Long-term economic sensitivity analysis of light duty underground mining vehicles by power source

Abstract

LHD’s are expensive vehicles; therefore, it is important to accurately define the financial consequences associated with the investment of purchasing the mining equipment. This study concentrates on long-term incremental and sensitivity analysis to determine whether it is feasible to incorporate current battery technology into these machines. When revenue was taken into account, decreasing the amount of haulage in battery operated equipment by 5% or 200 kg per h amounts to a $4.0 × 104 loss of profit per year. On average it was found that using battery operated equipment generated $9.5 × 104 more in income annually, reducing the payback period from seven to two years to pay back the additional $1.0 × 105 investment of buying battery powered equipment over cheaper diesel equipment. Due to the estimated 5% increase in capital, it was observed that electric vehicles must possess a lifetime that is a minimum of one year longer than that of diesel equipment. Keywords: Sensitivity analysis, Underground mining vehicles, Battery power, Battery mining equipment, Economic evaluation