Tag Archives: Caterpillar

Cat finds the right digitalisation and physical simulation balance

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In the age of big data, it is refreshing to see OEMs still using in-the-flesh simulations of equipment and components to verify new and improved products.

That is exactly what Caterpillar is doing at its Technical Centre R&D facility in Peoria, Illinois.

IM toured the facility on Monday and discovered a dedication to testing anything from single components to entire drivetrain systems in the harshest of mine site conditions one can imagine.

Cat is making the most of digitalisation and big data throughout the group – its renowned MineStar system is leading the way in fleet management, machine guidance, equipment and personnel tracking, and equipment health – but it is also cognisant of the need to provide the conservative mining industry with in-the-flesh simulations.

At the R&D facility in Peoria, the company is not testing out concepts – of which the company has many (some 15,000 patents and counting).

The company spends some 4% of annual sales and revenue on R&D and, by the time tests are carried out in this facility, analytical models have already identified potential new products or improvements to existing products.

This is where the integration of digitalisation and in-the-flesh simulation align nicely; the latter taking its lead off the former.

The role of the Peoria facility is to verify equipment/components can perform as expected, thereby laying the groundwork for further in-the-field testing at one of the company’s three proving grounds.

One of the simulations IM witnessed on Monday was the testing of an entire drivetrain from the 363 t 797F mining truck.

Here, the company can replicate a 24-hour cycle by modifying certain inputs to give the drivetrain the impression it is, for example, operating on a 30° incline.

The drivetrain can be plugged into more than 100 feedback channels to gain an accurate picture of what impact this operating scenario has on the machine.

This 797F test has been in place for more than 15 years, but the company and its customers are still after still want such feedback before buying one of these expensive machines.

There are also a series of other tests available at the facility where systems and components can be put through their paces at temperatures as low as 40°C and altitudes as high as 12,000 feet (3,658 m).

While there are digital models within the company built to do exactly this, the reality is the results do not yet match up.

Resolution copper mine looking to automation, Rio says

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The partners at the Resolution copper project in Arizona, US, are likely to look to automation to solve the problems that come with operating at depths up to 2,100 m and temperatures in excess of 70°C, according to a member of Rio Tinto’s Growth & Innovation team.

Rob Atkinson, Head of Productivity & Technical Support for Rio’s G&I team, said operating at such a depth meant it really had to be “a fully autonomous mine”.

Resolution is a joint venture between Rio and BHP, with the former owning 55% and the latter 45%.

The proposed block cave hosts one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in North America, with a 1.79 Mt resource grading 1.54% Cu. When up and running, it is expected to operate at a rate of around 120,000 t/d, producing some 1,000 MIb/y (453,592 t/y) of the red metal. This would make it one of the biggest copper mines on the continent.

But, to get to this orebody, one of the deepest single-lift shafts in the US had to be sunk at No 10 shaft (7,000 ft or 2.1 km).

While sinking this, Cementation USA came across huge inflows of water and rock temperatures of up to 80°C, making excavation particularly tricky.

This is why haulage in the mine is likely to be carried out by autonomous equipment. According to a 2017 interview with then Vice President of Operational and Technical Support for Rio Tinto’s Copper & Diamonds business, Craig Stegman, autonomous LHDs could also potentially feed an autonomous ore handling system at the underground mine.

And, in addition to this, there is also the possibility of using battery-powered LHDs at the operation.

Stegman, at the time, said Rio was working with suppliers such as Caterpillar, Sandvik and Komatsu to create an alternative to vehicles that were tethered to an electrical connection.

The deposit, located 96 km east of Phoenix, near the town of Superior, is still some way off being exploited.

The Resolution Copper joint venture (55% Rio Tinto, 45% BHP) confirmed back in June that rehabilitation work at its No 9 Shaft was on track for completion in 2019. This shaft would then have to be deepened and connected to No 10 Shaft in 2021.

While the mine is likely to be autonomous, the operation is expected to employ some 1,400 direct employees as well as a further 2,300 contractors and other support roles, according to Rio.

Cat sizes up miners’ drilling needs with expanded line of Tricone bits

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Caterpillar has expanded its line of Tricone drill bits, offering a wider range of diameters with the high wear resistance, improved rock fragmentation and superior rates of penetration customers expect.

Cat® Tricone drill bits are designed for the most severe rotary blasthole applications, yet are cost effective for a wide range of drilling needs, according to Caterpillar.

The new bit line includes six diameters ranging from 171 mm (6.75 in) to 311 mm (12.25 in.). Their carbide shapes and cutting face arrangements are optimised for high wear resistance and improved rock fragmentation, and the aggressive, long-lasting cutting structure delivers a superior rate of penetration, according to Caterpillar. 

Caterpillar says its heat treatment technology and advanced air-cooled bearing design yields longer bit life and results in lower overall drilling costs.

“Cat bits also use innovative technology to prevent cuttings and unbroken rock ridges from inflicting severe wear on the cone. The result is improved working life,” the company said. Additionally, the gauge row design improves resistance to diameter shrinkage, according to the company.

Cat says its Tricone drill bits have demonstrated significantly lower total cost of drilling in head-to-head tests conducted in copper, iron ore and coal mines.

Caterpillar investment arm backs electric vehicle and solid-state battery tech firm

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Fisker Inc, an e-mobility and technology company developing electric vehicles and proprietary solid-state battery technologies, has announced a strategic investment from Caterpillar’s wholly owned subsidiary, Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc.

Fisker said Caterpillar Ventures’ investment illustrates a “mutually recognised importance that electrification solutions will represent to multiple business segments in the future. While Caterpillar and Fisker serve fundamentally different industries, advancements in electrification technologies pose increasing importance and offer the potential to positively impact customer value for the right products”.

Fisker says its solid-state batteries present the next generation, post lithium-ion era, of future battery technologies. They offer bulk electrodes with high energy densities, enhanced safety, faster charge times and lower costs, according to the company.

The company’s scientific breakthroughs include the patent-pending Fisker Flexible Solid-State Battery, which, Fisker says, is set to usher in a new era in fast charging, safety, range and costs of less than $100/kWh.

Fisker is the brainchild of EV pioneer and leading automotive designer Henrik Fisker.

Caterpillar Ventures’ focus areas of investment, meanwhile, include robotics, energy, advanced materials, and digital solutions that help its customers. Earlier this year, it invested, for the second time, in MineSense Technologies, a company focused on real-time, sensor-based ore data and sorting solutions for large-scale mines.

Caterpillar looks to solve transportability issues with MD6200 rotary blasthole drill

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The new Cat® MD6200 rotary blasthole drill has flexibility at its core; being designed as a production drill with the flexibility to do pre-split drilling. And, all of this is in a package that is Caterpillar’s most transportable rotary drill yet.

The MD6200 can perform rotary or DTH drilling in single-pass or multi-pass modes and can drill holes of 127 mm to 200 mm (5-7.87 in) in diameter.

It can drill at a negative angle up to 15°, which enables matching the slope of the highwall for pre-split drilling. This results in cleaner highwalls with less waste material going to downstream operations, according to Cat.

For traditional production drilling, the mast can tilt from vertical out to 30°, while the operator can adjust the mast angle in increments of 5° from the touch screen in the cab — with no special setup required.

Transport

The MD6200 can be transported over the road with the mast on, so can roll onto a truck when it’s time to move to another site. The new drill also has the smallest shipping envelope of any drill in its class, says Cat. In some configurations, parts outside the shipping envelope can be removed without the use of lifting tools, allowing two people to prepare it by hand for shipping.

“The drill also offers best-in-class manoeuvrability,” the company says. “Its compact working envelope and powerful undercarriage get it into position faster, reducing the time spent accessing drill patterns and moving between holes.”

A Cat 336 excavator-style undercarriage provides superior durability, tractive effort and drawbar pull, Cat adds.

The MD6200 also benefits from the integration of a Cat C18 engine, available in US EPA Tier 4 Final configuration and in US EPA Tier 2-equivalent configuration to suit regional needs.

Both high pressure and low-pressure compressor configurations offer variable volume air control, matching the compressor output to the drill tool and application needs. The system also lowers stand-by pressures while the machine is idle, further improving fuel efficiency, according to Cat.

The MD6200 also comes with Cat electronics, offering technicians the same architecture used on the company’s other machines. They also provide a platform for automated controls.

“Integrated machine protection features and interlocks help keep operators safe and the machine up and running by preventing potential failures and operating errors,” Cat says.

Product Link™ Elite allows drill health metrics and performance to be easily downloaded and tracked in real time.

The Cat cab

When it comes to the cab, the MD6200 is designed to promote operator comfort and productivity.

Ergonomic controls help the operator remain productive and efficient through the entire shift, while optional upgrades, such as a heated, ventilated seat with heavy-duty suspension and dual-pane glass, provide comfort on long shifts, according to Cat.

“Multifunction joystick controls and touchscreens are intuitive to use, and three standard cameras give the operator awareness of the work area,” Cat says.

The technology options that come with the MD6200 make it more productive and efficient. Drill Assist offers a number of automated functions, including auto level, auto retract jacks, auto raise and lower mast, and auto drill. Meanwhile, the drill depth monitoring system helps to reduce over- and under-drilling, boosting productivity and fragmentation.

The MD6200 is also ready for Cat Terrain for drilling, which uses guidance technologies to help operators drill holes in the exact location specified by the plan, resulting in smoother, safer and more efficient blasting.

Caterpillar busy with Pilbara automation retrofit on Komatsu 930E haul trucks

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Caterpillar says it is putting its commitment to retrofit solutions and mixed-fleet interoperability into practice by installing Cat® MineStar™ Command for hauling technology on Komatsu 930E mining trucks in the Pilbara of Western Australia.

The first commercial installation of the automation retrofit package will be completed before the end of the year, the company said, with 24 of the retrofitted, 290 t capacity 930E trucks working autonomously alongside the mine’s fleet of autonomous Cat trucks.

Craig Watkins, MineStar Solutions Manager, said: “Our interoperability initiative is driven by mining companies’ goals of making best use of their existing fleets.

“The Cat system makes it possible to operate different brands and sizes of trucks as well as manned trucks and autonomous trucks in the same space. Dynamic truck assignment optimises productivity. Our system also offers the flexibility to scale up fleet size to meet the mine’s needs.”

MineStar Command for hauling also allows trucks, no matter the payload or manufacturer, to operate at their full capabilities.

“The productivity gains attributed to Command for hauling are proven and growing,” the company said. For example, Caterpillar customer Fortescue Metals Group has measured a 30% improvement in productivity from its fleet of 70 Command-equipped trucks working at its Solomon Hub iron ore mines, also in the Pilbara, according to Cat.

In addition to the commercial launch of the 930E system, the first trial of autonomous Cat 797F mining trucks is underway at a mine in North America, Caterpillar said.

With nominal capacity of 363 t, the 797F is Caterpillar’s largest truck. It will join the 227 t capacity Cat 793F CMD, already operating in the Canadian oil sands, South America and Australia, in the autonomous truck line up.

Crushing equipment en route to Victoria Gold’s Eagle project in Yukon

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Toronto-listed Victoria Gold has provided a construction update for its Eagle gold project in the Yukon of Canada, and confirmed it is on schedule for first pour in the second half of 2019.

Overall engineering is now around 89% complete, with the remainder “not critical” to meet the operation’s schedule, the company said.

Eagle is expected to cost C$369 million ($288 million) to build and has the potential to produce around 200,000 oz/y from a mine operating at 33,700 t/d. The operation will produce doré from a conventional open-pit with a three-stage crushing plant, in-valley heap leach and CIL adsorption-desorption gold recovery plant.

Victoria Gold said total project commitments through the end of August 2017 were C$304 million with C$178 million of incurred cost. All major procurement packages were complete and large long lead items have been procured, materially reducing the risk of schedule delays for construction completion and first gold pour.

“Primary mobile mining equipment has been delivered to site. Both CAT 6040 front shovels and six of 11 CAT 785 haul trucks have been assembled and commissioned. The balance of the haul truck fleet is in active assembly with the remaining truck boxes currently on route to site,” the company said.

Major crushing equipment for the primary, secondary and tertiary crushers are all in transit with the majority of equipment now in country and continually being delivered to site, the company noted.

The overland conveyor and mobile conveying equipment for the coarse ore stockpile and heap leach facility are currently in manufacturing as are major components of the gold recovery plant.

The heap leach facility earthworks (including the embankment, pad area and event pond) are advancing well and currently slightly ahead of schedule. This has enabled an early start to liner placement on the heap leach pad, which began in early September with nearly 10,000 m² of the heap leach pad now covered, Victoria Gold said.

Caterpillar talks up future battery electric vehicle offering

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In the latest edition of its customer magazine Viewpoint, Caterpillar has provided an update on its development programme for battery electric vehicles.

Following a successful proof-of-concept programme that saw a R1300G LHD test unit shipped to a mine in Canada, the company is now looking to move to its product development phase for LHDs and trucks.

While Caterpillar admits it wasn’t the first to look into developing battery electric vehicles underground, it feels its expertise integrating electric drivetrain technology and components in a number of surface machines stands it in good stead to make a big impact on this fast evolving side of the market.

Jay Armburger, Product Manager for Underground Technology, said the company had recently wrapped up its field and operational evaluation as part of its battery electric vehicle development plan, with the results proving beneficial as it moved into its next stage.

“We ran it (the results) through performance analysis, duty cycle testing and all that for both the machine and the charging system. We collected a wealth of data and now the team is analysing it,” he said.

“This is going to be very valuable as we launch our product development phase for LHDs and trucks.”

Armburger says underground electrification will bring with it substantial benefits, not just a reduction of greenhouse gases.

“Mining operations are going deeper and deeper in search of larger reserves and higher-grade ore,” Armburger said. “With that depth comes significant challenges with ventilation and temperature management. It takes a lot of capital investment to put in the infrastructure for ventilation systems and air conditioning systems. Battery electric machines really bring significant cost savings to these customers.”

One customer working with Caterpillar on this solution estimates a $40 million or more saving on capital expenses by reducing the volume requirements of ventilation shafts, he said. “Their vent reduction requirements can be reduced by 40%, and inlet and return shafts can be reduced up to 24%.”

Opex costs could also fall, according to Armburger.

“It’s very expensive to maintain the fans and reduce the heat,” he said. “Heat becomes a big issue underground, and diesel engines create a lot of it. So this is really a way to attack a couple things — emissions and heat — that add to significant costs. From an operation standpoint, customers are looking at $7-$8 million in potential savings annually.”

Caterpillar will bring its surface mining knowledge to this underground task but the underground charging system the company plans to use, based on proven microgrid technology, is something new.

“We don’t want to lose sight of the importance of the charging system. When you’re using energy storage or batteries to power machines, there’s a whole additional programme involved with developing the charging system,” Armburger said.

Caterpillar believes its battery electric vehicles will differ from the existing solutions on the market, in regards to its all-encompassing production focus.

Steve Rich, who now leads all underground sales and support for Caterpillar’s underground mining division, said: “I think it’s pretty clear when we hear the feedback from customers who may have tried other solutions that they’re still not satisfied. They want a true production machine that can go out, survive a whole heavy-duty cycle on the performance side, and live up to their expectations — and they’re still not getting it. They’re quite excited over the Cat solution coming.”

And, the company’s Commercial Mining Manager for Technology, Randy Schoepke, is not concerned about undeground electrification eradicating the automation business case, expecting electrification to be a step toward making machines easier to automate.

In fact, the first battery electric machine to be introduced will be equipped for Command for underground, Cat said. This is the Cat® system for semi-autonomous and remote operation of underground loaders.

MineSense welcomes ABB unit to register in latest equity financing

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Caterpillar, Mitsubishi Corp and ABB Technology Ventures have bought into MineSense Technologies’ real-time, sensor-based ore data and sorting solutions for large-scale mines in its latest equity raising.

The $18 million oversubscribed financing will be used to help commercialise the company’s digital offering and expand into key mining regions worldwide, MineSense said.

MineSense calls itself a pioneer in Industrial Internet of Things solutions, with its fast, scalable, and robust mineral sensing platform creating “transformational value by providing precise, accurate, real-time grade control and ore routing decisions at the point of extraction for maximum resource conversion and metal recovery”.

This technology can also reduce CO2 emissions and the consumption of wear materials, energy, water and reagents during the whole mining process, according to the company.

This is the second time Cat has invested in MineSense, with Cat’s Director of Mining Technology, Jim Hawkins, saying such technology could have a significant impact on the bottom line for mining companies.

“We are very pleased with the progress MineSense has made in the last 18 months to introduce its innovative technology and are excited to support the company into the next stage,” he said.

Mitsubishi Corp has provided support to MineSense since its late 2017 $4 million debt investment, converted to equity in this round, while this is a first investment for ABB’s strategic venture capital unit.

Brandon Spencer, Managing Director of Business Unit Process Industries at ABB, said the company was excited by the direct impact the MineSense technology may provide to its customers.

The financing also included existing investors Aurus Ventures, Chrysalix Venture Capital and Cycle Capital.

The British Columbia-based company says its system is the only one that can work with run-of-mine at “commercially relevant throughput”.

The MineSense ShovelSense™ system is designed for extreme environment conditions and to be easily retrofittable on any existing mobile equipment. The system comes equipped with a human machine interface that provides the operator with full information, including the ore type, within each dig cycle. It can also connect directly to fleet management or other existing control software systems.

The main application of ShovelSense is at the open-pit dig face or underground hauling point. It is equally effective working in stockpiles and in blending where mobile equipment is used, MineSense says.

Teck partnered with MineSense for the first full scale trial of the bucket-mounted ShovelSense technology in 2017 at its Highland Valley Copper Operations in British Columbia. The sensors are now in use on one shovel, and additional shovels could be considered for later in 2018.

MineSense’s BeltSense™ system can be operated in bulk, semi-bulk or particle sorting mode. Its typical use is post primary crushing prior to the mill, but it also has mill applications such as in the pebble circuit. BeltSense is also highly effective in blending operations, according to the company.

BeltSense can be used sequentially and in conjunction with ShovelSense to maximise the ore concentrating impact, taking a first cut at the haul point and second further downstream.

In addition to this recent financing, MineSense closed a $19 million equity deal in February 2017.

WR820 underground water truck receives RCT Control Master treatment

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RCT and Tasmania-based Caterpillar OEM Elphinstone have again teamed up to provide a custom Control Master® portable teleremote solution for a client in Indonesia.

RCT Custom will apply this technology to an Elphinstone-manufactured WR820 articulated underground water truck; the second time it has done so for the same client.

The portable teleremote solution works by using cameras on board the machine to relay vision of its movements to the operator, who can then oversee the machine via remote control.

The machine’s tramming and the articulation of the water cannon mounted on the crane can be controlled by RCT using looms and hydraulics installed and manufactured by Elphinstone to RCT specifications.

RCT said: “This wasn’t a straight forward installation, hence why RCT Custom was tasked with the job.”