Copper Mountain has recently released its Q4 2021 results in which it gave an update on its trolley assist mining truck project, which will see a fleet of Komatsu 830-5 units converted to trolley operation, with each truck displacing the use of 400 litres of diesel per hour, which equates to about a tonne of CO2 emissions. The results statement said that the trolley assist project is advancing with the installation of the 25 kV double circuit cable along the 1 km haul road and delivery of the E-house to site. The company is targeting commissioning of the first four trolley assist haul trucks by the end of Q1 2022.
The trolley assist ramp section will support ore haul from the main pit and for the planned New Ingerbelle pit over the life of mine. The system will help Copper Mountain reduce carbon intensity by more than 50% in the medium term of four to six years with a final target of zero by 2035.
In a late January article, the mine’s power supplier BC Hydro gave some power statistics for the new trolley line. “Equipped with a 2,600-horsepower diesel motor, the hybrid trucks are also equipped with an electric drive system that requires 3 MW of peak power to make it move. The trucks can only run on their electric drive motors when they’re connected to the trolley assist. But move they do, at a speed of up to 35 km/h, more than double the top speed of what the diesel motor can manage. The BC Hydro Interconnections team worked throughout 2021 to ensure that Copper Mountain can access the additional load needed to power the project. The finished trolley system can consume 12 MW at any one time – enough for four trucks to be on the ramp hauling while the other seven are loading or unloading elsewhere in the pit.”
ABB has responsibility for the off-truck trolley assist infrastructure and is providing engineering, project management, equipment supply, system commissioning and construction management. ABB designed the overhead catenary system (OCS) infrastructure and delivered a rectifier substation providing in excess of 12 MW of DC power to the trolley assist system. The trolley control system can provide connectivity to the existing distributed control system (DCS) automation platform for seamless integration and monitoring of trolley operations and energy consumption. ABB also provided OCS components customised for mining applications.
The 830E-5 truck trolley assist package including pantograph has been developed by Komatsu and electric drive partner Wabtec, with onsite work being conducted in collaboration with Canadian Komatsu Mining dealer SMS Equipment. In a recent interview with SMS, Don Strickland – Executive Vice President, Sustainability for Copper Mountain Mining Corporation stated: “Trolley’s been around since the 1980s; it has some history of success and some history of failure. But what we’re doing is a first for North America. So, the decision to move ahead wasn’t like buying a new truck or buying a proven technology. It was making a commitment that we will work with partners to make it successful. When you’re facing a learning curve like this, you need to be partnered with like-minded organisations that are going to work with you to make the project successful. The people at SMS Equipment have been a key part of that. There’s also been a full focus with Komatsu on changing the design of their trucks to make them more robust in winter climates. Another important partner is Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), which designed the trolley wiring system based on an installation at the Aitik copper mine in Sweden.”
Interestingly on the 1 km trolley haul road he hinted that this is just the beginning of the trolley journey at Copper Mountain: “It’s a straight run and a fairly straightforward installation. Once that’s up and running, and we get used to it, we’ll start testing corners and seeing how much of the operation we can convert to trolley.”