The cost of a tonne is decided on the haul road

Mines talk about grade and price. The people running them talk about haulage.

In an open-pit operation a large part of the cost of every tonne is the cost of moving it: loading it, hauling it up and out, and tipping it where it belongs. That makes the haul road one of the most important pieces of infrastructure on site, and one of the least glamorous.

Small things on a haul road add up:

• gradient, because every point of climb costs fuel and cycle time
• surface, since a rough road costs tyres, suspension and speed
• width and corners, which decide how fast trucks can move safely
• drainage, because a wet road slows everything down
• dust control, for both visibility and the people who breathe it

A better road is a quiet kind of productivity.

That is why road building, water trucks, graders and tyre services are real businesses with real contracts, and why a good grader operator is worth more than the job title suggests.

When you read about a mine’s output, ask how far the rock has to travel. The answer is usually in the budget.