The impact of the collective concentrate factory location on the circular mining technology for titanium-zirconium deposit

Purpose. To determine the effective location of a collective concentrate enrichment plant (CCEP) when develo­ping titanium-zirconium deposits using the principle of circular technology. Methodology. The work used a set of research methods: graphical-analytical method – to determine the parameters of technological schemes using the principles of circular technologies, as well as the location of the collective concentrate enrichment factory when moving the mining front; analytical method ‒ to establish the influence of the sequence of collective concentrate factory movements on the volumes of transport work in the pit and to substantiate the effective location of the elements of the enrichment complex. Findings. The established dependence of the average pipeline length on the number of movements at the collective concentrate enrichment plant indicates that two factory movements are most effective during pit operation. It was determined that when the pit’s productivity changes from 2.0 to 4.0 million m3, the average annual volume of haulage work for moving pulp through pipelines can be reduced by 2.1 times, with a fivefold increase in the collective concentrate factory’s output. The dependence of savings on operating costs for haulage work on the number of collective concentrate factory movements was established, thereby allowing us to determine the reduction in total economic costs. The results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed solutions, with one or two movements of the collective concentrate factory, depending on the pit’s productivity and the cost of moving the elements of the enrichment complex. Originality. The dependence of the average annual length of pipelines on the number of CCEP movements has been established, which allows us to determine that, during pit development with given parameters, pipeline length decreases by 23 %, with the greatest reduction occurring with three movements, amounting to 26 %. The influence of the number of CCEP movements on the weighted average annual volume of haulage work has been determined. According to the calculations, with a pit productivity of 2.0 million m3, the optimal number of CCEP movements is up to two. At the same time, the volume of haulage work is reduced by 44 % during pit development. When the number of CCEP movements increases to 3‒5, the volume of haulage work during pit operation decreases by only 8 % from 61.3 to 56.0 million km · t. Practical value. Technological schemes for mining titanium-zirconium deposits have been developed using the principles of circular technology, with the CCEP moving relative to the advancement of the mining front, thereby allowing determination of the parameters of the pit haulage system and calculation of the volumes of haulage work. Technical and economic indicators have been established for the haulage of minerals using technological schemes based on circular technology principles. An assessment of the feasibility of periodic movement of the collective concentrate enrichment plant, considering the advancement of the mining front in the pit, has been carried out.