Tag Archives: haulage

Scania goes cabless and autonomous with AXL haul truck

Automation, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , ,

Scania has joined Komatsu in coming up with a cabless automated haulage concept for mines and construction sites.

The fully autonomous concept truck, the Scania AXL, is the result of a group of Scania experts in different fields teaming up and developing a concept truck, which, even without a cab, has the company’s modular system at the heart of the design, Scania says.

“As different industries look to streamline transport assignments and make them more sustainable, self-driving vehicles are increasingly being considered,” Scania said. “Mines and large closed construction sites are examples of environments that are favourable for self-driving pilots since they are well-controlled locations.”

At MINExpo 2016, Komatsu unveiled its own “Innovative Autonomous Haulage Vehicle” featuring a cabless structure. It then showcased this vehicle at an event at its Arizona Proving Grounds near Tucson, last year.

Scania’s President and CEO, Henrik Henriksson, said: “With the Scania AXL concept truck, we are taking a significant step towards the smart transport systems of the future, where self-driving vehicles will play a natural part.

“We continue to build and pilot concepts to demonstrate what we can do with the technology that is available today.”

The Scania AXL is steered and monitored by an intelligent control environment where, in mines, the autonomous operations are facilitated by a logistics system that tells the vehicle how it should perform. The front module of the machine is equipped with cameras, radar, LiDAR and GPS receivers to generate a common view of the vehicle’s immediate surroundings. In addition, the combustion engine that powers the concept vehicle is powered by renewable biofuel.

Claes Erixon, Head of Research and Development at Scania, said the company already has self-driving trucks in customer operations.

“However, so far, they have been with room for a safety driver who can intervene if necessary,” he said. “Scania AXL does not have a cab and that changes the game significantly. The development in self-driving vehicles has made great strides in the past years. We still don’t have all the answers, but through concept vehicles like Scania AXL we break new ground and continue to learn at great speed.”

The first live demo of Scania AXL will take place at TRATON GROUP’s Innovation Day on October 2, at Scania’s demo centre in Södertälje, Sweden.

Innovations in mine site haulage on show at Truck & Shovel

Mining equipment, Mining events, Mining services, , , , , ,

Bis has been causing a storm in the open-pit haulage sector with its innovative Rexx truck. Fitted with 20 wheels, the machine combines the distance capacity of a traditional off-road haulage solution with the ability to go out of pit.

Virginie Hannah, Group Manager Innovation and Product Delivery, Bis Industries, will be talking all about this innovation at the Truck & Shovel Conference, in Singapore, September 19-20, during her presentation, ‘Innovations in mine site haulage‘. Attendees will be looking forward to hearing all about the mine site trial success stories the company has had with Rexx at Gold Fields’ Granny Smith mine in Australia and Glencore’s Murrin Murrin operation, also in Australia.

Bis has a culture of customer-driven innovation, with a strong focus on innovation in mine site haulage for reduced costs, improved productivity and better community and safety outcomes. Its game-changing truck, Rexx, was introduced to the market late last year.

The company explained: “The idea for Rexx came about when Bis leaders recognised a problem in double handling product when it was being moved from pit to processing. The solution was a 20-wheeled, long range, out-of-pit hauler that would combine the distance capacity of a traditional off road haulage solution with the ability to go out of pit.”

Bis says Rexx offers a range of competitive advantages, moving resources more efficiently and delivering greater profitability for customers.

The company’s culture of curiosity and innovation has driven the business from its early days, and has recently seen it listed as one of Australia’s most innovative companies by The Australian Financial Review.

To hear Hannah speak at this International Mining Events conference – along with 17 other speakers – click here to register.

Truck & Shovel conference gains Singapore Mining Club support

Automation, Careers in mining, Communications in mining, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining events, Mining maintenance, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining software, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The inaugural Truck & Shovel conference is now just over seven weeks away and the stage is set for an exciting event looking into the future of the global loading and haulage industry.

With topics such as automation, digitalisation, fleet management, and tyre and fuel optimisation on the agenda, there will be much to discuss at the 1.5-day event, taking place at the InterContinental Singapore, Middle Road, on September 19-20.

In addition to gaining the support of Komatsu Mining (Platinum Sponsor), Zyfra Mining (Gold Sponsor) and Mining Industry Professionals (Media Sponsor), IM Events is pleased to announce that the Singapore Mining Club has backed this global event.

Truck & Shovel 2019 will now be held in association with the Singapore Mining Club, an influential group that exists to promote development of Singapore as the pre-eminent regional hub for the management and financing of mining enterprises.

We chose Singapore for this global event for several reasons, including:

  • Many of the big mining companies have procurement and marketing hubs in this Asian metropolis;
  • It acts as a gateway through to key mining hubs such as Australia, India, China and Indonesia, and;
  • It has good transport links and an excellent reputation for event hospitality.

Taking place in Ballroom I and II of the InterContinental Singapore, this event has attracted a number of high-profile speakers that have masses of industry knowledge to share with delegates.

We plan to kick off the day with a keynote from Komatsu Mining’s Jason Knuth (Senior Manager – Data Solutions) and Simon Van Wegen (Product Manager – Data Solutions) on ‘Data-driven designs for dynamic mining environments’.

The duo, who have spoken at many high profile conferences around the world, are set to reveal how advanced mining original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are leveraging the plethora of data nodes on smart equipment to adapt equipment and design solutions for the modern mine environment.

Mikhail Makeev, Global Business Director, Zyfra Mining, is set to continue this digitalisation theme during his catchily-titled ‘How to make your mine “rock”’ presentation. The company has automation and fleet management expertise that it has applied across many mine sites, with Makeev keen to share details on these experiences.

Automation

For those focused on surface mining automation, Truck & Shovel tackles the concept from three different angles.

Drew Larsen, Director of Business Development, ASI Mining, will provide a business case for haulage automation with a presentation titled: ‘Autonomous Mining – more feasible than you might think’. The company, 34% owned by global mining OEM Epiroc, began work on a project with Barrick Gold to retrofit and automate a fleet of Komatsu 930-E Ultra Class haul trucks at the Arturo joint venture operation in Nevada, last year, and is expecting to issue news on projects with other miners in the near future.

Tony Cutler, Principal Consultant, OTR Global, will be tackling automation from a different stance in his ‘Factoring tyres into autonomous haulage’ presentation. Research from the leading mining OEMs offering autonomous haulage systems (AHS) indicates these systems have the potential to prolong tyre life, a claim Cutler will interrogate up on stage.

And Steve Russell, Director – Mining, Scott Technology Ltd, will be looking at autonomous refuelling in his talk. With a title of ‘Robofuel Robotic Refuelling – A safety and productivity initiative for the 21st Century Mine’, he will highlight case studies that showcase just how effective this process is in an open-pit mining context.

Equipment design and innovation

The look and feel of loading and haulage equipment hasn’t changed dramatically over the past few decades, but with mining companies and OEMs now receiving data in real time about how trucks and excavators are operating and interacting with each other, one would expect these design blueprints to, in the future, be altered in some way – for example Komatsu’s cabless haul truck concept.

Taking on this topic at the event will be Christopher B Althausen, Director of Sales & Marketing for Pioneer Solutions LLC, and Brad Rogers, CEO of Bis Industries.

Althausen’s presentation, ‘Mining truck design and development: challenges, hurdles and solutions’, looks at his and his company’s experiences approaching haul truck design over many decades. Rogers’ talk, meanwhile, focuses on ‘Innovation in minesite haulage’. With Bis Industries now having successful trials of its revolutionary Rexx haul truck in its back pocket, delegates will look forward to hearing all about the proven productivity benefits of using this 20-wheel machine.

Maximising payload

The first day of the event will finish with a packed session on truck bodies and excavator buckets where four speakers will highlight just how effective customised solutions can be in the open-pit mining environment.

Carl Samuelson, Global Business Support Manager, Metso Haul Truck Solutions, will talk about successes the mining OEM has had with its hybrid haul truck tray, the Metso Truck Body, while David Pichanick, Global Manager Market Development & Innovation, Austin Engineering, will reveal how thinking ‘outside the box’ and changing the way the company uses materials in dump bodies and buckets has had an impact on safety and productivity. Tom Smith, Engineering Manager at DT HiLoad, rounds out the truck body talk, presenting, ‘HERCULES: The Strongest Tray in Earth’.

Ian Cornfoot, Managing Director of G&G Mining, has the honour of closing day one with a presentation on the use of customised excavator buckets titled, ‘Moving Rocks Not Steel – “Productive innovations in earthmoving buckets”’.

Fuel efficiency and management

As has been well documented, fuel efficiency is key when it comes to open-pit mining, with optimised fuel selection and management often keeping the cost per tonne down.

This topic kicks off day two of the event, with Kevin Dagenais, CEO of Blutip Technologies, looking at the use of predictive modelling techniques to target mining inefficiencies in this space. Sean Birrell, Group Product Officer, FluidIntel, follows closely behind him on ‘Analytics opportunities in fuel and lubricant management – unseen risks & untapped value in your supply chain & operations’, with Joao Silveirinha, Chief Technology Officer of Banlaw, rounding out the fuel talk with a talk titled, ‘Digital Transformation and Automation as it relates to the management of Hydrocarbons in Mining’.

Safety and training

The last session of the conference is all on safety and training, with two speakers keen to talk up the benefits of these in open-pit mining where accidents can cost lives and machines.

Daniel Bongers, Chief Technology Officer of SmartCap Technologies, will present, ‘Zero fatigue incidents achieved – moving to alertness monitoring’ in his 30-minute slot, with Graham Upton, Director of Business Development at simulator specialist, Doron Precision Systems Inc, following him with ‘Shovel and Truck, side-by-side Coordinated Training’.

For details of how to register for this event, or access the full program, please visit the website: https://im-mining.com/truck-and-shovel/

Please note, all company delegations of two or more people are entitled to a discount. Get in touch with Editorial Director, Paul Moore ([email protected]), or Editor, Dan Gleeson ([email protected]), for more information.

Bis secures four-year contract extension at Glencore-owned Murrin Murrin mine

Base metals, Bulk handling, Mine operation news, Mining services, , , , , , , ,

Bis says it has extended its haulage and site services contracts for Minara Resources at its Murrin Murrin nickel mine in Western Australia’s north-eastern Goldfields.

The multi-year extension will see Bis extend its longstanding partnership with Minara, wholly-owned by Glencore, where it has been delivering a range of services at Murrin Murrin since the operation began in 1998.

Bis’ services at Murrin Murrin include haulage and haul and road maintenance services, calcrete services, and bulk logistics services. The Murrin Murrin site also recently hosted Bis’ new innovative haul truck, Rexx, as part of its trials in working mines across Western Australia.

Bis Chief Operating Officer, Michael Porter, said: “We are proud to have been part of the Minara operations for over 20 years, working in collaboration with Minara to deliver safe and innovative solutions that add value to their operation. We look forward to continuing our successful relationship with our colleagues at Murrin Murrin.”

TNG signs up Genesee & Wyoming Australia for Mount Peake freight job

Energy minerals, Mineral project development, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , , , , , ,

TNG Ltd says it has entered into a binding heads of agreement (HoA) with Genesee & Wyoming Australia (GWA), the third-largest rail operator in Australia, for the provision of rail haulage services for its flagship, 100%-owned Mount Peake vanadium-titanium-iron project, in the Northern Territory.

Genesee & Wyoming is a global railroad owner and operator with extensive experience in the transport of bulk commodities for the resources industry, and is the majority owner of the rail line to Darwin that runs approximately 1,100 km from the Mount Peake mine site, according to TNG.

Rail haulage will underpin the logistics chain transporting the magnetite concentrate to be produced by the proposed beneficiation plant at the Mount Peake mine site to the proposed TIVAN® processing facility in Darwin, where TNG intends to produce high-purity vanadium pentoxide, titanium pigment and iron ore fines.

The scope of services includes the loading of magnetite concentrate onto rail at the Adnera rail siding (proposed to be located 85 km from the mine site), rail haulage from Adnera to the TIVAN facility, in Darwin, on the Tarcoola-to-Darwin rail line, and the unloading of magnetite concentrate at the TIVAN facility.

GWA will also load and transport TNG’s final products from the TIVAN facility to the Darwin Port, providing all necessary rail transport plant and equipment, including locomotives, wagons, crew vans and fuelling equipment.

“Following execution of the HoA, TNG and GWA will work together on an exclusive basis, and commit the necessary resources, to develop an optimised rail haulage strategy for Mount Peake, and negotiate and finalise a rail haulage agreement,” TNG said.

TNG’s Managing Director and CEO, Paul Burton, said: “GWA’s presence and expertise in logistics and transportation further strengthens TNG’s global network of high-quality partners assigned for the development and operation of Mount Peake.” This includes the likes of McMahon Services and SMS Group.

An updated definitive feasibility study on Mount Peake from 2017 envisaged pre-production capex of A$853 million ($617 million) for a 3 Mt/y project ramping up to 6 Mt/y in year five. This would see 24.3 Mt of magnetic concentrate turned into 10.6 Mt iron oxide and 243,000 t of vanadium oxide.