With a loading capacity of up to 14 t and without the generation of direct greenhouse gas emissions, the first 100% electric LHD in South America, an Epiroc ST14, is advancing in its tests phase at Codelco’s El Teniente Division, the world’s largest underground copper mining complex.
The equipment, which has been in operation since November 2022 at the Diablo Regimiento mine, will complete its first stage of tests in April 2023, at which time a preliminary performance evaluation will be carried out to continue with the second cycle of the pilot for another six months.
To observe the behaviour of the machine in situ, representatives from Epiroc travelled from Sweden to see its operation in the field at the deposit located in the O’Higgins Region. Corporate and divisional executives also participated in the visit.
“We hope to confirm the indicators that this equipment could achieve, project it into a future operation and develop an electromobility path with a greater number of equipment in the fleet,” said Codelco’s Corporate Innovation Manager, Sebastián Gil. Gonzalo Ramírez, Corporate Director of Innovation in Process Decarbonization at Codelco highlighted the collaborative work between Epiroc and Codelco. “Switching from diesel to electric creates adaptive challenges from an operational point of view, which requires rethinking certain processes and procedures to maximise the utilisation of this loader. Challenges that are shared by both companies.”
Along the same lines, John Swift, General Manager of Epiroc Chile, highlighted: “Both companies have aligned visions and goals, so it is easy to solve problems together. We expect more learning, that the team works as planned and that it has a significant impact on Codelco’s operations, sustainability and working conditions for the operators.”
In addition to being zero emission equipment and reducing energy use costs by 70%, the electric LHD also brings major improvements in the quality of life of the operators, by emitting less noise and vibrations. “Although we have detected some gaps, so far the loader is very comfortable in terms of ergonomics for operators, it is quite silent and there is a better temperature inside than in a conventional LHD,” said Francisco Castro, Head of the Diablo Regimiento Unit.
Regarding performance, he assures that “the cycle times are very similar to those of diesel equipment, but we must also consider that we are just starting out and practice will help us improve.”
Along these lines, Director of Innovation at El Teniente, Andrés Latorre, pointed out that “the biggest challenge is to match or eventually exceed the productive capacity of this shovel with respect to the diesel shovel. The target production that we have to achieve in the Diablo Regimiento sector is challenging and the idea is to reach satisfactory numbers between March and April of this year.”
“Electromobility is already part of our day to day thanks to the transport of personnel, with buses and taxibuses that we have incorporated that are electric. Our mission, now, is to transfer electromobility to operational terms, in loaders, trucks and drilling jumbos,” he added.