Overland conveyors, stackers, reclaimers, dust suppression
Commissioning software for materials handling where a single idler failure on a fourteen-kilometre overland conveyor can stop the whole plant.
A mine's materials handling circuit is a chain of conveyors, transfer towers, stackers and reclaimers strung across kilometres of open country, each drive, idler and belt scale depending on the one before it. Deskely tags every conveyor segment, transfer point and stacker/reclaimer as its own asset, so pre-functional checks, cold and hot commissioning and dust suppression testing are tracked end to end instead of vanishing into a single 'conveyor system' line item.
- Assets
- Conveyor, transfer tower, stacker/reclaimer
- Test
- Cold run, hot run, load trial
- Interface
- Belt scales, dust suppression, tripper cars
- Gate
- Mechanical completion by segment
Choose your project type
The problem
A conveyor system is really dozens of assets and a spreadsheet cannot see which one is stalling ramp-up.
An overland conveyor route is not one machine: it is drive pulleys, gearboxes, fluid couplings, hundreds of idler sets, belt scales, metal detectors, pull-cord and belt-drift switches, transfer chutes and dust suppression spray bars, all supplied and installed by different subcontractors on different weeks.
Stackers and reclaimers add slew, luff and travel drives, boom conveyors and bucket-wheel or bridge-scraper mechanisms that need their own functional testing before they touch a stockpile, while the whole chain still has to cold-run empty before anyone risks a hot run under load.
Deskely tags each conveyor segment, transfer tower and stockyard machine individually, so a construction manager can see exactly which idler run, chute liner or interlock is still open rather than being told the 'conveyor system' is 80% complete.
Setting up the register
Conveyor segments, transfer points and stockyard machines are structured to match how the belt actually runs.
Each conveyor is broken into segments with its drive station, tail station, take-up, idler runs and belt scale as sub-tags, so a fault at chainage 4,200m is logged against that idler set and not against the conveyor as a whole.
Transfer towers, chutes, tripper cars and dust suppression zones sit as their own subsystems with pre-functional checklists for liner wear points, spray nozzle coverage and access interlocks.
Single line diagrams, mechanical GA drawings and vendor equipment lists are parsed into that structure, so the register mirrors the route survey rather than a generic conveyor checklist copied from the last project.
Execution
Cold run, hot run and load trial are gated in sequence, segment by segment.
Pre-functional checks cover guarding, lubrication, belt tracking, pull-cord and drift switch operation and drive alignment before a segment is cleared for a no-load cold run.
Hot commissioning under load brings in belt scale calibration, metal detector sensitivity testing, dust suppression spray verification and tripper car positioning, each captured against the specific asset rather than a blanket 'conveyor tested' checkbox.
Vendor punch lists from the stacker/reclaimer OEM's commissioning engineer are logged at the specific drive or mechanism, so ramp-up is not blocked by an unrelated open item three transfer towers away.
Ramp-up and handover
Mechanical completion is issued by segment, so ramp-up can start on the sections that are actually ready.
Mechanical completion and RFSU are issued per conveyor segment and stockyard machine from signed pre-functional and functional records, so ramp-up tonnage can begin on the ROM circuit while the overland route to the stockpile is still being hot-commissioned.
Statutory inspection sign-off for guarding, emergency stops and pull-cord coverage is captured against the same asset register, satisfying the site's principal hazard management plan rather than a separate compliance binder.
The handover pack for operations includes belt scale calibration certificates, dust suppression test results and vendor commissioning reports exported per segment, ready for the plant's condition monitoring team on day one.
Belt fire and spontaneous combustion detection
A conveyor carrying sulphide concentrate or coal needs its fire detection and suppression system proven before it is trusted to run unattended overnight.
Enclosed conveyor galleries and transfer towers handling sulphide concentrate, coal or other combustible fines carry linear heat detection cable, CO monitoring for early spontaneous combustion warning, and fixed or deluge suppression systems that are commissioned as a fire system, not a materials handling item, often by a specialist fire protection subcontractor working weeks after the mechanical belt commissioning is finished.
A conveyor that has passed its cold run, hot run and load trial can still be unsafe to leave running unattended if the heat detection cable's zoning does not actually match the gallery it is meant to cover, or if the suppression deluge valve's response time was never timed against the fire panel's alarm output.
Deskely tags the fire detection cable runs, CO monitoring points and suppression valves against the specific conveyor segment and gallery they protect, with functional test records — detection response time, suppression activation, fire panel zone mapping — held alongside the mechanical commissioning record, so unattended running approval is signed against a proven fire system rather than assumed because the belt itself runs cleanly.
How it runs
From route survey to a belt that runs under load.
Materials handling commissioning is won by tracking the chain link by link, not by waiting for one conveyor-wide sign-off that never quite arrives.
- 01
Tag the route
Every conveyor segment, transfer tower, chute and stockyard machine registered as its own asset with sub-tags for idlers, scales and interlocks.
- 02
Run pre-functional checks
Guarding, tracking, lubrication and switch checks captured per segment ahead of a no-load cold run.
- 03
Hot commission under load
Belt scale calibration, metal detection, dust suppression and stacker/reclaimer functional testing captured against the specific asset.
- 04
Release segments for ramp-up
Mechanical completion issued by segment so ramp-up tonnage starts on ready sections while the rest is still being proven.
FAQ
Questions about Materials handling and conveyors scopes.
Keep reading
Mining and minerals commissioning
The full sector view: equipment tagging, ramp-up testing, statutory inspection and remote-site handover.
Read morePunch lists
Defects and vendor punch items raised at the tag with photos, categorised by whether they block ramp-up or beneficial operation.
Read moreCertificates
Mechanical completion, RFSU and handover certificates issued from signed records, with the gates enforced by the data.
Read moreOther mining and minerals project types: Open pit mine fleet and fixed plant commissioning, Underground mine shaft and ventilation commissioning, Ore processing plant and concentrator commissioning, Tailings storage facility and mine water commissioning, Smelter and refinery commissioning, Mine electrification and power commissioning, Port and rail load-out commissioning, Lithium and battery minerals plant commissioning, Gold processing plant commissioning.
