Design and construction of a hand driven single hoist system for artisanal miners :

Abstract

Artisanal mining in Uganda has seen a great rise in the last three years; this rise is currently boosting extraction of ore by majorly reusing mining method where their productivity is majorly affected by ore conveyance to the surface as majority uses the traditional methods of rope pulling, suck and basin carrying. Due to growth of technologies requested higher performance machine in order to fulfil human needs and market. This machine is implement to make human work easier besides can reduce the use of human power because of its potential application. Earlier on people would carry manually using basins, sucks and pull using the rope at a time and while returning it does not give any useful work. So with this disadvantage thought of attaching a bucket on the hoist operated by one crank shaft, when one bucket moves up with the ore and goes back empty without a person carrying it to pick more. The machine is based on the principle of lifting machine which can elevate a variety of bulk materials from light to heavy depending on the size, weight, and nature of the load to be moved. Therefore, this project is aimed at design and construction of a hand driven single hoisting system to improve on the productivity and Specific objectives are to design the various components of the proposed machine, assemble, test and evaluate the economic feasibility of the machine. In this design, measurement and experimentation is to be considered, specifically on rock factors such as; average ore size. Experiments will be carried out on the single hoist system which will help in the rotation design. The prototype is to be constructed by welding and bolting with the provision of manual power unit, tested for its lifting efficiency, output capacity and cost benefit analysis Keywords: Bucket conveyor, Material handling equipment