each area, whether it must operate continuously, and the acceptable recovery time after a power outage.
- Photos of existing distribution cabinets, cable routing, switch protection and generator access points.
- Records of trips, outages, manual switching and restoration times that have occurred in the past.
