Mining major Teck Resources says it continues to work towards a potential extension of its Highland Valley Copper Operations called HVC 2040, which would extend mine operations beyond the current 2028 mine life and support continued jobs and economic activity. As HVC 2040 is approximately 20% lower grade ore than the current operation, finding better, more efficient ways of operating is critical to making that project feasible. IM got an update on the autonomous haulage part of these plans since the pilot was first announced in 2018.
Chris Stannell at Teck told IM: “We are looking at a number of different technologies that can help us achieve HVC 2040, including an autonomous haul truck pilot at Highland Valley Copper Operations. The purpose of the pilot is to better understand the technology and whether it can a play role in supporting the extension of HVC’s mine life.” He added: “It’s important to note that there will be no layoffs as a result of autonomous trucks. Our current projection, regardless of technologies deployed, is that our overall labour force will be around the same as it is today for many years to come if we are successful in extending the mine life.” The six Caterpillar 793F CMD trucks were commissioned in Q4 2018 and the company anticipates the pilot will carry through to the end of 2019.
Stannell continues: “We believe that autonomous haul has the potential to bring improvements in safety, operational efficiency and reduced maintenance cost. Autonomous haul trucks are growing in use across the mining industry.Global deployment of autonomous haul is approximately 300 trucks with some major mining companies announcing large scale adoption of this technology.”
Aaron Wylie, Superintendent, Transformational Technology at Teck stated: “Implementing new technologies like autonomous haul at Highland Valley Copper has the potential to support an extension of the mine’s life, which will maintain jobs and economic activity in the region. These kinds of technologies can help make our operation safer, more productive and more sustainable.”
Highland Valley Copper Operations is also trialling other technologies with the potential to improve safety, productivity and sustainability. These include smart shovels, which mount sensors right on the shovel bucket that use X-rays to tell the difference between waste rock and valuable ore, one shovel load at a time. HVC is the first mine operation to run a full scale trial of this technology. This trial is via a partnership with MineSense, using its bucket-mounted technology ShovelSenseTM .
Blast movement monitoring from Australia’s Blast Movement Technologies (BMT) is also being trialled, which involves using high-tech sensors to better understand where ore and waste moved during a blast, improving efficiency and safety. This uses sensor balls Colorful, softball-sized sensor balls are distributed into drill holes prior to blasting. Nestled inside each ball, protected by the durable outer casing and a shock-absorbing liquid inside, is a sensor that transmits its location. After the blast, handheld scanners are used to identify where the balls have moved, and that data paints a three-dimensional picture of how the orebody has shifted during blasting.
