Tag Archives: Agnico Eagle

Epiroc books battery-electric orders from mines in Finland, Australia and Canada

Environmental, Equipment maintenance, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Precious metals, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Epiroc says it has recently secured orders for its second generation battery-electric machines from miners in Finland, Australia and Canada.

The orders come less than a year since the mining original equipment manufacturer launched the new range at an event in Örebro, Sweden.

In Finland in the September quarter, Agnico Eagle Mines ordered the Boltec E Battery rig for use at its Kittilä mine, Europe’s biggest gold operation.

The company, as part of the EU-led Sustainable Intelligent Mining Systems (SIMS) project where Epiroc is serving as a coordinator, has also been testing Epiroc battery-electric equipment. A Boomer E2 Battery has been operating for some months at the mine and, in August, a Minetruck MT42 Battery (42 t truck) and a Scooptram ST14 Battery (14 t LHD) arrived as part of the project.

Jari Kolehmainen, Production Manager at Agnico Eagle Mines, said the Boomer E2 Battery had been performing well and a diesel engine had not “been missed”.

He continued: “Operator feedback has been positive and we are looking forward to expanding our fleet with more electrical powered equipment in the near future. Therefore we are also very excited to be testing the battery-powered mine truck and loader. These tests are giving us the confidence to be a successful early adopter of this new and exciting technology.”

In addition to the orders and testing at Kittilä, several orders from other companies have been booked in previous quarters for battery-electric versions of the Boltec rock bolting rig, Boomer face drilling rig, Scooptram loader and Minetruck hauler, the company said.

Epiroc, upon launching its second generation machines in November 2018, said it had clocked up more than 60,000 hours of operating time with these electric machines. It is being helped along the way by battery maker Northvolt and ABB. Epiroc has committed to its Batteries-as-a-service offering that sees the mining OEM provide a warranty for the battery and provide both software and hardware updates on an annual basis.

The company launched its first battery-electric machines in 2016, adding, in November 2018, 14 t and 18 t LHDs, a 42 t truck and a mid-sized drilling family including face drilling, production drilling and rock reinforcement rigs. Epiroc aims to be able to offer its complete fleet of underground mining equipment as battery-electric versions by 2025.

The benefits of this technology include improved health and safety, lower total cost of operation and higher productivity. The advantage is especially significant for deepening underground operations where mining companies traditionally must invest heavily in ventilation to air out the diesel fumes.

Helena Hedblom, Epiroc’s Senior Executive Vice President Mining and Infrastructure, said: “We see very strong customer interest for our new battery-electric mining machines. The technology is now well established, and more and more mining companies are realising the significant benefits that come with using electric machines instead of diesel. We are proud to spearhead the mining industry’s drive toward a fossil-free future.”

ABB readies production and personnel hoists for Agnico Eagle’s Kittilä gold mine expansion

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Agnico Eagle’s Kittilä gold mine in Finland is getting ready for a major underground expansion by investing more than $11 million into production and personnel hoists from ABB to support the operation of its new shaft.

ABB will deliver one friction type 2.5 MW production hoist as well as a 1.2 MW single drum personnel hoist to support operations at Europe’s biggest gold mine. The company will also provide online remote support services for real-time hoist condition monitoring via its ABB Ability™ platform.

The mine already uses a variety of ABB technology, including motors, an automation system, frequency converters and instruments, but accesses the underground orebody via decline.

The €160 million ($186 million) expansion at Kittilä will see a shaft over 1 km deep built at the mine, from which ore will be lifted with ABB’s hoisting equipment. This will make it possible to use the deeper parts of the gold deposit in an economically viable way, while improving energy efficiency and cutting fossil fuel use as the shaft replaces the truck and off-road vehicle transport of ore and personnel, ABB said.

The processing capacity of the mine’s concentrating plant will increase from the current 1.6 Mt/y to 2.0 Mt/y, with gold production expected to expand by 50,000-70,000 oz/y to 250,000-260,000 oz/y, starting in 2021.

ABB, which has delivered over 700 mine hoisting systems over the world, said the Kittilä personnel and production hoists will be installed and introduced during 2020–2021.

Agnico Eagle Mines looks to roll out innovation across its operations

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Automation, ore sorting, continuous mining and renewable energy solutions are all being examined by Agnico Eagle Mines as the company looks to the future of its gold operations in Canada, Finland and Mexico.

The company is already in the process of installing a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network at its La Ronde Zone 5 (LZ5) project in northwestern Quebec, Canada, which will be rolled out with an autonomous loading and hauling pilot later this. This will make LaRonde the first operation to use Sandvik’s AutoMine® system with an LTE communication network underground on a production scale.

In a company update this week, Agnico Eagle said two production trucks, one scooptram and the required material for automated mining at LZ5 were expected to be on site this quarter and testing was expected to take place in the December quarter. Sandvik originally said it would provide one LH517 17 t LHD and one TH551i 51 t haul truck as part of the initial pilot.

Now, even before the pilot has started, Agnico has said it is examining the potential to use the same LTE infrastructure as part of an automated loading and hauling solution at its La Ronde Zone 3 (LZ3) project.

LZ3 is envisaged as a phased development that could extend mining at La Ronde from 3.1 km to 3.5 km below ground and provide two or three additional production levels through 2022.

At the same time as this, representatives from Agnico Eagle Finland said on a site visit to the Kittilä gold mine in the north of the country – organised as part of the Finland Mine Safari tour for analysts and investors – that the company was weighing up autonomous hauling and loading solutions as part of the €160 million ($185 million) expansion to increase production capacity at the mine to 2 Mt/y by 2021.

With Kittilä set to go down to around 1.15 km below ground and mining due to take place in four distinct zones as part of this expansion, an LTE network will most probably be required for effective use of this technology.

And, this is not all in terms of technology and innovation at Agnico Eagle.

In its latest corporate update, the company said it was evaluating the use of Rail-Veyor technology at its mines across the group. A 3 km underground Rail-Veyor system is already hauling tonnes at the Goldex operation in Quebec.

And, Agnico is preparing to implement a pilot plant for ore sorting technology to potentially boost low-grade ore, while it is closely following a technology pilot for mechanical cutting.

Lastly, the company said it is looking at renewable energy solutions for its operations in Mexico and Nunavut, Canada.

This is part of a global approach to reduce energy costs at select regions by up to 30% and lower greenhouse gas emission, Agnico said.

The areas of study in Nunavut, where the company is currently building out a major production hub, include wind and solar power, the use of LNG and potential hydro options. The power solutions are also likely to include some sort of battery storage.

In Mexico, meanwhile, where the company operates its Pinos Altos gold mine, it is looking to solar power as a way of cutting its greenhouse gas emissions.