The Joy 4FCT, or newest-generation flexible conveyor train, provides continuous material clearance for the continuous miner, making it a truly continuous haulage system that significantly enhances safety while maximizing high-production tonnage output and lowering overall operating costs.

There are currently six active 4FCT installations on four continents, with two additional installations being processed.

Numerous other operations are in discussions for future opportunities.

Reports of mine-wide daily and/or monthly tonnage production records, combined with an ability to reduce labor costs, are leading to the increase in interest for Joy 4FCT installations in both room-and-pillar extraction and longwall-entry development applications.

For example, the OEM said operators achieved monthly outputs exceeding 200,000 tons (181,000 tonnes) while other mining operations were more than doubling tonnage output per miner personnel versus batch haulage applications.

“Since typical batch haulage methods can create bottlenecks and wait times, an increasing number of mining operations worldwide are seeking an alternative haulage method,” officials said.

“Such mining operations are finding high-production advantages from the Joy 4FCT when compared to conventional methods.

“The 4FCT’s advantages stem from its patented flexible conveyor and traction system, which allows the Joy 4FCT to operate as one single unit conveying material along its length, while simultaneously tramming and following the continuous miner.”

The system also has the important capability of significantly enhancing overall mine safety by combining all haulage into a single, relatively slow-moving machine that follows a known path of travel and requires only one operator using remote control.

“This reduction in the total number of mobile machines in the section reduces visibility concerns for batch haulage operators and the personnel working on batch haulage sections,” the company said.

“Less material movement means greater dust control.”

The Joy 4FCT can readily adapt to development and extraction mining methods, as it is engineered in modular sections allowing it to be lengthened as the mine design changes.

The system’s refinements (over the former Joy 3FCT) include a variable frequency drive for the belt, traction and hopper conveyor drives, which provides smooth operation and matched cut to load advantage; drive synchronization for improved tractive effort; traction module independent control through Faceboss to improve traction across uneven floors; maintenance of belt and chain at creep speed; improved diagnostics for increased production uptime; a robust, reversible car design; dual outby belt conveyor drives; and improved belt designs now exceeding 1 million tons of wear life in certain applications.

The Joy 4FCT is a continuous conveyor which conveys material between the continuous miner and the fixed section belt of the panel conveyor.

The operator uses a radio remote control to allow the system to remain within close proximity of the continuous miner.

The continuous miner loads the coal or other material into the 4FCT hopper, which acts as a reservoir to accommodate varying cutting speeds during the mining cycle.

A built-in lumpbreaker crushes larger material and feeds it onto the FCT belt toward the roadway interface.

The discharge end of the 4FCT is either connected to a bridge conveyor in its side discharge configuration or directly overlaps the panel belt by means of a Joy roadway interface in its over-the-top configuration.

Joy offers several interface designs to accommodate existing section panel belts.