Tag Archives: draglines

Komatsu marks official opening of new surface mining-focused Milwaukee campus

Automation, Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , ,

Komatsu has marked the official opening of the company’s new Milwaukee campus with a tree planting ceremony attended by both Komatsu President and CEO, Hiroyuki Ogawa, and Wisconsin Governor, Tony Evers.

The new 58-acre (23.5 ha) campus located in Milwaukee’s Harbor District includes a 180,000-sq.ft (16,723-sq.m) office building and a 430,000-sq.ft manufacturing facility, which produces the major components of large mining machines, including electric rope shovels, hybrid shovels, draglines and blasthole drills. The location serves as the large gearing centre of excellence and the large fabrication and machining centre of excellence for Komatsu’s surface mining business, it said.

With the new campus, Komatsu aims to create a remarkable workplace for the future in Milwaukee, where the company has more than a century of history, it says. The new facility was designed and built to enhance Komatsu’s goal of “creating value together” by leveraging technology and open spaces, providing a globally connected meeting place for both company and community, and emphasising sustainability.

“Our South Harbor campus and its many sustainability features are part of our global commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and sustainable growth as a company,” Ogawa said. “This is an important goal for Komatsu along with society, as we all work to do our part to address global warming. Through this campus, we hope to contribute to the Milwaukee community by implementing our growth strategy.”

The new facility also reaffirms Komatsu’s commitment to support the workforce of southeast Wisconsin for future generations, by preserving existing jobs, laying the groundwork for new employment opportunities and helping attract talent to the area, the company added.

Komatsu thanked project partners Hunzinger Construction, EUA and GRAEF for their work to make the new campus possible.

Komatsu laid out plans to build a new, state-of-the-art headquarters and manufacturing campus near the location of the company’s original machine shop off South First Street back in 2018.

MineWare goes remote for latest Argus and Pegasys deployments

Base metals, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , , , , ,

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.”

Caterpillar improves fill speed and weight of dragline buckets

Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining services, , ,

Cat® has released a new double clip back bucket for draglines that, it says, features an innovative design that increases fill speed and reduces bucket weight for faster cycle times and greater payload.

The patented design also eliminates the high–maintenance spreader bar from the rigging system, it said.

The wide mouth, aggressive lip angle, and low front height reduce drag power required to fill the bucket, according to the company, while the design minimises the required fill distance for improved productivity and reduced bucket wear.

Cat said: “The unique shape of the rear wall enables the bucket to fill without upper rear corner voids, and it increases material density in the bucket for optimum payloads on every pass. It also clearly shows the operator when the bucket is full and should exit the cut.”

Eliminating the hoist rigging spreader bar has additional benefits, such as reduced wear and tear on the top rails and trunnions, Cat said. Meanwhile, fewer system components result in less inventory management and reduced maintenance cost. The rigging system design also gives the operator better control of the bucket and reduces the opportunity for an inexperienced operator to damage it, the company said.

“The unique trunnion design and location on the clipped portion of the bucket protects the lower hoist link from wear and provides quick dumping of the payload,” Cat said, adding that the design includes a cast-in deflector to protect and increase the life of the trunnion.

“The new Cat bucket is available for a wide range of dragline sizes and applications, no matter what the brand of machine,” Cat said. “Using data-driven analysis, Caterpillar designs each bucket for the specific dragline and application.”

The design process uses all significant parameters, including ground density, wear package, rigging package and bucket weight to optimise performance within the dragline’s rated suspended load, Cat explained. Reduced dead weight of the double clip back bucket, as compared with conventional designs, ranges from 2-10% depending on the application, it added.

Cat dragline buckets also include wear packages based on the mine’s material abrasiveness and digging conditions. The Cat dragline bucket lip nose casting supports the Cat CapSure™adapter and tooth system. The system delivers long wear life and hammerless installation of teeth for enhanced safety and faster removal and replacement.