Tag Archives: copper

Concor Infrastructure closes in on Khoemacu copper-silver project milestones

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Concor Infrastructure says it is nearing completion of a 35 km access road for the Khoemacau Copper Silver Starter project in the Kalahari region of Botswana.

The company is at the same time also busy with constructing a parallel haul road, as well as conducting earthworks and concrete civils at the Khoemacau Boseto processing plant.

The Khoemacau copper project, in the central Kalahari copper belt, is developing underground operations at its flagship Zone 5 deposit. The mine plan involves three adjacent underground mines at Zone 5, each producing over 1.2 Mt/y in their first five years of production.

The haul road in question will allow mineralised material to be trucked 35 km from Zone 5 to the Boseto processing facility, while the access road will be used by light vehicles. After processing at Boseto, the mineral concentrate will be shipped out for smelting.

Good progress has been made on construction of the access road according to Jay Juganan, Contracts Director at Concor Infrastructure. The contract for both the access and haul roads was awarded in November 2018.

“The access road was little more than a sand track when we established on site and was accessible only by 4×4 vehicles,” Juganan says. “Essentially, we are creating a corridor for both roads in parallel, and for the powerlines to be installed by another contractor.”

The planning of the haul road also had to consider the large and ancient Baobab trees that are common in the area. Preservation of these trees is a vital imperative, requiring the haul road to be diverted on occasion to avoid about half a dozen Baobabs, which are hundreds of years old.

The access road is 90% complete and due for completion in the September quarter. The haul road is also expected to be completed next quarter, the company said.

Road construction comprises a 600 mm deep cut filled with pioneer crushed rock followed by a G3 sub base and base layer. In some areas, the crushed rock is replaced by a natural calcrete.

The wearing course is a 9/19 mm double seal, according to Concor, which had to crush all aggregate on site from the old mine waste rock stockpile at Boseto.

Concor Infrastructure Contracts Manager, Tiaan Krugel, said the remote location of the site and the dry conditions are among the key challenges encountered on this project.

“The sourcing and timing of the supply of equipment, parts and construction material required careful and detailed planning,” Krugel says. “The majority had to come from the capital Gaborone – 900 km away – with the other challenge being that most of our equipment OEMs are based in Johannesburg, which is more than 1,300 km from site.”

The scope of Concor’s work at the Boseto process plant, the contract of which was awarded in November 2019, includes earthworks and concrete civils to the existing and for the new process plant structures for the crushing, milling, flotation and concentrate handling circuits. The plant had previously treated material from an open-pit copper mining operation at Boseto, under the ownership of a different company.

Krugel highlighted the challenges of working with concrete on a remote site, especially where temperatures can reach over 40°C during working hours.

“A special concrete mix was designed to accommodate on-site conditions,” he said. “This includes the use of admixtures to prolong the concrete’s workability as well as having to chill the water we use before it is added to the cement and aggregates.”

In addition to the refurbishment and upgrading work at Boseto, Concor has also contributed to preparing the infrastructure at the Zone 5 mining site, where underground development is underway.

The work included all internal roads at the Zone 5 mine, terracing for the 650-person accommodation camp, the mine administration surface infrastructure area, the mine workshops and stores area and the explosives magazine together with construction of the ROM pads.

The Khoemacau Starter project expects to produce 62,000 t of copper and 1.9 Moz of silver each year over its planned life of more than 20 years, according to the company.

“Despite the restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw a reduction of staff numbers on site due to individual choices, we are working hard to ensure that program schedules will be met,” Juganan said.

K92 Mining continues to add new equipment at expanding Kainantu gold mine

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K92 Mining, despite the onset of COVID-19, has made significant progress on its plans to increase production at its Kainantu gold mine in Papua New Guinea.

In March 2020, Kainantu achieved a major milestone, commencing the first long hole stope using the modified AVOCA method. This method is ideal for narrow vein/lens higher-grade stopes and can provide higher tonnages through continuous fill and blasting, as well as improved dilution control, according to the company.

The commencement of this new mining method is significant since previous mining has been exclusively from lower productivity and higher-cost development and cut and fill stoping, K92 said.

The first stope was from the K1 Vein and, to date, long hole stoping activities have performed in-line with design and have been increasing, providing a notable positive impact on operational flexibility, the company added.

Mining operations, which have been expanding in line with the 2019 decision to expand throughput to 400,000 t/y, from 200,000 t/y, have also benefited from further additions to the mining fleet.

The Papua New Guinea COVID-19 State of Emergency declared on March 20, 2020, saw limited impact to freight, with the arrival of a third Sandvik LH517i underground LHD loader with AutoMine® capabilities, a third CAT AD45B 45 t underground truck and two Terex Articulated surface haul trucks, since its declaration. The Government of Papua New Guinea ended the COVID-19 State of Emergency on June 16, resulting in a further easing of some of the restrictions, particularly around domestic movement.

“The equipment joins a significantly expanded and modernised fleet since the decision to proceed with the Stage 2 Expansion on March 13, 2019,” K92 said.

Back in January, the company said it expected a Sandvik DS421 cable bolter to arrive this quarter, alongside a modular batching plant. The company said earlier this month that this unit (pictured), as well as three new and high powered diamond drill rigs were in transit to the mine.

Twin incline activities have recently recommenced at Kainantu with the easing of restrictions from the state of emergency. Ground support for the portal is also underway, with portalling and the installation of steel sets expected to commence in the first half of the September quarter, the company said.

The process plant, meanwhile, has achieved multiple daily throughput records during the June quarter, significantly exceeding the 200,000 t/y, or circa-550 t/d nameplate capacity, with over 700 t/d achieved on multiple occasions.

“The strong performance of the process plant and underground mine to date are expected to result in gold-equivalent production exceeding March quarter output,” the company said.

The March quarter saw K92 produce 19,240 oz of gold, 339,993 lb (154 t) of copper and 6,937 oz of silver for a total of 19,934 gold-equivalent ounces, representing the second highest quarter on record. Gold-equivalent production in 2019 was 82,256 oz, with 115,000-125,000 oz of gold-equivalent scheduled in 2020.

Preparations are also being made to recommence Stage 2 process plant commissioning in the near term, to double plant throughput capacity to 400,000 t/y. All the equipment is installed, and commissioning is expected to commence in first half of the September quarter, with completion targeted at the end of that three-month period, K92 said.

John Lewins, K92 Chief Executive Officer and Director, added that a Stage 3 Expansion preliminary economic assessment is planned for July.

OZ Minerals to use SIMEC Mining’s Whyalla Port for Carrapateena concentrate exports

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OZ Minerals has become the first company to sign a long-term port services contract with SIMEC Mining’s Whyalla Port, in South Australia.

The pact will see OZ ship copper concentrate from its new Carrapateena mine from the port.

The port in Whyalla currently serves SIMEC’s haematite and magnetite iron ore mines as well as the Liberty steelmaking facilities in the same location (all part of the GFG Alliance). The facility handles both the loading of vessels with export-bound ore, as well as the inbound handling of raw materials, storage and blending of iron ore, according to SIMEC Mining.

SIMEC Mining Executive Managing Director, Matt Reed, said the three-year contract was the first major deal the business had secured.

“We’ve stated for some time that our port is open for business, and the last few years have demonstrated that through the number and variety of trials we’ve undertaken,” he said. This includes wind farm transport and the current ship deconstruction, scrapping and recycling project utilising the old shipyard slipway, the company explained.

Reed continued: “To take that to the next level and secure an ongoing contract is testament to our increased capability; and an exciting step in the evolution of the Whyalla Port.”

The contract will see secure containers of copper concentrate trucked from the mine – located about 165 km north of Port Augusta – to the Whyalla Port for consolidation. The concentrate will then be shipped out in 5,000-10,000 t cargoes, with annual shipments gradually increasing in conjunction with the ramp up of the mine.

In its March quarter report, OZ Minerals said Carrapateena was expected to produce 20,000-25,000 t of copper and 35,000-45,000 oz of gold in the 2020 financial year to the end of the June. It added that the plant ramp-up was ahead of schedule with a five-day continuous period at 12,000 t/d nameplate capacity achieved in March.

According to SIMEC Mining, strict environmental controls are in place including sprays to manage dust – with the state government and EPA consulted and engaged prior to providing the necessary approvals.

OZ Minerals’ Chief Financial Officer, Warrick Ranson, said: “We were really excited to hear that SIMEC had opened its port to third parties, and it has made a significant difference for us in reducing transport times.

“We are impressed with the capability SIMEC has managed to develop through the facility in recent years and look forward to partnering with them to deliver our product to market.”

While initially a three‐year contract, Reed is hopeful the agreement can be extended to reflect the overall life of the mine.

“This contract justifies our investment in the port – particularly the installation of our state‐of‐the‐art mobile harbour crane – as this wouldn’t have been possible with our old facilities,” he said.

“We will be able to transport this material safely, efficiently and with a high standard of environmental care; and expect our performance to lead to further long-term contracts in the near future.”

AGQ Labs wins environmental monitoring contract with Minera Chinalco

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AGQ Labs has won a contract to carry out environmental sample analysis services for Minera Chinalco Perú SA over the next three years.

Minera Chinalco owns the Toromocho open-pit copper mine in the Morococha district of Peru, situated 4,500 m above sea level. Toromocho will produce 1 Mt/y of copper concentrate, 10,000 t/y of molybdenum and 4 Moz/y of silver oxide, according to the company’s website.

Minera Chinalco is a subsidiary of Aluminum Corporation of China, the second largest alumina producer in the world and the third largest producer of primary aluminium.

The purpose of the AGQ Labs contract is to analyse environmental samples during the next three years in various environmental matrices, including:

  • Surface waters, in this matrix, will be determined in accordance with the environmental quality standards (ECAs), looking at, among other parameters, run of total metals, anions, cyanide, microbiological and hydrobiological, volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile, organochlorine pesticides, phosphors, carbamates and polychlorinated biphenyls;
  • Groundwater, among other parameters, will be analysed for metals, anions, cyanides, COD, microbiological elements;
  • Domestic and industrial wastewater, in accordance with the applicable legislation for the sector, will be analysed for, among other parameters, metals, anions, cyanides, coliforms, etc;
  • Drinking water, complying with 100% of DS 031-2010.SA, will be looked at for microbiological and parasitological, organoleptic, volatile, semi-volatile organic compounds, pesticides and alpha and beta radiation;
  • Air quality will be determined according to the applicable ECAs, among others PM10, PM2.5 particulate material, metals, gases and others;
  • Characterisation of soils – cover or top soil – where the study of agronomic characterisation, metal run, and others of relevance for the purpose will be made;
  • Soils and sediments, in order to verify compliance with the applicable ECAs, will be analysed for metal, hydrocarbons in the three fractions, volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, and other elements;
  • For environmental geochemistry, an ABA Test, and others will be determined;
  • Characterisation of mining waste, applying the current standard in accordance with the EPA standard and others, for flammability, corrosivity, reactivity, toxicity and pathogenicity. According to the test results, a judgment will be issued about the associated risk; and
  • Environmental monitoring of air quality parameters, electromagnetic radiation and day and night environmental noise will be examined in accordance with current regulations.

In this sense, Minera Chinalco is entrusting to AGQ Labs a specialised service for the monitoring and analysis of environmental samples, according to its experience and national accreditation, the company said.

Lundin Mining enlists Ausenco for plant expansion optimisation study at Chapada

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Less than a year after acquiring the Chapada copper-gold operation from Yamana Gold, Lundin Mining is eyeing up a plant expansion at the Brazil mine.

The company has enlisted Ausenco to carry out a feasibility study to evaluate the optimisation of the current copper-gold processing plant from 24 Mt/y to 26 Mt/y, Ausenco confirmed.

In addition, Ausenco is to undertake trade-off studies to determine optimum plant expansion scenarios for a future expansion.

Prior to Lundin Mining acquiring the mine in July 2019, previous owner Yamana had been studying plant expansion opportunities to increase the processing rate to a range from 28 Mt/y to 32 Mt/y, Lundin Mining says. The relocation of some plant infrastructure to allow the push-back of the pit wall for the development of the Sucupira orebody was also being studied.

The processing facility at Chapada comprises a single-line plant designed to treat sulphide ores at a current capacity of around 65,000 t/d, or 24 Mt/y, with the conventional crush, grind and flotation process producing a gold-rich copper concentrate.

Lundin Mining expects Chapada to produce 51,000-56,000 t of copper in concentrate in 2020, along with 85,000-90,000 oz of gold in concentrate.

MineWare goes remote for latest Argus and Pegasys deployments

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MineWare has been ramping up its remote deployment offering during these challenging times, with the Komatsu-owned company’s local teams recently helping a major copper mine in Chile set up its Argus monitoring system on five of its electric rope shovels without stepping foot on site.

The company is focused on helping its customers stay operational and keep safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, and CEO, Jason Fisher, said the company’s ability to adapt and innovate had proven key to finding new and different ways to meet customers’ needs in the field given numerous virus-related constraints.

“Remote monitoring, service and support is a fundamental part of our business. It’s what we know and what we do best,” he said.

“During the pandemic, we’ve pushed the boundaries of these capabilities to help our customers protect their workforce while continuing to drive forward productivity and efficiency.

“Our local field support teams around the world have transitioned to deliver more services remotely, thinking outside the box to perform tasks traditionally delivered on the ground, like the deployment of new systems.”

Fisher said innovation, collaboration and communication have been critical success factors in helping customers adapt to the changing environment.

Referencing the Argus deployment at the Chile copper mine, he said: “Calibrating multiple systems, for the first time virtually, was a historic achievement, made possible by the collective efforts of our remote teams working in close partnership with customer teams in the field.”

Argus, an advanced monitoring system for electric and hydraulic loaders, is designed to manage payload, mine compliance, machine health and situational awareness.

The company’s North American team has also recently been successful in completing its first 100% remote Pegasys dragline system calibration, with instruction to and assistance from the customer, Fisher added.

Pegasys is, MineWare says, an advanced payload and mine compliance monitoring system for draglines that enables mine sites to establish best operator practice.

Fisher believes there will be increased demand from the global mining industry for innovative solutions that facilitate greater connections between remote and in-field workers.

“As we start to see many of the large mining companies return to normal rosters, workforce safety and connectedness will drive continued demand for digital technologies and remote service offerings,” he said.

“The industry needs interoperable, OEM-agnostic solutions that improve the flow and visibility of information between equipment, systems and people – to make operations safer, more effective and more productive.”

Orion settles on SAG milling and water treatment at Prieska Cu-Zn project

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Two significant engineering changes have had a positive impact on the expected returns from Orion Minerals’ Prieska copper-zinc project in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.

Issuing an updated bankable feasibility study (BFS) for a proposed new 2.4 Mt/y copper and zinc mining operation earlier this week, the company said there had been “numerous improvements” on the previous study completed in June 2019.

This included a 43% increase in post-tax undiscounted free cash flows from the project to A$1.2 billion ($798 million); a 36% increase in after-tax net present value (8% discount rate) to A$552 million; and a five-month reduction in the capital payback period to 2.4 years.

In the plant, the major changes include the use of SAG milling, and removal of secondary crushing, screening and rock conveyors.

The use of a SAG and ball milling circuit followed by differential flotation removes the need for multiple stages of crushing – which was included in the previous study.

The new plan envisages a high steel charged SAG mill operating in an open circuit with a secondary ball mill operated in a closed circuit with a classification cyclone cluster. The SAG mill trommel screen oversize feeds a pebble crushing circuit which returns crushed product to the SAG mill feed conveyor, the company said.

The milling circuit, meanwhile, is fed with (F100) 250 mm primary crushed material from the primary stockpile at a throughput rate of 300 t/h and produces a product size of 70% passing 75 μm, which is fed to the differential flotation circuit.

In a presentation, Orion stated that the processing plant costs from the 2019 study to the latest BFS had dropped 16% to A$91 million.

The next big change was a different de-watering philosophy of the old workings of Prieska, with the BFS including a new water treatment route. This resulted in a 30% decrease in the shaft dewatering timeline, it said.

The Hutchings Shaft and underground workings at Prieska are currently filled with water to a depth of 310 m below surface and contain a volume of 8.6 Mcu.m of water.

Dewatering of the workings via a pumping system to be installed in the Hutchings Shaft is now planned, with water being pumped into a 1 Mcu.m volume dewatering dam on surface, from where mechanical evaporators and a reverse osmosis water treatment plant will be used to dispose of and treat the water for discharge into the environment.

The use of water treatment supplements mechanical evaporation, which allows the pumping schedule to be accelerated by four months, Orion said. “Furthermore, the Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation stipulated as part of the IWUL (Repli Integrated Water Use Licence) application process that provision be made for a portion of the dewatered volume to be made available for social, commercial or agricultural use in the locality.”

Forced evaporation is planned to be used as the primary means to dispose of the water with the water treatment plant (WTP) as the secondary means to treat and then discharge treated water into the environment as irrigation water.

Forced evaporation requires the use of a large evaporation dam, according to Orion, which impacts environmental considerations when compared with the small footprint required by the WTP.

“This is mitigated through the early construction of the tailings storage facility (TSF) which serves a dual purpose for early project phase dewatering and later as a TSF during the operational life of the mine,” the company said.

These actions, in addition to prioritising the extraction of higher grade (and confidence) mineral resources earlier in the mine schedule, helped significantly improve the project return economics, according to Orion.

While the changes also came with a 9% increase in peak funding requirements to A$413 million to cater for the operational improvements, it would also see 20% more payable copper produced – 226,000 t – and 17% more payable zinc produced – 680,000 t – over the 12-year mine life.

Orion’s Managing Director and CEO, Errol Smart, said: “With the Prieska BFS update now complete, the development of the Prieska project is ideally positioned to play a vital role in the local economic recovery plan for the Northern Cape region.

“The project’s low exposure to imported materials and foreign labour reduces construction challenges as the world overcomes and recovers from COVID-19.”

Smart added that the company was targeting a production start-up in 2024 as market conditions permitted.

Los Andes Copper addressing Vizcachitas project energy and water needs in PFS

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Los Andes Copper has ideas on adding to the number of large open-pit mines in Chile’s copper industry with the development of its Vizcachitas project, but it is eyeing up a different route to many of them that includes the use of energy-efficient HPGR technology and dry-stacked tailings.

In an update on its pending prefeasibility study (PFS), the company said it was re-evaluating the conceptual plan it laid out in its June 2019 preliminary economic assessment, which envisaged a base case 110,000 t/d operation using a SAG mill grinding circuit and thickened tailings dam.

The PFS is currently underway and areas of work being advanced include processing, the tailings facility, infrastructure, geology, the mine plan, environmental and social and community engagement, it said.

While delaying some of the metallurgical test work and field work, the current COVID-19 situation had not impacted the progress of the main engineering study, according to Los Andes. “All employees and subcontractors are working from home where possible and only a small group of individuals are working to prepare samples in the company’s Santiago core storage area,” it said.

The full PFS is not expected until the March quarter of 2021, but the company did outline some engineering leaps it has made since the PEA publication.

It said test work had shown that a HPGR circuit is feasible for the project and could provide “enhanced project economics with lower energy consumption and increased operating flexibility”.

The PEA outlined a SAG and ball mill crushing circuit with a target grind size of P80 (240 microns), but the more recent test work had shown room for an alternative with a three-stage crushing circuit using secondary crushers in open circuit and HPGR as a tertiary crusher in closed circuit. This circuit would target a grind size of P80 between 240-300 microns, the company said.

Such a change would avoid the use of a coarse ore stockpile, reduce energy consumption, reduce maintenance, and reduce the project footprint, it said.

HPGRs have previously been used at Chile mining operations, including the Compañía Minera del Pacífico-owned Mina Los Colorados iron ore mine and KGHM’s majority-owned Sierra Gorda operation.

Los Andes clarified: “HPGR technology has been identified as the most attractive grinding alternative given the data obtained from the preliminary test work conducted to date.”

The next big advance was made on the tailings side, with the company saying test work had shown that the project is amenable to filtering and dry-stacked tailings.

“This change would significantly reduce the project’s water consumption, footprint and environmental impact,” it said. It would also, one would expect, provide a much smoother environmental permitting route for Vizcachitas considering the negative sentiment surrounding thickened tailings dams in the industry.

There are knock-on benefits to this move too, with the reduced footprint required for dry-stacked tailings meaning all project infrastructure could fit into one operating complex in the Rocin Valley of Chile, around 150 km northeast of Santiago. The PEA previously outlined the use of infrastructure in both the Rocin Valley and the Chalaco Valley.

The preliminary filtration circuit Los Andes is working with shows the coarse fraction (87% of total tailings) could be filtered in belt filters, with the fine fraction (13%) filtered in pressure filters.

Recent studies on other dry-stack tailings project have tended to use either belt filters or pressure filters, but Los Andes said the combination of the two added flexibility to the tailings filtration operation at Vizcachitas and reduced operational risks due to variability of the finer fraction in tailings.

This would see the company require 12 belt filters and three filter presses for the 110,000 t/d copper-molybdenum operation.

According to the company, dry-stacked tailings would:

  • Reduce water consumption by around 50%;
  • Reduce the project’s footprint;
  • Be better suited for areas of high seismic activity;
  • Be transported by trucks or conveyors;
  • Eliminate the need for a traditional dam wall; and
  • Reduce the environmental risk by avoiding contact with ground water.

Euro Sun Mining taps SENET for Rovina Valley project DFS

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Euro Sun Mining says it has given DRA Group’s SENET the task of delivering a definitive feasibility study on the Rovina Valley Project, in Romania.

SENET, a leading project management and engineering firm in the field of mineral processing, has completed in excess of 200 projects and facilities, as well as over 300 studies, in which the scope of work has included a variety of mineral/metallurgical process plants, crushing and screening plants and bulk materials handling facilities for mining and industrial applications, according to Euro Sun.

The engineering firm will oversee and consolidate studies from a number of industry experts to fast-track the study in order for Euro Sun to be able to start construction on its Rovina Mining License, Euro Sun said, adding that the study is expected to be completed by year end.

A February 2019 preliminary economic assessment on Rovina, which factored in only circa-29% of total mineral resources, estimated average annual production of 139,000 oz of gold-equivalent over a 12-year mine life. This came with a capital expenditure bill of $339.7 million, including $264 million for a central plant built for all three deposits.

The company is targeting an 18-year mine life, with initial capital expenditure in line with the PEA, in this updated study.

Darren Naylor, Managing Director of SENET, said: “We are excited to be awarded the study on such an exciting project and are very excited about the prospect of supporting Euro Sun in delivering a world-class study. We believe that our track record in delivering projects on time and within budget will be mutually beneficial to SENET and Euro Sun and we look forward to a long and rewarding partnership.”

Sam Rasmussen, Chief Operating Officer of Euro Sun, said: “We are very pleased to have SENET on board. SENET has time and again delivered projects in remote countries, with logistical and cross-border challenges, and this is the type of expertise we require to take Rovina to the ‘ready for construction’ phase. SENET has a reputation for delivering projects on time and within budget and this is why we have appointed them on this project.”

Epiroc Pit Vipers pass automation test at Boliden Aitik

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To help increase productivity, efficiency, and safety at its Aitik copper mine, in Sweden, Boliden has looked to leverage advances in autonomous drilling.

The mine has plans to raise production at the open-pit copper mine to 45 Mt/y this year, from 36 Mt/y previously.

To meet this target, Boliden needed to increase production from its fleet of five Epiroc Pit Vipers at the operation, the mining OEM said.

“The traditional and obvious solution would be to invest in additional Pit Vipers,” Epiroc said. Instead, Boliden looked to see if utilising automation and operating its fleet with teleremote, and semi-autonomous single-row Pit Vipers, could provide the needed boost.

“One reason to convert to remote and autonomous operations is the opportunity to reduce non-drilling time, increase utilisation and gain productivity,” Epiroc said.

Aitik is one of Europe’s largest mines with a massive pit visible from space, according to the equipment maker.

Peter Palo, Project Manager at Boliden Aitik, explained: “Its depth is 450 m and it has a width of several kilometres, requiring 15-20 minutes of driving time for operators to travel to and from the surface level. There is also a satellite mine even further away. Lunch breaks in production can last for an hour.”

Another factor taken into consideration is the harsh arctic winter climate, with snowstorms and biting cold that reduces visibility, and increases the need for safe workplace conditions. Both Boliden and Epiroc were curious to see whether automated Pit Vipers could handle these conditions, Epiroc remarked.

The first step in this transition was to perform a test with one of the Pit Vipers, converting and upgrading the machine for remote operation.

A meeting room in the mine office building was converted into a temporary control room, and the WLAN in the pit was updated and fortified to increase coverage and bandwidth.

Boliden staff were trained to operate the Pit Vipers by remote control, with the primary key performance indicators yielding positive results, according to Epiroc. On top of this, the Pit Viper automation technology received positive feedback from the operators.

Fredrik Lindström, Product Manager Automation at Epiroc, said: “There’s more to converting to automated operations than you’d think. To enjoy the full advantages of automation, you have to systematically change and improve routines, adapting them to the new processes. The lion’s share of the work involves getting people to change their habits to reach the common goal.

“Boliden has done a tremendous job laying the groundwork for the necessary process changes.”

The next step involved converting the other four Pit Vipers for remote operation while upgrading the first Pit Viper to handle single-row autonomous operation. The automation, in this case, entails the operator initiating the process, leaving the Pit Viper to drill a whole row of blast holes on its own and moving autonomously between drill holes. Once the row is completed, the operator moves and prepares the machine for the next row of holes.

Comparing the semi-autonomous single row Pit Viper with a fully manually operated machine, under optimal conditions, Boliden has measured a utilisation increase from 45-50% to 80%, as well as a 30% increase in productivity, Epiroc said.

Palo said: “We’re very pleased with the results, which is why we’re converting the rest of the Pit Viper fleet to remote operation as a step towards further automation.”

The operators handled the transition to remote operations exceptionally well, Epiroc said, explaining that the onsite operations control system was designed to mimic the Epiroc Pit Viper onboard controls with the same configuration.

Palo added: “We’ve been running by remote for a year now, and everyone is happy.

“Some of the operators were wary about learning to use the technology, but that settled quickly. They appreciate working together in a control room in the office building. It’s a better work environment, easier to exchange experiences and socialise.

“Handling the winter climate was also a cinch, despite heavy snowfalls and low temperatures for days on end. Even the laser-based Obstacle Detection System coped splendidly during snowfall. The automated systems seem to withstand arctic conditions very well.”