Tag Archives: Epiroc

ASI acquisition to reinforce Epiroc’s OEM-agnostic transition

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Amid all the justified hype surrounding the launch of Epiroc’s second generation of battery-electric machines in Örebro, Sweden, this week, the company’s recent M&A activity was somewhat forgotten.

The acquisition of 34% of ASI Mining, a subsidiary of Autonomous Solutions Inc, is one of the more interesting buys the company has made in the past month or so and Helena Hedblom, Epiroc’s Senior Executive Vice President Mining and Infrastructure, provided further insight into why the company made the move for the US-based company.

ASI Mining’s products include on-board hardware and software that convert vehicles to autonomous operation, as well as system level software platforms for command and control of autonomous fleets across various mining applications. The solutions integrate with various mobile mining equipment, regardless of make or model. While the company aims to provide a broad mining remit with its Mobius solution, it has so far only made inroads into the surface mining space.

Hedblom, first off, said ASI’s automation retrofitting capability would bolster Epiroc’s open-pit mining offering, which includes production and exploration drilling equipment.

The partnership with ASI will also reinforce a much deeper shift in the company’s future product and systems strategy.

Hedblom said: “Our strategy when it comes to system integration…is to be able to offer a solution that can really drive productivity for our customers. To do that, you need to combine the full system of vehicles. You cannot only do it with one type of equipment.

“That’s why we have a clear strategy to be OEM-agnostic in everything we do.”

She continued: “The solutions you will see here [in Örebro] and, also the capabilities ASI brings, is [all around being] OEM-agnostic. It allows us to respond to the needs that the customers have when it comes to being OEM agnostic…I do believe that is what the industry needs, otherwise it will not be possible to reach the full potential when it comes to productivity.”

This philosophy can also be seen in the latest generation of battery-electric machines and systems, according to Epiroc’s Global Marketing Manager – Electrification, Erik Svedlund.

“OEM-agnostic goes to everything we do. For example, in the charging of our machines, we have already selected the solution from surface where we use the same type [of charger] that the car manufacturers do. This is a super-fast charging system for the car industry, but it will be our standard charging.

“This is important because then we can standardise an open interface between all the OEMs and all equipment in mines can be charged from the same charging infrastructure. It’s very important not to lock in customers to special designs.

“We believe, long term, this will be a benefit,” he said, adding that this charger change came about from the learnings of some 65,000 hours of operations with its first generation of battery-electric equipment.

Trolley assist up and running at Boliden’s Aitik copper mine

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Boliden has installed four trolley assist truck units at its Aitik copper mine in Sweden as the company looks to step up its vision for fossil fuel-free operations, the company’s Technology Director, Staffan Sandström told attendees at Epiroc’s Power Change Days event in Örebro, Sweden, this week.

The trolley kits, supplied by Caterpillar, are running on Cat 795F haul trucks on a trolley assist line as part of a two-year trial project at Europe’s largest open-pit copper mine.

For the project, Boliden has joined forces with Eitech and ABB to supply electrical infrastructure; Pon Equipment and Caterpillar for truck modifications; and Chalmers University with supporting research on system aspects of the electrification. The project is supported by the Swedish Energy Agency and has seen an investment in a 10 MW capacity DC substation.

The aim is to examine the possibility of replacing elements of Aitik’s transport system with electrified trucks. The objective is to be able to move the majority of the 70 million or so tonnes of rock transported at the open pit each year entirely without the use of fossil fuel.

At the event this week, Sandström confirmed the first trolley line was commissioned in September and had been working well, showing a close to two times increase in speed on an incline when compared with the equivalent diesel trucks.

The real test for the trucks and trolley line was yet to come, he said.

“This is nothing new; it has been done before. The new thing here is going to be working in 40° below [freezing],” he said.

The project’s Technical Manager, Jonas Ranggård, made a similar remark recently in a Boliden press release, saying: “As we want to be able to use the electrified routes in all weather conditions year-round, the pilot project as a whole can only first be evaluated at the end of 2019/start of 2020.”

Rikard Mäki, Project Manager for the R&D project, told IM the company was already preparing for these conditions.

“Road maintenance impact is one of the parameters that will be evaluated in the pilot project in order for us to accurately take this factor into account as part of the following investment decisions. We have fitted one motor grader and a wheel loader with machine guidance systems in order to maintain correct flatness, target slope and height of the ramp.”

On the trolley assist technology, Sandström continued: “Today, it works very well and roughly 30% of all transport has potential to be used on the trolley line at Aitik,” he said, adding it could have wider applications at the company’s Kevitsa nickel-copper mine in Finland.

Boliden said the first Aitik trolley line is around 700 m long and is expected to save some 830 m³/y of diesel. This should help the company reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% along those routes where the technology can be implemented.

In addition to the emission benefits brought to both the wider community and those operating in the mine, Sandström said the productivity and cost benefits (reducing the amount of diesel purchased) could also have a big impact.

Mäki said: “We do see this technology as the most promising solution near term for both Kevitsa and Aitik in order to reduce fuel cost and emissions. Decision to move ahead with further extension of the system is pending results from the pilot test. The initial results are looking very positive and the operators are very engaged in the pilot test.”

In other news, but still on haul trucks and potential electrification, Boliden confirmed in its September quarter results that, on October 19, the company reached agreement with Komatsu regarding the purchase of 17 haul trucks for Kevitsa and nine mine trucks for Aitik in an investment totalling some SEK 900 million ($99 million).

The investment is being made against the background of the ongoing expansion, insourcing of transport and as a replacement for part of the existing fleet of trucks. Boliden said all of the trucks are equipped for future electrification and delivery will commence in mid-2019.

Epiroc and Kirkland Lake Gold leading the mine electrification race, Riach says

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Canada and Australia-focused Kirkland Lake Gold has helped Epiroc become one of the leaders in the underground battery-electric mining equipment market, Richard Riach, Global Senior Project Manager for the OEM, said at the company’s Power Change Days event in Örebro, Sweden, on Wednesday.

The miner currently has some 33 battery-electric vehicles running around underground at its Macassa mine in Ontario, Canada, 14 of which are Epiroc machines. Overall, some 75-80% of the company’s haul and load operations are carried out by battery-electric equipment, he said.

Based on those numbers, the miner is one of the leaders in the field of battery-electric adoption underground, as well as a key partner for Epiroc.

“They’ve been the people that have helped us develop the products we have today,” Riach said.

The benefits haven’t all been one way.

Riach said Kirkland Lake had witnessed just a 2°C increase in the underground environment during the battery-electric mucking cycle with LHDs and trucks at Macassa, compared with an 8°C increase using the diesel equivalent.

Vibration and noise emissions have fallen, while operators are less tired at the end of a shift – a tell-tale sign of operating with heavy polluting diesel equipment. The amount of dust circulating around the workings has also dropped.

Riach, who formerly worked for Vale in Sudbury, said Epiroc’s development timeline for battery-electric machinery started all the way back in 2012. The first Scooptram ST7 Battery was produced in 2013 before a 2014 machine trial with Goldcorp’s Red Lake mines department. The Minetruck MT2010 then came along in 2015.

With around 65,000 hours of operating data from battery-electric equipment, Epiroc has now launched its second generation of battery-electric machines – two new LHDs (Scooptram ST14 and Scooptram ST18), a 42 t truck (Minetruck MT42, pictured) and a range of mid-sized drilling equipment including face drilling, production drilling and rock reinforcement rigs.

While the company will start to roll out these products from next year – IM understands at least one piece of the second-generation machinery will go to Agnico Eagle Mines’ Kittila gold operation in Finland as part of the SIMS (Sustainable Intelligent Mining Systems) project – it already has its sights on more products.

Stevan Topalovic, Vice President Marketing Underground Rock Excavation division at Epiroc, said the technology was readily scalable and Epiroc was already working on an 18 t LHD.

There is also a target to roll out battery-electric equipment across its entire underground fleet within the next five years.

And about the potential for retrofitting, Erik Svedlund, Global Marketing Manager – Electrification, Epiroc, said the company was carrying out studies to do exactly this. This could lead to the retrofitting of battery-electric technology on Epiroc diesel equipment and, even more interesting, other OEM’s machines.

The company would not have been able to get to this point in its product evolution without the help of battery maker Northvolt and ABB. Both companies have been instrumental in providing the technology to make this transition from diesel to electric operation.

As part of this new range, Epiroc is committed to its Battery as a Service offering. This will see the mining OEM provide a warranty for the battery and provide both software and hardware updates on an annual basis.

“Our battery system will improve every year with improvements in the battery cells,” Svedlund said, explaining the modular design of the machines and batteries allowed this. He said the company was even prepared for a future switch to solid-state batteries.

By shifting the battery element of these machines from a capex to opex item, providing the widest range of battery-electric mining equipment across the market and remaining open to changes in both the battery chemistry and system, the company is hoping to differentiate its machines from its competitors.

Epiroc eyes Baltic expansion with purchase of Estonia-based mining equipment distributor

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Epiroc has made another acquisition, this time taking over Sautec AS, an Estonian distributor of mining and construction equipment.

Sautec is based in Tallinn, Estonia, and is active also in Latvia and Lithuania. The company, which has six employees, distributes underground mining equipment and construction demolition tools with related parts, services and consumables.

This is Epiroc’s third acquisition in as many weeks, after buying exploration rock tools manufacturer Fordia and 34% of mining autonomy major ASI.

Helena Hedblom, Epiroc’s Senior Executive Vice President Mining and Infrastructure, said the deal was focused on expanding the company’s presence in the Baltic region.

Epiroc said the purchase price was not material relative to its market capitalisation and, therefore, had not been disclosed.

Sautec will become part of Epiroc’s Mining and Rock Excavation Service division.

Kimberley Ekapa Mining chooses Epiroc MMI solution to go down digitalisation route

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Kimberley Ekapa Mining has agreed to use Epiroc’s Mobilaris Mining Intelligence (MMI) solution as it looks to embrace mine digitalisation and create a decision support system to boost safety and increase productivity.

With the use of MMI, Kimberley Ekapa Mining will be able to track assets in real-time; to integrate and visualise machine data, machine location and the shift plan together to close the loop between the plan and the reality, according to Epiroc.

Howard Marsden, General Manager of Kimberley Ekapa Mining, said: “MMI will help us start to modernise our old diamond mine and be the tipping point in terms of production optimisation.”

Marsden added MMI would allow the company to tag and keep better track of its mining personnel and equipment and provide access to real-time data, shedding some light into the “normally dark world of the underground mine”.

“We expect this is to be productivity game changer,” he concluded.

Thanks to its open architecture, MMI can be integrated easily with other systems in the mine, Epiroc says. Kimberly Ekapa Mining will rely on MMI to compile information from other systems and make all information searchable and easily accessible to decision-makers in real time.

Ulla Korsman-Kopra, Global Business Manager, Automation and Information Management Systems at Epiroc’s Underground Rock Excavation division, said: “The MMI is the world’s leading multi-role 3D location based decision support system, which enhances safety, productivity and efficiency in the mining operations.”

Users can access the web-based MMI interface from different devices to visualise the locations and movements of workers, vehicles and other equipment in real-time, Epiroc says.

Korsman-Kopra said: “When a problematic situation arises, and for example lives are at stake, MMI can be critical. You need to act quickly and make informed decisions to save time and ultimately save lives.”

Epiroc will supply Kimberley Ekapa Mining with an MMI hardware and software package that includes personnel training and support. The system installation will be operational by year’s end.

The Kimberley Ekapa Mining diamond operation in South Africa produced 755,645 ct in the year to end-June 2018. The Kimberley mines were at the heart of South Africa’s early diamond rush in Kimberley in the late 1800s, where the world’s first hard rock diamond deposits were discovered.

Epiroc posts solid Q3 as it looks to battery-electric equipment launch in Q4

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The three months from July to September saw Epiroc increase its orders received, revenue and profits as it registered good customer demand in the markets it serves.

Revenue increased 27% year-on-year to SEK9.65 billion ($1.06 billion), while operating profit jumped 25% to SEK1.90 billion, from SEK1.52 billion.

Epiroc CEO Per Lindberg said it was a solid quarter with strong revenue and profit growth.

“We saw a continued good sentiment and customer demand in the market. Mining production remained high in all major markets and activities in infrastructure continued to be good. The order intake was higher than the previous year, and I am pleased with the strong order development for our service business and also for our surface equipment,” he said.

Lindberg noted that the order intake was lower than in the past two record quarters, though, partly due to fewer large orders received.

“Such large orders are not evenly distributed over time, and will consequently impact quarterly order intake. Orders received are also typically lower in quarter three compared to quarters one and two,” he explained.

For mining equipment a majority of the orders continued to be for expansions in existing mines, he said.

On the company’s innovation initiatives, Lindberg said the company was generating strong interest from its customers with a high share of its equipment ready for automation.

“Our newly inaugurated Control Tower in Örebro, Sweden, is designed to be an innovation arena for exploring and developing automation solutions,” he said, adding that the company would introduce its second generation of battery-operated equipment during the current quarter.

“All-in-all, our customers will benefit from increased productivity, safety and energy efficiency,” he concluded.

Earlier this week, the company announced the acquisition of fellow exploration rock tools manufacturer Fordia.

Epiroc, Murray & Roberts Cementation set for South Africa manganese mine ramp up

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Epiroc has won a significant mining equipment order from contractor Murray & Roberts Cementation, with multiple drill rigs and bolters set to be delivered to the Kalagadi manganese mine in the Northern Cape of South Africa.

The equipment, which includes Boomer 282 face drilling rigs and Boltec 235 bolting machines (one pictured), will be used for the underground production build up at Kalagadi, where Murray & Roberts Cementation is the contractor.

“The machines will ensure that the mine is operated with enhanced productivity, safety and cost efficiency,” Epiroc said.

The orders total more than ZAR160 million ($10.9 million), of which more than half was placed in the September quarter.

In addition to the drilling and bolting machines, Epiroc will supply rock drilling tools, spare parts and on-site service support to back up Murray & Roberts Cementation.

According to a Business Day report from earlier this year, the Kalagadi mine is expected to generate 3 Mt/y of ore to convert into 2.4 Mt/y of sinter at full capacity.

Epiroc helps Barrick Gold’s Hemlo mine go deeper with automation and teleremote control

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An autonomous and teleremote solution from Epiroc has allowed Barrick Gold’s team at Hemlo in Ontario, Canada, to enhance safety, and reduce ventilation and climate control requirements, even as the underground mine goes deeper.

These innovations are the most recent addition to an automation programme at Barrick’s Hemlo open stope mine. The programme began with an autonomous truck circuit in 2007 and is now accelerating with a five-year plan following a year-long search for a solution offering the lowest cost, quickest implementation and solid product support, according to Epiroc.

Hemlo has produced more than 21 Moz of gold, and has been operating continuously for more than 30 years. It produced 196,000 oz last year and is expected to produce 200,000-220,000 oz this year.

The complex is made up of an open pit and underground mine, with the latter expected to operate until 2021 at an average production rate of approximately 3,600 t/d, according to the latest mine technical report.

Patrick Marshall, Manager Automation Projects for Barrick, said the company studied all available technology before settling on Epiroc’s solution.

“We had conferences with manufacturers and visited their facilities. We toured operations where their equipment was at work,” he said.

“We believe the Epiroc package featured the product support we wanted, had the best integration capability for our multivendor operation, had the right pricing model and, in general, was the best fit for our needs.”

Barrick preferred to use Cisco for wireless infrastructure, with Marshall explaining the Epiroc system was “easily adaptable for use with third-party wireless systems”.

For Hemlo, which is now being mined from around 1.4 km below surface, safety is the greatest benefit of the automation-ready Epiroc Scooptram ST14. Combining autonomous tramming with teleremote operation also increases productivity, according to Epiroc.

Hemlo Mine Superintendent Jon Laird said: “Automation and teleremote control get workers away from the operating environment to an office on the surface ‒ the ultimate in safe operation. And, since it continuously mucks from stopes at a steady rate even through shift changes, it eliminates having to move operators to it every shift.”

Laird said the 14 t-capacity Epiroc Scooptram is “so efficient it threatens to outpace crushing operations at the ore pass”.

One solution to this ‘overproduction’ being discussed is creating additional ore passes to give one crushing operation time to clear ore between dumps. The Scooptram loader can easily learn multiple routes and alternate between them.

“Other systems Hemlo looked at took up to a full shift for the route-learning process,” Epiroc said.

The automation zone is marked with a laseractuated barrier at Hemlo. Crossing this light curtain will trip a shutdown of the level and alarm those on surface. An electronic ‘key’ from a safety box near the light curtain is required before a unit can enter the zone.

Operator Wayne Locht said: “It (the key) connects the rig to the automation area so that the safety system knows that the rig is in the area.”

Equipment at Hemlo is tagged to display its location in the mine with Mobilaris real-time tracking software. The same Mobilaris technology is planned for miners’ hard hats by the end of 2018.

Once in the zone, Locht radios the operator waiting at the control room operator station on the surface, 1.4 km above the mine. The rig can now be operated from this vantage point.

Certiq, the telematics system installed on the Scooptram, will be important for tracking, documenting and analysing operational data to learn how much Barrick gains from its investment in automation, according to Epiroc.

Mucking is not yet an automated feature, so this task is carried out by Locht remotely once back on surface.

“Until the rig is refueled, after approximately 16 hours, no human being will visit the rig or enter the automation zone. Teleremote operators will monitor its routine, taking control only during loading and dumping operations,” Epiroc said.

Barrick’s next step is finishing the wireless infrastructure throughout the Hemlo mine, expanding the automation zones, and getting more loaders. A single operator will run more than one machine from a control station, and the mine will have more than one station. Operators at any station will be able to control any of the automated Scooptram loaders, anywhere in the mine.

Marshall said: “Today, we’re connected. Tomorrow we’ll have optimised fleet management. In the near future, we’ll achieve our ultimate goal – fully autonomous mining underground executed by our operators from the surface.”

Epiroc names five keys to success of this operation:

  • “Mobilaris real-time location tracking: Mine-wide use of Mobilaris Mining Intelligence not only gives Hemlo real-time equipment tracking, but the precise location of each person underground – a vital advantage in case of an emergency;
  • “Designed with operators in mind: Operators report high satisfaction with the ergonomics, power, comfort and features of the Scooptram ST14 loader. Transitioning to teleremote and autonomous operation is quick and easy to learn;
  • “Capacity and speed boost productivity: The Scooptram ST14 loader with 14 t bucket capacity gives fast, fully loaded tramming speeds rated up to 29.5 km/h on level ground and up to 4.8 km/h up a 25% grade;
  • “Safer, more comfortable environment: Automated LHD operation reduces ventilation and climate control requirements for deep mining operations and moves operators to a safer, more comfortable environment than is possible with line-of-sight radio remote control;
  • “Multi-use Wi-Fi: Wireless infrastructure for autonomous operation also enables live access to performance data and provides minewide network access for location tracking and communication capabilities like mid-interval reporting.”

Galantas Gold starts up Omagh processing plant in Northern Ireland

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Galantas Gold has commenced operations at its Omagh processing plant, in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, sourcing feed from the underground Kearney gold vein development.

The processing plant has had a recent upgrade to some sections and is expected to operate part-time until production stoping commences, anticipated late in 2018 or early in 2019.

The plant operates a froth flotation system for production of a gold-silver concentrate. This process removes the sulphide minerals and gold and concentrates them into a product suitable for smelter treatment. The concentrate is then exported, via Belfast port, to a smelter.

Galantas’ Omagh development reached the main Kearney gold vein back in June. The vein intersection is around 15 m below the base of the Kearney open pit (pictured).

A horizontal development tunnel, driven on vein at this level in both directions, has provided this limited mill feed.

The decline tunnel is planned to be extended at depth, along with construction of a second means of egress. This should provide access to lower levels and permit stoping between the first two horizontal levels.

A new 4 t capacity Epiroc LHD has been ordered on a rental-purchase basis to improve productivity in loading operations from the smaller cross-section vein drives. It is equipped with radio remote control, which enhances safety in stope mucking operations, and is expected to be delivered next month.

Epiroc wins order for copper-zinc underground mine in Dominican Republic

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Epiroc is to supply Corporación Minera Dominicana’s (Cormidom) Cerro de Maimon copper-zinc mine in the Dominican Republic with a new mining fleet as it transitions to an underground operation over the next few years.

The machines will allow the company, owned by Australia’s Perilya, to operate the new underground mine with “significantly increased productivity as well as enhanced safety and improved cost efficiency”, Epiroc said.

The order totals more than $24 million and was received in the June quarter 2018. It includes a Boomer M2 face drill rig (pictured), a Simba E7 hydraulic long-hole production rig, a Scooptram ST18 18 t LHD and Minetruck MT65, among other machines and rock drilling tools. The equipment will be delivered over the next two years in time for the mining transition.

Helena Hedblom, Epiroc’s Senior Executive Vice President Mining and Infrastructure, said: “We are proud to be a key partner of Cormidom as they develop the Cerro de Maimon mine for significantly higher production.

“We are committed to delivering more productivity and safety to our customers at a lower total cost of operation.”

Perilya has been mining oxide and sulphide ore at Cerro de Maimon since October 2008 and flagged up the possibility of going underground in various studies around five years ago.

Paul Arndt, Managing Director of Perilya, said: “Perilya has a long and successful operating history with Epiroc in Australia. We see this as a chance to build on this relationship and develop further a strong partnership utilising Epiroc equipment throughout all the key phases of the mining cycle.”