It is shown that controlling excavation of rock mass using an open-pit excavator with a front shovel as its operational equipment is quite a difficult task due to the complexity of control under almost nonstop adjustment of velocities of working motions (hoisting and thrusting). It was established that operation parameters of the main mechanisms depend on the type of path of motion and position of the bucket in the excavator’s work area. The process of excavation was algorithmically described, and kinematic transfer functions for the operational equipment mechanism were determined, characterizing correlations between the velocity of excavation and the velocities of working motions.