Tag Archives: roadheader

Paus devises roadheading production machine for Turkish copper mine

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Underground mining equipment specialist, Hermann Paus Maschinenfabrik GmbH, recently entered the roadheading market in Turkey thanks to another example of its ongoing engineering nous and customer collaboration.

The company has adapted the PSF 200 dinting machine it released over a decade ago to help a Turkey-based copper mine progress through fractured hard rock in an underground environment that would not support the standard roadheading equipment the market offers.

The PSF 200 was specially manufactured for the tough conditions in mining and tunnelling. It features a swivelling boom and plain-milling cutter for cutting and levelling floor elevations in one work step.

It is this boom and cutter that have been adapted for a roadheading production environment, according to Oliver Wilke, Area Sales Manager for Latin America, USA, Canada, Spain, Portugal and Turkey.

“Since the launch of the PSF 200, we frequently had enquiries from customers about using this as a production machine,” he told IM. “Whenever these came in, we looked at the application and the potential rock hardness. We happened to have one discussion with a copper mine in Turkey that was ready to try it, so we made the machine and put it into operation.”

The machine, like the PSF 200, has compact dimensions of circa-2,400 mm width and height, and can cut rock with a hardness of up to 80 Mpa. The articulated chassis and wide swivel range provides side coverage of around 4,500 mm, according to the company.

The adapted machine, called the PTM 200, instead of the plain-milling cutter, comes with a 1,000-mm-wide roadheader-type cutter head, a dust suppression system and a 500-mm boom extension to improve productivity. The cabin has also been modified to ensure it can be levelled and adjusted to improve the visibility of the roadheading operations.

Since commissioning last year in October, the machine has been performing well, according to Wilke.

“The main problem for the customer was they had a lot of geological problems, meaning it was not possible to put a very heavy roadheader into the mine,” he said. “They worked before with a hydraulic excavator, but this was not providing adequate productivity, so they asked if we could provide an alternative.”

The PTM 200 can navigate the machine weight requirements that are dictated at the operation – its operating weight is around 30 t – and can cut the “faulting” hard rock with ease, Wilke added.

“The customer is satisfied with it, and they are now thinking about investing in one or two more machines as they have a lot of mining faces with these same kind of geological problems where the PTM 200 could work well.”

Innovative roadheader to soon start up at JSW’s Budryk coal mine

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A modern roadheader system equipped with a Komatsu Mining-manufactured bolter miner has been handed over to Polish coal miner JSW during celebrations in Tychy, Silesia.

The event, which featured a demonstration of the system’s capabilities, acted as a precursor for the hardware being delivered to the Budryk mine in Ornontowice, one of the deepest hard coal mines in the world.

The coal miner said: “JSW’s decision to purchase the roadheader may mark the most significant technological breakthrough in the Polish mining industry for many years. The research and development project, entitled ‘Independent Rockbolt Support’, is an innovative technology which may change not only the roadway works performed in JSW mines, but also may provide valuable inspiration for development for the entire Polish mining industry.”

Back in January, JSW reported that SIGMA was to deliver a system normally employed for cutting longwall faces and other areas in mines for roadway excavation, employing this specialist bolter miner.

The project sought to adapt the solutions used globally in the most modern deep shaft mines in the US and Australia, among other places, JSW said.

Włodzimierz Hereźniak, President of the JSW SA Management Board, said: “This is a revolution in Polish mining. The implementation of this hardware aims primarily to increase mining and reduce its cost. All these efforts follow from our strategy providing for reducing mining costs and expediting preparatory works in JSW mines.”

The construction of the Bolter Miner 12CM30 in the US lasted one year. In May, the miner was delivered to Poland and, over the next few days, it will be disassembled and transported to Budryk.

There, it will be assembled in the “Bw –1N badawczy” roadway – a process expected to take around three weeks. The miner will start working in the pit in November. cutting longwall faces and other areas in mines to be used for roadway excavation employing a specialist bolter miner.

The roadheader will be equipped with a 5.6-m wide cylindrical cutting head, with the project involving construction of six anchors in the pit’s ceiling and three anchors in the sidewalls. According to the assumptions, the roadheader will drill 15 m/d in the pit.

The project is the company’s response to the challenges awaiting it in the years to come, one of them being the need to increase the front of preparatory works in its deep coal mines.

The modern system to be used in JSW has been developed by a consortium of cooperating entities: JSW Innowacje as the consortium leader, JSW, the Central Mining Institute and Komatsu Mining (Joy Global).

Second Sandvik roadheader heading to Turquoise Ridge gold mine

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The transition of Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining’s Turquoise Ridge gold mine (owned 75:25) in Nevada, US, to a Tier One operation is tracking to plan, the Canada-based miner said recently, with the Sandvik MR361 roadheader it took delivery of back in 2017 continuing to prove its worth.

Barrick said in its December quarter results that it is looking to increase production and resources at Turquoise Ridge through mechanisation, automation, and innovation.

The ramp up of the roadheader over 2018 improved safety, increased throughput, and dropped mining costs per tonne, the company said in its results statement. This has led to Barrick ordering a second roadheader, manufactured by Sandvik, which will be delivered to the operation later this year. On top of this, Barrick said it is evaluating the opportunity associated with increasing the level of mechanisation and automation for the operation.

Barrick already has extensive experience using Sandvik roadheaders, with the company having employed a MH620 unit at its Cortez gold mine, also in Nevada, US. Weighing 125 t and driven by a 300-kW cutting motor, the MH620 cutting the Range Front declines at Cortez is one of the world’s largest roadheaders.

Construction of a third shaft at Turquoise Ridge continues to advance according to schedule and within budget, Barrick said in the results statement, with efforts in 2019 focused on earthworks and shaft sinking.

“The construction of this shaft is expected to increase annual production to more than 500,000 oz/y (100% basis), at an average cost of sales of around $720/oz, and average all-in sustaining costs of roughly $630/oz,” Barrick said.

“As of December 31, we have spent $62 million (including $3 million in the December quarter of 2018) out of a total estimated capital cost of $300-$325 million (100% basis) on the construction of this shaft.”

Initial production from the new shaft is expected to begin in 2022, with sustained production from 2023.

Since the end of 2015, reserves at Turquoise Ridge have increased by 3.5 Moz (100% basis), primarily through driving down mining costs per tonne, which has allowed for a lower cutoff grade, thereby optimising the way the orebody is mined.

“The focus in 2019 is to realise the potential to further grow reserves, extend mine life, and grow production over and above the current mine plan, through reducing costs to further lower the cutoff grade, as well as extending mineralisation at depth,” Barrick said.