Cycle times can be one of the more puzzling aspects of open-pit mining. Depending on one's perspective, the term has several connotations, A rope shovel operator might view a cycle as the point from which the bucket dumps to the point where it dumps again, while a truck driver might view it as the time it takes to complete a circuit from the face to the dump point and back. Mine management would probably say it's the average time it takes to move 400 tons from point A to point B. A mine measures cycle times to determine equipment performance and operator efficiency. Those statistics also serve as a measure of efficiency of the entire operation. Unusually high readings in certain segments can highlight problems. By measuring cycle times, benchmarks can be established, allowing a quick check that all is well.
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