In-pit crushing and conveying technology in open-pit mining operations: a literature review and research agenda

In-Pit Crushing and Conveying (IPCC) systems are receiving more attention today due to current characteristics of open-pit mining operations and what is expected to occur in the future. Today, it has become more necessary than ever to reduce the cost of truck haulage, which accounts for roughly half the operating costs of mining operation. Trucking costs can be significantly reduced by bringing the crushers inside the pits. The present paper aims to provide a comprehensive literature review of all aspects of technical, economic and sustainable development of in-pit crushing systems along with a statistical analysis of the systems since 1956 to the present. The paper also presents the scope of future research and examines defects and flaws in the design and planning tasks that limit the IPCC system’s applications. Transition time from a pure-truck system to an alternative IPCC system, necessity of integration of production plan and IPCC plan, ultimate pit limit for fully mobile systems, capacity optimization, IPCC’s plan for waste material and optimum conveyor exit scheme are introduced as the main open problems that are worthy of future study.