Leica Geosystems has won an order to fit out more than 370 vehicles for Chilean copper producer, Codelco. The order was placed by Codelco Norte Division and will span a total of three open pits: Chuquicamata, Radomiro Tomic and Mina Sur (ENMS). Leica says “Jigsaw360 was chosen for its leading-edge real-time technologies to increase site productivity and machine uptime, whilst lowering operational costs. The installations are set to begin in 2010 and, as a fully scalable solution, Jigsaw360 can be added to Codelco’s operations as they continue to grow. Key to the decision was the solution’s proven optimisation capabilities coupled with its flexibility in design, including its ability to fully integrate high-precision guidance all into the one fleet management solution. Leica Geosystems’ firm commitment to ongoing service and support was also an integral part of Codelco’s selection process.”
Sergio Blacutt, President Mining Systems Americas, said: ” We are very excited to be installing our fleet systems and high-precision guidance systems at Codelco. This is not just about providing a hardware and software solution, this about us partnering with Codelco, to form a long-term relationship which will help Codelco reach their operational goals and strategies.”
“If we consider that, in an open-pit mine like this one, 50% of costs derive from transportation, it is imperative for us to optimise this resource if we are to remain competitive in the mining market,” explains Sergio Jarpa, Corporate Vice-President of Codelco Norte. This system boasts the best technology in the world available for these tasks, “which makes life easier for our workers, giving them better tools to make decisions,” adds the division’s top executive.
For the Director of Extracción y Lixiviación Sur, Óscar Jiménez, “being the first in the division to use this technology across our entire fleet is a great privilege, because it enables us to use our assets optimally and to continue to show that we are a competitive producer in the mining industry. It also makes us an attractive technological provider for other projects, as we are more productive with lower costs.”
Another fundamental aspect of this technology platform is the ‘intelligence’ of the database. Previously, if a machine was out of reach of the system, it was not possible to control it. It is a distributed database, which gives each machine greater ‘intelligence’. Therefore, a truck never stops being dispatched, because it’s done automatically in real time. It’s impossible for a machine to be outside the system as it’s always being controlled.