Study of Long-Distance Belt Conveying for Underground Copper Mines

Efficient material handling is critical for mining productivity, safety energy and cost control. This paper analyzes the energy efficiency of five alternative designs for a 3 km inclined underground conveyor system for copper ore transport, considering route geometry, belt specifications, drive configurations, and operational parameters. Two main design approaches were examined: a single long conveyor and two shorter conveyors. Variants differed in belt tensile strength, the use of intermediate drives, and system layout. Calculations results achieved by using dedicated QNK-TT software (version 4.45.21.08.10.18.11) show differences in the specific energy consumption index between variants for both average and peak capacities and highlight that high-capacity performance requires non-standard solutions: either higher belt strength or an intermediate drive system. The study shows that conveyor energy efficiency depends strongly on load level, with near-maximum throughput yielding the best performance. The authors conclude that conveyor system component selection should be based on a multi-criteria evaluation—including the capacity margin, operational safety and maintenance complexity—rather than energy efficiency alone.