1. GE mining Rare Earth Element Extraction Strategy Plan
Introduction to Engineering Design
EDGSN 100 Section 001
Equipo Tres
Nicholas Buczacki,
Austin Shaffer,
Andrew Rishel,
Bryan Drager,
Presented to: Prof. Berezniak
Date: 4/28/2017

2. Project Objective
Objective: To develop an extraction plan that satisfies all stated contract requirements so that we are offered the contract to execute the extraction plan we developed
Due to the ventilation requirements imposed upon operations that utilize diesel equipment, our client would like us to investigate the possible use of battery powered loaders rather than the traditional diesels.
Use this slide to create a new slide—use this template slide if you would prefer to have a Penn State blue background for your slides. 2

3. Project Background
A major REE has been discovered within the Pocono Mountain Region of Northeast PA
The deposit is rich in
Neodymium
Europium
Terbium
Dysprosium
Yttrium
The deposit is known to be one of the largest REE deposits ever discovered
REE’s have many applications throughout multiple industries
Use this slide to create a new slide—use this template slide if you would prefer to have a Penn State blue background for your slides. 3

4. Project Scope Depth of ore body: 3000 m
With increasing depths, ventilation issues arise such as:
Temperatures increasing due to the geothermal gradient
Humidity issues due to groundwater
Gas emissions increasing
Regulations are put in place to control these issues to ensure safe working conditions
Due to these strict regulations, diesel and battery powered vehicles will be analyzed to determine which of these is the best option based on:
Need for ventilation controls
Capacity
Cycle time
Use this slide to create a new slide—use this template slide if you would prefer to have a Penn State blue background for your slides. 4

5. Project Sponsor
General Electric (GE) Transportation will be sponsoring the project
GE is widely involved in the transportation industry
Rail equipment
Mining and marine industries
Battery powered LHD’s
Locomotives
Diesel engines
Other system
GE Transportation department is headquartered in Chicago, IL, and has 13,000 employees across the globe
Use this slide to create a new slide—use this template slide if you would prefer to have a Penn State blue background for your slides. 5

6. Rare Earth Elements (REE)
Alkaline igneous rocks are very rare, so rare that their chemistry is not well understood.
Form from partial melting of rock deep in the mantle that eventually rises up into the earth's crust and cools.
The change in pressure and temperature alters the chemistry of the magma as it rises, and this is what leads to the RREs being formed.
The majority of REE mines today are found in pegmatite, which is a coarse grained, slowly cooling rock.
A good example of a deposit associated with alkaline igneous rocks would be Mountain Pass, California.
Use this slide to create a new slide—use this template slide if you would prefer to have a Penn State blue background for your slides. 6

7. Mine Requirements • Block Caving Methods
This RRE will use a block caving method of mining since it has the lowest cost per ton than any other method.
Mechanized LHD (load haul dump) machines will be used during the process of mineral extraction
Any variance from this method could be very costly and slow the production of the highly sought after REEs
Use this slide to create a new slide—use this template slide if you would prefer to have a Penn State blue background for your slides. 7

8. Underground Mining Equipment: LHD - ADT - Drilling Jumbo
LHD, Load, Haul, Dump is similar to conventional front end loaders, but they are better utilized for hard rock applications of underground mining.
The Joy Global LHD is better suited for this operation because it has an 11.8 yd3 bucket, increasing the overall capacity.
ADT, articulated dump trucks are best underground operations because the articulation makes it easier for them to make sharper turns.
The model AD-60 is the best choice of ADT because it has the largest bucket size for hauling material out of the mine, and it has the same rimpull and speed at the AD-45 which is a smaller bucket
The job of the drilling jumbo is to drill holes so that they can be loaded with explosive and the hard rock can be blasted apart.
For selection of a jumbo drill, the Sandvik DD421-60C will be utilized because it has two booms, for faster drilling.
Use this slide to create a new slide—use this template slide if you would prefer to have a Penn State blue background for your slides. 8

9. Known Parameters and Assumptions
The Rare-Earth Ore is worth $10,000 per ton extracted
The Haul Truck Ramp from the extraction level to the surface will be 15.3 km long at a constant 20% Grade
Each draw point provides a continuous flow free of hangups from boulders.
There are 100 Draw Points in the Mine
The Average Distance between a Draw Point and Haul Truck pickup locations is 300 meters (600 m round trip)
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
Use this slide to create a new slide—use this template slide if you would prefer to have a Penn State blue background for your slides. 9

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
Use this slide to create a new slide—use this template slide if you would prefer to have a Penn State blue background for your slides. 10

11. Extraction Strategy Plan: Task #5 Operating Costs and Productivity
Mines have a variety of operating costs, including:
Electricity: Used for lighting, ventilation, equipment
Labor
Fuel
Parts & Tires
Usually, you express mining expenses as a unit cost, $/ton ore
As you have or will learn in ECON 102, the best way to minimize unit costs is to increase the scale of your operation.
Additionally, the longer you leave ore in the ground, the less valuable it is. Ore does not collect interest. Therefore, it is important to maximize production as soon as possible.
This is why we selected the LHD with the largest possible bucket, as well as the largest truck and the quickest drill jumbo. These choices will allow us to maximize productivity while minimizing unit operating costs.
Use this slide to create a new slide—use this template slide if you would prefer to have a Penn State blue background for your slides. 11

12. Project Conclusions
The purpose of this project was to develop a plan to mine a domestic REE deposit, with a focus on equipment selection.
The mining method for this deposit will be block caving because it has a low unit cost.
We selected the Joy Global 22D LHD rather than the GE electric model because we felt that it’d be easier to use diesel equipment and because the the Joy LHD has a bucket 3x the size of the GE.
We also selected the largest underground truck, and the dual-boom drill jumbo.
All of this was to maximize profit, which we hope will allow our proposed mining plan to win the development contract.
Use this slide to create a new slide—use this template slide if you would prefer to have a Penn State blue background for your slides. 12

13. Thanks for listening
Use this slide to create a new slide—use this template slide if you would prefer to have a Penn State blue background for your slides. 13