At the annual Atlas Copco Press Lunch in London, held this year in the Savoy Hotel on December 5, a range of new product offerings were announced, while IM also spoke to key executives regarding ongoing progress with automated and XLP equipment. The decision to change the company structure was also explained – the Construction and Mining Technique business area is now divided into Mining & Rock Excavation, headed up by Senior Vice President Bob Fassl; while a separate Construction Technique business area is now led by Senior Vice President Nico Delvaux. In mining specifically, Dave Shellhammer is now Divisional President for Underground Rock Excavation. A future edition of IM will feature an exclusive interview with Bob Fassl.
In ongoing projects, IM asked about the Atlas Copco XLP fleet that has been operating in South Africa, and the progress made with the Scooptram Automation program. In relation to the XLP suite of equipment, the field trial at Anglo Platinum’s Union operation which is verifying availability and productivity performance is ongoing and scheduled for completion by end-June 2012. The new suite, consisting of an XLP Boomer, Boltec and Trakker (dozer), has been performing well. A special new extra short rock drill is incorporated in the Boltec while the diesel-driven, self-sustained Trakker can work on 25° dipping slopes. In the Scooptram Automation area, the program still only includes the ST14 Scooptram in terms of full automation, but the MT42 will be automated in 2012 followed by a continued automation plan for the ST7, MT6020 and ST1020 from the end of 2012 to late 2013/early 2014. There are currently three automated ST14’s running at the Diavik diamond operation in Canada; which are running in fully automated mode, controlled from the surface. Another two are expected to be in operation by the end of 2012. Another automated ST14 project is being commissioned at Codelco Andina, though IM understands that the Caterpillar Minegem system on the R2900G LHD is also being tested at that location.
In Underground Rock Excavation products, the delivery of the 100th Minetruck MT6020 60 t underground truck was marked. Bound for Australia, this milestone and the reasons behind the success of this truck will be covered in more detail in the IM June 2012 issue in an article on underground transport. Also in underground, a new face jumbo, the Boomer M1 L, a low profile 1.8 m high model has been developed in conjunction with KGHM in Poland. This will also be covered in June in our underground drilling article. A new larger production drill above the Simba W6 C-ITH and M6 C-ITH models is expected to be launched in early 2012. The group has also updated its rock breaker offering for crushers and grizzlies with a new range of extreme duty pedestal boom system. In particular, the new XD-series claims to be the only one of its kind to be specifically designed for grizzly stations in underground mines and gyratory crushers in open pits. There are five systems in the series offering a horizontal reach from 2.7 m to 7 m and a breaker weight of 200 up to 2,200 kg. In a separate presentation, Andreas Malmberg, Divisional President for Mining and Rock Excavation Service, gave a demonstration of the company’s Fleet Performance tool that allows customers to monitor equipment in real-time, which includes the number of metres drilled in the case of a rig, as well as details of any warnings/alarms that have occurred and the amount of fuel used.
In surface products, the new CT20 surface exploration drill rig replaces the Christensen CS3001 and Christensen CS4002. In crawler rigs, the company now has the new SmartROC T35 and T40 products. Field tests in five countries have revealed that the SmartROC T35/T40 is capable of slashing fuel costs by up to 50% under normal drilling conditions. The reason for this is a completely new design platform which automatically regulates the amount of energy required to perform any given function, optimising the power supply to vital components. The model also has a new silencer kit. The advanced energy saving features of this new SmartROC platform also reduces overall sound power since only the required energy is produced. With the silencer kit added, tests show that the noise level drops to 115 dB(A).This gives an improved working environment at urban construction and mining sites and meets demands for low noise today and for the foreseeable future. The SmartROC D65 surface rig has also been upgraded to enable direct communication with the rig’s control system. This includes transferring drill plans to the rig and receiving drilling data log files. In drilling tools, Atlas Copco has launched the latest in T-thread drilling systems: the T-WiZ range. The new drill string, with its combination of T-WiZ Speedrods and T-WiZ shank adapters, offers up to 30% longer service life. Which means fewer rod changes and more productivity per shift.
