Archives: Automation

On the ground commissioning and integration of the infrastructure needed to support autonomous fleets is a vital but specialised field. Autonomo Pty Ltd was formed in 2018 and remains a firmly West Australian owned and operated business. It specialises in managing end to end services for automation technology, starting from design, through to installation, commissioning[…]

Late last year, leading autonomous drilling technology provider FLANDERS embarked on a project to begin automation of the blasthole drilling fleet at Debswana’s Orapa diamond mining operation in Botswana, situated 240 km west of Francistown. The conversion of the first drill to autonomous operation, an Epiroc Pit Viper PV-271, has now been completed, which will[…]

Some 16 months after launch, Sandvik’s AutoMine® Concept Underground Drill, also known as ‘Amelia’, is having the impact Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions was hoping for, influencing most forward-looking conversations it is having with new and existing underground drilling clients. The AutoMine Concept Underground Drill, launched at the company’s Test Mine in Tampere, Finland, in[…]

A major development in China’s national R&D project ‘Research and Demonstration Application of Key Technologies for Intelligent Electric Driven Heavy-Duty Vehicle Platforms’ is the launch of ‘the world’s first’ 240 t intelligent hybrid heavy-duty vehicle – XCMG’s XDE240H diesel-battery mining truck, which is now running at Shaanxi Shenyan Coal’s Xiwan open pit coal mine in[…]

Jani Vilenius has his plate full at Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions. As Director of Research and Technology Development, he is brought into most conversations the business area has about future mining products. In fact, he even works across the Sandvik Rock Processing business area on occasion, as well as overseeing the design centre in[…]

Guizhou, a province situated in the southwest of China, is renowned for its mountainous terrain. Historically, the unique landscape posed challenges to transportation before the era of modern infrastructure projects in China, making travel to and from the region exceptionally challenging. Despite these difficulties, Guizhou’s terrain also harbours valuable resources, with coal being a particularly[…]

Komatsu Ltd has long had a strong position in the Latin American mining market, and its Senior Executive Officer and President, CE Marketing Division, Yasuji Nishiura, recently gave some good insights into its depth of presence in the region in a presentation. He says Komatsu has established a high-profit business model in the Latin American region[…]

LKAB has taken an important step towards streamlining surface drilling at the Leveäniemi open-pit mine in Svappavaara, northern Sweden, selecting Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions to supply a complete autonomous solution. The order includes three Leopard™ DI650i down-the-hole (DTH) drill rigs with AutoMine® readiness, My Sandvik Onsite data analytics, rock tools and technical expertise and maintenance[…]

MineSense Technologies Ltd has launched the MineSense Data Portal, a groundbreaking platform that, it says, leverages real-time data from ShovelSense® and BeltSense® to empower mining operators with data-driven insights for mine-to-mill optimisation. The MineSense Data Portal is a powerful digital platform that enables access to real-time data generated by ShovelSense and BeltSense at critical points[…]

Copper giant Antofagasta PLC has announced that after an extensive review, the construction of its Centinela Second Concentrator Project, often referred to as Nueva Centinela, has been approved. Critical path works will begin immediately with full construction expected to commence after definitive project finance documents have been executed during Q1 2024. It has all the relevant[…]