Tag Archives: Sentinel

First Quantum Minerals and FLANDERS sign agreement for drill fleet autonomy

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First Quantum Minerals Ltd (FQM) and blasthole drill fleet autonomy company FLANDERS Electric have entered into an agreement to collaborate on advancing autonomous drilling solutions across FQM’s mining operations.

The first roll-out of FLANDERS’s ARDVARC® system is scheduled for FMQ’s Zambian operation.

The OEM-agnostic retrofit solution under ARDVARC enables autonomous functionality on electric or diesel blasthole drills, including full pattern autonomy with cable reeler automation.

The initial project is set to launch at FQM’s Sentinel mine, where FLANDERS’s autonomy technology will be implemented and optimised. The ARDVARC autonomous solution will extend to the complete drill fleet at Sentinel and further expand to new drill fleets on the S3 expansion project at FQM’s Kansanshi mine. This rollout will involve a total of 20 drills across FQM’s Zambian operations.

FQM’s Lead – Group Mine Technology, Clayton Sanders (pictured in the centre), said: “Our collaboration with FLANDERS aligns with our commitment to innovation and operational excellence. By pioneering autonomous drill technology at Sentinel, we are improving mining efficiency through precision blasthole drilling, reducing inaccuracy and wastage. We are excited about the upskilling and development opportunities this will create for our frontline employees and technical staff, which will put them at the forefront of the modern mining industry whilst enhancing their safety and productivity.”

FLANDERS Executive Chairman, John Oliver (pictured far left), added: “As the only provider offering an aftermarket retrofit for multi-brand drill autonomy with our cutting edge ARDVARC solutions, FLANDERS is excited to support FQM’s strategic goals for drill fleet automation. This partnership reflects our dedication to delivering reliable, scalable autonomous solutions that meet the evolving needs of the mining industry.”

The first phase of fully autonomous operations at Sentinel is expected to go live in the March quarter of 2025. The rollout will continue over the following months, gradually equipping the entire fleet for autonomous drilling.

First Quantum to add to Liebherr T 284 fleet at Sentinel copper mine

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First Quantum Minerals is in the process of bolstering its fleet of Liebherr T 284 trucks at the Sentinel operation in Zambia, in line with a redistribution of loading equipment to better suit working areas at the copper mine.

In the company’s March quarter, Sentinel reported copper production of 36,232 t, 37,177 t lower than the previous quarter due to the intense rainy season, resulting in the accumulation of water in the Stage 1 pit.

Saturated ground conditions significantly impacted mining rates due to poor road conditions and water in the pit prevented access to working faces, particularly in the lower benches of Stage 1, First Quantum said in its March quarter results.

Despite the challenges encountered during this quarter, copper production for 2023 remains unchanged at 260,000-280,000 t as higher feed grades are expected in the second half of the year, with grades showing improvement already in April.

“The current focus on deploying additional dewatering capacity in Stage 1 to regain access to the high-grade ore is already yielding results early in the second (June) quarter,” it said.

The mine plan has been rescheduled, even if total volumes remain substantively the same and higher grade zones will be dispatched across the remaining three quarters of the year, the company noted. This is to be complemented by a change in location of the in-pit ramps to liberate high-grade ore by mining the saddle zones between Stage 1 and Stage 2.

There will also be a redistribution of loading equipment to better suit working areas and truck fleet capacity is planned to increase in the June quarter with the commissioning of an additional Liebherr T 284, followed by two more in the second half of the year.

Sentinel is a leader in electric mining as a long-term user of trolley assist technology with its Komatsu 960E and Liebherr T 284 trucks, which run under trolley using pantographs.

At MINExpo 2021, Liebherr confirmed it would supply a further 11 T 284 trucks to operate on trolley lines at First Quantum Minerals’ Sentinel and Cobre Panama mines with the miner claiming, in the process, the title of the world’s largest ultra-class truck fleet on trolley. Three of these 363-t-payload machines were planned to be deployed at Sentinel, with the remainder at Cobre Panama.

Two Liebherr T 284 trucks with the Trolley Assist System were commissioned at Sentinel copper mine all the way back in 2016 and testing of the trolley solution began in February of 2017, with 12 months allotted for FQM to evaluate the trucks, the trolley and the customer service.

At the end of the trial period, FQM expressed it was pleased with the results of the Trolley Assist System and the performance of the T 284, leading to an order for six more trolley-capable T 284 trucks at Sentinel mine, along with 30-trolley-capable T 284 trucks for Cobre Panama copper mine in Panama, Liebherr explained.

Tristan Pascall to take the First Quantum reins in May 2022

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First Quantum Minerals has announced that its Board of Directors will appoint Tristan Pascall, currently the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), to the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The appointment will take effect at the Annual General Meeting to be held in early May 2022, at which time Philip Pascall (Tristan’s father), the company’s current Chairman and CEO, will retire from the CEO role and will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board. The company will nominate Tristan Pascall for election as a director at the AGM.

The appointment of Tristan Pascall represents the culmination of a succession planning process led by independent directors on the Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee, comprised of Robert Harding, Andrew Adams and Kathleen Hogenson.

Robert Harding, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee and Lead Independent Director, said: “After a thorough search process, we are very pleased to appoint Tristan Pascall as First Quantum’s next Chief Executive Officer. Tristan has demonstrated impressive leadership in his current role as COO as he navigated the successful ramp-up of our largest asset through the challenging environment presented by the global pandemic.

“Tristan’s previous hands-on leadership experience of eight years in Zambia and four years in Panama has given him a deep knowledge of our assets, operating teams and local partners. His practical, on-the-ground experience with our people and projects, combined with lessons learned from the countries where we operate, embodies the company’s culture and makes Tristan the right leader for First Quantum.

“We believe Tristan’s combination of operational, strategic and capital markets experience, as well as the strong stakeholder relationships he has developed, are fundamental to the continuity of our unique core capabilities, namely industry-leading project execution and operational excellence.”

Tristan Pascall joined First Quantum in 2007 and held progressively senior operational roles in Africa and Latin America until 2020 when he served as Director of Strategy and later became Chief Operating Officer in January 2021. Prior to assuming his executive leadership roles, he was a key member of the teams that delivered on several major greenfield and expansion mining projects which now collectively represent most of the company’s net asset value, FQM said. His responsibilities from 2009 to 2015 included the initial development, construction and operating the Sentinel mine in Zambia. Starting in 2015, he led the development of the Cobre Panama mine (pictured), now the company’s largest copper mine with the world’s largest single-throughput copper concentrator plant, and built the operations team which now stands at more than 5,000 people.

Prior to joining First Quantum, Tristan spent eight years in corporate finance and investment banking with a focus on resources and heavy industry in Australia, Europe and Asia.

Tristan Pascall said: “I am very excited to continue to build upon the momentum we have established at First Quantum. It is deeply humbling to be selected to lead such a highly talented team, all of whom have contributed to establishing a unique entrepreneurial culture. As we enter our next stage of growth, I look forward to building on First Quantum’s accomplishments of the past two decades.”

Philip Pascall co-founded First Quantum Minerals in 1996 and has served as its CEO and Chairman ever since. He retires as one of the longest-serving CEOs among the world’s major mining companies. Over the course of his stewardship, the company has grown from the construction of the Bwana Mkubwa project in Zambia designed for 10,000 t/y of copper production, to become the world’s sixth largest copper producer. First Quantum has operations on five continents, employing more than 20,000 people and producing over 800,000 tonnes of copper annually.

Harding said: “On behalf of the entire company, I would like to thank Philip for his extraordinary leadership. Over the span of a quarter century as CEO, Philip has demonstrated a capacity to solve problems others could not and to bring unique solutions to complex project issues. The Board believes his ongoing involvement as Chairman will be a significant competitive advantage and form a uniquely complementary combination with Tristan’s hands-on, collaborative leadership style.”

First Quantum to operate world’s largest ultra-class truck trolley fleet with Liebherr T 284

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The day after announcing it will accelerate the implementation of its existing low carbon solutions and trigger future projects at MINExpo 2021, Liebherr has confirmed that it will supply a further 11 T 284 trucks to operate on trolley lines at First Quantum Minerals Limited (FQML)’s Sentinel and Cobre Panama mines with the miner claiming, in the process, the title of the world’s largest ultra-class truck fleet on trolley.

In 2013, Liebherr received an initial request from FQML to develop a 360 t trolley-capable haul truck for mine sites in Panama and Zambia. The trucks were required to integrate with the trolley power line that FQML had designed and developed for the sites.

Agreeing to this partnership, Liebherr engineers began developing, testing and verifying the trolley solution. Two Liebherr T 284 trucks with the Trolley Assist System were commissioned at Sentinel copper mine in Zambia in 2016 and testing of the trolley solution began in February of 2017, with 12 months allotted for the customer to evaluate the trucks, the trolley and the customer service.

At the end of the trial period, FQML expressed it was pleased with the results of the Trolley Assist System and the performance of the T 284, leading to an order for six more trolley-capable T 284 trucks at Sentinel mine, along with 30-trolley-capable T 284 trucks for Cobre Panama copper mine in Panama, Liebherr says.

As a mark of success of the partnership between FQML and Liebherr, along with the performance of the T 284 with trolley solution, FQML recently confirmed an order for a further 11 T 284 trucks. These three trucks for Sentinel mine and eight trucks for Cobre Panama mine will join the existing fleets operating with the Trolley Assist System. This soon-to-be fleet of 38 T 284s in Panama will claim the title of the world’s largest ultra-class truck fleet on trolley, according to Liebherr.

“Trolley Assist truck systems have become integral to the development of First Quantum’s large scale open-pit truck haulage operations,” an FQML representative says. “Over the last decade, First Quantum has emerged as one of the industry leaders in implementation of Trolley Assist systems across mine planning and design, installation, operations, and maintenance. We consider our purpose designed Trolley Assist systems deliver a step change in measurable haulage performance through increased truck productivity, improved maintenance cost, and reduced carbon emissions.

“During the past five years, Liebherr has proven itself as a proactive partner in the development of Trolley Assist capable truck fleet systems. First Quantum has selected the Liebherr T 284 ultra-class truck for some of our Trolley Assist deployments at our large-scale mining operations in Zambia and, more recently, as the sole deployed truck at our Panama mining operations. With a high degree of co-operation between our organisations, we see this partnership continuing to grow in years to come.”

Oliver Hoelzer, Director of Mining Liebherr-Panamá, says: “Even before the arrival of the very first truck, Liebherr Panama’s relationship with FQML Panama has been more of a mutual partnership than a pure business relationship. Our highly committed team recognises that Liebherr’s own success is intrinsically linked to the success of FQML.”

Liebherr has also delivered six trolley-capable 100 t T 236 haul trucks to the Erzberg iron ore mine in Austria, bringing the total number of Liebherr trucks with the Trolley Assist System to 56 once FQML’s newest fleet has been commissioned.

Liebherr aims to offer fossil fuel free solutions for its entire digging, dozing, and hauling product range by 2030.

EMS Brüel & Kjaer adds ground vibration monitoring to Sentinel environmental instruments

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EMS Brüel & Kjaer has announced the addition of ground vibration monitoring to its Sentinel On Demand environment monitoring service.

Using EMS’s vibration monitoring terminal, users can use the short-term monitoring service to protect construction sites, or mines, from structural damage, assess human comfort around rail projects and ensure correct operation of hospital MRI and other industrial imaging equipment, according to the company.

Sentinel On Demand has been operating for four years with noise and meteorological monitoring instrumentation, according to EMS. “Now customers will also be able to select ground vibration monitoring when they order the service over the web,” the company said.

David Currie, Product Manager for Sentinel said: “Sentinel On Demand is proving popular with noise consultants and construction where short-term measurements are used for planning purposes. The addition of vibration makes it more compelling.

“Many customers experience the benefits of Sentinel on Demand and go on to contract long-term monitoring projects with improved cost efficiency. Sentinel On Demand users can deploy quickly with the minimum of effort and don’t have to invest in instrumentation that may sit idle after the project completes.”

EMS has worked with many mining companies looking to employ its environmental monitoring services. One such company is Alkane Resources, which has been using Noise Sentinel for 24/7 noise monitoring and management, in combination with a remotely located, independent noise consultant, at its Tomingley gold operations in Western Australia.

Newcrest looks for real-time productivity improvements with Interlate partnership

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Interlate has partnered up with Newcrest Mining to provide expert decision support and near real-time productivity improvement services to the mining company’s operations in Australia and Papua New Guinea, the Australia-based service provider said.

The company’s productivity improvement service combines mining expertise, data science and Internet of Things-based technology. Interlate operates from its Operations Intelligence Centre in Brisbane, Australia.

Craig Jetson, Executive General Manager Lihir (PNG) and Cadia (Australia), said: “We are pleased to announce our partnership with Interlate to deliver their near real-time monitoring solution for our operations. Remote support that leverages advanced data analytics is a key part of our operational improvement strategy — Interlate’s SentinelTM service is the solution we were looking for, enabling those improvements to be sustained in the future.”

Jetson explained that the ability to rapidly identify significant value-adding initiatives was one of the reasons it signed an agreement with Interlate. “Given their experience in remote monitoring, their solution provides us a ‘safe on-ramp’ into this space, without closing the door on developing our own capabilities in this area internally in the future.”

David Meldrum, CEO of Interlate, said: “Working together, Newcrest and Interlate have already discovered significant productivity improvement opportunities in Newcrest’s operations, which could contribute millions of dollars in profit each year. This value will steadily increase as Newcrest realises further gains from the real-time productivity improvement services.”

In October, Interlate and Siemens signed a memorandum of understanding to help deliver productivity gains for the mining industry, by better leveraging data across the entire mining value chain.

Interlate says its Sentinel solutions plug into a SCADA system and pulls time-critical data into a Data Assimilation Node (DAN) sitting onsite. This DAN streams the data back to Interlate and its data centre.

In the data centre, Interlate conditions the information, display it so it makes sense and has a productivity supervisor monitor it. This supervisor has audio visual collaboration tools, which are connected to the supervisor on site so that both can communicate in real time about what they are seeing.