Tag Archives: Epiroc

Epiroc brings its Mobilaris Mining Intelligence safety tech to surface mining

Epiroc is expanding its digital solutions in the surface mining industry with a launch that includes a new safe blasting module and a new release of Situational Awareness, a product previously available under Mobilaris Mining Intelligence.

The updated Situational Awareness release has a new feature with the capability to direct warning messages to people located in defined risk zones.

With over 10 years of experience and 40-plus installations globally, Epiroc is now taking its safety technologies (previously called Mobilaris Mining Intelligence) to the surface mining market.

The surface-based capabilities are smart solutions that help plan, execute and monitor surface mining operations, and are based on Epiroc’s technology for underground mines. Epiroc integrates 3D situational awareness with open-space positioning and satellite imaging to create a 3D map of the blast area, including surface blast zones and tunnels.

“The world’s best digital decision system for underground mines has just surfaced,” Global Director of Product Management for Epiroc, Hans Wahlquist, says. “Our technology-agnostic solutions are improving safety at mining sites but also increasing efficiency by reducing the time spent looking for people or assets.”

He added: “Although open-pit mining faces different challenges than underground operations, it also shares many similarities. We are now unleashing battle-proven solutions from underground mines to create new values for surface mines.”

The new surface offering includes several solutions with the following new features:

  • Situational Awareness comes with a new feature called ‘Zone-based Messages’, which enables the personnel in the control room to send messages from the Situational Awareness application to people in designated areas of the mine. These messages can be information, warnings or alarm messages. They can be persistent messages in dangerous areas or, in some cases, instant messages. Zone-based messages can also be automated through Event Automation scripts triggered by IoT sensors for ground stability, etc
  • Blast Support is a new digital decision support tool to ensure improved personnel safety at blasting. Three dimensional visualisation with open-space positioning gives the control room an overview of everyone’s location.

Epiroc Product Manager, Magnus Nilsson, said: “Before pushing the blast button, it is crucial to ensure that everyone is at a safe distance. But at the same time, it is important to blast on time so as not to jeopardise the next shift’s opportunities to deliver. With Blast Support, you can evacuate designated areas for blasting. With real-time tracking of people through tags, you can be sure that the area is cleared.”

The complete surface offering includes Situational Awareness, Blast Support, Emergency Support, PocketMine, Event Automation, Tags and Virtual Tags.

INTERMAT to showcase zero carbon transition across construction sector

The next edition of INTERMAT, the sustainable construction solutions and technology exhibition, will take place from April 24-27, 2024, at Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre, in France, with large international manufacturers having already signed up.

To date, and since the round table held on April 20 with the entire construction sector, new names have confirmed their attendance at the show, including Ausa, Epiroc, Faymonville, Liebherr, Magni and Volvo. They join the registered exhibitors whose participation had already been announced: Alphi, Bobcat, Cummins, Imer, Komatsu, Groupe Monnoyeur, Putzmeister, Sany, Sateco, Schwing Stetter, Sunward, Takeuchi, Topcon and Wacker Neuson.

Davy Guillemard, CEO of Volvo Construction, said: “INTERMAT 2024 has reinvented itself to address the issues of the decarbonisation of the construction industry, adapt to environmental constraints, and advance along the road to sustainability. As these commitments are particularly close to the fundamental values and ambitions of the Volvo Group, which is resolutely determined to be a proactive leader in change and accelerate on the low carbon path, we have chosen to invite our clients and partners to meet us at INTERMAT 2024 to present them with all our low carbon solutions at their disposal.”

François Escourrou, CEO of Wacker Neuson, said: “The next INTERMAT show, with its low carbon theme, is keenly awaited by our group which has set itself the goal of cutting its carbon dioxide emissions by 50% in 2025 compared with 2019. To do so we have opted to convert our machines to electric power to support our clients in their CSR policy. We will therefore have a lot of new products to present at INTERMAT in 2024 in terms of equipment, with around 40 new machines in the electric range, but also in terms of associated services and digitalisation.”

Olivier Saint-Paul, CEO of PL2M, said: “At PL2M, the screed and rendering machine market leader, we look forward to taking part in the next INTERMAT 2024 and bringing our contribution to the zero carbon transition of the building sector. The event offers the chance to present new solutions that are resolutely focussed on the future, rounding out our ranges of rendering machines, fluid screed pumps and traditional screed conveyors. Our brands Putzmeister, Lancy and Brinkmann will be showcased on our stand with a great many innovations for ever higher performances and safety on building sites, and less environmental impact.”

The four major challenges of construction

The 2024 edition, in its move to gather the entire construction industry around a shared vision of the future, aims to harness its collective excellence to address the sector’s major issues in terms of decarbonisation and energy, digitalisation, CSR commitment, training and employment, and organise a platform for dialogue with the public authorities. To do so, it will draw on four main pillars that will offer highlights and developments featuring in the four main challenges for construction.

1) Innovations – innovate to find solutions to the major challenges faced by construction

Industry Forum (new in 2024) bringing together the five main construction federations DLR, EVOLIS, UMGO-FFB, FNTP, SEIMAT: an agora featuring a series of talks and round tables with top-level speakers, construction professionals, official authorities, French and international special guests, and perspectives from other sectors to address zero carbon issues from all angles and in a forward-looking dimension.

World Of Concrete Europe Forum: a series of talks dedicated to the concrete industry, the material and its various applications; INTERMAT Innovation Awards: a competition reflecting the sector’s new challenges, and unique visibility before and during the show with a dedicated display area; INTERMAT Press Days: two days of workshops and discussions on 18 and 19 January 2024 between exhibitors and journalists.

2) Energy – incorporate high performance energy sources to support the economy

New Technologies and Energies Hub (new in 2024): an area dedicated to exhibitors and start-ups, and a speaking platform; a demonstration zone dedicated to equipment, in particular electric, for a plunge into the worksite of the future, with two exhibitors already registered: Theam and River.

3) New Equations – promote professions, and financial and human resources

A space dedicated to jobs and training to give a platform to occupational promotion initiatives, workshops and talks, job dating sessions, etc. INTERMAT Rental Day: a special day devoted to equipment rental with contributions from international experts.

4) Commitments – reach net zero to contribute to protecting the planet

An exhibition model redesigned in terms of offering and format (four days instead of six); a show redesigned in an approach of resource sobriety and circular economy, with responsible products and services; an event offering physical and social access to the widest possible audience.

There will also be an exhibitor range revolving around five hubs of expertise:

  • Earthmoving, demolition and transportation;
  • Roads, materials and foundations;
  • Lifting and handling;
  • Building, civil engineering and concrete sector, including the event WOCE which will present the full value chain of the concrete industry from upstream to downstream;
  • New in 2024: New Technologies and Energies (electric, hydrogen, natural gas energies, autonomous vehicles, virtual technology engineering, etc.).

During the four days of the show, professionals will be able to take advantage of the demonstration zone, an integral part of the INTERMAT DNA, which will offer centre stage to innovative equipment operating in real-life conditions.

Epiroc to consolidate European manufacturing of hydraulic attachment tools

Epiroc says it is taking actions to promote efficiency within its Tools & Attachments segment, consolidating its European manufacturing of hydraulic attachment tools to improve competitiveness.

As a result of this move, the manufacturing facility in Essen, Germany, will be closed, Epiroc said.

Epiroc will consolidate the hydraulic attachment tools manufacturing in Europe to other existing production facilities in Kalmar and Fagersta, Sweden, and Dermbach, Germany. The consolidation will strengthen Epiroc’s competitiveness, it said.

Epiroc’s operation in Essen is planned to be closed by the end of 2025, with some 130 employees to be affected.

Helena Hedblom, Epiroc’s President and CEO, said: “We regret that this consolidation will affect our colleagues in Essen. These actions, however, are necessary to safeguard that we remain competitive within hydraulic attachment tools. We will ensure that our customers get the best products and solutions possible also onwards.”

The restructuring cost is estimated at about SEK155 million ($14.3 million) and will be reported in the December quarter of 2023.

Epiroc also has manufacturing of hydraulic attachment tools in the US, India and South Korea.

In an additional activity to increase efficiency and promote sustainable profitability in its Tools & Attachment segment, Epiroc has decided to cease production at its relatively minor rotary pipes and accessories facility in Perth, Western Australia.

Epiroc’s aim is that all the facility’s employees will be offered new jobs in the company.

Thiess turning autonomous mining opportunities into reality

Thiess may have deliberately started small with autonomy, however, 10 years into its journey, the company is now being recognised as a mine automation leader in the ever-competitive mining services space.

Whether it is drilling, dozing or haulage, Thiess has plenty of autonomy expertise to offer.

The company started off in 2013 with maintenance and service work on the autonomous haulage fleet a major producer had assembled at its iron ore operation in the Pilbara. This has since broadened out to semi-autonomous tractor system (SATS) operations at major coal mines in Australia, autonomous drilling advances using Epiroc and Caterpillar platforms and, most recently, autonomous haulage and drilling operations at Pembroke Resources’ Olive Downs Complex greenfield operation in Queensland.

Trent Smith, Head of Autonomy and Operations Technology at Thiess, says the company seeks to involve itself early on with autonomy projects to ensure benefits can be realised.

He explains: “We like to help identify the opportunity for automation, which initially involves answering two big questions: is the application suitable? And does it deliver a financial benefit to the project? If there are positive answers to both questions, we try to work with those potential clients on how to bring the vision to life.”

Thiess’ involvement in this process is extensive, looking at network options, OEM selection, the “people element” and more, according to Smith.

“Our strategy was a bit different to others, where, aside from the work at our first autonomy project in the Pilbara, we started with small pilot projects on drills and dozers,” he told IM on the side lines of IMARC 2023 in Sydney earlier this month. “This enabled us to establish some solid foundations, understand the significance of the required changes, understand what the key enablers like networks were and put support models behind those aspects.”

To date, the mining services provider has worked closely with OEMs Epiroc and Caterpillar on modifying their autonomy platforms to fit its clients’ operations to improve safety and efficiency.

“With Caterpillar, we were able to take an emerging technology platform like Cat® MineStar™ Command for drilling and ensure it was fit for purpose for the coal environment we were planning to deploy it in.

“With Epiroc’s solution, we took a mature and proven product from the iron ore environment – equipped mainly for single pass, vertical drilling in competent ground with big and open drill pads – and tailored it for a coal application. This application required the introduction of autonomous rod changing and angle drilling for drilling in varied ground within tighter working areas.

“We worked hand-in-hand with Epiroc to understand the complexities of translating the solution for this environment, utilising all of the on-board data in the early trial stages and filtering that down to identify areas of waste and opportunity that could be used by the OEM and ourselves to realise an improvement in performance within that new environment.”

This evidently worked, with the companies, earlier this year, achieving the significant milestone of drilling more than one million lineal metres at the Lake Vermont coal mine in Queensland.

Pembroke Resources’ Olive Downs Complex has become the world’s first mining operation to deploy Command for hauling and Command for drilling solutions simultaneously

Thiess is also expecting to later this year reach the same autonomous drilling milestone with Cat’s Command for drilling platform; this time at a major coal mine in New South Wales.

The company has also helped achieve an industry first at Pembroke Resources’ Olive Downs Complex, with it becoming the world’s first mining operation to deploy Command for hauling and Command for drilling solutions simultaneously.

This assignment, which moved from concept to implementation of autonomous trucks and drills within a matter of 18 months, will ultimately include the deployment of 21 haul trucks (15 Cat 794 ACs and six Cat 793Fs) and three drills (Cat MD6310s) fitted with autonomous technology. Additionally, Thiess has established a private LTE network on Pembroke’s on-site communication infrastructure, enabling the safe operation of more than 85 connected assets within the autonomous operating zone. It has also upskilled more than 280 team members to, Thiess says, support the delivery of autonomous operations at Olive Downs to enable improvements in safety, operating hours, cycle efficiency and cost.

There is potential to add Command for dozing at Pembroke Resources’ Olive Downs Complex in future years, according to Smith.

“We have built the network and control room with the anticipation that this will be used,” he said. “We are already the first company in the world to have all three Caterpillar autonomy products running at operations, but Pembroke Resources’ Olive Downs Complex would be the first operation in the world to have all three Cat autonomy products operating at one mine.”

Thiess now has six autonomy projects out in the market, all of which are performing well against industry automation benchmarks, according to Smith, who says this capability is being recognised within the mining company community and OEM space.

The company has already announced its first automation project outside of Australia – at a coal mine in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, where it will deploy autonomous drilling operations – and Smith says the company is exploring further autonomous drilling opportunities in Latin America.

As well as continuing to engage with the wider OEM market on automation options, Thiess is working on different automation applications for existing products.

“With the SATS Command for dozing product, for instance, we are looking to take the platform and work with Caterpillar to move it towards a rehabilitation application,” Smith said, referencing the Thiess Rehabilitation business the company launched last year. “The requirements in mine rehabilitation are somewhat different to standard dozer push and stockpile applications, with multi-push vectors and the ability to potentially control several small-scale projects from one centralised hub.

“This is an example of where we work with an OEM, bring our knowledge of working with the product, identify a new application for the product, and then lay out what new set of capabilities need to be addressed to meet the requirements and fulfil that market opportunity.”

The company has a track record of proposing and advancing such autonomous dozing opportunities in certain niche applications, Smith said, adding that it recently achieved the 10 million cubic metres push mark with SATS.

The first rehabilitation application for SATS could end up being at a project in central Queensland – a project the Thiess Rehabilitation team started work on last year.

Thiess recently achieved the 10 million cubic metres push mark with SATS

Against this advancing autonomy backdrop, Smith says the company continues to be asked about combining the “decarbonisation” and autonomy pieces of the mine operating puzzle, with a staged approach typically being recommended.

“At the moment, these two (autonomy and decarbonisation) are a little bit separate, but they will converge at some point,” he said. “I imagine artificial intelligence and predictive capabilities will play a role in that – evaluating when the truck might run out of charge, when is best to pull that truck out of service for a 30-minute fast charge, etc.

“What I would say is if you have taken a step in either direction (autonomy or decarbonisation) already, you are well placed for this convergence.”

Smith offered up one last piece of advice to any company looking to take its next automation step: “Don’t forget the people and process part.”

He explained: “Most organisations know how to deliver a technology project, but I think the real value in automation is bringing the people and process along with that. Automation is a business transformation.

“We worked with Pembroke Resources’ at their Olive Downs Complex to ensure the appropriate change management process to enable automation was implemented across all business functions. Each function was reviewed to understand what needed to change to bring in automation and create a cohesive environment.

“It’s already starting to pay off at that project, where we exceeded our target of 6,500 annualised hours within two months of commencing autonomous haulage operations.”

Epiroc registers robust mining demand in Q3

Epiroc continued to register high demand from the mining sector in the September quarter, as several large mining equipment orders were won over the three-month period, leading to a 17% year-on-year rise in orders received.

This total of SEK14.36 billion (US$1.29 billion) was supported by strong organic growth and acquisitions, Epiroc said, as well as its largest order ever received – a SEK700 million agreement to supply the Kamoa-Kakula copper operation in the DRC with Minetruck MT65 S haulers, Scooptram ST18 S loaders, Boomer 282 face drilling rigs and Simba E70 S production drilling rigs.

In a quarter that included no acquisitions, Epiroc saw its operating profit increase 12% to SEK3.26 billion, while its operating margin was up at 21.7%.

Helena Hedblom, President and CEO of the company, said the quarter saw particularly strong demand for its automation and connectivity solutions, which was reinforced by a recent agreement with Boliden, Algoryx and Örebro University to evaluate autonomous face drilling options, plus a separate strengthened cooperation with Newcrest Mining to take a holistic approach towards the entire mining process at several Newcrest mines.

Outside of these financial specifics, Hedblom said the company was also looking to consolidate several functions – transactional and human resources, among them – into new regional centres of excellence to better serve customers in certain markets as part of its wider operational excellence pursuit.

“These will be rolled out region by region,” she told IM.

One such change is happening in South Africa, with the company moving production of its low-profile machines from Örebro, Sweden, to South Africa. This move follows the acquisition of Aard Mining Equipment in April of this year, and recognition of a substantial portion of the low-profile market being in southern Africa, Hedblom acknowledged.

Aard, based in Chamdor near Johannesburg, designs, manufactures, services and supports a wide range of mining equipment, specialising in low-profile underground machines for mines with low mining heights. Its products include drill rigs, bolters, loaders, scalers, and more.

BEV retrofits on the up

A key differentiator in the Epiroc electrification portfolio that has been covered extensively by IM is the company’s battery-electric retrofit options.

Launched in the March quarter of 2021 – with the first retrofit kit offered for the ST1030 underground loader – the solution was viewed as a sustainable way to electrify machinery, with the conversion kits expected to be fitted during a midlife service rebuild.

Hedblom said interest for these retrofits continued to build from the mining community, with the company scaling up the number of retrofit kit models available, the expertise and resources to enact these changes, and the “standard operating procedures” required to offer this.

“It is still early days…but over the coming years we expect to have a mix of both new [battery-electric] equipment sales and retrofits coming through,” she said.

Cat R2900 XE

Cat R2900 XE diesel-electric LHDs brought into Gold Fields net zero plan

As part of a strategy to reduce carbon emissions from its operations and achieve a ‘net zero’ status by 2050, Gold Fields is investing in three Caterpillar R2900 XE diesel-electric loaders for its underground mines in Western Australia.

The gold miner’s ESG strategy, launched in December 2021, was at the same time embedded as one of three pillars in the company’s strategy. Gold Fields has demonstrated this focus over the last few years, especially when it comes to its efforts to decarbonise its mining operations.

In addition to constructing and commissioning several solar plants, renewable microgrids and low-carbon gas turbines across some of its operations in South Africa and Australia, Gold Fields has been at the forefront of decarbonising the load and haul part of the underground mining cycle.

In 2021, Gold Fields started trialling a Sandvik LH518B 18 t battery-electric underground LHD, in addition to a 50-t-payload battery-electric Z50 truck, also from Sandvik. The machines were put through their paces at the Hamlet North mine, part of the St Ives operation, near Kambalda in Western Australia. The results of these trials were shared with members of the Electric Mine Consortium (EMC).

Rob Derries, Unit Manager: Innovation & Technology at Gold Fields Australia, says the results from testing the loader and truck at St Ives have shown the need for an alternative to assist the battery swap functionality for its local underground mines.

“The depth of our mines and the resultant ramp inclines indicate that a battery swap system alone will be a challenge from an infrastructure or financial perspective when rolling out on a larger fleet-wide basis,” he told IM.

Alongside this work, Gold Fields has trialled a hybrid diesel-electric drive Komatsu WX22H (formerly the Joy 22HD), which uses a Kinetic Energy Storage System to capture and reuse braking energy from each of the four wheels, reducing fuel burn and boosting productivity, according to the OEM and Gold Fields.

In 2021, Gold Fields started trialling a Sandvik LH518B 18 t battery-electric underground LHD

Now, the company has committed to bringing three Caterpillar R2900 XEs into two of its underground mining operations, according to Derries.

Built on the platform of Caterpillar’s most popular underground loader, the R2900G, this LHD features a switch reluctance electric drive system alongside a Cat C15 diesel engine, which offers up to 335 kW of power. The OEM says the machine comes with about 30% increased fuel efficiency compared with the R2900G, with its lower engine revolutions per minute resulting in reduced fuel burn, heat, noise, vibration and exhaust emissions.

Derries said Gold Fields does not consider the R2900 XE a “hybrid” machine given it has no battery or energy storage component on board, but stressed that it still offers the reduced fuel burn and productivity advantages the company is looking for as part of its modernisation strategy.

“From the field-follow trial reports we have seen, it can produce a 35% fuel burn reduction,” he said. “This is why we consider it to be part of our plan to transition our operations to zero emissions, just like the Epiroc machine we are working on.”

Last year, Gold Fields entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Epiroc to develop and test a proof of concept for the 65-t class Minetruck MT65 E-Drive with the aim of having a prototype diesel-electric truck running at the miner’s Granny Smith mine, near Laverton in Western Australia, in late 2024.

Derries says the company is also continuing discussions with all OEM partners on potential battery-electric vehicle deployments at its Australian underground mines, explaining that variations on trolley infrastructure, battery charging and battery swapping were being evaluated.

EMC collaboration builds confidence

The field-follow trials Derries references were integral to Gold Fields making the investment in the Caterpillar diesel-electric vehicles.

“In Australia, there were four field-follow units that Cat sent out, all of which went to EMC member operators,” he said. “The feedback and learnings that came back from these trials, which was shared internally within the consortium, provided the confidence we needed to make the investment decision.”

The EMC is a growing group of leading mining and service companies, all of whom are driven by the imperative to accelerate progress towards the fully electrified zero CO2 and zero particulates mine. In the short time since establishment, the consortium’s membership has grown almost two-fold with over 40 equipment trials in 15 different locations mobilised.

Outside of these Caterpillar R2900 XE field follow units, Westgold Resources took delivery of the first commercial R2900 XE at its Midwest operations in Western Australia, as part of an agreement with WesTrac. The mining company has since agreed to purchase another six of the diesel-electric vehicles.

A separate R2900 XE is due to be delivered to another mining operation in Australia later this year, IM understands.

Derries says Gold Fields has felt the benefits of signing up to the EMC.

“The EMC is a great platform for operators like us to gather information without having to trial everything out there,” he said. “Like the companies that shared their data from the R2900 XE field-follow trials, we shared the learnings from our Sandvik trials – not just our operational performance data.

“We were then able to do a cross check between our battery-electric trial data and the field-follow trials from the Caterpillar machines, giving us the confidence to invest in the three LHDs.”

Derries says the new units are expected to arrive at its operations in the next 12 months.

Barminco and RCT partner on ‘world first’ agnostic remote installation of Cat 2900 XE

Barminco has enlisted the help of RCT to carry out what it believes to be the world’s first agnostic remote installation on Caterpillar’s R2900 XE diesel-electric underground loader.

The mining services company will be using the R2900 XE loader which has a diesel engine and electric driveline at the IGO-owned Spotted Quoll underground mine, in Western Australia.

Built on the platform of Caterpillar’s most popular underground loader, this new LHD – which was previewed at MINExpo 2021 in Las Vegas – features optimised lift arm and component geometry plus load-sensing hydraulics to improve breakout force by 35% over the Cat R2900G, Caterpillar claims.

RCT’s Kalgoorlie Branch Manager, Rick Radcliffe, said: “Technology and innovation are two of Barminco’s core components, so it made sense they chose RCT to carry out the installation of this automation project. We are receiving a lot of interest in this project as it is a hybrid loader which reduces fuel burn resulting in low diesel particulates, which is something companies are looking at doing to mine more sustainably in the future.”

This project is currently underway with RCT’s Kalgoorlie branch completing the installation.

The world’s first R2900 XE was delivered to Western Australia-based Westgold Resources, with the gold miner having since agreed to purchase another six of these loaders.

Epiroc Minetruck MT65 S haul trucks heading to Kathleen Valley lithium mine

Epiroc says it has won a large order for underground mining trucks in Australia from global mining contractor Byrnecut for use at the Kathleen Valley hard-rock lithium mine in Western Australia.

Byrnecut, one of the world’s largest underground mining contractors, has ordered a fleet of Minetruck MT65 S haulers as part of the order, valued at about SEK130 million ($11.9 million).

The equipment will be used at the in-development Kathleen Valley project, where lithium as well as tantalum will be produced. Production is currently targeted to begin in 2024.

Byrnecut was, earlier this year, awarded the underground mining services contract at Kathleen Valley by Liontown Resources.

Epiroc will also provide parts and service support, including service technicians on site.

Helena Hedblom, Epiroc’s President and CEO, said: “We are excited to contribute to the success of the new Kathleen Valley mine, where the production of lithium, especially, will support the acceleration of the transformation to a low-carbon society.”

Sami Niiranen, President of Epiroc’s Underground division, added: “The newly updated Epiroc Minetruck MT65 S is a top-of-the-line machine designed with a focus on safety, productivity, energy efficiency and operator comfort. We look forward to continue working together with Byrnecut to make their mining operations successful.”

Epiroc and Byrnecut have a long-standing partnership, and the contractor already runs a fleet of Minetruck MT65 haulers at other mining site, the OEM says.

The ordered mining trucks have several advanced features, such as Epiroc’s telematics system Certiq, which allows for intelligent monitoring of machine performance and productivity in real-time. Delivery will begin soon and will continue in 2024 and 2025.

Epiroc unveils new Competency Center in Elko to service US market

Epiroc has unveiled its newly-established Competency Center in Elko, Nevada, which, the OEM says, will serve as the epicenter of innovation, housing unique programs and capabilities catering to the entire US market.

The 48,000 sq.ft (4,459 sq.m) facility is at the intersection of W Silver Street and W Idaho Street and will be home to 8,000 sq.ft of modern office space, a 4,000 sq.ft state-of-the-art training centre, 16,000 sq.ft of warehouse and a 20,000 sq.ft workshop featuring multiple machine bays, Epiroc says. It will also host an outdoor staging area.

The Competency Center provides advanced technical assistance, specialised electrification and battery-electric vehicle (BEV) expertise, including diesel-to-battery conversions. It features a streamlined supply chain, cutting-edge technology proficiency and circularity programs applied to full machine rebuilds, remanufacturing and planned component replacements, Epiroc says. While delivering high-quality customer service, field and workshop support, sales and applications assistance, the Competency Center also serves as a comprehensive training centre, addressing the industry’s growing need for skilled operators

Jon Torpy, President and General Manager of Epiroc USA, said: “The opening of the Competency Center in Elko is a pivotal strategic goal for Epiroc USA. This facility embodies our commitment to helping customers build the mines of the future, delivering reliable, trustworthy expertise. It signifies a major step forward in our mission to extend fleets’ longevity and contribute to the industry’s sustainable development.”

Epiroc already has a population of autonomous blasthole drilling equipment at mines in Nevada, in addition to a service centre in Battle Mountain, Nevada.

JTMEC Powered by Epiroc steps up mine electrification offering with new electrical starter, eLV charger

JTMEC Powered by Epiroc, an Australia-based electrical contracting company providing specialised turnkey electrical services and products to mining and tunnelling industries, is launching a new range of products that, it says, will help to accelerate the electrification of mines going forward.

The company, which was acquired by Epiroc in 2022, has, first off, launched the new electrical Dual MineStarter™. This product is commonly used in underground mines to start drills, fans and pumps, but it can now support two applications, together with improving efficiency of operations and reducing costs for mines, the company says.

The Dual MineStarter has two outlets, a configurable design, combined with optional Wi-Fi routers and many other features that, the company says, makes it unique. It is also ideal to help mines move forward in the electrification of underground infrastructure.

The JTMEC MineCharger™ is a market-leading new charging unit designed specifically for underground battery-electric light vehicles (such as Toyota Landcruisers and Hiluxes). With an 80 kW output and the ability to connect directly to a 1,000 V underground system, it is the perfect solution to the challenging conditions encountered in underground mining environments and their fleet of supporting light vehicles, the company says. The JTMEC MineCharger is underground compliant, allowing Epiroc to extend electrification capabilities with customers across both underground and surface applications.

These two new products have generated customer interest not only in Australia but also in South Africa and across the APAC region, and will broaden the Epiroc portfolio of electric and BEV products, complementing the existing product offering and thereby helping to accelerate the electrification of mines, Epiroc says.

JTMEC Managing Director, Garry French, said: “Since Epiroc’s acquisition of JTMEC last year, the JTMEC business continues to grow, especially when it comes to tunnelling, and MineCharger and MineStarter are two perfect examples of enhanced capability and support provided by being part of Epiroc. This enables us to develop market leading electrical products for our customers, whilst also helping Epiroc accelerate electrification.”

The products are being shown at the AIMEX conference in Sydney, Australia, running from September 5-7.