Tag Archives: Severny

Nornickel bolsters modernisation and automation efforts with new equipment, solutions

Automation, Base metals, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

MMC Norilsk Nickel says its Polar Division has received a new batch of equipment to improve the efficiency of operations as part of a group-wide program aimed at the modernisation and automation of its production facilities in Russia.

In addition to the new equipment deliveries at the Polar Division, autonomous vehicle devices have reached the second stage of testing at the Severny mine at Kola MMC, the company noted.

Under the equipment renovation program, the Polar Division received 25 units of mobile equipment for various purposes in 2020. The total value of the equipment delivered to the Polar Division amounts to around $8 million.

“This year, we received two Sandvik TH545 dump trucks, and they went into operation at the end of October,” Alexander Chistyakov, Deputy Director of the Severny Mine, said. “The third vehicle is under customs clearance and will soon be at the disposal of the miners.”

In addition, the company is also planning to purchase 20 55-t payload BELAZ 7555B mining trucks, plus seven Liebherr PR 764 dozers and two Caterpillar 990 Series II wheel loaders.

In all, Norilsk Nickel plans to spend about $20 million on the purchase of the equipment, with over 90% of the specified equipment to be transferred to the Taimyr region by the end of November.

Chistyakov added: “At the heart of the program for replacing self-propelled diesel equipment is an increase in the volume of cargo transportation, which is solved by increasing the volume of the cargo area. The new dump truck is distinguished by its structure and dimensions. The main advantage is the increased carrying capacity, which is 45 t.”

The fleet of self-propelled diesel equipment at the Severny mine is being replenished with various new types of machinery. Two Epiroc Boomer S2 face drilling rigs and an Epiroc Simba rotary drilling rig are expected to arrive by the beginning of 2021.

The total cost of the mining equipment expected to arrive by the end of 2020 at Severny is estimated at more than $6.5 million.

Meanwhile, the second stage of tests of autonomous vehicle devices has been launched at the Severny mine in the Kola region, Nornickel said.

The Nornickel Digital Laboratory is in the process of developing an advanced autonomous vehicle platform for deployment in the company’s mines. The project is being carried out within the framework of the company’s strategic goals, aimed at maximising automation and digitalisation of production processes, and ultimately achieving unstaffed mining operations.

Kola MMC has been closely cooperating with the Digital Laboratory since 2018. A joint pilot project – ‘Monitoring Compliance with Personal Protective Equipment’ – was launched as part of the cooperation effort. Further plans include the implementation of the ‘Remote control of self-propelled equipment at the mine’ project, Nornickel said.

VIST automated solution improves ore quality at EVRAZ KGOK operations

Automation, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, Mining software, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

An automated system for monitoring mining vehicles, developed by VIST Group, has been deployed at EVRAZ’s Kachkanarsky mining and ore processing plant (KGOK) operation in Russia, the Zyfra Group subsidiary confirmed.

The iron ore at KGOK is mined in four open pits: the Glavny, Zapadny, Severny and Yuzhny deposits. The ore is removed from the pits by BELAZ trucks and delivered to the crushing plant by rail. Pit machinery includes heavy-duty 130-t dump trucks, modern NP-1 locomotives and 12 m² capacity excavators.

Some 58.5 Mt of ore was mined at the KGOK operations in 2018, which was processed into 3.5 Mt of sinter and 6.5 Mt of pellets, according to EVRAZ.

Work on the autonomous investment project, which required $1.23 million in funding, began in November 2017. So far, 19 communication towers have been installed around all the operations, while 30 excavators and 35 BELAZ trucks have been equipped with sensors and navigation antennae, as well as smart displays in the driver’s cabs, VIST said.

“Thanks to the joint efforts of specialists from KGOK and VIST Group, a sophisticated and up-to-date system for managing mining vehicles has been deployed at the EVRAZ plant,” Alexander Bondarenko, Business Unit Director at VIST Group, said.

“Following Phase 2 of project implementation, which will cover rail transportation and quality control of ore arriving at the plant from the shipping sheds, the system will be the most sophisticated in the Russian ore mining sector,” Bondarenko said.

The VIST Group system tracks and displays real-time information on the locations and operating conditions of dump trucks, dozers, excavators, automatic loaders and “mobile canteens”.

Using the Wi-Fi network installed in four mines, all data on the vehicles’ speed, mileage, fuel levels and rock loads, as well as the locations of the “mobile canteens”, are transmitted in real time to the computer terminals of the plant’s dispatchers and chief specialists. “The data is also seen by the excavator operators and dump truck drivers on smart displays in their cabs,” VIST said.

Thanks to a modular geological model of the ore deposit integrated into the system, it is possible to analyse the quality of the iron ore and control the movements of the dump trucks and excavators, according to VIST.

And, in the event of an unforeseen stoppage, the system redirects the BELAZ truck to be loaded by another excavator.

Denis Novozehnov, Vice President of EVRAZ and Head of the company’s Urals Division, said: “The switch to an automated monitoring system has helped us to reduce ore losses and ensure more reliable quality. We’ve also been able to improve the productivity of the quarry dump trucks.”