Title: Mineral sand handling: Kwale mineral sand equipment selection

Authors: Sammy Ombiro; Joseph Komu

Addresses: Department of Mining, Materials and Petroleum Engineering, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, P.O. Box 62000-00200, Nairobi, Kenya ' Akili Mineral Services, P.O. Box 25492-00603, Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract: In mining industry, the cost of material handling accounts for significant portion of the total capital investment cost. This is due to the fact that equipment used in material handling is capital intensive and expensive to operate and maintain. Therefore, a sufficient prior equipment analysis is usually undertaken. Equipment selection is done with the view of achieving maximum efficiency and reliability with minimum capital and operational costs. Achieving this huge challenge cannot be avoided since you will need equipment for material handling. Overcoming these challenges means that one understands the real costs of owning a mining equipment which include purchasing cost, operation cost and maintenance cost. This is not straight forward. In this research therefore, the most appropriate equipment for handling titanium mineral at Kwale Mineral Sand Project were selected. The results of this selection were then compared with the results of Base Titanium equipment selection.

Keywords: mine equipment selection; equipment sizing; materials handling; Kwale mineral sand; mining industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMME.2016.078376

International Journal of Mining and Mineral Engineering, 2016 Vol.7 No.3, pp.265 - 280

Received: 15 Dec 2015
Accepted: 14 May 2016
Published online: 15 Aug 2016 *

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