Factors that influence an LHD operation: A Review

Sammanfattning: As an important sector of the global economy, underground mining serves as the foundation for the economies of many nations. It involves the extraction of precious minerals, ores, and other geological elements. Mining requires the use of specialised machinery and equipment, such as the Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) machines, which carries out the loading, hauling and dumping of the fragmented ores. Despite the widespread use of LHDs, there still exists a knowledge gap regarding research that considers the effects of several operational, technical, and environmental factors of the LHD general performance. This master thesis focuses on analysing the Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) machine operations and it aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the different components of an ideal LHD operation: machine performance, machine and bucket design, bucket filling and loading operation, condition of the material to be loaded, machine care, and other mining related issues, and their connections via a throughout literature review. A traditional literature review served as the foundation for the development of this thesis. This kind of review is based on recent and current investigations accesible. In order to describe the main factors affecting an LHD operation, the literature research approach included reading, assessing, and categorising the literature regarding each individual factor. The findings of this research were compiled in the form of key findings presented on a bullet point list format. The findings serve as recommendations on how the different factors analysed help with either the improvement of the LHD operation or may negatively affect the performance of said LHDs.