The South African gold mining sector remains a significant contributor to the country’s economy. Facing several challenges that hinder the realisation of South Africa’s full mineral potential, the sector’s sustainability and profitability can be enhanced through implementing operational improvement measures. Mobile cooling units (MCUs) were identified as a potential focus area for operational improvement. MCUs are used as tertiary or in-stope cooling in hot underground workings. In this paper, a method was presented to characterise the performance of existing MCUs based on three key performance indicators (KPIs), namely, the wet-bulb temperature ratio (WTR), efficiency and position. Optimisation strategies were then elected and implemented based on these KPIs. The implementation of this method in a South African gold mine attained a reduction in pumped water volumes, reduced operating costs through electricity cost savings and improvements in underground ventilation air temperatures.

南非的金矿开采部门仍然是该国经济的重要贡献者。面对阻碍实现南非全部矿产潜力的若干挑战，可以通过实施运营改进措施来提高该行业的可持续性和盈利能力。移动式冷却装置（MCU）被确定为运营改进的潜在重点领域。MCU在高温地下作业中用作第三级或中间冷却。本文提出了一种基于三个关键性能指标（KPI）表征现有MCU性能的方法，即湿球温度比（WTR），效率和位置。然后根据这些KPI选择和实施优化策略。