Mining productivity improvement methods and systems

A method for improving the efficiency of a mining operation, comprising:

• obtaining at least two volume measurements, the measurements comprising at least two of:
• a volume of mined material removed from terrain by an excavator;
• a volume of the mined material carried in a bucket of the excavator after removal of the material from the terrain;
• and
• a volume of the mined material deposited by the bucket in a truck tray, wherein obtaining the measurement of the volume of the mined material carried in the bucket of the excavator comprises measuring the bucket with a LIDAR system to determine a position and orientation of the bucket, measuring a top surface of the mined material carried in the bucket with the LIDAR system, and determining the volume of the mined material carried in the bucket from the top surface and a known geometry of the bucket;
• and
• alerting an operator of the excavator to a possible spillage or carry-back condition if a difference between the at least two volume measurements exceeds a threshold value.

A method of improving digging efficiency of a mining excavator, the method comprising:

• obtaining a plurality of measurements, wherein obtaining comprises:
• measuring a position of the excavator relative to a toe of a terrain bank;
• measuring a height of the bank;
• and
• measuring a radius of a profile of the bank;
• determining a rake angle (ϕ) of a dipper of the excavator to cause the bucket of the dipper to remain tangential to an optimum dipper trajectory;
• and
• determining the optimum dipper trajectory for the dipper to follow while excavating material from the terrain bank during a dig cycle by determining a logarithmic spiral dipper trajectory of the form ρ(θ)=AeBθ, and determining values of constants A and B in response to the plurality of measurements and a target volume of material to be extracted into a bucket of the dipper during the dig cycle, wherein θ is a crowd angle of the excavator and ρ(θ) is a radius from a crowd pivot point to teeth of the dipper.