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Why the Pilbara leads the way in haul truck automation

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A presentation at last month’s AusIMM Iron Ore 2019 Conference, in Perth, Western Australia, made it clear that the state’s steel raw material miners are leading the way when it comes to applying autonomous haulage systems (AHS) in open-pit mining.

Richard Price, Manager of Projects for Mining Technicians Group Australia (MTGA), has been involved in this technology space for a number of years, having initially witnessed an automation trial involving two trucks at Alcoa’s Willowdale bauxite mine, in Pinjarra, all the way back in 1994.

At the conference, his paper set out the state of play in Pilbara when it comes to AHS, explaining: the first commercial scale trial in iron ore took place at Rio Tinto’s West Angelas operation in 2008, there are two original equipment manufacturer (OEM) AHS operating in the Pilbara – Caterpillar Command for Hauling and the Komatsu FrontRunner – and the three major iron ore miners (Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue Metals Group (FMG)) were leaders when it comes to using autonomous trucks.

FMG is the largest operator of autonomous trucks in the Pilbara – making it effectively the largest in the world – with 128 at the end of June (according to the miner’s June quarter results). Rio, meanwhile, had 96 up and running, with BHP having a total of 50, as per publicly released data.

“FMG has plans to automate all of their trucks, including the first non-OEM trucks on an alternate OEM system,” Price said, with him adding that the company has now automated a number of Komatsu 930E vehicles using the Caterpillar Command for Hauling AHS: a world first.

“Additionally, FMG is also operating multiple Caterpillar OEM trucks onsite, in another world first having three classes of truck on the one system at the same site (789D, 793F and 930E),” he said.

While Komatsu, historically, has more time in the field with commercial autonomous applications – it surpassed 2 billion tons of autonomous haulage in November – than Caterpillar, the Illinois-based OEM has received more global success, being able to point to AHS deployments in the oil sands of Canada, the coal mines of British Columbia and Vale’s iron ore operations in Brazil.

“With regards to the on-board AHS componentry, the Komatsu system is somewhat simpler than the Caterpillar system,” Price said. “The significant difference is that Caterpillar utilises a LiDAR (Velodyne 64-layer), with RADAR, whilst the Komatsu system uses RADAR only. However there are additional differences in the on-board controls – the Caterpillar system is known for having more significant vehicle on-board computing power, versus the Komatsu system which places greater reliance on the wireless network whilst performing most of the calculations on the server side.”

Even with the on-board computing power of Caterpillar’s system, the performance of these trucks only tends to be as good as the communications infrastructure they are tied to.

Presently, only the Komatsu system has announced successful trials of using 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network technology as the communications system which commands the trucks, with the Caterpillar system presently reliant on wireless networking technology, “of which all current implementations rely upon (globally)”, Price said.

One of the issues with such technologies is the trucks stop driving, or operating, if they lose communications, with the trucks communicating, via this network, their position to each other and directional heading and speed.

The way the trucks re-start their driving routine is, at present, via manual visual inspection, which can be a process that takes time.

And, according to Price, a significant problematic issue with trucks stopping driving across all the Pilbara sites is the triggering of a false positive object detection.

“These are often referred to as ‘ODs’ on the various sites which utilise AHS,” Price said, with many operators blaming undulations in the road, pot holes, or small rocks for these occurrences.

Again, manual inspection is normally required as part of an operation’s procedure for re-starting the autonomous trucks.

Out in front

Despite these communication and OD problems, Western Australia still leads the way when it comes to automation with the Pilbara hosting around 75% of the circa-370 trucks operating globally.
What is the reason for this? Price highlighted five bullet points in his speech:

  • High cost of operators – annual salaries for truck operations are, in general, over A$100,000 ($68,882);
  • Ease of implementation – “the Pilbara miners generally have open ground, and have had an opportunity to trial the technology in a dedicated work area prior to a site-wide implementation,” Price said, adding that the topography has also made it simpler to install the required communications systems;
  • Scale and longevity of operations – Previously cost-benefit analysis of AHS included an approximate cutoff point of 12 Mt/y total material movement, which equates to six to eight off-highway haul trucks, Price said. All operations exceed this, as well as having long mine lives;
  • The fact that all the sites which have presently deployed AHS are currently fly-in/fly-out mines which transport the staff to site from their point-of-hire, and;
  • Experience of technology and processes in the Pilbara – miners in the region have long-term familiarity with fleet management systems and technology adoption.

Price said: “Western Australia does not necessarily have any unique or special advantage, however, it has made sense for Pilbara iron ore operators to implement AHS for the reasons outlined above.”

The benefits

MTGA’s Price pointed to several quotes from the mining companies themselves to explain the benefits of automation.

Rio Tinto, in 2018, said: “On average, each autonomous truck was estimated to have operated about 700 hours more than conventional haul trucks during 2017 and around 15% lower load and haul unit costs.”

FMG, in the same year, said it was seeing 32% productivity improvements with autonomous trucking.

Vale, meanwhile, previously told Mining.com: “The adoption of autonomous trucks at Brucutu (iron ore mine, in Brazil) is expected to reduce fuel consumption by more than 10%. Maintenance costs, in turn, should fall by another 10% and off-road truck tyres, which cost up to $40,000, are expected to have 25% lower wear. The overall gains translate into a 15% increase in equipment life, reducing investments in new acquisitions and reducing carbon dioxide emissions at the same time.”

Price said: “There are clearly differing metrics being monitored by these three operators at present. However, irrespective of the metrics monitored, AHS obviously has had a significant impact on the operating environment.

“It appears that the increase in utilisation of the autonomous trucks is the most significant benefit that they provide. The decrease in costs is also helpful, but the increase in predictability of the truck fleet is what drives the actual benefit.

“A number of materially measurable but difficult to quantify benefits exist from the rendering of trucks autonomous as well. These include less maintenance, better tyre wear (or increased tyre life), reduced fuel costs (for the same tonnage output) and better overall truck performance.”

For instance, Komatsu has previously said the optimised automatic controls of AHS reduce sudden acceleration and abrupt steering, resulting in a 40% improvement in tyre life compared with conventional operations.

And, of course, there are the numerous safety benefits that come with using automated haul trucks.

The future

While Price believes that mining will continue to become more autonomous, he said the mine of the future was likely to involve the automatic distribution of data files that trucks would work off without human involvement.

“For now, technologies such as LTE for better communications network coverage, the use of drones, long-range cameras or other autonomous ground vehicles to conduct the manual visual inspection and other autonomous equipment will be implemented,” he said.

He added: “It is likely that there will be a continuum of development over the next 20-30 years.

“Mining companies and OEMs will have a lot to learn from automotive vehicle automation. Obviously, there are more cars on the roads than there are off-highway haulage trucks on minesites. Therefore the general costs of automation kits will come down, and there will be an opportunity to conduct operations in a GPS-denied environment.

“Already, the costs of select items such as the LiDAR utilised by the Caterpillar system have halved in price since they were used a decade ago. Solid state LiDARs, as opposed to rotational, are being implemented in the automotive industry already.”

He pointed to MINExpo 2016, in Las Vegas, when Komatsu showcased its cabless, driverless truck as one development to look out for.

“It is predicted that in the longer-term future (ie 20-30 years’ time), cabs will be an additional and expensive option to add onto an off-highway heavy haulage truck,” he said.

“Whilst the future is autonomous, it will be technologically more advanced than the present technologies,” he concluded, adding that, given its head start, one would expect the Pilbara iron ore industry to deploy these technologies first.

MTGA’s Richard Price has also written a business case study on AHS, published by AusIMM – www.ausimmbulletin.com/feature/autonomous-haulage-systems-the-business-case/ – and, in partnership with Whittle Consulting’s Nick Redwood, put together an Autonomous Haulage Systems Financial Model Assessment – www.whittleconsulting.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Autonomous-Haulage-Study-Report-Rev-F.pdf

Babylon Pump’s business development efforts power up

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Babylon Pump & Power Ltd has entered into a conditional agreement for the acquisition of diesel engine specialist Primepower Queensland for up to A$4.2 million ($2.9 million) in cash, shares, delayed performance payments and assumption of debt.

Mackay-based Primepower was founded in 2004 and is a specialist in Cummins engine repairs and rebuilds to the Queensland resources sector, Babylon said, with the acquisition complementing Babylon’s Western Australia-based diesel maintenance division and diesel generated power and pumping rental business.

The company has grown into a highly regarded specialist provider of diesel maintenance to the resources sector with a client base including Peabody, Fortescue Metals Group, BHP Mitsubishi Alliance, Anglo American, Wesfarmers and Minerva, Babylon said. Primepower generated unaudited annual revenue of around A$9.1 million for the year to June 30, 2019, and adjusted net profit of some A$600,000.

“The acquisition is Babylon’s first move into the eastern states and forms part of the company’s growth strategy, and provides an ideal platform to expand Babylon’s successful specialty equipment rental business into the East Coast,” Babylon said.

The acquisition provides Babylon’s Diesel Maintenance division with extra scale, in addition to technical expertise in Cummins engines to complement its expertise in Caterpillar engines, Babylon Executive Chairman, Michael Shelby, said. “[It] will be the perfect springboard to introduce our power and pumping rental offering to the East Coast market,” Shelby said. “The acquisition also provides commodity diversity, exposure to a larger client base, many with national operations, and will deliver a step-change in our operating scale and revenue.”

Shelby hinted that this may not prove to be the end of the company’s M&A efforts.

“The resource services and related sectors remain very fragmented, and it has become apparent that there are a number further potential complimentary acquisitions and new business development opportunities available,” he said. “While focusing on its core business, it is Babylon’s intention to explore thoroughly opportunities to expand in conjunction with its strong organic business growth.”

The consideration is comprised of cash on completion of A$1.7 million (adjusted pro-rata for net assets), A$600,000 in Babylon shares, assumption of a A$500,000 trade finance facility, deferred consideration of A$1 million over two years (adjusted for net asset value), additional deferred consideration of A$500,000 conditional on a revenue requirement of A$8.9 million being met in the 2020 financial year.

The Primepower purchase will see Babylon acquire net assets including stock and work in progress of A$3.1 million, and goodwill and plant and equipment valued at A$1.1 million. As part of the deal, Primepower founder and owner, Michael Donegan, will also remain a Primepower executive for a minimum 12 months.

Newmont Goldcorp weighing haul truck automation at Boddington

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Newmont Goldcorp President – and soon to be CEO – Tom Palmer, told investors on a conference call this week that the miner was looking into the feasibility of implementing autonomous haulage at the Boddington gold-copper mine, in Western Australia.

The mine produced 709,000 oz of gold for Newmont Goldcorp last year and is currently undergoing a stripping campaign in the South Pit in order to reach higher-grade ore.

Palmer said the company recently advanced its “autonomous haulage study” at the mine and there could be a funding decision made on this project before the end of 2019.

“If approved, the project is expected to improve cost and mining productivity, by converting the fleet of 39 haul trucks to autonomous operation, using the Cat command system,” Palmer said.

Cat cuts electric rope shovel downtime

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Caterpillar says it has developed a propel drive system upgrade for Cat® 7495 and 7495 HF electric rope shovels that improves maintenance access, decreasing downtime by days.

The upgrade, which has operated successfully for thousands of hours in field validation, reconfigures the crawler undercarriage to allow drive shaft and tumbler replacement from the outboard side, Cat says. Improved component design, meanwhile, extends durability and increases component life to further reduce costs.

“The new design slashes maintenance time and enhances safety by enabling access to drive components without removing the propel transmission,” the mining OEM said. “Additionally, Caterpillar engineered the upgrade to be a direct replacement. No machining of the crawler frame is required for installation.”

The new robust design sees thrust loads evenly distributed on large tapered roller bearings as opposed to bronze thrust plates, while the bearings are sealed and continuously purged with fresh grease to keep them free of contaminants, Cat says. The result is increased durability in harsh environments and alignment with 25,000 h planned rebuilds.

Cat Q2 sales highlight North America mining equipment demand

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Caterpillar’s Resources Industries division continued to perform well in the June quarter of 2019, with the segment registering strong demand from, in particular, North America.

Cat Inc saw sales and revenues of $14.4 billion in the three months ending June 30, a 3% year-on-year increase, while its profit per share was up slightly to $2.83 ($2.82/share in Q2 2018).

Following these results, Cat maintained its 2019 outlook for a record profit of $12.06-13.06/share, but said it was expecting the annual figure to come in at the lower end of this range.

Chairman and CEO, Jim Umpleby, said: “We have the right strategy in place to deliver long-term profitable growth through our continued focus on strategic investments, including growing services and expanding offerings.”

The highlight of these results was a record performance from Cat’s Construction Industries division, with the $6.47 billion of sales reflecting, according to Umpleby, the company’s “strong competitive position globally”.

While this was the headline from the quarterly results, the company’s Resources Industries division put in another good shift in the period.

Resource Industries’ total sales were $2.8 billion in the June quarter, a 11% year-on-year increase, with the jump primarily due to higher equipment demand and favourable price realisation, Cat said.

“Mining customers increased capital spending to support ongoing mine site operations, which drove higher sales. In addition, sales increased for non-residential construction and quarry and aggregate customers,” Cat said.

It was easy to see where, geographically, the boost came from. North America sales were up to $1.06 billion in the quarter, from $804 million a year earlier. Latin America and Asia/Pacific couldn’t match that 32% year-on-year rise, but still saw sales climb 14% higher to $448 million and $759 million, respectively. Year-on-year sales to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, meanwhile, came in 22% lower at $446 million.

Profit was also up in Resources Industries – at $481 million in the quarter compared with $411 million a year earlier. Favourable price realisation was again picked out by Cat as one of the reasons for the 17% year-on-year jump, in tandem with increased sales volume, which was partially offset by higher manufacturing costs.

Demand for OEM simulators, conversion kits high, Immersive Tech says

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Immersive Technologies says it has engaged in an “unprecedented level” of mining machine simulator development for a diverse range of original equipment manufacturers (OEM) over the past year.

This trend is set to continue with projects underway for new and existing customers to build simulators for heavy machinery manufactured by BELAZ, Caterpillar, Epiroc, Hitachi, Iveco, Komatsu, Liebherr, MACK and Volvo, the company said.

In the last 12 months, Immersive Technologies has released new simulator modules (Conversion Kits®), for Cat Line of Sight Remote Control, Cat 777E Truck, Komatsu 930E-5 Truck, Liebherr R9200 Excavator, Sandvik DD311-40C Jumbo, Volvo FH16 Light Truck and many more, it said.

Investment in Conversion Kits for multiple OEM machines is continuing unabated with projects in development within the next months for: BELAZ 75131 Truck, Cat 994K Wheel Loader, Hitachi EX5600-7 Shovel, Komatsu 730E-8 Truck, Letourneau L-2350 Gen 2 Wheel Loader, Liebherr R9800 Excavator, Mack GU813E Light Truck and others.

Projects are underway to produce simulators for machines manufactured by BELAZ, Caterpillar, Epiroc (formerly Atlas Copco), Hitachi, Iveco, Komatsu, Liebherr, MACK and Volvo.

Wayde Salfinger, Executive Director – Marketing at Immersive Technologies, said: “Our investment in simulators for a diverse range of OEM’s machines is increasing, driven by demand from our customers. Immersive has always and will continue to be focused foremost on the needs of our customers, most of whom operate mixed OEM fleets.”

Salfinger added: “Immersive Technologies’ acquisition by Komatsu will not change our strategy, we will continue to support machines from all OEMs; that’s what our customers expect.” Komatsu announced, just last month, that it would acquire the mining simulation and training specialist.

Immersive Technologies credits its ongoing growth in demand on its proven and verifiable success in increasing mine profitability by optimising the safety and productivity of equipment operators. “These results are driven by a clear focus on integrating people, process, and technology to reduce risk, quantify training impact and effectively managing the training process,” the company said.

Queensland’s first Cat MD6250 drill delivered to Bluff coal mine

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In what Hastings Deering says is a first for Queensland, a Caterpillar MD6250 rotary blasthole drill has been delivered to contractor Mining and Civil Australia (MACA).

The delivery to Bluff coal mine, east of Blackwater, is the first drill of its kind to enter the territory for works in the open-pit coking coal operation and was done with precise logistical planning, according to the Cat dealer.

Commencing its journey in Caterpillar’s Denison factory in Texas, US, the MD6250 was transported in components to Brisbane where it launched a 615-km journey by road to Rockhampton.

The transportation of the machine was done across three trucks, including two large prime movers to haul the chassis and mast, as well as a smaller truck to transport the smaller accessories and parts.

In Queensland, heavy vehicles and road trains are restricted to 80 km/h speed due to safety regulations, with the journey from Brisbane to Rockhampton taking two days to complete.

“The MD6250 doesn’t have the size of footprint of an off-highway haul truck, for example, but it is still big enough that we required a pilot vehicle and police escort to make the journey safely,” Adam Davis, Product Manager for Drills and Large Motor Graders at Hastings Deering, said.

Once the components were delivered, Hastings Deering’s team of engineers set aside a week to assemble the drill before delivery to the Bluff mine site to the west of the city.

Thanks to a 10-year contract with Carabella Resources (now owned by Wealth Mining), MACA manages both the drill-and-blast and load-and-haul operations at the Bluff mine, in what was a A$700 million ($487 million) deal for the company.

The advanced features on the crawler-mounted Cat MD6250 drill are set to maximise fuel efficiency and improve drilling for the contractor, Hastings Deering says. Its features include a Cat C27 engine, variable compressor output controls, drill depth indicators and virtual head stops for operators.

The drill is likely to offer far more than just the expected productivity benefits at Bluff, though.

Davis explained: “It’s an interesting site as there are restrictions around noise. MACA had experience with the MD6250’s predecessor model and believed they could get the same value and production out of the new model.

“The MD6250 has proportional hydraulics, which means the machine makes less noise during operation and the fan circuit only operates when it needs to. The machine only creates horsepower when needed, which cuts down on heat, noise and energy.”

Davis says the mine’s purchase of the MD6250 drill is in line with an industry trend towards using high-tech, mid-size drills suited to drilling holes smaller than the 270 mm sizes.

The MD6250 is equipped with a hole diameter range of between 152–250 mm.

“In places like the Hunter Valley, in New South Wales, it’s the norm to go for mid-size machines with this kind of technology, and it’s possible that this could also happen in Queensland in the future,” Davis said. “Once the larger coal seams begin to shrink in size and the work moves to higher-grade coal seams, smaller machines are used as they are better suited to such applications.”

The Electric Mine charges on to Sweden

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Following the success of the inaugural Electric Mine event in Toronto, Canada, in April, International Mining Events has wasted no time in confirming the 2020 follow up; this time in Stockholm, Sweden.

Taking place at the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel on March 19-20, 2020, The Electric Mine 2020 will be even bigger, featuring new case studies from miners implementing electrification projects and presentations from the key OEMs and service suppliers shaping these solutions.

A leading hub in Europe for mining equipment and innovation, Sweden was the obvious choice for the 2020 edition of the event. Miners including Boliden and LKAB have already made electric moves above and below ground, and the north of the country is set to host Europe’s first home-grown gigafactory, the Northvolt Ett lithium-ion battery cell facility.

Sweden and Finland also play host to Europe’s major mining OEMs such as Epiroc, Sandvik, Metso and Outotec (soon to possibly be Metso Outotec Corp), and the Nordic region has a rich mining innovation legacy.

Capacity crowd

The announcement of the 2020 Electric Mine edition comes hot on the heels of a hugely successful debut in Toronto.

With the Radisson Admiral, on Toronto Harbourfront, filled out to capacity, the circa-150 attendees were treated to more than 20 world-class papers from miners Vale, Goldcorp (now Newmont Goldcorp), Kirkland Lake Gold, Boliden and Nouveau Monde Graphite; OEMs Epiroc, Sandvik, Caterpillar, Volvo CE and BELAZ; and equipment and service specialists Siemens, ABB, GE Transportation (a Wabtec company). Presentations from Doug Morrison (CEMI), Marcus Thomson (Norcat), David Sanguinetti (Global Mining Guidelines Group), Erik Isokangas (Mining3) and Ali Madiseh (University of British Columbia), meanwhile, provided the R&D angle delegates were after.

The event was a truly global affair, attracting delegates and exhibitors from Africa, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America, all eager to hear about developments across the sector.

Bigger and better

International Mining Events is upping the ante for 2020, increasing the event capacity to 200 delegates and making plans for a possible site visit to witness electric equipment in action.

Talks from several miners, as well as global international companies, will again underpin the 1.5-day conference program, which will also expand to cover the use of renewable/alternative energy within the field.

There will, again, be opportunities for sponsorship and exhibiting, with several companies already in discussions about booking the prime opportunities for the event.

If you would like to know more about The Electric Mine 2020, please feel free to contact Editorial Director, Paul Moore ([email protected]) or Editor, Dan Gleeson ([email protected]).

In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you in Stockholm!

NRW’s Golding to operate new trucks, excavators at Isaac Plains East coal mine

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NRW Holdings’ wholly-owned subsidiary, Golding Contractors, has reached agreement with Stanmore Coal to increase overburden removal capacity at its Isaac Plains East mine in Queensland, Australia, with the addition of a third truck and excavator fleet.

During 2019, the mine has continued to increase production and the new contract mine plan is seeking to sustain current coal production volumes of around 3 Mt/y of run of mine (ROM) material.

The two companies, in November, agreed to extended the contract mining services contract for at least another five years.

The third fleet will commence operations in August, with Golding supplying an additional Hitachi EX3600 excavator, five EH3500 Hitachi trucks and the remainder of the ancillary fleet, the majority of which will be mobilised from NRW’s Middlemount project, NRW said, adding that the five EH3500 trucks will be replaced by 5 EH4000 Hitachi trucks as they become available from the Middlemount project.

Stanmore Coal has also entered into binding agreements to acquire a 600-t Caterpillar 6060 excavator for the Isaac Plains East mine from Cat dealer Hasting Deering. This will be commissioned later in the year, NRW said, with Golding operating and maintaining the machine. It will either move prime overburden in front of the dragline or overburden in dedicated excavator and truck pits uncovering coal, according to Stanmore Coal.

Stanmore said: “Once the environmental approvals are granted for the Isaac Downs project, it is planned that the excavator will transfer to Isaac Downs to commence the box-cut operation to establish the mine. Operations at Isaac Plains East will continue in parallel with the development of the Isaac Downs project.”

The total investment is expected to be A$13 million, which includes additional workshop facilities and associated equipment expenditure at Isaac Plains to support efficient maintenance practices, the company said.

The value of the increase in scope of the contract adds approximately A$450 million ($315 million) to the existing five-year contract Stanmore and Golding have in place, NRW said. The total contract sum is estimated to be around A$950 million at the current mine production levels.

NRW CEO and Managing Director, Jules Pemberton, said: “This amendment is built on the back of a productive relationship and a positive transition for both Stanmore and Golding to the Isaac Plains East operations. We expect our capital commitment to be very low at around A$10 million as we are able to utilise fleet secured through an agreed early release from the Middlemount Coal contract.

“The Middlemount contract is not formally due for completion until the end of the 2020 financial year, however we will be able to release certain fleet prior to that date and some fleet will also likely remain on site beyond the formal contract end date. As the Middlemount project is a maintained dry hire contract, the release of our fleet will enable us to re commit these assets to existing and new full-service contract mining opportunities in line with our mining divisions delivery model.”

Consultant Measured Group updated the Isaac Plains reserve in August 2018 with current estimates supporting over 10 years of open-pit mining at planned mining rates of 1.2-1.8 Mt/y of product coal. Total open-pit reserves as at August 2018 were 14.9 Mt (run of mine).

The contract amendment is tied to Stanmore Coal’s decision to defer the Isaac Plains Underground project and prioritise its Isaac Downs project, which has higher margin ROM coal to feed the coal handling preparation plant, Stanmore Coal says.

Stanmore Coal said the Isaac Plains Underground bankable feasibility study had been completed and confirmed a positive business case for the new underground mine with potential production ramping up to an average of 1.2 Mt/y of saleable coal from year two of the production plan.

“The quantum of product tonnes forecast for the underground combined with the open-cut sources exceeds the current CHPP and contracted port capacity. Stanmore Coal is prioritising its highest margin ROM coal at Isaac Plains East and Isaac Downs project, to maximise returns to shareholders. Accordingly, the Isaac Plains Underground project will be deferred until additional port and CHPP capacity are secured or until mining at the Isaac Downs project is largely complete, subject to prevailing business conditions.”

Mine automation starting to take hold, RFC Ambrian says

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In its second report in a series on innovation and new technology in the mining industry, RFC Ambrian has tackled the subject of autonomous mining equipment, which, the authors say, has reached an “important level of maturity”.

The report considered both surface and underground equipment, but most notably surface mine haulage trucks where there has been an area of significant focus for major mining companies.

As the authors said: “This has reached an important level of maturity, although it is still evolving and its penetration across the industry is still in its infancy.”

AHS

The Autonomous Haulage Systems (AHS) have evolved from improvements in GPS for positioning and navigation, developments in sensors and detection –particularly radar and LiDAR, improved computing power and on-board monitoring, faster and more reliable networks and internet connection, and the development of effective and accurate algorithms and software, the authors said.

“AHS has appeared , first, at large mine operations where the benefits have the largest impacts, due to the high component of fixed costs in an AHS operation, and in developed countries where there is a shortage of skilled workers and labour costs are higher,” they said.

Outlining the potential benefits of AHS is straightforward, but finding hard data to support it is more difficult, according to the authors.

“Companies have made suggestions about the scale of improvement, but they are light on detail, definitions are not clear, and the data varies between companies,” the authors said.

Suggested improvements in productivity have come from Caterpillar (15-20%), Fortescue Metals Group (30%), Komatsu (15%), and Rio Tinto (15%), according to the authors.

“These improvements are still meaningful, and corporate companies would argue that every mine is different and that the mining companies and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that have so far implemented AHS have the right to guard this proprietary information and hold on to the competitive advantage,” the authors said.

Autonomy in other surface equipment

The authors said they are also now seeing this same technology used to automate other operations in the surface mine. This includes drill rigs, dozers, loaders and ancillary equipment.

“Much of this equipment is currently, at best, semi-autonomous, although a few mines have implemented fully-autonomous drill rigs and dozers,” they noted.

“Moving this equipment to full autonomy offers significant production improvements, although the scale of actual savings is not likely to be as great as those achieved with AHS,” the authors said.

“However, we have not yet seen quantified the downstream benefits of the resultant improved drilling and blasting.

“The automation of earth moving machines provides another step to increased productivity within the mine. However, loaders face additional challenges as a result of the variability of the loading face and the risk of collisions with the haulage trucks.”

Due to the complex nature of the bucket-media interaction, developing automatic loading functions that are better than or equal to expert manual drivers with regard to performance is a highly difficult task, according to the authors.

“As a result, fully-autonomous loading is not yet commercially available. Some observers suggest that the implementation of fully-autonomous surface loading is still some five years away, while others believe that full automation is unlikely.”

Underground mining

When it comes to underground mining, the authors of the report said, as with surface mining, full autonomy remains the goal.

“Mining companies and contractors are constantly looking to use technological developments to better utilise their investment in equipment and human resources and improve safety,” the authors said. “Particular features of traditional underground mines are: long unproductive periods caused by re-entry times required for operators after blasting; and higher health and safety risks due to geotechnical and environmental challenges.

“The use of autonomy underground aims to increase the productivity of the equipment and improve the safety of the operators.”

While the aims remain the same, full autonomy in the underground mine is not as advanced as in the surface mine, according to the authors.

“Haul trucks are used less frequently in underground mines, although a few mines are using haul trucks with AHS. More underground mines perform a short cycle of loading, hauling and dumping from a draw point to a tipping point with LHD equipment.

“Implementation of autonomous systems underground for LHDs is occurring, however, as with surface loading, one of the major hurdles to automating LHDs is replacing human judgement required for filling the bucket.”

This has seen full autonomy being used for the hauling and dumping cycle, but semi-autonomy usually used for loading, according to the authors. “Successful trials of fully- autonomous LHDs have been achieved and Sandvik i-series now offers an automated bucket filling assistant as a standard function,” they said.

Underground drilling operations, meanwhile, are achieving increased levels of autonomy but are also presently only semi-autonomous.

Robotic rail operations

The authors then looked at autonomous rail haulage systems, a segment of the market that has gained in prominence in the past few years thanks to initiatives such as Rio Tinto’s AutoHaul in the Pilbara of Western Australia.

The authors said: “There has been some form of automation on worldwide metro systems for many years, but one area where autonomous technology has yet to gain a foothold is rail freight. Trials are underway in Holland and Germany but implementing autonomous train driving on a complex rail network, with passenger trains and freight trains, is more difficult than on a metro system.”

The one exception to this is in the mining sector and AutoHaul, they said, where Rio has completed commissioning of the world’s first fully-autonomous, long distance, heavy-haul rail network which is now in full operation.

Pace of implementation

Despite the acclaimed success and the relative level of maturity of the technology, the wider implementation of AHS does not appear to be happening very fast, the authors argue.

“The systems of both the two main suppliers (Caterpillar and Komatsu) are well proven and have delivered positive results, although, according to consultants, both systems also have examples of less-than-expected performance.

“Nevertheless, the technical issues appear relatively minor and there is interest right across the industry but, in spite of the potentially significant benefits, more mines are not now using AHS.”

There are a number of likely reasons for this, the authors said, explaining that one of the most important is a lack of skilled personnel.

“We believe there is a lack of in-depth knowledge of the technology and limited personnel with the requisite experience, skills, and training throughout the industry’s hierarchy,” they said.

“Further, there is a shortage of skilled autonomous operators, developers, and consultants, some of who are moving to the autonomous auto market.”

Important factors in the success of AHS appear to be the level of management commitment, planning, and focus in the implementation, with the best results reported from well-operated mining sites, the authors said.

“Another factor is likely to be limitations on equipment supply from OEMs for new equipment and truck conversions, either due to manufacturing backlogs or maybe market caution, limiting investment. This is allowing the OEMs to be more selective in their customers.”

The authors cautioned: “However, if the existing suppliers do not develop additional capacity quick enough this could create opportunities for additional entrants in to the market.”

Capital availability in the mining industry could also be an issue holding back AHS advancement, they said, although it is less tight than it has been in recent years.

“Certainly, some lower-margin operations might struggle to finance the capital, although the uplift in relative profitability could be transformational, with relatively quick paybacks,” they said.
And the historical conservatism of the mining industry is also likely to be a factor, the authors said.

“There is still a natural reluctance within the industry to adopt new or unproven technology due to the high capital cost involved and the potential operational and reputational risks involved.

“This will be compounded if the organisation has limited experience and limited access to the technology.”

You can read the full report here.