Tag Archives: COVID-19

MICROMINE makes a software splash at Diggers & Dealers

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With Western Australia one of MICROMINE’s key markets for its Micromine and Pitram products, it is hardly surprising the software leader chose this week’s Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum in Kalgoorlie to reveal a host of new updates for the 3D modelling and mine design/mine production and fleet tracking solutions.

Across the company’s product suite, MICROMINE has been readily engaging with customers throughout the world, with users providing feedback to form its product roadmaps.

One of the results of this consultation process is a move to a six-monthly release cycle to enable its software to grow and adapt with clients’ operations.

Another is providing networking options to expand usage of its software across a wider number of users – the free Micromine Effects reader enabling anyone to view, share and interrogate Micromine output files without needing access to a full software licence.

“We’ve also introduced subscription offerings which our customers have quickly adopted because they provide a flexible and scalable option for large teams to access more functionality across our product suite, with less upfront cost compared to the traditional perpetual model,” Adam Brew, MICROMINE Australia Manager, told IM.

Shifting any capex item to the opex column is bound to go down well with the mining community, as MICROMINE has shown.

Having occurred in August 2019, the move led to almost nine months straight of subscription-only sales, according to Brew. “It surpassed our expectations,” he said. “The ability to have a subscription model allowed us to then launch the Free April campaign.”

The “Free April” campaign – which saw MICROMINE offer miners complimentary access to its general mining Micromine package during April as COVID-19 started to bite – led to around 4,000 new people interacting with the software, according to Brew.

MICROMINE has been busy on updates during the pandemic, but it has also delivered its first fully remote implementation of Pitram at a mine operation in Greece, leveraging the experience from its global Pitram support desk to fully deploy a Pitram FMS and Material Management solution.

This Greek project is well advanced with Pitram playing a crucial role in a major refurbishment and expansion of existing operations. The solution at the mine is aimed at helping improve development and production mining cycles; accurately track materials from source to processing; provide Online Analytical Processing reporting and analysis; enhance reactions to, and minimise the impact of, unplanned events; and increase equipment availability and utilisation.

Yet, those attending the MICROMINE booth at Diggers & Dealers this week will have even more to talk about.

Something new

“Micromine 2021 is scheduled for release later this year and attendees of Diggers and Dealers will be the first to get a pre-release reveal of our flagship software offering,” Brew said.

Australia, in particular, has bucked global trends in terms of exploration expenditure, and the Micromine value proposition has been central to the company capitalising on this resurgence in exploration activities, according to Brew.

It is no wonder then that the company has put significant efforts into updating its flagship product.

“The first thing clients will notice is a completely redesigned user interface that provides easier access to the critical functions of the software, transforming the whole user experience with responsive design and efficient workflows,” Brew said.

Delivering this transformation has been a focal point for the business for more than a year, according to Brew, with developers reviewing customer requests most commonly received from the support team, analysing how users work with the array of Micromine functionality, and modelling interface scenarios to optimise the presentation of key functions within the software.

“By providing easier access to these functions and a smart interface that responds contextually, Micromine 2021 anticipates and supports workflows in a genuinely intuitive way,” Brew said.

The Micromine update has more than a new look.

It also includes new tools for importing and working with as-drilled drill-hole data, Brew explains.

These provide faster and more intuitive control over underground ring drill and blast design – also a focus of the earlier Micromine 2020.5 update – enabling designs to quickly adapt to changes in the field, identifying drilling inefficiencies and improving design protocols.

“We are also introducing intuitive tools that mirror the terrain of a blast face and speed up the process of creating blast-hole patterns within the bounds of the dig block,” Brew said. “Users will be able to accommodate polygons/blast masters of varying shapes, reducing the need for manual adjustment.”

The new grade control capabilities in Micromine 2021 provide dynamic updating of grade control reports to enable faster design preparation and reserve evaluation, according to Brew. This can allow miners to explore variations in dig block configuration and evaluate the ramifications of design changes on the grade – a function bound to appeal to opex-focused companies mining complex orebodies.

An integrated scheduler, meanwhile, enables planners to build and visualise an optimised schedule through configurable templates, scripting capabilities and scenarios built from real-world constraints, Brew said.

While the new and intuitive interface is likely to capture the immediate attention of users, MICROMINE has evidently not scrimped on updated and upgraded features.

Getting to the core

With the release of Pitram 4.17 earlier this year, there were improvements to the Materials Movement and Shift Planner modules, but Pitram 5, to be released later this year, goes above and beyond that.

“Stockpile management is now part of your end-to-end process and not managed as isolated assets within Pitram,” Brew says of Pitram 5. Geologists can work with data up- and down-stream to manage and react to material mismatches. Such data validation and accuracy is key to the value proposition Pitram drives in MICROMINE’s global implementations, according to Brew.

“Pitram is at the core of any mining operations ecosystem,” he said. “Our ability to accurately track Last Source, Destination Moved, Quantity and Grade as well as set individual depletion models across the various stockpiles across the mine, makes it a more flexible offering while maintaining data integrity.”

This near real-time tracking ability has previously failed on occasion from connectivity issues.

Not anymore.

“Pitram 5 is a huge leap forward in how we deploy our solution from a connectivity point of view,” Brew said. “Many of the mines we work with have limited or varying degrees of underground Wi-Fi and communications available. Our Peer to Peer solution bridges the gap where communication back to the server is not available at the face, for example.”

The Peer to Peer software can be installed on light vehicles which move around the mine encountering heavy equipment and collecting data in areas of no network coverage before moving back to a Wi-Fi-enabled area to sync the data back to the main server and into the control room. This allows miners developing new areas of their operation to keep up the communications flow without the need to immediately install or expand a communication network.

Such a solution has been successfully deployed at several sites globally, with Independence Group’s Nova nickel operation, in Western Australia, being the company’s reference site.

“Additionally, we have driven more R&D in how we can better leverage our Pitram Restful Integration Service (PRIS) to communicate shift planning data back to the shift bosses and mine managers in near real time,” Brew said.

The free Pitram Connect application, downloadable from the Apple or Google Play store, will show users real-time shift data as well as give them the ability to make updates to the shift, such as equipment or location allocations.

“Our ability to deliver on short interval control is a common requirement we are measured against and providing this planner to key users underground unlocks considerable value for an operation,” Brew said.

Pitram 5’s machine-learning update in the 2021 release leverages the company’s learnings from earlier deployments at some Central Asia mines.

“Utilising the processes of computer vision and deep machine learning, on-board cameras are placed on loaders to track variables such as loading time, hauling time, dumping time and travelling empty time,” he said. “The video feed is processed on the Pitram vehicle computer edge device, with the extracted information then transferred to Pitram servers for processing.”

Reflecting on the product updates and more than six months of pandemic-affected upheaval, Brew concluded: “Our business is extremely fortunate to have powered on through the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’ve worked hard to maintain our renowned ability to work, support and deploy our solutions remotely.

“Diggers & Dealers is the pre-eminent event for the Australian region of our business, with representation from all our customers, so it represents a fantastic opportunity to show how we continue to drive value to our existing customer base as well as connect with new customers.”

Microsoft mixed reality tech keeps BHP’s Pilbara sites on track

Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

BHP, through the deployment of mixed reality Microsoft HoloLens technology, has managed to keep equipment inspected, serviced and maintained at its iron ore operations in the Pilbara of Western Australia in the face of COVID-19.

Workplace restrictions designed to keep people safe from COVID-19 mean that BHP hasn’t been able to fly people to and from its mine sites as freely as it did in the past.

To get around this issue, it has equipped people like Andrew ‘Woody’ Wood, a Mechanical Fitter with 30 years’ experience under his belt, with HoloLens 2 – a head mounted computer with a see-through display. This has allowed employees like Woody to coach his peers at site, anytime, from anywhere using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist.

Woody is instantly able to see what mechanical fitters at site can see, send them helpful documentation, videos and schematics on the fly, and even use digital ink and arrows to annotate real things in the physical world in order to help them complete tasks and inspections on remote sites, Microsoft says.

For Alex Bertram, Digital Products Manager at BHP, the rollout of the technology was accelerated by BHP’s ability to innovate during the COVID-19 pandemic, with strong support from its partnership with Microsoft.

Safety, speed and smarts

“Using mixed reality in its day-to-day operations is one of a series of innovations that BHP is undertaking to keep its people safe and its productivity up,” Microsoft says.

Dash Maintainer Tools, developed by BHP’s maintenance and innovation teams, allow front line personnel to securely collect data from machinery remotely, avoiding the potential risks associated with manually checking dials or taking readings from heavy mobile equipment such as trucks, excavators, drills and dozers.

Leveraging IoT sensors and industrial computers connected to Azure the Dash solution gets data into the hands of maintenance technicians on their smartphone or tablet, the company says.

“Productivity and safety go hand in hand and are guiding lights for BHP and its innovation efforts,” Microsoft explains. “This focus enabled the team to have the first version of Dash in the field on a 400 t excavator within 16 weeks of it being an idea on a white board.”

To keep its people, families and communities safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, BHP introduced many rigorous measures and controls to reduce the risk of transmission.

This has included limiting numbers at its mine sites to only those required to enable safe operations; anyone who can work from home has done so.

At first, it meant that Bertram couldn’t get his team to the South Flank iron ore development to keep developing the Dash tool at the same velocity. Nor could many other experts who would typically be flown to a mine to set up new equipment, solve a problem or conduct an inspection.

Even so; “Our people on the front line are empowered to try new things to safely get on with the job”, Bertram says.

“During COVID-19, I expected the pace of innovation to slow, but we’ve seen the opposite. People really rally together and are open to trying new things to safely get the job done.”

He had already witnessed the potential of HoloLens and mixed reality, and was convinced that in combination with Dynamics 365 Remote Assist it would allow expertise to be delivered virtually to the teams still working at BHP’s Pilbara operations to support continued development of the Dash Maintainer Tools, Microsoft says.

“Given many of us were working from home due to COVID-19, the first device was delivered to my house to test and by the following week, we’d undertaken trials in our workshop environment in Perth,” Bertram says.

The team were able to test the system on real machinery at BHP’s Innovation Centre Lab, located at the Perth Repair Centre, which provides a safe and controlled environment to trial new technologies and ways of working on mining equipment.

“The following week, we ran a dry run and test at the mine, and five or six days later we supported the installation of the first prototype of Dash Maintainer Tools on a 300 t haul truck,” Bertram said. “A process like that would normally take a few months at least.”

It took less than four weeks from the HoloLens2 arriving at Bertram’s Perth home to it being used to install the first prototype of Dash tool on a Komatsu dump truck in the heart of the Pilbara, according to Microsoft.

The deployment of mixed reality technology has the potential to be rolled out more widely, and deliver safety and productivity benefits long after COVID-19 abates, Microsoft says. And there is further scope in making the physical delivery of equipment to sites more efficient.

“This technology can help us reduce the time and cost associated with regular travel, increase the speed of maintenance and new equipment deployment without compromising safety, and support greater inclusion and diversity,” Bertram said.

Having proven the HoloLens2 solution’s potential, BHP is now running further trials across its rail workshops and maintenance teams in Perth and the Pilbara, and at several other global locations in Australia, the US and Chile, according to Microsoft.

“We are seeing promising early results,” Bertram said. “If those trials are successful, we will look at how we can scale up. We are not getting ahead of ourselves, but we are well placed because the HoloLens2 solution speaks to our existing systems such as security controls, and device management.”

COVID-19: the catalyst for driving sustainability in the metals and mining sector

Automation, Communications in mining, Environmental, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining software, Power supply for mines, Sustainable mining, Water management, , , , , , , , , , , ,

COVID-19 has been a game-changer for many industries, with an inconceivable amount of companies closing or temporarily stopping their work, report Pat Lowery and Dr Nick Mayhew*.

The metals and mining industry has been no exception. By April this year, almost 250 mine sites in 33 countries had been disrupted by the virus with government-mandated shutdowns and hundreds of thousands of workers sent home either because they had contracted the virus or for their safety.

While the global pandemic has proved to be a severe crisis for the mining industry, severe crises force change, and the mining industry has been forced to commit to change and to new goals to survive.

At first, it seemed that companies might give up complying with sustainability and ESG (environment, social and governance) goals. However, the outcome was in fact the opposite. The pandemic has demonstrated that sustainability is now a permanent, key driver across the world, which will not be forgotten by governments nor the private sector.

Pat Lowery is Former Technical Director at De Beers and Group Head at Anglo American

The European Council made this clear by highlighting that it will not abandon its ‘Green Deal’ as part of its fiscal response to COVID-19. While in the US, New York State passed legislation which accelerated the construction of clean energy facilities as a way to spur economic recovery and fight climate change. As for investors, according to the COVID-19 Investor Pulse Check report, published by the Boston Consulting Group in May 2020, 51% of investors say they want CEOs to continue to fully pursue their ESG agenda and priorities.

COVID-19 not only set the records straight on a commitment to sustainability, but it provided a much-needed stimulus to spur the innovation required to achieve this desired goal. The metals and mining sector traditionally had a reputation for being slow to embrace new technologies – it ranked 30th out of 53 sectors in terms of R&D investment in the 2018 Global Innovation Study 1000 – however, it had no option but to react quickly to the crisis.

For instance, BHP created a COVID-19 tracking app and its Atacama mine in Chile developed a tool to remotely check stock levels for critical site materials – ensuring employee safety as well as a quick response.

Now, according to the Axora Insights COVID-19 survey, despite a significant drop in revenue after the pandemic caught the industry off-guard, experts expect the metals and mining sector’s investment in digital innovation to grow about 10% year-on-year. By using innovative technology, the industry will overcome the challenge of converting traditional mines into smart, sustainable ones with social commitment, responsibility and care towards their workers and their rights.

Dr Nick Mayhew is Chief Commercial Officer of Axora

Rio Tinto’s vast iron ore operation in Australia’s Pilbara region, for example, is the world’s largest owner and operator of autonomous trucks, having announced last year that 50% of its entire haulage fleet was automation-ready, providing safer and more cost-efficient sites. In Chile, Teck Resources is using remote smart sensor technology to gather data on the local water and identify hourly fluctuations in water quality, enabling the company to share 24/7 real-time water quality data with the local community. Nornickel in Russia is installing data transmission devices on load-haul-dump vehicles and self-propelled drilling rigs to enable remote-controlled operations, as well as developing drones to take video deep inside the mines and robots for high-quality 3D mine surveying.

Meanwhile, the Borden gold mine in Ontario, Canada, and the Agnew mine, in Western Australia, have faced their environmental challenges head-on by introducing electrification and renewable energy to their sites. The Borden mine’s electric and battery-powered fleet has eliminated diesel emissions completely and is expected to halve the total emissions on site by around 5,000 t of CO² a year. Whilst the Agnew mine met up to 60% of the site’s energy needs by running remote, off-grid operations with solar, gas, wind, and battery power, proving that such operations need not compromise reliability or productivity.

COVID-19 has escalated the need for a more sustainable and resilient metals and mining sector. There is a need to protect in the longer term, for example, against future pandemics, to ensure worker’s safety, to implement rapid recovery systems and to de-risk operations. Shifting global priorities are putting a greater emphasis on health, social and community issues; responsible partnering with the government; and pressure on companies to demonstrate fast and responsive action to current issues.

The global pandemic has provided metals and mining companies with the downtime to improve their innovative solutions and enable ‘smart’ and sustainable mines. From being a vague term, sustainability has become a real goal as COVID-19 has pushed companies to put the priorities and goals in the right order and to drive forward their businesses.

*Pat Lowery is Former Technical Director at De Beers and Group Head at Anglo American, and Dr Nick Mayhew is Chief Commercial Officer of Axora

DuPont Sustainable Solutions and Bleenco team up to protect workers

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DuPont Sustainable Solutions (DSS) has announced a partnership with Bleenco GmbH to, they say, develop advanced, scalable, artificial intelligence-powered solutions to better protect workers from operational risks and COVID-19.

Alexey Lesin, Digital Practice Leader for DSS, said: “We are seeing industrial companies embrace new safety technologies within their operating environments and, in doing so, they are uncovering opportunities to identify individual risks or risky behaviours and transform this into actionable data.

“This has provided companies with unprecedented opportunities to improve the safety of workers, as well as operational workflows by harnessing the insights drawn from this data. The technologies and associated algorithms developed by Bleenco are particularly promising in this regard, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Irman Abdic, CEO of Munich-based Bleenco, said the company’s technologies enable off-the-shelf cameras with advanced, customisable safety automation solutions. “This allows operations leaders to quantify and analyse human behaviour, as well as monitor compliance without compromising privacy. Such insights can help leaders to identify safety risks in real time, and also to uncover opportunities to prevent future incidents.”

Abdic added: “Additionally, this technology is currently being deployed to help companies to detect a key symptom of COVID-19: body temperature. The body scan is fully automated and only takes one second, allowing companies of all industries to limit potential exposure of their front-line workers to the virus.”

Mining companies have been employing such cameras at their operations around the globe to identify potential COVID-19 cases and safeguard their wider workforce.

The partnership agreement between DuPont Sustainable Solutions and Bleenco allows companies to customise, deploy and scale-up the technologies in a quick, sustainable manner, they say.

Lesin concluded: “The combination of this innovative Bleenco technology, with the experience of DuPont Sustainable Solutions in both behavioural safety and large-scale technology deployment, will help companies to keep their employees safe and healthy. The pilot results were inspiring and have shown that this partnership has the ability to help industrial companies to make a genuine breakthrough in their safety performance.”

Microsoft urges South Africa miners to adopt digital solutions in recovery plans

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Microsoft South Africa says it is working with its partner ecosystem and customers to showcase the power of technology, particularly AI and cloud technologies, in helping the country’s mining industry accelerate digital transformation to “reimagine new and better ways of working, drive sustainable recovery, and transform mining communities”.

This follows the launch of Microsoft’s Mining Core – AI Centre of Excellence for Mining facility in Johannesburg earlier this month. The Mining Core, which is the first of its kind in South Africa, makes use of the company’s extensive partner ecosystem. “It allows customers to immerse themselves in emerging technologies to build and create solutions that not only overcome specific business challenges but also broadly enable the sector to grow and prosper,” Microsoft said.

Amr Kamel, Enterprise Director at Microsoft South Africa, explained the industry’s importance to South Africa: “Mining is a critical industry in South Africa, and has historically been a major contributor to the country’s GDP, tax revenue and employment: last year alone, the mining sector employed over 450 000 people, contributed ZAR24.3 billion ($1.5 billion) in taxes and ZAR360.9 billion to GDP.”

The sector has faced challenges in recent years. These include declining output, weakening global cost competitiveness based on the volatility of commodity prices, regulatory uncertainty and unreliable energy supply, according to a report by the country’s Minerals Council.

Combined with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become clear the sector needs solutions that help it regain its competitiveness and become a key contributor and driver of economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic.

Technology holds the key to achieving those goals, according to Microsoft.

“Accelerated digital transformation, and the introduction of solutions through emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and data analytics, have the power to help the industry adapt, reinvent and transform in a sustainable and responsible way,” it said.

Kamel added: “Together with our partner ecosystem, we are working to help our customers to navigate three phases – response, recovery, and reimagine – in order to maintain continuity, remain open, drive operational performance and create new business models even in the most difficult of circumstances.”

These solutions, which are conceptualised and built collaboratively, are anchored in four main areas: community services and social impact; health and safety; environment; and responsible digital transformation.

  • Community involvement and engagement is vital for mining companies, and these organisations can use technology to play an important part in empowering surrounding communities, Microsoft says. This includes building critical digital literacy skills that will help the employability of community members, as well as introducing solutions in areas like healthcare, education, agriculture and community support services;
  • Emerging technologies can also help with health and safety, which is always a priority but particularly so in the face of a pandemic. Introducing solutions using technologies like autonomous systems such as drones, drills and vehicles, cognitive services and video analytics for safety management, such as detecting if a worker is wearing a hardhat or protective clothing, can make an impact. These kinds of technologies can also be used to support and manage health and safety protocols related to the pandemic, including social distancing and hygiene measures, Microsoft says;
  • Mining companies are also increasingly using digital solutions to enable sustainable recovery and decrease their environmental footprint, using them to reduce water consumption, waste and work towards being carbon neutral or even carbon negative. A growing trend is companies operating in coal, specifically, pivoting to renewables; and
  • Above all, solutions that are introduced need to have responsible digital transformation and AI at their heart. “Responsible AI needs good guiding principles to ensure that systems are fair, reliable and safe, private and secure, inclusive, transparent and accountable, and we use our rich partner ecosystem to help with this,” Kamel said.

He concluded: “Digital is the future of mining, and the question now is how quickly companies in the sector can transform to drive growth. This requires partnering with technology companies like Microsoft to reimagine solutions that address specific business challenges and improve operational performance and efficiencies.”

Multotec expands presence, product line in Asia with new China facility

Bulk handling, Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , , , , , ,

Bucking global economic trends, mineral processing equipment specialist Multotec says it has opened a new, larger manufacturing facility in China to meet growing demand.

The 3,200 sq.m factory, based in the port city of Tianjin about 100 km southeast of Beijing, is more than double the size of the previous premises, according to Ken Tuckey, Director of Multotec Screening Systems (Tianjin) Ltd. The facility focuses on producing the company’s polyurethane screen panels, including specialised panels for fines dewatering and classification.

“The expanded facility was necessary to increase production capacity, as sales have grown rapidly since Multotec became directly involved in this business in 2017,” Tuckey says. “The investment in China is also an important part of Multotec’s global strategy to get manufacturing operations closer to end-customers wherever possible.”

Multotec had taken over the business from Tema Screening Systems in 2017, which had started up in 2006 and focused mainly on the aggregate and quarry sectors. Multotec’s sales have expanded, mainly into China’s mining industry, but the factory’s increased capacity is also allowing it to produce for other parts of the world.

Running the operation on the ground since 2018 is General Manager, He Pu, a local expert with 20 years’ experience in mineral processing.

“The new factory has taken careful planning over the past year, and had to obtain a range of strict government approvals,” he says. “Even though the COVID-19 pandemic did present some challenges to our schedule, we were still able to move into the new plant in May this year.”

Multotec Screening Systems (Tianjin) Ltd General Manager, He Pu

He Pu highlighted the importance of innovation as a key ingredient for any company looking to break into the Chinese market. This has been vital to the early success of Multotec, which has a range of product advances operating in Africa and other markets. Recent improvements in China’s manufacturing sector has also underpinned the success of the local business, according to He Pu.

“The focus in the mining sector in China has shifted towards increased efficiencies and improved quality,” He Pu says. “Multotec is now well positioned to take advantage of this, especially with the innovative screen panel technology that it can offer the market. This is underpinned by our quality manufacturing processes as well as our excellent local supply chain.”

Multotec’s Chinese company is ISO-accredited with in-house quality control expertise, he says. The number of local staff members has increased and includes a strong sales team with good links to the mining sector. The company also has distributors and agents across China, bringing services and products closer to the mines.

With the new polyurethane moulding machines, the upgraded plant is running double shifts to optimise production levels. The latest technology equipment – combined with Multotec’s experience and ongoing training in factory – ensures a consistently world-class quality of polyurethane panels, it says. Accelerated in-house manufacture is also speeding up the delivery times to local customers.

“The opening of this plant marks the beginning of a new era for Multotec,” He Pu says. “We have ascended to a new level, not only by enlarging the area of the workshop but by adding new equipment.”

Protea Mining Chemicals develops world first copper-cobalt processing solution

Base metals, Metallurgy, Mineral processing, Mining industry recognition, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , , , ,

Diversified chemicals group, Omnia Holdings, reports its Protea Mining Chemicals division has become the first in its field – globally – to develop a solution that helps copper and cobalt mines reduce product contamination (improving metal purity levels) and maximise throughput in the solvent extraction (SX) process.

This pioneering solution took six years to develop and was carried out in partnership with chemicals manufacturers and copper and cobalt mining customers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Omnia said.

“Finding safer, more efficient ways to extract valuable resources and enhance profitability continues to be a priority in the mining sector – which has been particularly constrained by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the company said.

“This discovery will extend the life of copper and cobalt mines and assist profitability. Protea Mining Chemicals is working closely with other mines to replicate this success in other regions.”

Michael Smith, Managing Director at Protea Mining Chemicals (pictured), said: “Over the past few decades, many unsuccessful attempts have been made by mining houses, global chemical manufacturers, as well as SX equipment and process engineers to address this issue of contamination. Needless to say, this has been a very challenging journey and we are delighted by what we have been able to achieve.”

The news comes hot on the heels of Omnia’s BME breaking the South African record for the largest electronic detonator blast.

Martin Engineering’s Mr. Blade service offering comes to US Mid-Atlantic region

Bulk handling, Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, , , , , , , , ,

The use of factory-trained, OSHA- and MSHA-certified experts for maintenance of bulk handling systems has taken another step forward as Martin Engineering establishes its newest Mr. Blade™ territory, serving the Mid-Atlantic region of the USA, the company says.

Introduced in 2015, the network is a “unique factory-direct service program”, delivering replacement belt cleaner blades, air cannon valves and other Martin products, specified and custom-fitted on-site and installed free of charge. Further, Martin service technicians will replace the main frame and tensioner of any belt cleaner as needed – also at no charge – as part of the Mr. Blade service relationship.

The new territory is part of a larger initiative to deliver factory-direct service to customers around the world. The Mr. Blade program is currently up and running in the USA, UK and Italy, with additional launches planned for next year. The company estimates that it is currently responsible for about 10,000 conveyor belts worldwide as part of its managed services program.

“Martin assures accurately-sized and professionally installed replacement blades that are matched to the specific application, providing optimum cleaning performance and service life,” the company said. “The company ensures customer satisfaction with its exclusive Forever Guarantee, which specifies that users will experience better cleaning, longer service life and lowest cost of ownership.”

Initial targets for the new territory will be facilities producing or handling sand, aggregate or cement.

Martin Engineering Senior Customer Support Specialist, Marty Smith, explained: “Plants in just about every industry are being asked to do more with limited resources. Maintenance personnel often don’t have the time or training to safely and efficiently perform belt cleaner inspections or air cannon service when needed. Customers really appreciate having a dedicated technician who makes regular visits, so employees can focus on core business activities.”

National Sales Manager for Wear Components, Alan Highton, says shifting the maintenance responsibility to a trusted partner through this kind of service relationship is one way that bulk handlers can continue to streamline their operations, improving the performance and safety of their bulk handling systems at the same time.

“Unlike most suppliers, we have chosen not to use third-party service providers, who typically don’t have the specific expertise to optimise these systems,” Highton said.

“The idea behind the Mr. Blade program is to deliver an unequalled level of service using highly efficient, regionalised systems,” he added. “Our technicians really get to know the conveyors they’re visiting, and with the monitoring systems we now have in place, we’re able to deliver proactive service in advance of a breakdown, replacing worn or failing components before they lead to an event that stops production.”

The company is also taking steps to help customers whose facilities have limited access during the COVID-19 pandemic by partnering with their maintenance staff to remotely train employees to effectively maintain their conveyor systems, offering guidelines on preventive maintenance, inspections and replacement blade ordering. Factory-direct technicians remain in close contact with periodic check-ins and provide key parameters to assure optimum performance, according to the company.

As part of the Mr. Blade service, Martin will install its Position Indicators on every primary cleaner free of charge to deliver remote monitoring for qualifying customers, allowing technicians and operations personnel to access detailed information on conditions and remaining service life via Wi-Fi or cell phone. The monitoring system alerts service personnel when re-tensioning or replacement is required, or when abnormal conditions occur.

Also included are regularly-scheduled inspections, adjustment and blade replacement as required on all Martin belt cleaning systems, as well as the company’s multi-point Walk-the-Belt audits based on worldwide best practices. All services are covered by the price of components, with no contract required, Martin claims.

Highton said the new territory will cover five states: Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware. The company has begun serving customers with two technicians in specially-equipped vans, each outfitted with a fresh supply of 8 ft (2.4 m) blade lengths and equipped with a band saw, milling machine and all tools required to achieve a custom fit, accurate installation and precise tensioning.

The vans are designed as mobile business units, with technicians able to electronically enter and update data on each customer system right at the site. With a lifetime record of all belt cleaning equipment, customers will have access to details on the mounting assembly, tensioner and blade wear life, along with total annual cost information for budgeting purposes, the company claims.

Smith said: “Consistent attention to the cleaners helps deliver maximum performance and wear life, minimising component failures and unscheduled shutdowns. And, if there is a breakdown, service is available from MSHA-certified technicians capable of repairing any brand or style of cleaner. We can even supply retrofit blades to fit belt cleaners from any manufacturer.”

Antofagasta responds to environmental concerns with new Los Pelambres copper mine plan

Base metals, Environmental, Mine operation news, Mining services, Sustainable mining, Water management, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Antofagasta Minerals is preparing to submit an investment proposal for its Los Pelambres mine in Chile that could see it stop using water from the Choapa River and nearby wells, and to use mainly seawater from 2025.

In this way, MLP will be able to guarantee the availability of water for its operations and advance its studies into extending its operations beyond 2035, when its current environmental permits expire, it said.

The submission to the Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA) also considers Minera Los Pelambres (MLP), the operating entity, building a new concentrate transportation system with modern control systems, routed away from the most populated areas. This will allow maintenance to be carried out without interfering with the daily life of the surrounding communities.

The 60%-owned mine produced 363,400 t of copper in 2019, alongside 11,200 t of molybdenum and 59,700 oz of gold.

Iván Arriagada, CEO of Antofagasta Minerals, said: “We are going to invest in works that allow us to adapt our operation to the changes that have occurred in the Choapa province and the region over the last 20 years as a result of the prolonged drought caused by climate change and the increase in its population and productive activity.

“This is a key step in the future of Los Pelambres.”

Arriagada added: “We have a long-term strategic vision to extend the life of the operations while ensuring its continued coexistence with other productive activities in the province of Choapa. We are particularly interested in taking care of natural resources that are scarce today, such as water, and continuing to reduce our potential impact on the environment.”

This new stage of the company’s development, called Los Pelambres Futuro, also includes the contribution of the Los Pelambres Expansion project, which was 36% complete as at the end of June. A significant part of the work on the project was stopped as a result of COVID-19 and construction is now restarting in stages.

“We want to make minor adjustments to the design of the expansion project, which is already under construction, to facilitate the future expansion of the desalination plant,” Arriagada said. “In this way, there we will be less impact on the environment.”

It is estimated that the Operational Adaptation Investment (OAI) will be submitted to the SEIA in the first half of 2021. Its execution could begin in 2023, creating up to 2,000 jobs.

The OAI includes the expansion of the 400 litre/s desalination plant, currently being built in Punta Chungo, and the industrial quality desalinated water supply system, to 800 litres/s.

Mauricio Larraín, General Manager of MLP, said: “If our investment proposal is approved, in the coming years we could stop extracting water from the Choapa River and nearby wells, and more than 95% of the water used by Los Pelambres will either come from the sea or will be recirculated water.”

This plan could see MLP become the first mining company in the central zone of Chile to operate predominantly with seawater.

“The decision to use desalinated water is an idea that arose from dialogue with nearby communities and authorities and seemed to us to be the best way that we could contribute to easing the water scarcity challenges in this part of the country that affects us all,” Larraín said.

The company, which currently has environmental permits to extract water from the Choapa River until 2035, has worked for years with its neighbours and the authorities on the water management of the Choapa Valley. This work will continue in the future with the objective of promoting the sustainable use of the available water and strengthening the Rural Drinking Water systems for human consumption, the company said.

Lastly, the Environmental Impact Study will include some continuity and maintenance works for the tailings system. These works are already included in the Environmental Qualification Resolution (RCA) 38/2004 and consist of works on the north and south contour channels, repositioning pipes and other works.

Arriagada concluded: “This set of initiatives will require very significant investment in the province of Choapa over the next 10 years, close to $1 billion, and will also generate a significant number of jobs. It will also contribute towards helping the region and the country overcome the social and economic crisis generated by COVID-19 as soon as possible.”