1. GE mining Rare Earth Element Extraction Strategy Plan
Introduction to Engineering Design
EDGSN 100 Section 001
Engineering Masters by Reliable Design Jobs / Team 2
Erica Salvo-
Andrew DeLuca-
Dalal Malallah-
Mariah Alfaraj-
Presented to: Prof. Berezniak
Date: 28 April 2017

2. Project Objective
The objective of this report is to research, develop and submit an extraction strategy.
Each design team will have to research, decide, and improve methods that are used in mining.
The team that comes up with the best solution will have the contract to apply their strategy.
Teams will be required to use an alternative for diesel to use in the mining process.
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3. Project Background
In 2012, a major Rare Earth Element (REE) ore deposit located within the Pocono Mountain region in northeast Pennsylvania.
As seen in the diagram, REE are 3 kilometers below the surface. Block Mining will be used to undercut the body of ore, allowing the RRE to collapse into a 100 different draw points.
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4. Project Scope
Because of the depth of REEs, workers will have to work under high temperature that is caused by the machines.
In order to lessen the danger for workers to work in these conditions, the place will need to be cooled and dangerous gasses will need to be evicted.
The potential use of diesel-powered mobile mining equipment within the REE mine for both ore extraction and mine removal also imposes significant additional requirements on mine air ventilation and cooling for diesel-exhaust-gas dilution
It would be expensive to use diesel as the powering material.
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5. Project Sponsor
GE Transportation, a unit of GE (NYSE: GE), solves problems with all types of transportation. It’s headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois and involves 13,000 employees worldwide. GE Transportation is responsible for the economic and efficient services that allow their rail, marine, and mining customers to thrive. For rail customers, GE Transportation provides fuel efficient and lower-emission freight/ passenger locomotives, and diesel engines for trains. They provide marine and stationary power applications, including signaling and software solutions, and lastly, drive systems for trucks in the mining industry.
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6. Rare Earth Elements (REE)
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The REE are relatively abundant in the earth’s crust but hard to extract from molecules.
importance of REEs: renewable energy, electronics, medical science, and technology
They are found 3 Km below surface. 6

7. Mine Requirements • Block Caving Methods
What is it?
Block Caving is a mass mining method that breaks up the orebody in order to collapse under its own weight
begins with small targeted blasting right above a funneling, causing the ore to collapse under its down weight
broken blocks of ore then fall into a previously built series of funnels and access tunnels beneath it before being collected and transported by the load-haul-dump vehicles
A crusher breaks the ore up into smaller pieces which are then carried upward via conveyor belt.
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8. Underground Mining Equipment: LHD - ADT - Drilling Jumbo
CAT AD45B Articulated Truck
efficient fuel management
fast cycle times
Manually Articulated Electronic Unit Injection- electronically monitored through sensors to optimize engine performance
ventilation hardware
ultra low sulfur diesel and low ash engine oil
GE Fairchild Battery Powered LHD
Tramming Capacity- 11,000 lbs.
zero emissions
fewer maintenance requirements
safer mining environments
lower fuel costs
Sandvik DD210L
electric or diesel
boom rotation of 360 degrees allows for easy, fast drilling
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9. Known Parameters and Assumptions
The REE concentration is uniform throughout the ore deposit.
The Rare-Earth Ore is worth $10,000 per ton extracted.
The Haul Truck Ramp from the extraction level to the surface processing plant is 15.3 km long at a constant 20% grade.
Assume that each draw point provides a continuous flow of ore and that there are no hang-ups, downtime, or large boulders to break up during the extraction process.
There are 100 Draw Points in the Mine.
The Average Distance between a Draw Point and Haul Truck pickup locations is 300 meters.
The REE ore deposit host rock is fine-to-medium-grained sandstone, siltstone, and conglomerate and is considered reasonably stable and self-supporting over approximately 90% of the mine; structural roof/rock support systems will be needed in the remaining portion of the mine.
Estimated average groundwater inflow (drainage) into the REE mine is 10 gallons per minute.
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10. Extraction Strategy Plan Tasks
Airborne Contamination
Stewardship
Environmental Management
Occupational Health and Workplace Safety
Operating Costs and Productivity
Local Community Engagement
Waste Management and Disposal
Mine Closure and Rehabilitation
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11. Extraction Strategy Plan: Operating Costs and Productivity
GE Fairchild Battery Powered LHD
Productivity
Has to travel a distance of .6 km
300 m to the pickup locations + from the pickup locations
Maximum Speed of 7.6 km/h
Loading and unloading time is an extra 10 percent relative to the traveling time
8 hour work day
Calculations
Time spent traveling on one round trip
Time (h) = .6 (km) / (km/h) = hours
Time spent loading and unloading
Time (h) = h x = hours
Total Time per round trip
Time (h) = h h = hours/trip
Total Number of MAXIMUM trips each day
Trips = 8 h / (h/trip) = 92 trips (each day)
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12. Extraction Strategy Plan: Operating Costs and Productivity
GE Fairchild Battery Powered LHD
Revenue
Maximum tramming capacity is 11,000 lbs. (5.5 tons)
REE is worth $10,000 per ton extracted
Using 4 GE Fairchild Battery Powered LHD Simultaneously
Calculations
Maximum revenue (R) per trip for one LHD
R ($) = tons x 10,000 ($/ton) = $55,000 per trip
Maximum revenue (R) per day for one LHD
R ($) = $55,000 per trip x 92 (trips/day) = $5,060,000 per day per LHD
Total maximum revenue (R) per day
R ($) = $5,060,000 per day x 4 LHDs =
$20,240,000 per day
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13. Project Conclusions
After our research, we have decided that block cave mining is the most strategic option in extracting the ore body located in the Poconos.
When executing the block cave method, we highly advise to use the GE Fairchild Battery Powered LHD, CAT AD45B Articulated Truck, and Sandvik DD210L for maximum efficiency, low fuel costs, minimum environmental repercussion, reduced ventilating costs, and maximum safety for employees (remote control operated).
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14. Closing
Now is an optimal time to invest in Rare Earth Elements. There is a great deal of potential and not mention the economic growth. Extracting all the REE from this region will take a bit of time, even with the block caving method.
Team E-Mrdj recommends General Electric gets started as soon as possible. The sooner the REE is extracted, the sooner GE can flood the market, the sooner new technologies and discoveries develop.
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