All posts by Paul Moore

​​​Sandvik, BHP grow mining systems partnership at Jansen Potash project​​

Automation, Equipment maintenance, Industrial minerals, Mine shafts and equipment, Mineral project development, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services

BHP has awarded Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions a major contract for three additional underground continuous mining systems for its Jansen Potash Stage 2 project in Saskatchewan, Canada.

The contract follows several years of close collaboration and the ongoing execution of the Jansen Potash Stage 1 project, for which BHP awarded Sandvik a contract to supply four potash underground continuous mining systems in 2022. Deliveries of the systems for Jansen Potash Stage 2 are expected to begin in 2028 and continue through 2029.

“We are proud to continue our partnership with BHP and strengthen our collaboration further with this new order for three additional systems,” said Mats Eriksson, President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions.

Each mining system consists of a cable-powered Sandvik MF460 borer miner and a Sandvik PO140 extendable conveyor continuous haulage system. Sandvik MF460 will cut widths of 6.3 m and heights of up to 4.36 m per cut, with one cut and return cut up to 2 kilometres in length. Each integrated system is capable of producing around 1,300-1,500 t/h.

BHP commissioned Sandvik to do the engineering design of Sandvik MF460 from 2010 to 2012. With the borer miner’s high-volume production creating a materials handling challenge, BHP also commissioned Sandvik to concept design and test a simple version of Sandvik PO140 in 2014.

Following successful testing, BHP and Sandvik signed a manufacturing and testing agreement for one Sandvik MF460 and one Sandvik PO140 in 2016. The complete system proved highly productive during tests at SWS (Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG) salt mine in Germany from 2018 to 2021, doubling the industry benchmark for tons per hour. Improvements were identified and designed to further increase the system’s productivity and reliability, including installing ground support roof boltings while cutting and loading, reducing turnaround and relocation time and remote operations potential.

“Development of this revolutionary potash mining system is the result of more than 15 years of close collaboration between Sandvik and BHP,” said Thomas Vallant, President of Mechanical Cutting at Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions. “Sandvik MF460 is the ideal combination of precision and efficiency and will provide improved productivity and reliability for the Jansen projects for years to come.”

The Jansen project has the potential to be the largest potash-producing mine in the world, providing a rich source of potassium, a key ingredient in fertiliser, and supporting global food production.

Epiroc launches breakthrough ET drill strings for more tophammer uptime

Equipment maintenance, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services

The release of the new Epiroc ET66, ET45 and ET38 drill strings the company says marks a substantial breakthrough in tophammer drilling efficiency and reliability.

Developed over five years, the new Epiroc ET drill string components “have undergone meticulous modelling, lab testing, and field trials. Multiple concepts were subjected to computer simulations and laboratory assessments before the most powerful concepts were chosen for field tests in Sweden and Canada.”

The result is the Epiroc ET66, ET45 and ET38 drill strings, representing it says the company’s most significant breakthrough in drill rod technology and quality since the 1990s. “Designed and built for unbeatable durability and reliability, this next-generation drill string aims to make mining operations more manageable, safer, and highly efficient.”

The Epiroc ET drill string family is much stronger and stiffer than its previous versions, resulting in hardly any unplanned stops due to drill string failure. Additionally, the tube’s shoulder drive can transfer more energy into the rock, reducing vibration in the drill string and rig.

“This is the first launch of the complete Epiroc ET drill string family, a high-precision tube-drilling system that will streamline every aspect of mining. By transitioning to this next generation of ore drilling tools, our customers will rapidly improve their yearly utilisation rates and gain heightened profitability,” says Fredrik Gransell, Head of Product Marketing, Epiroc Tools division.

The Epiroc ET66, ET45 and ET38 drill strings are available now. Integrating them with existing Epiroc drill rig fleets it says will significantly boost operational efficiency in all areas of operation. In addition to enhanced durability, the tubes have a new innovative thread geometry that ensures easier uncoupling and fewer stuck tubes – improving drill time, uptime, and the operator’s safety.

For 76 mm tubes, suitable for 89 mm drilling, the OEM refers to the previously released Epiroc ET51 system, and later this year the Epiroc ET55 system (the direct successor of the currently used ST58 system).

“The messaging when launching the Epiroc ET drill strings, was a no-brainer to come up with. It all boils down to this: Everybody loves uptime. That translates into customer benefits like maximised utilisation rate, ease of use and increased profitability. And as always, we keep a strong focus on the operator,” says Fredrik Ternström, Head of Strategic Communication, Epiroc Tools division.

Epiroc will showcase the new ET66 drill string at MINExpo, from September 24-26, 2024 in Las Vegas, together with other new products that can help mining industries increase productivity, safety, efficiency, and sustainability.

BIA Group & Sumitomo enter strategic partnership with mining a major focus

Bulk handling, Equipment maintenance, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, Sustainable mining

BIA Group and Sumitomo Corporation have entered a strategic partnership that will enable them to further grow their businesses and generate synergies. The agreement, which includes a minority investment by Sumitomo Corporation in the BIA Group, brings together the companies’ long-standing track record as Komatsu distributors and top-level experience as independent OEM distributors in complementary geographies and industries, including the mining industry.

BIA Group is the exclusive distributor of Komatsu equipment and other OEMs in Africa and in the Benelux region. Sumitomo Corporation operates a diverse portfolio of businesses globally, including a longstanding experience in the distribution of Komatsu equipment and rental of equipment.

By combining BIA Group’s and Sumitomo Corporation’s expertise, the partnership the statement said “will enhance both companies’ market reach and efficiency. Specifically, Sumitomo Corporation will gain exposure to the mining and construction machinery market in the European and African geographies served by BIA Group, while BIA Group will benefit from Sumitomo Corporation’s global network and its experience in the distribution of Komatsu equipment in complementary geographies.”

The collaboration allows for shared resources, knowledge exchange, and sharing both groups’ best practices. BIA says it will lead to improved customer success and further development of the BIA Group’s portfolio of products and services adding that there will be no impact on the relationships and daily interactions with suppliers, customers and other stakeholders of the BIA Group.

“We are very proud of the interest and trust shown by Sumitomo Corporation in partnering with BIA Group. This partnership allows BIA Group to set up new ambitions in the growing African market,” said Vincent Bia, CEO of the BIA Group. “By leveraging both companies’ long experience in the distribution of Komatsu equipment, we will be able to strengthen our market position by offering innovating solutions to our customers in the construction, mining, transport, and energy segments.”

Kenichi Hyuga, General Manager, Construction & Mining Systems Strategic Business Unit said: “We are delighted to announce our collaboration with BIA Group, a pioneer of distribution business in Europe and African countries for more than a century. We are committed to creating value through this partnership, leveraging the strengths of both companies to achieve sustainable growth. Sumitomo Corporation intends to contribute to the future development of BIA Group and the enhancement of customer satisfaction by investing its long-accumulated business management experience in Mining and Construction Equipment Distributors.”

BIA Group and Sumitomo Corporation say they are confident in their ability to unlock the potential of this partnership, creating long-term value for the companies’ stakeholders, including their customers, employees, suppliers, communities, and shareholders based on a shared set of values between the two companies.

Hitachi Construction Machinery makes major investment in Envirosuite

Environmental, Mining services, Mining software, Sustainable mining

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co Ltd (HCM) has acquired an approximately 12% equity holding in Envirosuite Ltd for A$10 million and as such has become its largest single entity shareholder. This investment will be made in two instalments, with the first investment in September acquiring approximately 11% of the company’s shares, followed shortly by another investment for a total of approximately 12% of the company’s shares.

Envirosuite provides real-time environmental remote monitoring and predictive technology solutions for industrial operations. This collaboration with Envirosuite is described as “a cornerstone of Hitachi Construction Machinery’s strategy to address global demand around ESG and greenhouse gas (GHG) challenges in mining, leveraging Envirosuite’s industrial technology, Hitachi Construction Machinery’s knowledge of mining as well as the fleet management and digital mining solutions of Wenco, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery.”

Mining sites operate 24-7, and improving the site environment for the safety and health of workers and reducing the environmental impact on local communities is essential for mining companies to achieve sustainable resource extraction.

Envirosuite is an environmental intelligence technology company that helps the mining, industrial, aviation, waste and wastewater sectors manage operational challenges to reduce risk and improve productivity while protecting and strengthening community and stakeholder relationships.

Envirosuite’s “powerful solutions combine operational data, evidence-based scientific methods and predictive meteorological models, and real-time monitoring of air quality, dust, noise, odour, vibration, and water quality to provide decision support on optimal operations management.” For example, the industrial platform leverages artificial intelligence to analyse detailed noise data and suggest to users what the cause of each noise event might be.

HCM says Envirosuite is the only global full-service provider of environmental intelligence solutions and a leader in its target sectors. “Using Envirosuite solutions, mining customers can reduce environmental impact and demonstrate responsible mining practices while achieving productivity goals.”

Hitachi Construction Machinery says its strengths lie in various touchpoints across business areas that range from the mining pit process, where mining machinery is used, to the mineral process plant, drawing on resources of group companies. “Notably, Wenco International Mining Systems Ltd. in Canada is a leading company in the development, sales, and maintenance of fleet management systems (FMS), which has introduced FMS, High Precision Guidance, reliability, safety and other technology solutions to nearly 150 mining sites around the world, centreing on open-pit mines.”

In 2020, Hitachi Construction Machinery and Wenco have jointly developed ConSite Mine, which is a reliability service solution that remotely monitors mobile mining machinery around the clock. Together, the companies says they are honing solutions that lead to improved productivity and safety at mining sites while also reducing life cycle costs. Wenco has also acquired SmartCap Technologies Pty Ltd, which provides fatigue detection technology that utilises brainwave and AI technology to enhance solutions that will help improve mine safety in 2021.

Going forward, funds from this strategic investment will be used to advance Envirosuite industrial software solutions and market penetration particularly in the mining sector, with a specific focus on delivering solutions to solve ESG and GHG challenges for mining operators. Hitachi Construction Machinery will enhance solution proposals that lead to safety and reducing environmental impact while maintaining the productivity of mining sites by using Envirosuite’s solutions into their offerings.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Group plans to exhibit its digital solutions, including advanced ESG and Productivity technology partners, such as Envirosuite, at MINExpo 2024 in Las Vegas from September 24-26..

Hitachi Construction Machinery Group will strongly promote open innovation with various business partners and startups, and provide innovative solutions through a diverse range of touchpoints across the full spectrum of mining operations.

Envirosuite CEO Jason Cooper: “We are thrilled to be launching into the top tier of global mining services with Hitachi Construction Machinery and their subsidiaries. Together, we expect to set new standards in operational management and environmental responsibility for the mining industry globally which aligns strongly with both companies’ visions for a sustainable world. The A$10 million investment and collaboration agreement represents definitive industry validation of our technology at the highest level, and will showcase our ability to help customers achieve their productivity and ESG goals through an innovative site-wide digital solutions approach. This is a significant untapped opportunity in the mining industry.”

Hitachi Construction Machinery Vice President and Executive Officer & President of the Mining Business Unit Eiji Fukunishi: “We are excited to be investing in a strategic relationship with Envirosuite. Their decades of experience and commitment to environmental and social responsibility while helping customers achieve their productivity goals aligns perfectly with Hitachi Construction Machinery’s vision for ‘ensuring a prosperous land and society for the future, and contributing toward realising a safe and sustainable society’. Envirosuite’s culture of honesty, integrity and commitment to customers and the communities we all serve is the foundation of both of our businesses. Through this investment, we hope to leverage Envirosuite’s solutions, data scientists’ analytical capabilities, and its findings and know-how in subscription business in order to further refine Hitachi Construction Machinery’s solutions in the mining business.”

Amalgamated Mining and Tunnelling – bringing all the underground options

Equipment maintenance, Mine shafts and equipment, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, Sustainable mining

Next year, 2025, will be the 35th year in business for Amalgamated Mining and Tunnelling, based in Edmonton, Alberta. What started out as a simple rebuild/refurb facility in 1990 has become a global player in underground machine rebuilds, new equipment sales and rentals, parts supply and other services. IM Editorial Director Paul Moore sat down with Vice President Colin Elson for some insight into how AMT got to where it is today and the unique value proposition it brings to the market.

So what enabled AMT to grow and expand to such as extent? “We started out as a rebuild facility for end users like mine owners and contractors. Even then a real source of pride was being able to move upgrade older equipment with newer technology. At that time, going from air brakes to hydraulic brakes was a big deal. Both then and today when we do rebuilds we want to stay competitive, so we look at why using us is beneficial for the end user. One of the things that makes a lot of sense is that we have the ability and the experience to understand what the new technologies entail. We don’t incorporate any technology that is still being trialled, and we only use proven technology that has already been in the market for at least four or five years.”

Colin Elson, Vice President, Amalgamated Mining and Tunnelling

When AMT started incorporating new technologies, the founders and owners of Amalgamated including its President Tom Flanagan, realised that it had to have a diverse set of capabilities to be able to manufacture and remanufacture equipment instead of just rebuilds. This included the Cobra man carrier which was based on a Caterpillar platform and over time became very popular. The IP for that was eventually sold to a US company.

Elson told IM: “The next natural step to meet demand in the market was to offer new equipment but not where we would be competing with the major underground OEMs in the market. We looked instead at how we could work with them. We decided that the new machine rental business was the missing piece of the puzzle that we could get into – as it wasn’t competing with them, rather it was involving them and giving the end user another route when seeking new machines.”

Elson points out that if you look at a major OEM quoting a mine owner for a fleet of new equipment, there are not that many options – the customer can purchase or lease through the OEM finance houses – but AMT saw that it could pre-order new machine inventory based on its knowledge instead of waiting for orders. “We hold our inventory so that it is readily available at any time. The other side of that is that when the mine owner looks to upgrade and buy new machines, they are still left with their old machines. Do you take those and rebuild them and bring them up to newer standards? Or reuse them in a different market whether overseas or in other territories where there is still demand for it? Or third you recycle the engines and other major hardware components to support already running fleets. Amalgamated can offer solutions for all aspects of this three-tiered decision. So we say to the mine owner – we can offer you the same new machine that you would get from the OEM with the newest ratings and technologies – but we also give you options for your old machine asset. And because the new equipment is ready to go, there is no lead time or wait time.”

After and before a major rebuild of a Sandvik DD321 underground jumbo

In tandem with all of this was ensuring this growth of the business was matched with the right people with the right experience and personality to implement and drive these new options for customers. Elson: “Just as an example, Tom hired me and I come from a long background of underground contract mining. And the same is true of all our other managers – they either come from an underground contract mining background, a mine owner-operator background or from an OEM supplier. So he made the company experience level matched all the customer options. This means we can walk into a customer mine and say – OK you have a 16,000 hour machine – we know it will last 17,000 hours so we have a bit of a gap. Here is a value we can put on that equipment and here are the options on refurbishment, rebuilding or replacing and in the case of replacing finding a home for that asset.”

This new equipment rental (and purchase) market really flourished – and today is AMT’s fastest growing business. Elson: “A part of that is that we have the OEM backing as well. To give you an example, someone looks to take a new Sandvik jumbo from Amalgamated, and we give them a value for the old equipment it is replacing. We normally have units in the stock of the model that is needed plus the customer still gets full OEM support on training, parts and service. So we haven’t taken anything away from the OEM partner.”

What about the options for the old machine? “There are scenarios where we can take that equipment out of their operation and refurb or rebuild it with new technology addition, and they use a rental machine from us as a stop gap until we return their machine. But probably the most common situation is where we replace the old machine with a new machine and then it is up to us what we do with the old asset.”

AMG’s new equipment rental and purchase market is its fastest growing business

Then Amalgamated also buys used equipment on the open market to refurb/rebuild and repurpose. “South American and African markets are big equipment supply chains for us – as is Australia. And we have the buying power to look at full packages – so we would come in and not just look to buy one or two units. We would buy all or most of the fleet – say 50% of it we can rebuild and remarket; 25% of it we know it has another home as is in another location whether to a mine or to another rebuilder; and the remaining 25% we can recycle by using parts where we can – often the parts once rebuilt can end up being worth more than the whole core’s initial value. And this business has really thrived in recent years due to the supply chain crisis.”

There are lots of scenarios where an equipment package might become available – a mine comes to end of its life, or a contractor loses a contract or looks to sell off excess fleet. Or a mine has been mothballed and receivers are looking to sell off machines. AMT even has partners that can look at taking stationary processing equipment as well. So it can in some cases buy everything and find a home for it.

AMT is becoming increasingly global – 10 or even five years ago its home Canadian mining market still represented a majority of its business – today it has significantly grown its US business to almost equal its Canadian market, while its equipment repurposing business has significantly grown in Australia. North America and Australia together make up about 75% of AMT’s business today with other countries and regions the remainder.

What’s driving this global growth? “If you look at the values that we are carrying in our business, a big one is that we can and do work with everybody. We don’t set out to own or dominate any markets but to work with everyone in it. To give some examples – we work a lot with other rebuilders like QME in Ireland to give an example; we work closely with the major underground mining contractors in Australia; and we work well with the OEMs and contractors in Africa. And we work with mine owners, contractors and suppliers in South America.”

Taking QME as an example, the relationship covers equipment supply both ways – it buys from AMT and vice versa. And in some cases the two companies help market each other’s equipment.

Back to OEMs and AMT’s major alliance partner today is Sandvik followed by Getman and Kovatera. “With Sandvik we act as their rental arm in North America. This involves buying from them but also selling back to them based on supply and demand considerations. We bring the customer a full set of offerings. We can take their existing asset and replace with new with the options of purchase or rental, whichever fits their financial needs. When metal prices are low or for example during Covid, miners and contractors didn’t want to invest millions in a new machine – we were available with the rental option.”

AMT also deals with Sandvik on a global basis in terms of used equipment. “We’ve given them an outlet for any used equipment trade-ins of any brand that anyone wants to apply as part of a purchase or rental of a new Sandvik machine. Otherwise its a difficult proposition for them to see the value in the used machines. We can see the value, especially in terms of hard to get parts, plus we have our rebuild facility, parts facility and sales facility in-house to the point where we have the ability to put a new value on that older machine.”

For Getman and Kovatera AMT is a full dealer in certain regions. For Kovatera it is the US plus Western and Northern Canadian dealer and for Getman all of Canada and certain US states. In both cases this covers buying, selling, parts and support.

What are AMT differentiators versus others offering rebuilds, mid-life services etc? Elson: “As stated before our background and experience means a lot – we have a lot of people that used to operate underground machines in contracting and mining companies so they know how the machines tick. But another important point is the sheer value of machines that we run through our shops and deploy, redeploy and purchase back – in 2023 we deployed close to 180 underground units. Of those about 40% were used units, and these are mainly of the same type we have rebuilt in previous years – so the experience level from a shop point of view is key as well in terms of repetition of work.”

With new equipment buys being a big part of AMT’s business to create a stock for new sales and rentals, how can it predict annually how many units and what types to buy from the OEM? “Our sales group is very engaged with our customer base and spend a lot of time on the road so we have a great feel for what projects are coming up and what is being permitted, plus what funding is out there for different projects. And watching what is happening with commodity pricing in the background. Of course we never get it 100% right but we are at that point where whatever we order we know is going to be deployed, and we have the used equipment line to fill any gaps that do come up.”

AMT says it carefully considers the unique needs and readiness of each customer when introducing the latest technologies. “We understand that not every operation currently has the facilities or workforce to fully integrate and maintain these advanced technologies. For example, while there is significant interest in BEVs, we recognise that not all operations are ready to transition at this moment. BEVs are still accumulating real-world operating hours, especially in production environments. Plus all the other questions around infrastructure – is the mine set up with the right electric supply; does it have the right ventilation requirements; are the right technicians available to support the machines; and does the OEM have the right support in place?”

With conventional equipment there is still a lot of room to improve it, such as with more efficient and higher Tier engines in particular. “But of course as a company we are keeping abreast of what is happening in the BEV space. Plus We offer the Kovatera battery machines – and lots of mines are in a position to use that because it isn’t a primary fleet machine so the risk and cost involved is lower for us and for the customer but it gets them experience with a high quality BEV machine.”

It is clear that AMT has a special position in the market and one that is likely to continue to grow with the market and evolve with its needs. Underlying it all is a great value proposition for both customers and OEMs; and ulitmately one that is sustainable as it is finding new homes for used equipment instead of it being idled or scrapped.

South32 rolls out remote control Cat D9 dozers at Cerro Matoso

Automation, Base metals, Bulk handling, Mining equipment, Mining services

South32 says a commitment to improving its safety performance is at the heart of the latest initiative at Cerro Matoso (CMSA) – the first remotely operated Caterpillar D9 bulldozers in Colombia. Cerro Matoso is a major ferronickel producer, consisting of an open pit nickel laterite mine and ferronickel smelter.

Through a partnership with RELIANZ, the Colombia Caterpillar equipment distributor, this new system, featuring Cat MineStar Command technology, South32 says will help make the operation safer, reduce fuel consumption and increase productivity.

Installed in two Cat D9 tractor bulldozers at CMSA, the technology enables operators to work from a remote operating station, improving safety and reducing operational inefficiencies and costs. It also cuts fuel consumption and emissions, supporting the company’s decarbonisation activities.

The remotely operated bulldozers can undertake tasks including soil excavation, managing floors in loading areas, preparing blast zones, and road construction and maintenance, and enables access to steeper slopes which can increase material moved per shift by 20 to 30%.

Remote operating stations support a more inclusive and collaborative work environment, allowing individuals who might not be able to work on-site, such as those with disabilities, to participate in the mining industry. The stations also provide opportunities to collaborate across different locations.

 

Gold Fields’ Salares Norte continues its journey to full potential

Bulk handling, Comminution of minerals, Environmental, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals

Earlier this year, IM Editorial Director Paul Moore had the chance to visit the Remote Monitoring Center for Gold Fields’ Salares Norte gold mine in Chile with Reynaldo Martinez, Asset Management and Operational Performance Manager. The centre is in downtown Santiago, some 1,500 km from the mine and plant.

The first gold was produced on March 28 this year which was followed by the start of the ramp-up period. However, in June 2024, the miner announced that early onset of severe winter weather conditions had impacted the ramp-up at Salares Norte leading to freezing of material in the process plant pipes and causing a temporary shutdown of the plant. Gold Fields has been working on progressing all activities required for the plant restart, including thawing of frozen material, and unblocking of plant piping. But the mine has continued to experience low temperatures which has slowed down progress on these activities.

The focus is now on setting up the plant for a safe and sustainable restart and ramp up. Gold Fields states: “We expect to complete all adverse weather mitigation activities (including heat tracing installation) by the first quarter of next year. This should ensure safe and continuous operations through winter conditions, in line with the design criteria of the plant.” The plant is scheduled to restart by 30 September 2024 and deliver production of 40,000 – 50,000 oz in 2024.

Reynaldo Martinez, Asset Management and Operational Performance Manager, Gold Fields (left) and Paul Moore, IM Editorial Director (right)

Full LOM production will be based on a constant plant throughout rate of 2 Mt/y and peak total material movement of 44 Mt/y to produce 350,000 oz/y. The life of mine gold grade averages circa 4.9 g/t and silver circa 55.6 g/t. A fleet of 191 t class Caterpillar 785 trucks loaded by Komatsu PC5500 hydraulic excavators transport ore to a ROM stockpile and blending area. The fleet is operated by mining contractor Ingeniería Civil Vicente (ICV).

Wheel loaders then load smaller trucks which feed a primary jaw crusher which feeds a primary ore stockpile via conveyor followed by the grinding circuit with SAG and ball mills, then pre-leaching thickener, leaching, Counter Current Decantation, Merrill-Crowe, Carbon-in-Pulp, filtration and refining to dore bars; with tailings sent to a dry stack tailings storage facility. The mine already has enough high grade ore stockpiled for 2.5 years of operation. Martinez: “Having this ore buffer gives us a lot of flexibility during operations to carry out near mine exploration, look at expansion possibilites or even satellite deposits. This is very different to copper where the low grade ore stockpile might only be enough for days or even hours.”

The Remote Monitoring Center is part of a downtown office complex in Las Condes, Santiago, which also functions as the main Gold Fields corporate office in Chile, with the senior management based there along with human resources, logistics, legal, external affairs, exploration, etc. Gold Fields also has an office in Lima, Peru, overseeing the Cerro Corona copper-gold mine there.

It is referred to as a Remote Monitoring Center as opposed to a Remote Operations Center as it currently performs a monitoring function – the mine and plant are not primarily operated from Santiago. Martinez: “We do have access to the same systems that they have on-site, and could take over some control if necessary, but currently this is not the main focus.” There are three monitoring stations for monitoring the mine (including the Wenco mine fleet management system), the processing plant, and the maintenance and energy station including monitoring of critical alarms etc.

ABB is an important partner – providing the connectivity piece – having deployed its enterprise-grade digital platform ABB Ability™ Genix Industrial Analytics and AI Suite to give data insights to help increase industrial productivity and operational excellence, while reducing costs – this includes comprehensive and integrated electrification, automation and digitalisation solutions. “They have supplied the whole control infrastructure, including the digital and IT platforms for the processing plant, as well as the electrical rooms and 800xA automation systems plus maintenance monitoring.” Collectively these help contextualise and convert data through advanced analytics into meaningful information to unlock productivity improvements.

Salares Norte is a very remote mine – the nearest sizeable town to the project is Diego de Almagro, 180 km away. Being off grid it has to produce its own power on-site – using an Aggreko high-altitude performance diesel gensets capable of delivering 16 MW. Going forward there is also a solar power project that will feed energy to Aggreko Solar Power units. The area is being prepared for its construction – and it will be one of the highest solar farms in the world at about 4,500 masl – with the whole site located between 3,900 m and 4,700 m. The environmental permit has been approved.

The comms set up for the mine has also been an interesting story. Martinez states: “An exciting journey for us has been the communications network used at the mine. Typically mines use communications towers, for example with LTE 4G, along with an optic fibre cable network. But we do not use optic fibre – the nearest fibre cable is 200 km away. Instead, two years ago, our team started testing a Starlink satcomms connection – today we have different satcomms access points at the mine, plant and camp – all of our communications work via Starlink – it has worked very well, with no interruption related to weather such as heavy snow plus is able to handle live HD video monitoring aross the site. Its level of stability was actually something of a surprise – five antennas in total were enough for the whole mining complex. We are also testing an alternative low earth orbit satelite system as a redundancy. Using low earth orbit satellite communications has proven to be fast and reliable. Our antennas in Santiago connect via the telecom service providers to the Cloud, meaning we have no need to use an external telecommunications provider.”

Kumba commits to ultra high DMS for Sishen iron ore mine

Bulk handling, Mineral processing, Mining consumables, Steel and iron ore, Sustainable mining

Anglo American-owned iron ore miner Kumba says it has now completed a full technical review of its ultra-high-dense-media-separation (UHDMS) processing technology project at its Sishen mine in the Northern Cape of South Africa.

Following this review Kumba has announced board approval for a further ZAR7.6 billion investment in the UHDMS project, in addition to the ZAR3.6 billion previously approved in February 2021, bringing the total capital investment to ZAR11.2 billion, which equates to over US$630 million.

To date, ZAR1.8 billion has been spent on the detailed engineering design, earthworks and the technical review. The remaining ZAR9.4 billion will be invested between the second half of 2024 and the end of 2028, in line with the phasing of the project, with full capacity expected to be achieved by the end of 2028.

Mpumi Zikalala, CEO of Kumba, said: “This investment demonstrates our focus on value over volume. Through utilising UHDMS processing technology, we can treble the proportion of premium iron ore product from our world-class Sishen mine. Premium iron ore is increasingly highly valued by our customers because it reduces carbon emissions from the steelmaking process and so plays a key role in green steel production. This supports higher margins and a compelling return on investment as well as creating a new pathway to extend Sishen’s life to 2044.”

She adds: “The UHDMS processing technology will provide Kumba with an enhanced ability to respond to future customer requirements and improve flexibility across the value chain. The implementation will be phased over four years to ensure safety and operating stability across the site during construction whilst maintaining disciplined capital allocation. This major investment is also a clear demonstration of our long-term commitment to South African mining and to our host communities in the Northern Cape.”

Notwithstanding the UHDMS step, she said Kumba’s work continues with Transnet, the Ore User’s Forum and government through the National Logistics Crisis Committee (NLCC) to improve the logistics performance. “We are encouraged by the policy reforms and the value that this will bring to the turnaround of the performance of the logistics network to the benefit of all our stakeholders.”

The UHDMS project will convert the current dense-media-separation (DMS) processing plant at Sishen to UHDMS technology. This technology uses specialised ferrosilicon in the plant processing of raw iron ore and allows greater flexibility to process a wider range of Fe grades and densities. The implementation of the technology will improve the proportion of premium iron ore and lower the waste stripping ratio, while maintaining the lump:fine ratio.

The technology partner or supplier was not named, but back in 2013, Tenova Bateman (now SGS Bateman) supplied a 50 t/h modular pilot UHDMS plant to Sishen, following Kumba and Exxaro Resources signing a Joint Development Agreement in April 2012 to commercialise the UHDMS technology concept developed by Exxaro.

This plant has been used to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of separating iron ore at operating densities above 4.2 g/cm3, using the cyclone-based UHDMS technology and offers Kumba the ability to improve separation efficiencies beyond that of the existing Sishen Jig Plant in some particle size fractions.

Sishen produces iron ore at an average Fe content quality of ~64% and an average lump:fine ratio of 70:30. UHDMS technology is expected to increase the volume of premium iron ore to ~55% of Sishen’s production, up from the current ~18%. This is expected to increase the product premium by US$2-3/t on average above lump and Fe premiums. Furthermore, by reducing the mining cut-off grade to 40% Fe from the current 48% Fe, the waste stripping ratio improves to ~3.3 from ~3.9, resulting in 15 Mt/y less waste mining required and a significant reduction in the cost of mining. This project also creates the potential to extend Sishen’s life of mine up to 2044.

Overall, the ZAR11.2 billion total investment in the UHDMS technology is expected to result in an EBITDA margin of more than 50% and an IRR of over 30%. The additional capital of ZAR7.6 billion largely relates to an increase in engineering design maturity and the execution period as a result of phasing the upgrade and conversion of the modules to improve safety and operational stability.

The implementation will follow a modular approach with six UHDMS coarse modules out of eight and five fines modules out of seven being converted. The project will commence in November 2024, with the main tie-in of the project in 2026, and the plant reaching full capacity by the end of 2028. During the implementation phase, the modules not under construction, as well as the jig plant, will continue to run, and production will be supplemented by finished product stock

Sandvik boosts OEM agnostic autonomy with Universal Field Robots buy

Automation, Equipment maintenance, Mine shafts and equipment, Mining equipment, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining software

Sandvik has signed an agreement to acquire Universal Field Robots (UFR), the fast-growing Australia-based provider of autonomous interoperable solutions for the surface mining and underground mining markets. UFR will be reported in Digital Mining Technologies, a division within business area Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions.

UFR’s solution portfolio is built on a common autonomy platform, which is a strong complement to Sandvik’s automation offering and includes OEM agnostic robotic and autonomous solutions for trucks, loaders and auxiliary equipment. The statement said that the acquisition “will help to increase the addressable market for Sandvik and further strengthens the market position of Sandvik AutoMine® – the world’s leading mining automation platform.”

Adding to the AutoMine® platform’s existing capabilities to integrate third party equipment, UFR will significantly expand the number of compatible third-party equipment types, providing customers with flexible opportunities to optimise the performance of their full mining equipment fleets, regardless of the OEM.

“Universal Field Robots is an important strategic addition to Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, which will strengthen our growth potential and provide key capabilities in the development of our mining automation solutions portfolio going forward,” says Stefan Widing, President and CEO of Sandvik.

UFR has approximately 40 employees and is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia. In the financial year that ended in June 2024, the company generated revenues of approximately SEK 80 million. The impact on Sandvik’s EBITA margin will be limited. The impact on Sandvik’s earnings per share (excluding non-cash amortisation effects from business combinations) will be positive. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2024.

Dyno Nobel unveils automated electronic detonator plant in Helidon

Explosives and blasting, Mining consumables, Mining safety, Mining services

Dyno Nobel has officially opened its state-of-the-art, fully automated electronic detonator plant at its Helidon manufacturing site in Queensland. This multi-million-dollar facility it says marks a significant milestone in Dyno Nobel’s commitment to enhancing safety, innovation, and operational efficiency in the Australian resources sector, playing a crucial role in producing products vital to the mining and resources industry.

The project will deliver an increase in Dyno Nobel’s capability to manufacture its DigiShot® Plus.4G units, described as one of the world’s safest and most popular electronic detonator systems. Automated assembly is expected to drive significant safety and operational efficiency improvements for our operators, positioning Dyno Nobel, a business of Incitec Pivot Ltd, at the forefront of automated electronic detonator production in the industry.

Helidon’s General Manager, Operations, Paddy Wiggall said the opening of the automated electronic detonator plant was a proud moment for Dyno Nobel and the entire Helidon team. “This project highlights our unwavering commitment to the region, our dedicated employees, and our valued customers. By investing in automation and reducing human interaction with explosives, we are not just enhancing our operational efficiency and competitiveness — we are also upholding high standards of safety and quality in every detonator we deliver,” he said.

He added: “This automated electronic detonator plant will allow us to deliver exceptional product quality and ensure security of supply for our customers. Importantly, it also provides significant upskilling opportunities for our workforce, equipping them with new skills which are essential in today’s rapidly evolving economy.”

The Helidon manufacturing site plays a crucial role in supporting Australia’s resources sector, employing approximately 100 people from the Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley region, 60% of whom are female.

As part of Dyno Nobel’s broader automation strategy, this new plant builds on previous advancements at the company’s Simsbury site in the US. The automation initiative is a key component of Dyno Nobel’s growth and technology strategy, addressing the critical drivers of safety and operational efficiency.

“We are exploring options for further automation at Helidon, and this new plant represents a significant step forward in that journey. Our focus remains on delivering innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers,” Wiggall said.