Reliability analysis of a mine production system-a case study

At the LKAB Kiruna Iron Ore Mine in Sweden, reliability and maintainability analysis techniques have been gradually accepted as standard tools for planning and operation of automatic and complex mining systems since the mid-1980s. The reliability analysis and modeling of the production system at the Kiruna mine are discussed. Since a large number of random variables (phenomena) are involved in the analysis, a simulation program SIMURES was developed to model the reliability characteristics of the production process and analyze the criticality of the various units and operations. This program has helped in evaluating the gain in production volume with improvement in reliability of the various units, and thus forms a basis for future investment for increasing the production system efficiency and capability