Loulo Archives - International Mining

Barrick Gold, despite numerous COVID-19-related hurdles, made progress on the innovation front in the March quarter, with a haul truck automation trial and battery-electric underground equipment developments continuing to take place.

In its 2019 annual report, Barrick said the first stage of a project designed to retrofit an autonomous system at its Carlin gold mine, in Nevada, had been successfully completed.

In the March quarter results presentation last week, Mark Bristow, Barrick President and CEO, updated investors on this project, saying a proof of concept allowing manned and unmanned operations in the same zone had been completed at one of its mines. On top of this, the company said it was working on autonomous drilling projects.

It is underground where the biggest revelation came, with Barrick confirming trials of a 50 t battery-electric haul truck it mentioned in its 2019 annual report had commenced at its Turquoise Ridge gold operation, in Nevada. This trial involved an Artisan Z50 (graphic, pictured), the largest battery-powered underground haul truck currently on the market.

A Barrick spokesperson said the trial of the 50 t payload truck was expected to be finalised in the June quarter of this year, “with the option to extend, should the KPIs not be met”.

Barrick previously reported the introduction of a battery-powered development drill at its Hemlo underground gold mine, in Ontario, Canada, “as a first step towards establishing the potential of this new technology” in 2019. Having carried out a trial of this Sandvik DD422iE battery-powered development drill, the Barrick spokesperson confirmed the company has now acquired the unit.

Designed to use electric energy from an onboard battery during tramming and plug into a mine’s existing energy infrastructure while drilling, the Sandvik DD422iE has been used at Newmont’s Borden mine, in Ontario, among other places.

Bristow said on the call that the company believes battery-powered electric underground equipment “has the potential to lower operating costs and increase efficiencies”.

In addition to these automation and battery-electric vehicle developments, Barrick said in the results that a new global SAP Enterprise Resource Planning system was on track for its first implementation at the Nevada Gold Mines JV operations in the September quarter. This is a “more agile, less overly-customised tool, focused on getting the right information”, according to Barrick.

“This more streamlined and standardised global design will further improve our ability to report real-time cost and efficiency data and, more importantly, manage our real-time information,” Bristow said on the call.

The NGM JV implementation could lay the groundwork for a solution to be rolled out to other regions in 2021, according to Barrick.

Barrick’s underground digital innovation plan has seen the company recently adopt technologies that allow it to remotely monitor, in real time, a machine’s location, productivity and health, as well as that of operators’, Bristow said. This tool could increase its efficiencies and predictive maintenance capabilities, he added.

Barrick’s team at Loulo Underground, meanwhile, has helped develop a system that automatically turns secondary fans on and off using personal RFID tracking systems, Bristow noted on the call. This could help reduce power consumption at the mine, in Mali, and the project is now being implemented across its Africa underground mines, he said.

Barrick Gold is to install a 24 MW off-grid solar hybrid plant to support its existing 63 MW thermal power station at the Loulo mine in Mali as it looks to cut costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the operation.

The renewable energy project is part of Barrick’s wider strategy of moving away from thermal power in Africa, where lack of infrastructure means many mines rely on self-generated diesel energy, making this their largest cost item, the company said.

“Utilising hydropower in the Democratic Republic of Congo, grid power in Côte d’Ivoire, and heavy-fuel baseload generators in Mali, Barrick has already cut its energy costs significantly, and the continuing roll-out of renewable energy sources will ensure that its future needs are met in the most cost-efficient and environmentally friendly manner,” Barrick said.

The solar feasibility study at Loulo forecasted that the photovoltaic plant will replace 50,000 MWh/y of thermal generation, saving 10 million litres/y of fuel and reducing CO² emissions by 42,000 t over the same period. The introduction of the solar component is also expected to cut the complex’s energy cost by around 2 cents/kWh.

Construction of the project—which meets Barrick’s investment criteria of generating at least a 20% internal rate of return—will start later this year. The plant is scheduled for commissioning in late 2020.

“The plant will use the latest weather prediction models, which will enable the power management system to switch between thermal and solar without compromising the micro-grid,” Barrick said.

Barrick’s 80%-owned Loulo-Gounkoto operation is expected to produce 520,000-570,000 oz of gold in 2019 at all-in sustaining costs of $810-850/oz.

Barrick continues to leverage automation and battery-electric technology

Barrick’s Loulo gold operation readies for introduction of off-grid solar hybrid plant