Outcast Bucket Operating Cost Savings

Quantified savings from fitting the Outcast bucket to a R2900 underground loader doing typical underground work are $50,000 to $57,000 per year.  These are estimated savings compared to a conventional load, haul, dump bucket carrying the same volume of material:

The cost saving calculations assume the underground loader operates for 4,300 hours per year.

There will be further cost savings that have not been quantified.  The $50,000 to $57,000 of savings does not include any value for:

• lower fuel consumption from the reduced weight and reduced friction
• the 50 hours increased availability of the loader if bucket maintenance is not done concurrently with other loader maintenance.
• the reduction in structural and mechanical stress on the underground loader because it is carrying a lighter bucket and not having to work as hard to penetrate the digging material.
• the benefits of no hang-up in the Outcast bucket (other than the benefit of lower fuel use which is captured).
• reduction in repair of ventilation bags – the operators in the trial mine indicated that the heel blocks used to protect the top corners of the conventional bucket occasionally caught on and punctured the mine ventilation bags. There were no reports of ventilation bags being punctured from contact with the Outcast bucket which does not use heel blocks and has a smoother profile.

The quantified savings alone will pay back the cost of purchasing an Outcast bucket in under 3 years.   If there is a need to refurbish an old bucket, the pay back time will be shorter.