Tag Archives: Sandvik

Sandvik Rammer hydraulic hammers set for cloud-based monitoring revamp

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Sandvik’s Rammer division, having celebrated a 40-year anniversary this year, has updated and upgraded its Excellence Line of hydraulic hammers.

In addition to a new and improved focus on safety, one of the major features of the Rammer Excellence Line is a purpose-developed RD3 remote monitoring device – the first of its kind on hammers, according to Sandvik.

“RD3 uses the MyFleet Telematics service to track and monitor fleet equipment usage without needing to go to the site to collect the data – ideal for dealers, rental companies and operators. This cloud-based system enables the hammers to be viewed and monitored via Google maps,” Sandvik says.

The main benefits of the system are it enables fleet owners/managers to know exactly where their equipment is, and how it is being used, Sandvik says. “This supports better business decision-making – providing improved security and optimised fleet location, whilst enabling enhanced application knowledge and operator education (all accomplished via GPS data) – and contributing to the overall profitability of the business.”

As well as RD3, Rammer has looked to lower tool bushing rotating and replacement in the field with the latest updates. This has been supported by the use of two tool retaining pins that increase the lifetime of the tool, retaining pins and tool bushings.

An IBP on/off selector is fitted to the valve body, enabling easy field adjustments (2577E and up). Separate greasing channels from the valve body to the upper and lower tool bushing further increases the lifetime of the tool and tool bushings, the company says.

Sandvik concludes: “Rammer’s Excellence Line continues the company’s 40-year tradition of delivering innovative hammers designed to improve profitability, safety and performance. With its new, customer-focused features, the line perfectly represents Rammer’s continued focus on helping businesses to enhance their performance.”

Resolute hits milestone at Syama sublevel cave gold project

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Resolute Mining Limited has commenced sublevel cave ore production at the Syama Underground project in Mali, West Africa.

The extraction of first ore from the southern end of the 1105 level of the Syama sublevel cave marks the anticipated beginning of the main caving operation at Syama and the achievement of a major milestone for the company, Resolute said.

Resolute’s Managing Director and CEO, John Welborn, said: “Syama will be the world’s first, purpose built, fully automated sublevel cave gold mine. It is a world-class, long life, low cost asset that will deliver long term benefits to our shareholders, stakeholders, and local Mali communities for years to come.”

Resolute has partnered with Sandvik to deliver the automation solution at Syama, with the OEM also supplying the underground fleet, which includes automated Sandvik TH663 trucks and LH621, LH517 and LH514E LHDs.

Welborn went on to say Syama would be the most sophisticated and advanced gold mine in Africa.

“Our investment in exploration, infrastructure, technology, power, and innovation at Syama has transformed a world-class orebody into a world-class mine,” he said.

Resolute has an ambition to be a leader in sustainable and responsible economic growth in Africa, according to Welborn. The company recently announced plans to build a new 40 MW Syama Solar Hybrid Power Plant which will deliver an expected 40% savings on power costs and is expected to be the world’s largest mine-based, off-grid fully integrated independent solar hybrid power plant.

In addition to this, the company is working on Project 85, a series of sulphide processing plant upgrades, that will enable the company to achieve improved recoveries from high-grade ore sourced from the new sublevel cave, he said.

“The combination of mine automation, improved recoveries, and lower cost power has the potential to increase Syama site production to 300,000 oz/y of gold and reduce life-of-mine all-in sustaining costs to below $750/oz,” he added.

The initial development of the sublevel cave infrastructure including the twin declines and access to the first four sublevel levels of the cave, the 1130, 1105,1080 and 1055 sub levels, has been established. Approximately 400,000 t of development and long hole stoping ore have been extracted from the underground mine to date. Mining rates will gradually build up over the first half of 2019 and are expected to reach nameplate capacity of 200,000 t/mth by the end of June 2019.

Sandvik showcases digital mine offering at Chile event

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Last week, more than 200 leaders in the Latin American mining industry met in Santiago, Chile, for Digitalization in Mining – Through the Rock, a two-day summit, hosted by Sandvik.

This event focused on leading-edge mining technology, and the digitalisation journey contemporary mines face, Sandvik said.

“Digitalisation is helping companies to grow and optimise their operations,” said Patricio Apablaza, Vice President, Sales Area Andean and South Cone, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology. “Our partners are here today because they know that this is critical to making their mines sustainable for the future.”

Day one featured speakers from mining companies from around the Americas, as well as leaders in mining technology, process optimisation and automation. The speakers detailed the benefits their companies have gained by implementing automation and process optimisation, as well as the mind set it took to get there.

Tyler Mckenzie, Automation Project Manager, Underground Mine Department, Rangold Kibali gold mine (KGM), Democratic Republic of the Congo, said: “Since the implementation of the MCS AutoMine Multi at Kibali mine site, we have seen a significant reduction in our operation costs compared to conventional operation. In 12 months, our three main autonomous LHDs have averaged 4,500 running hours and moved over 1 Mt each. The reliability of the system and the machines is higher than we even hoped for.”

“In Q1 of 2019, KGM will be using similar technology on our production side of the mine (Sandvik’s AutoMine® Multi-Lite) where one operator will have the ability to control up to three separate machines on multiple levels throughout the mine from the surface. With the multiple machine control from the surface KGM has reduce the number of expats from underground, and will continue to improve our local automation operator team.”

The second day participants travelled to the Sandvik Chile headquarters to participate in live remote visits to Sandvik customer sites around the world, enabling them to experience mining digitalisation in action. Those present took part in virtual visits to: Democratic Republic of Congo, Bulgaria, Ireland, Canada, Chile and Finland.

“It was a really interesting experience,” said Enrique Patron Costas of Canteras Piatti. “Sandvik showed that it is a leader in the space, and it was important for us to be part of this event. The access to technology and automation is closer than we imagine.”

Throughout the day, Sandvik demonstrated its latest digital offering and participants could see the latest innovations throughout its product portfolio, including process optimisation with OptiMine®, information management through My Sandvik digital services and autonomous operation with AutoMine® – together with the latest equipment in underground and surface drilling, loading and hauling, crushing and screening and the rock tools management system.

Patrick Murphy, President, Rock Drills and Technologies, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, said: “We often get asked for reference cases and data to illustrate the value and payback of digital solutions. Over the two days of the conference, our customers were able to share their own experiences and quantitatively demonstrate how our solutions have helped increase their productivity, reduce their production costs and increase their safety.”

Miner collaboration playing a key role in battery-electric developments, Sandvik says

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Sandvik says it understands the underground hard-rock mining industry’s need for productive and safe mining with battery-electric vehicles and, as a result, is working on even more solutions to cater to this demand.

Innovations and ideas for these future solutions are being discussed and validated in customer forums, participated by several major mining houses, and organised by the OEM.

These customer workshops and forums have proven to be an effective and successful means of collaboration, according to the company.

“Today, Sandvik understands customer needs for productive and safe mining with battery-electric vehicles, and uses these forums to discuss the changes, challenges, and opportunities that electrification is expected to bring to the mining industry,” it said.

As part of Sandvik’s customer validation process, pioneering mining houses get their voices heard and needs analysed in discussion forums, the company says. One example is Goldcorp, which is developing the world’s first all-electric underground mine in northern Ontario, Canada, at the Borden Lake gold project, and presented in the recent Canada customer forum.

Sandvik said: “The benefits that electrification and battery-electric equipment are expected to bring – for the Borden Lake mine as well as any other operation planning to introduce new technology – will include, for example, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced diesel fuel consumption, and reduced power consumption.

“Additionally, as diesel engines are replaced with battery-electric solutions, underground mines will produce less heat, noise and exhaust gases, including diesel particulate matter. Thus, the innovative technology will result in decreased mine ventilation needs, which are currently a significant cost factor in deep and complex underground mines.”

While Sandvik’s customer electrification forum occurred recently, previous efforts have been instrumental steps in the journey to providing an electrified product offering to replace diesel, the company said.

Sandvik has previously developed innovative products for the underground mining industry such as electric LHDs, remote control LHDs, and automation.

Learnings following two years of testing with the Sandvik LH307 battery LHD prototype (pictured) have been important building blocks to the knowledge bank, which is guiding the ongoing R&D efforts, and have driven a clear understanding that “successful electrification implementation involves much more than simply replacing the diesel engine with an electric motor and a battery”, Sandvik says.

“Thus, solutions in progress at Sandvik are based on a holistic approach of electrified equipment, ensuring that the final products make no compromises to performance.”

Mats Eriksson, President of Product Area Load and Haul, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, said: “Finding new solutions to reduce heat and emissions in underground mines, without compromising the customer’s productivity, is perfectly in line with our strategy, safety first.

“Also the targeted benefits of battery electric vehicles speak for Sandvik’s aim to align with the United Nations Global Sustainability Development Goals. We believe that developing battery electric technology is one of the future directions to take.”

IM will be hosting The Electric Mine conference in Toronto, Canada, on April 4-5, 2019, where developments in this fast-evolving sector will be discussed. For more information on the event, click here.

Sandvik breaks new ground with introduction of industry’s fastest drill bit

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Sandvik thinks it has introduced the fastest drill bit in the industry with its new Speedy bit.

In addition to 10% higher drilling speed compared with standard bits with ballistic buttons, the Speedy bit also delivers great collaring accuracy and hole quality, according to the company.

Sandvik said the increased speed enables Speedy bit users to save one hour per day for each drill rig.

Robert Grandin, Product Manager for Underground Top Hammer at Sandvik Rock Tools, said: “Sandvik is continuing to break ground in the drilling business with the introduction of Speedy bit. With increased drilling speed, customers can expect significant cost savings. This can translate into more than $100,000/y.”

He added: “Since drilling faster also reduces machine-related costs per metre advanced, such as for operators and maintenance, the Speedy bit is an excellent example of our aim to always maximise the output of our customers’ investments.”

The Speedy bit, which features one of Sandvik’s new PowerCarbide grades, outperforms the standard bits in the industry with aggressive buttons that penetrate deeper with each strike and increased cutting size, according to Sandvik.

The patented elevated front breaks the rock in two levels and improves the flushing flow, while large sludge grooves enable quick removal of large cuttings.

Sandvik Speedy bits are available in three dimensions: 45 mm, 48 mm and 51 mm.

Grandin said the Speedy bit has proven its performance in the field during more than 20 trials in mine development and tunnelling. “On average, drill speed increased by 9% compared to bits with ballistic buttons, including several regrinds,” he said.

Sandvik offers a full drill string from shank adapter to bit, designed for reliability, performance and longevity. The Speedy bit, which is available to order, is developed to boost productivity in the whole drilling process.

The introduction of the Speedy bit comes a day after Sandvik released its new drilling tool system, the Alpha 360.

Sandvik releases next generation Alpha 360 drilling tool system

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Sandvik is introducing a new drilling tool system, the Alpha 360, which it says is an improved and amplified version of the company’s best-selling Alpha 330 top hammer system (pictured).

With a reinforced design, Alpha 360 can last twice as long as a standard industry thread. Its hole accuracy also enables higher productivity in tunneling and mine development, according to Sandvik.

The system has been developed to deliver “unprecedented rock tools performance” and, at the same time, boost productivity in the whole drill-and-blast cycle, Sandvik said.

Robert Grandin, Product Manager for Underground Top Hammer, at Sandvik Rock Tools, said: “Alpha 360 is yet another example of our aim to provide customers with products that will maximise the output of their investments.

“High drilling accuracy is crucial to ensure that the tunnel gets the desired direction and profile. Straight and parallel holes also improve the advance per blast.”

The Alpha 360, which is designed for Ø48-51-mm-hole sizes in face drilling and bolting, features a strong thread design. The short thread on the round rod gives superior resistance towards bending stresses, improved bit guidance and excellent energy transfer, according to Sandvik.

The sturdy thread is guided inside the bit skirt, which enables high precision collaring also in complex rock formations and against uneven surfaces.

Grandin said: “As a leading supplier to the rock drilling industry, Sandvik continues to drive the technology forward. We always offer a full drill string from shank adapter to bit, designed for excellent reliability, performance and longevity.”

Sandvik and Nokia team up to offer miners LTE and 5G networks

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Sandvik has signed an agreement with Nokia to further develop solutions for private LTE (Long Term Evolution) and 5G technology, continuing its focus on IoT solutions for the mining industry.

The Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (NDAC) platform offers pervasive connectivity enabling advanced applications and will initially be implemented and tested in the Sandvik test mine in Tampere, Finland, Sandvik said.

“Sandvik’s decades-long work in automation has grown to include robust data analytics and process optimisation offerings, where connectivity and local computing power are crucial. Applications requiring high capacity and low latency are becoming increasingly important,” the company said.

“Private LTE networks bring reliable and secure high capacity, low latency and wide coverage mobile broadband to serve mission and business critical industrial connectivity needs and offer a variety of terminals, sensors and other devices,” Sandvik added.

The Nokia digital automation platform will operate both underground and in open-pit mines and offers a flexible connectivity platform for testing and developing Sandvik technology, according to Sandvik. “This network enables operation of autonomous vehicles, real-time monitoring of underground and outdoor premises to keep people and equipment safe, remote diagnostics and predictive maintenance, as well as asset management, control and authentication,” the company said.

Riku Pulli, Vice President, Automation, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, said: “Our cooperation with Nokia is another important part of our strategy to develop open, interoperable solutions for future mining needs. Enhanced connectivity is critical for smarter and safer underground operations, and we’re proud to work with Nokia to develop these enhanced connectivity options for our test mine and mining industry going forward.”

Stephan Litjens, General Manager, Nokia Digital Automation, said: ”Pairing Sandvik solutions with 5G-ready NDAC architecture has proven to be an excellent match. We are truly motivated to continue collaborating to develop technology that meets the requirements of the often-harsh conditions they operate in – be it moist, hot, cold, and/or dusty.”

Sandvik’s Pulli concluded: “Sandvik is a leader in mine automation and digitalisation, and Nokia offers leading technology in wireless connectivity. Together, we create innovative solutions for mining customers.”

Recently Agnico Eagle Mines, which is pilot testing automated mining using the Sandvik AutoMine system at its La Ronde Zone 5 mine, confirmed it would install an LTE network at the operation in Quebec, Canada.

Mining3 making headway on Alternative Explosives project

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Toxic fumes produced by detonating explosives in both surface and underground mining could become a thing of the past if Mining3’s Alternative Explosives project continues to present impressive results, the research organisation has said.

Over the past few years, research has been underway at Mining3 to deliver a hydrogen peroxide-based explosive that is a non-toxic and far safer and environmentally-friendly alternative to current blasting materials.

While the initial research confirmed ammonium nitrate-free explosives was a viable option, further investigation was required in fume monitoring, blasting capability, underground blasting applications, and alternative fuel formulations, Mining3 said.

A blasting chamber was installed at the Pinjarra Hills facility in Brisbane, Australia, to provide an on-site testing environment. Detonation monitoring confirmed the post-blast fumes from hydrogen peroxide-based explosives reduced exposure risk and delivered a significant reduction in toxic post-blast gases, the company said.

Comparisons of 100 g detonations between the hydrogen peroxide-based explosive and the bulk ammonium nitrate explosive (ANFO) revealed the latter was associated with a maximum of 50 ppm nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gases over 25 minutes, while the hydrogen peroxide-based explosive had no NO2 fume production.

“Success was also achieved in underground mining with trials conducted at the Sandvik mine facilities in Tampere, Finland, where Mining3 researchers conducted underground burn cut and fume monitoring trials.

“Tests in high density (circa-1.07 g.cc-1), hard volcanic rock revealed hydrogen peroxide-based explosives obtained the velocity of detonation values in the vicinity of 4.7 km.s-1 and performed similarly to an ammonium nitrate emulsion (ANE) product during comparative tests.

“Gas monitoring data also indicate that the hydrogen peroxide-based explosives produced less toxic carbon monoxide, post-blast fumes, than the ANE product. Further trials, optimisation, and loading improvements are anticipated to further enhance detonation performance and reduce re-entry time during operations,” Mining3 said.

In addition to the effective underground blasts, the production team proved international borders are not a barrier to the technology.

“Local materials were tested and confirmed to meet the requirements for the alternative explosive formulations. The oxidising component, hydrogen peroxide, is manufactured around the world in industrial volumes for several industries and is already used in some mining operations for ore processing.

“The use of hydrogen peroxide at a concentration of 50% has been utilised for explosives testing as it has a wide commercial availability. Whilst higher percentages of hydrogen peroxide have been utilised in the past for explosives, in the interest of a bulk explosive, a 50% w/w percentage solution has adequately performed in blast trials.”

The predominant fuel component, glycerol, likewise is available in commercial volumes and the sensitisation material, glass micro-balloons, required to enable detonation of a hydrogen peroxide-based explosive is readily obtained from several international companies.

The low percentages of the sensitisation material used to achieve the desired density of the hydrogen peroxide-based explosive are comparable to, or less than what is required for an ANE product. In all, the alternative explosive formulation can be optimised for global application.

Finally, the investigation of inexpensive, alternative fuels for the hydrogen peroxide-based explosive technology were identified thanks to a collaboration with Southern Oil. The aim was to replace the expensive glycerol fuel component with an inexpensive waste line from the oil refinery industry. The identification of refinery distillates as fuels have added stability, flexibility and cost reductions to the product.

It was this new alternative fuel-based formulation, designed by Dr Andrew Kettle, Mining3 Research Scientist, that was displayed at a National Explosive’s Forum in Helidon, Queensland, last month. At this event, the practical manufacture method was demonstrated which was followed by the detonation of 500 g of the hydrogen peroxide-based explosive product.

At the display, two prepared solutions – oxidiser and fuel phases – were combined and during mixing, activated to produce a hydrogel. The demonstration provided a chance for the mining industry to understand the denotation capability of this alternative fuel source which has maintained the product blast capability.

The next stages of the alternative explosives project include further applications in surface and underground mining and optimisation of formulations to meet the industry demands for commercial purposes.

Commercial partnerships with material suppliers and manufacturing unit producers are currently being negotiated, and multiple trial sites are scheduled to progress the operational integration of this product into the mining industry.

Sandvik to show off OptiMine capabilities at Hindustan Zinc’s SK zinc-lead-silver mine

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Sandvik is set to deliver one of the most comprehensive digital offerings globally at Hindustan Zinc’s Sindesar Khurd (SK) zinc-lead-silver mine in Rajasthan, India.

The company will use its OEM-independent OptiMine® digital solutions to ensure all required infrastructure and platforms are established to achieve world-class mining safety, efficiency and productivity, it said.

The system includes a comprehensive set of features for short interval control of the underground operations, including: OptiMine Monitoring, Location Tracking and Mine Visualization, Scheduler, Task Management and OptiMine Analytics, the latter with IBM Watson IoT. The system will be commissioned in 2019.

For this programme, Sandvik is partnering with Newtrax Technologies, which will deliver personnel tracking with cap lamps, tracking and telemetry data for the entire mobile underground fleet, including non-Sandvik equipment, numbering more than 150 drills, loaders, trucks and other equipment. The Newtrax offering will be seamlessly integrated with the Sandvik OptiMine digital platform creating an integrated mine management solution at the SK mine.

Patrick Murphy, President Product Area Rock Drills and Technologies at Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, said: “Sandvik OptiMine modules can be combined as needed to build up the required functionality and to optimise mining operations. With open interfaces, the solution can also be integrated to other mine IT systems. This interoperability is crucial in enabling our customers to leverage the full value of digitalisation.

“Vedanta Hindustan Zinc has a vision of what the mine of the future will look like, and we’re excited to collaborate with them to make it happen at SK mine. The capability of this system will be virtually unmatched globally in underground hard-rock mining in terms of both scope and scale.”

Sunil Duggal, CEO at Hindustan Zinc, said: “We at Hindustan Zinc are leveraging digital solutions to improve our availability, utilisation and productivity at the SK Mine. With OptiMine, we will be able to plan, schedule and monitor overall operations in real time. This will add major value and increase our productivity, eliminating bottlenecks and allowing us to measure and monitor our key performance indicators in real time, proactively addressing problems before they occur.”

Hindustan Zinc is one of the world’s largest integrated producers of zinc and among leading global lead and silver producers. Its core business comprises of mining and smelting of zinc and lead along with captive power generation. It has a metal production capacity of more than 1 Mt/y with lead-zinc mines in Rampura Agucha and Sindesar Khurd; and key modern smelting complexes in Chanderiya and Dariba, all in Rajasthan, India.

SK Mine is a highly mechanised underground mine with an ore production capacity of 5.5 Mt/y. The mine’s products are zinc and lead concentrate and the mining method used is blasthole open stoping.

OptiMine is a digital platform for analysing and optimising mining production and processes. It integrates all relevant data into one source, delivering both real-time and predictive insights to improve operations. OptiMine is open, scalable, and adaptable to automated and manual applications.

OptiMine Analytics, with IBM Watson IoT, is the next generation of OptiMine that transforms data into process improvement via predictive insights and actionable dashboards embedded into operation management systems. The solution is part of the digital partnership between Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology and IBM and is backed by Sandvik and IBM digital experts around the globe.

Resolution copper mine looking to automation, Rio says

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The partners at the Resolution copper project in Arizona, US, are likely to look to automation to solve the problems that come with operating at depths up to 2,100 m and temperatures in excess of 70°C, according to a member of Rio Tinto’s Growth & Innovation team.

Rob Atkinson, Head of Productivity & Technical Support for Rio’s G&I team, said operating at such a depth meant it really had to be “a fully autonomous mine”.

Resolution is a joint venture between Rio and BHP, with the former owning 55% and the latter 45%.

The proposed block cave hosts one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in North America, with a 1.79 Mt resource grading 1.54% Cu. When up and running, it is expected to operate at a rate of around 120,000 t/d, producing some 1,000 MIb/y (453,592 t/y) of the red metal. This would make it one of the biggest copper mines on the continent.

But, to get to this orebody, one of the deepest single-lift shafts in the US had to be sunk at No 10 shaft (7,000 ft or 2.1 km).

While sinking this, Cementation USA came across huge inflows of water and rock temperatures of up to 80°C, making excavation particularly tricky.

This is why haulage in the mine is likely to be carried out by autonomous equipment. According to a 2017 interview with then Vice President of Operational and Technical Support for Rio Tinto’s Copper & Diamonds business, Craig Stegman, autonomous LHDs could also potentially feed an autonomous ore handling system at the underground mine.

And, in addition to this, there is also the possibility of using battery-powered LHDs at the operation.

Stegman, at the time, said Rio was working with suppliers such as Caterpillar, Sandvik and Komatsu to create an alternative to vehicles that were tethered to an electrical connection.

The deposit, located 96 km east of Phoenix, near the town of Superior, is still some way off being exploited.

The Resolution Copper joint venture (55% Rio Tinto, 45% BHP) confirmed back in June that rehabilitation work at its No 9 Shaft was on track for completion in 2019. This shaft would then have to be deepened and connected to No 10 Shaft in 2021.

While the mine is likely to be autonomous, the operation is expected to employ some 1,400 direct employees as well as a further 2,300 contractors and other support roles, according to Rio.