Tag Archives: Terex

WAE putting Fortescue in mine electrification pole position

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Andrew Forrest’s statement on Fortescue Metals Group’s planned acquisition of Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE), an offshoot of the Williams F1 team founded by the revered, late Sir Frank Williams CBE, back in January was hardly understated.

He said: “This announcement is the key to unlocking the formula for removing fossil fuel powered machinery and replacing it with zero carbon emission technology, powered by FFI (Fortescue Future Industries) green electricity, green hydrogen and green ammonia.”

As time has progressed, the £164 million ($193 million) deal for the UK-based WAE closed (in March), and another significant announcement in the form of a tie-up between FMG, FFI, WAE and Liebherr has followed, the FMG Founder and Chairman’s words have looked increasingly prescient.

This became apparent to IM on a recent visit to WAE’s Grove headquarters in Oxfordshire, England.

What FMG now has on its books and what FFI is managing in the form of WAE is arguably one of the world’s leading decarbonisation technology companies.

WAE’s reach goes far beyond the pit lanes of a race track. Its impact is felt in the automotive, defence, aerospace, energy, life sciences and health care sectors – as an example, a Babypod 20, a Formula One-inspired environment for new-born babies in need of emergency transportation, was on display in the boardroom IM sat in during an interview at Grove.

One of its more recent market entries has been in mining, with WAE’s fingerprints on two of the industry’s major fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) haul truck movements.

Prior to the acquisition by Fortescue, WAE provided “electrical architecture and control hardware and software” for the battery system on a 100-day “sprint” FFI project focused on converting a legacy 221-t class Terex Unit Rig MT4400 AC electric drive, diesel-powered haul truck to run on a ‘green’ hydrogen 180 kW fuel cell system and a 300 kW/h battery.

For the nuGen FCEV truck that premiered at Anglo American’s Mogalakwena PGM mine in South Africa earlier this year, WAE supplied a 1.2 MWh battery pack that, along with multiple fuel cells amounting to 800 kW of power, propelled the converted 291-t-class Komatsu 930E around the mine site.

Input to these two projects put WAE on the mining map, but this represents a fraction of the impact the company is likely to have on mining’s decarbonisation journey going forward.

WAE is currently engaged on two major projects for FFI – one being the conversion of another legacy Terex MT4400 AC electric-drive truck to an all-battery powered setup and the other being an all-battery rail loco that FFI has named the INFINITY TRAIN™.

Both projects highlight the depth of battery system technology expertise that led FMG to acquiring the company in the first place – design expertise spawned from development across multiple sectors and operating environments, utilising the latest cell technology across all form factors.

There is a common thread that hangs between all this work, as Craig Wilson, WAE CEO, explained to IM.

“We develop our battery systems for the specific application, factoring in the duty cycle, the cost constraints, required performance and environment the solution will be working in,” he said. “In motorsport, for instance, you can imagine weight, aerodynamics and space are more critical than they are in mining.”

Being battery cell, chemistry and format agnostic, WAE has built up a reputation in the battery industry for specifying and developing a diverse pool of battery systems that continue to push performance to the limit.

Differentiated modelling

Sophisticated modelling and simulation tools – much of which has been developed in-house – are behind this, according to WAE’s Chief Programme Manager, Alec Patterson.

“We have detailed in-house simulation tools which allow us to develop and optimise a battery pack’s performance against any customer’s drive cycle criteria,” he said. “This includes thermal simulation where the team model the detailed internals of a cell, allowing them to understand exactly how each cell is likely to behave and, thereby, being able to optimise their cooling for increased performance. This comes from our motorsport heritage and the team’s ability to manipulate and analyse large amounts of data through supercomputer levels of processing power.”

Prototyping and field tests are designed to “validate” this modelling and simulation work, he added.

Battery design also calls for a strong focus on safety and this is where WAE’s extensive practical experience is fully utilised.

“We have detailed in-house simulation tools which allow us to develop and optimise a battery pack’s performance against any customer’s drive cycle criteria,” Alec Patterson says

Patterson summarised this offering: “There are a number of ways the battery is developed to ensure cell safety. These range from understanding in detail the performance of the cell through practical testing, the design of the modules themselves and the monitoring of the cells for voltage and temperature throughout usage. WAE has developed its own Cell Monitoring Unit hardware and Battery Management Unit hardware and, combined, they monitor the status of the pack and control the performance outputs many times a second. In the FFI battery sub pack, dielectric (non-conductive) coolant is used so if a leak was to occur it wouldn’t cause an internal issue; detection of which would be through WAE’s propriety on-board sensors.”

Overlay these preventative measures with an array of experience in various fields that would have seen battery systems take significant G-shock loads and operate in high temperature environments – whether that be a crash on a Formula E circuit or an Extreme E race in the Sahara – and it is easy to see why FMG initially believed WAE had knowledge and skills transferrable to mining.

Patterson concludes that advances in quality within the manufacturing process will also add to the reliability of the sub packs. At WAE those advances come in the form of laser welding, which ensures each cell is connected robustly for maximum performance.

Battery prototype progress

All this and more are being factored into the 221-t all-battery solution WAE is currently focused on as part of the FFI and FMG brief.

The battery will take the place of the diesel engine and alternator and will plug directly into the Terex MT4400 inverter to drive the motors and rear wheels. The battery system will have a capacity of >1 MWh (final specification to be revealed at a later date) and will be charged by a “fast-charge solution” sourcing power from a renewable grid FMG has already setup as part of its 60 MW Chichester Solar Gas Hybrid Project.

FMG has already set up a renewable grid as part of its 60 MW Chichester Solar Gas Hybrid Project

Once the battery system is delivered, integrated into the truck and commissioned at FFI’s Hazelmere facility, it will be transported to the Pilbara where it will start extensive testing outside FMG’s current mining operations.

WAE, FMG and FFI have overcome more than a few hurdles to get to the point where they can talk about such a plan.

While most of the battery houses in the UK can test each sub pack individually, WAE had to locate a specialist test house capable of testing out the full battery pack from both a motor-drive perspective and a battery re-generation standpoint.

This has seen the complete solution – a 12 t motor, inverter, cooling system, battery system and power distribution unit – begin testing a few months back.

Charging packs of this scale is one of the major industry challenges currently.

“Our charging strategy is centred around the individual cell chemistry and form factor which allows us to specify a higher rate of charge for the battery sub pack,” Patterson said. “To enable fast charging, a combination of a large charger and ability to cool the pack through the charging process is required, and our pack is designed for both.”

At the same time, WAE is aiming to further optimise the regeneration aspect of the electrification project, realising this is key to getting the trucks to complete as many haul cycles as possible without the downtime associated with a battery recharge – even if it is a ‘fast charge’.

“The real challenge is centred around how to manage the large accumulation of energy from the wheel motor during braking or retarding downhill fully laden,” Patterson said. “Do you send this to the battery or the resistor grid to burn off? Our job is to optimise the power electronics to make sure as much of that energy as possible goes back into the battery in order to make the whole system more efficient.”

The entire battery system will soon be shipped to Australia to go into the Terex truck at Hazelmere, at which point the charging system can be fully tested and the re-generation system trialled.

Leveraging gravity

This work will no doubt influence the other big project WAE is currently involved in for FFI and FMG – the electrification of FMG’s rail operations.

Fortescue’s current rail operations include 54 operating locomotives that haul 16 train sets, together with other on-track mobile equipment. Each train set is about 2.8 km in length and has the capacity to haul 34,404 t of iron ore in 244 ore cars.

A world first, zero emission INFINITY TRAIN concept has been put forward to replace this setup – which travels on some 620 km of track between the Cloudbreak mine and Herb Elliott Port at Port Hedland.

Fortescue’s rail operations consumed 82 million litres of diesel in the 2021 financial year, accounting for 11% of Fortescue’s Scope 1 emissions (©JoshFernandes2021)

The regenerating battery-electric iron ore train project will use gravitational energy to fully recharge its battery-electric systems without any additional charging requirements for the return trip to reload, according to FMG.

The challenges associated with this project include the size of the battery and motor combination required to store enough energy from the fully laden, downhill journey from Cloudbreak to Herb Elliott Port to make sure the unladen trains can travel back without a charge, and the residual power and torque generation that would typically be applied to get the locos started.

On the latter, Patterson said: “Your contact area in terms of the wheel to rail is very small in comparison to the load, so our control strategy will utilise learning from our in-house VDC (vehicle dynamic control) software to design a solution that controls slippage for maximum adhesion.”

If an appropriate solution comes to the fore, the sustainable value is significant for FMG.

Fortescue’s rail operations consumed 82 million litres of diesel in the 2021 financial year, accounting for 11% of Fortescue’s Scope 1 emissions. This diesel consumption and associated emissions will be eliminated once the INFINITY TRAIN is fully implemented across Fortescue’s operations, significantly contributing to Fortescue’s target to achieve “real zero” terrestrial emissions (Scope 1 and 2) across its iron ore operations by 2030.

Electrification for everyone

Just as WAE’s involvement in the conception of the first Formula E battery led to wider electrification in motorsport, WAE believes its work in mining will have far-reaching ramifications across the off-highway sector.

Just how far reaching it will be is dictated by the most significant project – in terms of scale and timeline – WAE has on its books.

In June, FMG announced a partnership with Liebherr for the development and supply of green mining haul trucks for integration with the “zero emissions power system” technologies being developed by FFI and WAE.

Under the partnership, Fortescue will purchase a fleet of haul trucks from Liebherr; a commitment that represents approximately 45% of the current haul truck fleet at Fortescue’s operations, with truck haulage diesel consumption representing approximately 200 million litres in the 2021 financial year, accounting for 26% of Fortescue’s Scope 1 emissions.

The zero emissions power system technologies are expected to be fitted on machines based off the 240-t T 264 model to be deployed at its Pilbara mining operations. They could include both battery-electric and FCEV configurations, hence the reason why the all-battery prototype project and the FCEV project are so significant.

With the first of the zero emission haul truck units expected to be fully operational within Fortescue mine sites by 2025, FMG, WAE and Liebherr look set to take the electrification lead over its mining company peers.

The zero emissions power system technologies are expected to be fitted on machines based off Liebherr’s 240-t T 264 model to be deployed at Fortescue’s Pilbara mining operations

Yet Wilson says this type of solution could turn into a commercial product that others select for their own decarbonisation program – hence the industry-wide electrification potential.

When asked the question whether the company may still supply battery systems to the likes of Anglo American (as it did for the NuGen truck) under the new Fortescue ownership, he replied: “We could do, but the decision is not just down to us.

“Through the relationship with Liebherr, the intention is to provide really competitive products that are available to other mining companies, whether it be Anglo, Vale or BHP, for example…The absolute intention is not to come up with a development or product that is just for Fortescue.”

In this respect, he likens FMG to Tesla in the way the electric car manufacturer has acted as the catalyst to fundamentally change the automotive sector’s electrification approach.

“Tesla, today, is nowhere near being considered a large automotive manufacturer by industry standards, but they have created a catalyst for everybody else to move from in terms of battery-powered cars,” Wilson said.

“They have almost coerced the rest of the manufacturers to move this way; you only need to look at VW Group now – one of the world’s largest car makers – that is committing the majority of its business towards electrification.

“The difference with Fortescue is it is both the operator of these vehicles as well as the owner of the technology (through WAE). It is developing these products to use them, putting its whole business on the line.”

This extends as far as looking at its own mining operations and how it can optimise the pit profile and infrastructure to benefit from all the advantages expected to come with battery-electric haulage.

“Both the Fortescue mine planning and decarbonisation teams are working hand-in-hand with us to develop a mine site for the future of electric mining,” Patterson said. “We are working together to answer the questions about what needs to change to operate these trucks to maximise uptime, where to put the charging points, how to optimise the charging, etc.

“That work is going to be really important for us in terms of developing a commercial solution that provides the sustainable gains over the long term and decarbonises the entire fleet.”

Even when factoring in a project that takes ‘stretch targets’ to a new level, that is reliant on sourcing components from an evolving electrification supply chain, and that is scheduled to see solutions arrive within three years of finding an OEM partner in the form of Liebherr, it’s hard to doubt WAE, FMG, FFI and (of course) Andrew Forrest from steering such a project through to the finish line.

After that, it’s a matter of the rest of the industry catching up.

WH Auctioneers and Ritchie Bros to hold Majwe Mining JV equipment auction

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In conjunction with WH Auctioneers, Ritchie Bros is supporting a mining equipment auction in Jwaneng, Botswana, this week, with assets coming from the end-of-mine contract of the Majwe Mining Joint Venture.

The Botswana Mining Machinery Live Auction will be held on July 8.

“The two companies bring unrivalled expertise and experience in their respective fields,” Finlay Massey, Sales Director APAC, Ritchie Bros, said. “This is a live auction in Botswana with online bidding, hosted by WH Auctioneers with the support of Ritchie Bros. expertise, marketing efforts and our global database of buyers, which is second-to-none.”

On offer are Caterpillar 777D 85,000-litre water trucks, Caterpillar 834H and 854K wheel dozers, Caterpillar D10T tracked dozers, Caterpillar 16M motor graders, a Caterpillar 336DL tracked excavator, Terex TA100 and TA60 rigid dump trucks, Hyster 25 tyre handler, a Komatsu D375-5 tracked dozer, a Caterpillar 966 wheel loader, a Komatsu WA600 loader, Bell B20 articulated dump trucks, Manitou MHT780 and MRT2540 telehandlers, Atlas Copco drill rigs, crushers and screens, Lincoln Electric Vantage 500 welder/generators, and trucks and light delivery vehicles.

The auction will be conducted live on-site in Jwaneng, Botswana, on July 8 at 10:30AM SAST with webcast bidding available for overseas buyers. Those interested in bidding are urged to register to bid before the auction.

Back in 2019, the Majwe Mining Joint Venture was awarded a A$1.7 billion contract at Debswana Diamond Co’s Jwaneng Mine Cut-9 project in Botswana.

Majwe, a JV between Thiess (70%) and long-term local partner Bothakga Burrow Botswana (30%), was to provide full scope mining services over nine years, including drill and on-bench services, mine planning, equipment maintenance, load and haul, and mining operations.

In 2021, the contract was terminated by Debswana, with the Cut 9 operation transitioning to an owner-mining operation.

Second Superior highwall miner set for Bens Creek met coal mine

Coal technology, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , ,

Bens Creek Group plc, the owner of a recently re-opened metallurgical coal mine in North America, has announced that Ben’s Creek Operations WV LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the group, has entered into a contract to purchase a Superior highwall miner and related highwall mining equipment for use at the Bens Creek mine.

The company plans to deploy the new highwall miner in the June quarter of 2022.

The highwall miner and associated equipment is anticipated to be delivered next month and complements the successful implementation of the first highwall miner operated by Mega Highwall Mining LLC (MHW) pursuant to the contract mining services agreement with MHW, Bens Creek said. The MWH contract allows for a minimum production capability of 40,000 tons (36,287 t) of coal per month, which equates to 480,000 tons/y. 

The capacity of the Superior Highwall Miner, a company owned by Terex Corp, being acquired is broadly in line with the highwall miner operated by MHW.

The purchase price of the second highwall miner and related equipment is $2.5 million with $100,000 being payable on signing of the agreement and the balance to be paid within 30 days. The purchase price of the highwall miner is being funded from the group’s available cash resources.

Adam Wilson, CEO of Bens Creek, said: “I am delighted we are buying this highwall miner, rather than renting it, as we have been able to negotiate attractive commercial terms. The potential to double our production capability in such a short period of time since the commencement of initial coal production will provide increased operational capacity as we seek to increase levels of production from the Bens Creek mine and in turn gives us the ability to boost revenue generation.”

K92 Mining continues to add new equipment at expanding Kainantu gold mine

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K92 Mining, despite the onset of COVID-19, has made significant progress on its plans to increase production at its Kainantu gold mine in Papua New Guinea.

In March 2020, Kainantu achieved a major milestone, commencing the first long hole stope using the modified AVOCA method. This method is ideal for narrow vein/lens higher-grade stopes and can provide higher tonnages through continuous fill and blasting, as well as improved dilution control, according to the company.

The commencement of this new mining method is significant since previous mining has been exclusively from lower productivity and higher-cost development and cut and fill stoping, K92 said.

The first stope was from the K1 Vein and, to date, long hole stoping activities have performed in-line with design and have been increasing, providing a notable positive impact on operational flexibility, the company added.

Mining operations, which have been expanding in line with the 2019 decision to expand throughput to 400,000 t/y, from 200,000 t/y, have also benefited from further additions to the mining fleet.

The Papua New Guinea COVID-19 State of Emergency declared on March 20, 2020, saw limited impact to freight, with the arrival of a third Sandvik LH517i underground LHD loader with AutoMine® capabilities, a third CAT AD45B 45 t underground truck and two Terex Articulated surface haul trucks, since its declaration. The Government of Papua New Guinea ended the COVID-19 State of Emergency on June 16, resulting in a further easing of some of the restrictions, particularly around domestic movement.

“The equipment joins a significantly expanded and modernised fleet since the decision to proceed with the Stage 2 Expansion on March 13, 2019,” K92 said.

Back in January, the company said it expected a Sandvik DS421 cable bolter to arrive this quarter, alongside a modular batching plant. The company said earlier this month that this unit (pictured), as well as three new and high powered diamond drill rigs were in transit to the mine.

Twin incline activities have recently recommenced at Kainantu with the easing of restrictions from the state of emergency. Ground support for the portal is also underway, with portalling and the installation of steel sets expected to commence in the first half of the September quarter, the company said.

The process plant, meanwhile, has achieved multiple daily throughput records during the June quarter, significantly exceeding the 200,000 t/y, or circa-550 t/d nameplate capacity, with over 700 t/d achieved on multiple occasions.

“The strong performance of the process plant and underground mine to date are expected to result in gold-equivalent production exceeding March quarter output,” the company said.

The March quarter saw K92 produce 19,240 oz of gold, 339,993 lb (154 t) of copper and 6,937 oz of silver for a total of 19,934 gold-equivalent ounces, representing the second highest quarter on record. Gold-equivalent production in 2019 was 82,256 oz, with 115,000-125,000 oz of gold-equivalent scheduled in 2020.

Preparations are also being made to recommence Stage 2 process plant commissioning in the near term, to double plant throughput capacity to 400,000 t/y. All the equipment is installed, and commissioning is expected to commence in first half of the September quarter, with completion targeted at the end of that three-month period, K92 said.

John Lewins, K92 Chief Executive Officer and Director, added that a Stage 3 Expansion preliminary economic assessment is planned for July.

Terex ups its bulk handling capability with ProStack launch

Bulk handling, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , ,

Terex has launched a new range of products to, it says, address the needs of the bulk material handling and product stockpiling industries.

The new ProStack range has been designed for key markets and applications including aggregates, mining, recycling, agriculture, ports and terminals, and many other bulk material handling industries, it said.

Steven Aiken, Global Product Line Director of ProStack, says ProStack is a tailored range of mobile bulk handling solutions, which includes feeders, telescopic conveyors and truck unloaders.

“These products have been specifically developed and built for large port and larger-scale bulk handling environments,” he said.

The company sees an opportunity through ProStack to bring value to customers in these industries by providing high-performance equipment that is simple to operate and maintain, automated during operation and requiring minimal setup time, it said.

“High performance is at the heart of the brand and, as new products are developed, the focus will be on moving the most amount of material, cost effectively in the shortest time possible,” the company said.

Aitken added: “We want to provide high capacity, intelligent machines to the bulk handling market.”

ProStack enhances the existing core range of conveyors sold by Terex dealers globally.

“Regardless of the type of job, mobile conveyors can improve safety by reducing traffic levels on site and save customers money by eliminating the double handling of material, coupled with low operating and maintenance costs,” Terex said.

The ProStack launch portfolio consists of a Bulk Reception Feeder Range, the Hornets (pictured), and a Telescopic Conveyor Range, the Telsons, both designed to include a multitude of options that tailor these machines to meet customer demand.

The Bulk Reception Feeders can receive high volume material feeds, delivering uniformed material flow onto secondary material handling systems. The 10-12 feeder has a 1,200 mm wide belt design that can handle up to 1,000 t/h and discharge the material at a maximum height of 3.1 m, according to the company. The larger 15-18 feeder has an 1,800 mm belt and can handle 1,500 t/h discharging at a height of 3.5 m.

The range of radial telescopic conveyors, the Telsons, are available from 42 m up to 58 m in length with capacities up to 1,500 t/h in standard specification. They come in a portable wheeled format and are enhanced with on-board hydraulic systems to allow for quick, efficient site deployment. Advanced PLC automation and radio remote control of the radial, telescopic and luffing movements, meanwhile, allow creation of large precise desegregated stockpiles, loading material carrying vessels, barges and ships or being integrated into existing bulk handling operations, the company said.

ProStack products will be manufactured in existing MP Centers of Excellence in Northern Ireland, with additional support and service from facilities in North America and India, Terex said.

“We look forward to adding more products to the portfolio in 2020 and serving our new customers to a very high standard,” Aiken concluded.

Mine automation starting to take hold, RFC Ambrian says

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In its second report in a series on innovation and new technology in the mining industry, RFC Ambrian has tackled the subject of autonomous mining equipment, which, the authors say, has reached an “important level of maturity”.

The report considered both surface and underground equipment, but most notably surface mine haulage trucks where there has been an area of significant focus for major mining companies.

As the authors said: “This has reached an important level of maturity, although it is still evolving and its penetration across the industry is still in its infancy.”

AHS

The Autonomous Haulage Systems (AHS) have evolved from improvements in GPS for positioning and navigation, developments in sensors and detection –particularly radar and LiDAR, improved computing power and on-board monitoring, faster and more reliable networks and internet connection, and the development of effective and accurate algorithms and software, the authors said.

“AHS has appeared , first, at large mine operations where the benefits have the largest impacts, due to the high component of fixed costs in an AHS operation, and in developed countries where there is a shortage of skilled workers and labour costs are higher,” they said.

Outlining the potential benefits of AHS is straightforward, but finding hard data to support it is more difficult, according to the authors.

“Companies have made suggestions about the scale of improvement, but they are light on detail, definitions are not clear, and the data varies between companies,” the authors said.

Suggested improvements in productivity have come from Caterpillar (15-20%), Fortescue Metals Group (30%), Komatsu (15%), and Rio Tinto (15%), according to the authors.

“These improvements are still meaningful, and corporate companies would argue that every mine is different and that the mining companies and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that have so far implemented AHS have the right to guard this proprietary information and hold on to the competitive advantage,” the authors said.

Autonomy in other surface equipment

The authors said they are also now seeing this same technology used to automate other operations in the surface mine. This includes drill rigs, dozers, loaders and ancillary equipment.

“Much of this equipment is currently, at best, semi-autonomous, although a few mines have implemented fully-autonomous drill rigs and dozers,” they noted.

“Moving this equipment to full autonomy offers significant production improvements, although the scale of actual savings is not likely to be as great as those achieved with AHS,” the authors said.

“However, we have not yet seen quantified the downstream benefits of the resultant improved drilling and blasting.

“The automation of earth moving machines provides another step to increased productivity within the mine. However, loaders face additional challenges as a result of the variability of the loading face and the risk of collisions with the haulage trucks.”

Due to the complex nature of the bucket-media interaction, developing automatic loading functions that are better than or equal to expert manual drivers with regard to performance is a highly difficult task, according to the authors.

“As a result, fully-autonomous loading is not yet commercially available. Some observers suggest that the implementation of fully-autonomous surface loading is still some five years away, while others believe that full automation is unlikely.”

Underground mining

When it comes to underground mining, the authors of the report said, as with surface mining, full autonomy remains the goal.

“Mining companies and contractors are constantly looking to use technological developments to better utilise their investment in equipment and human resources and improve safety,” the authors said. “Particular features of traditional underground mines are: long unproductive periods caused by re-entry times required for operators after blasting; and higher health and safety risks due to geotechnical and environmental challenges.

“The use of autonomy underground aims to increase the productivity of the equipment and improve the safety of the operators.”

While the aims remain the same, full autonomy in the underground mine is not as advanced as in the surface mine, according to the authors.

“Haul trucks are used less frequently in underground mines, although a few mines are using haul trucks with AHS. More underground mines perform a short cycle of loading, hauling and dumping from a draw point to a tipping point with LHD equipment.

“Implementation of autonomous systems underground for LHDs is occurring, however, as with surface loading, one of the major hurdles to automating LHDs is replacing human judgement required for filling the bucket.”

This has seen full autonomy being used for the hauling and dumping cycle, but semi-autonomy usually used for loading, according to the authors. “Successful trials of fully- autonomous LHDs have been achieved and Sandvik i-series now offers an automated bucket filling assistant as a standard function,” they said.

Underground drilling operations, meanwhile, are achieving increased levels of autonomy but are also presently only semi-autonomous.

Robotic rail operations

The authors then looked at autonomous rail haulage systems, a segment of the market that has gained in prominence in the past few years thanks to initiatives such as Rio Tinto’s AutoHaul in the Pilbara of Western Australia.

The authors said: “There has been some form of automation on worldwide metro systems for many years, but one area where autonomous technology has yet to gain a foothold is rail freight. Trials are underway in Holland and Germany but implementing autonomous train driving on a complex rail network, with passenger trains and freight trains, is more difficult than on a metro system.”

The one exception to this is in the mining sector and AutoHaul, they said, where Rio has completed commissioning of the world’s first fully-autonomous, long distance, heavy-haul rail network which is now in full operation.

Pace of implementation

Despite the acclaimed success and the relative level of maturity of the technology, the wider implementation of AHS does not appear to be happening very fast, the authors argue.

“The systems of both the two main suppliers (Caterpillar and Komatsu) are well proven and have delivered positive results, although, according to consultants, both systems also have examples of less-than-expected performance.

“Nevertheless, the technical issues appear relatively minor and there is interest right across the industry but, in spite of the potentially significant benefits, more mines are not now using AHS.”

There are a number of likely reasons for this, the authors said, explaining that one of the most important is a lack of skilled personnel.

“We believe there is a lack of in-depth knowledge of the technology and limited personnel with the requisite experience, skills, and training throughout the industry’s hierarchy,” they said.

“Further, there is a shortage of skilled autonomous operators, developers, and consultants, some of who are moving to the autonomous auto market.”

Important factors in the success of AHS appear to be the level of management commitment, planning, and focus in the implementation, with the best results reported from well-operated mining sites, the authors said.

“Another factor is likely to be limitations on equipment supply from OEMs for new equipment and truck conversions, either due to manufacturing backlogs or maybe market caution, limiting investment. This is allowing the OEMs to be more selective in their customers.”

The authors cautioned: “However, if the existing suppliers do not develop additional capacity quick enough this could create opportunities for additional entrants in to the market.”

Capital availability in the mining industry could also be an issue holding back AHS advancement, they said, although it is less tight than it has been in recent years.

“Certainly, some lower-margin operations might struggle to finance the capital, although the uplift in relative profitability could be transformational, with relatively quick paybacks,” they said.
And the historical conservatism of the mining industry is also likely to be a factor, the authors said.

“There is still a natural reluctance within the industry to adopt new or unproven technology due to the high capital cost involved and the potential operational and reputational risks involved.

“This will be compounded if the organisation has limited experience and limited access to the technology.”

You can read the full report here.

Magna MA04+ radial tyres make the cut in South Africa coal mine

Coal technology, Equipment maintenance, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , ,

Magna Tyres has continued its good form in the Africa mining sector, securing the custom of another big mining contractor that has employed its 27.00R49 Magna MA04+ radial tyres on Terex rigid dump trucks working at a coal mine in South Africa.

These tyres are available in various compounds including standard, cut- and heat resistant.

In October, one of the largest mining contractors in the world operating in Africa’s largest coal mine selected 40.00R57 Magna MA04+C Giant tyres for its Cat 793D rigid dump trucks.

“Due to Magna’s proven track record regarding premium quality Giant tyres, this customer has decided to work with Magna and now benefits from increased productivity and reduced operating costs per hour,” Magna said, adding that the customer first used the Magna MB440 Bias but eventually chose the MA04+ radial tyres.

“The all-steel radial constructed tyres especially designed for coal applications are extremely suitable to the serve conditions in which they are used,” the company said. “The deep aggressive E4 pattern and excellent resistance to sidewall damages makes this Giant tyre extremely durable. The customer is very pleased with the overall performance of the premium quality tyres.”

Magna MA04+ is designed and constructed based on the latest Magna radial tyre technology. The casing reduces heat building inside the tyre, resulting in lower fuel consumption, higher efficiency, optimised operator comfort and prolonged service life, according to the company. Additionally, the tyre offers outstanding puncture resistance compared to less-durable cross-ply tyres, leading to a low cost price per hour, it said.

Terex TA400 ADTs stand up to Indonesia coal mine test

Coal technology, Energy minerals, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , , ,

Ten Terex TA400 articulated haul trucks have been proving their worth removing overburden from a coal mine in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

The trucks are being used by local mine owner PT Tambang Berkat Karunia for a five-year project in Batuah.

“We have the machines working for up to 18 hours a day, removing overburden and transporting it across the soft terrain,” said Bhisma Dian Resnadi, Operation Manager for PT Berkarya Abadi Selalu, a subsidiary of TBK tasked with undertaking the work.

The Terex Trucks TA400 is perfectly suited to perform in large-scale construction projects, quarries and mine sites, according to Terex. With a maximum payload of 38 t, TBK’s 10 TA400s can collectively haul 380 t, which is equivalent to the weight of around 70 Asian elephants.

“With the ground being so soft at the Batuah mine, we needed trucks that could perform in challenging conditions – and TBK’s TA400 haulers enable us to do just that,” Bhisma said. “Some of our operators had never used a TA400 before. They’ve said that they are very impressed with the performance features – especially the engine – as well as how advanced the technology is.”

Established in 2018, TBK is still relatively new to the industry. It purchased the Terex Trucks haulers from PT United Equipment Indonesia, the official Terex Trucks dealer in Indonesia since 2009.

Bhisma said: “We decided to go with Terex Trucks machines because they are known for being strong and reliable. Price factored into our decision, too. Given the quality of the TA400, the cost is very reasonable. As the project progresses, we might decide to purchase additional Terex Trucks haulers.”

The TA400 is powered by a six-cylinder Scania DC13 engine that is both fuel efficient and delivers low cost of operation, Terex says. It also comes fitted with a modulating transmission retarder, teamed with an efficient exhaust brake and fully enclosed oil-cooled multi-disc brakes, resulting in optimum control and increased safety.

In addition to this, all three axles are in permanent (6 x 6) all-wheel drive, which enables the TA400 to achieve great traction with minimal driveline impact and wheel spin. This results in reduced tyre wear.

To ensure servicing the TA400 is quick and easy, it comes with ground level test points and a fully tilting cab, as well as an electronically raised hood, which also results in reduced downtime.