Dragline vs truck/shovel

This article considers some of the technical and business considerations of dragline vs truck/shovel coal mining. The author models an 'Example mine' in a typical Australian deposit to illustrate the trade-offs between costs and profits in any mining situation. The outcome shows a wide range of results and it is concluded that there is no right or wrong answer as it depends on what risks shareholders are prepared to take. It is suggested that operations could have a more flexible plan where dragline and truck/shovel deployment can be varied to suit market conditions. 2 figs., 2 tabs., 10 graphs