Tag Archives: The Electric Mine

Epiroc to supply Vale with BaaS agreement, battery-electric equipment

Base metals, Environmental, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Epiroc says the world’s first Batteries as a Service (BaaS) agreement has been finalised in Canada, with Vale and the mining OEM partnering on this new approach for utilising battery technology in mining operations.

Along with the BaaS agreement, Epiroc will be providing Vale with 10 battery-electric vehicles for two Canadian mine sites. These machines will include four Scooptram ST14 loaders, two Boomer M2C drill rigs, two Boltec MC bolting rigs and two Minetruck MT42 trucks. The miner will also acquire three of Epiroc’s charging cabinets and seven charging posts for equipment support, the company said.

Vale has previously said it hopes to have upward of 20 battery-powered vehicles operating within its North Atlantic operations (Creighton, Coleman, Copper Cliff, Garson and Thompson mines) by the end of 2020.

As mining companies continue to strive for sustainable productivity and zero emissions, the fast evolution and development of different options within the field of battery technology can be extremely challenging, Epiroc says.

With BaaS, Epiroc works directly with the customer to define a battery plan that suits the needs of their operation. The lifespan is guaranteed and the battery status is carefully monitored to ensure predictive maintenance with reduced downtime, according to the company. If a customer wants to increase or decrease their capacity, they can adjust their plan and the service will be tailored to meet their requirements.

As part of an ongoing sustainability commitment, Epiroc will remove old batteries from site and replace them with new batteries. These older batteries are then used for secondary applications and will be recycled at the end of the process, the company says.

The delivery of the battery equipment to both sites will occur over the course of 2020 and into the March quarter of 2021, according to Epiroc.

“A key component to the success of this offering is the flexibility it allows our customers,” Shawn Samuels, Product Manager Rocvolt, Epiroc Canada, said. “We take ownership of the battery itself and automatically replace and update the units as needed, which means the mine site can breathe easier and continue to focus on heightened production.”

Jason Smith, General Manager Epiroc Canada, said: “We value and look forward to continuing our successful partnership with Vale as we move towards a zero emissions future in mining together. We both recognise the positive impact a successful battery service implementation can have on operations, so our mutual confidence in one another is well placed.”

Sandvik gears up for battery-electric drilling revolution in southern Africa

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Southern African mines will soon begin the transition from diesel-driven to battery-powered drill jumbos, with the introduction of the world’s first highly-automated underground electric drill rig by Sandvik Mining & Rock Technology, according to the mining OEM.

Saltiel Pule, Sandvik Mining & Rock Technology’s Business Line Manager for Underground drilling in southern Africa, says the Sandvik DD422iE rig has already seen enthusiastic take-up in mining countries with strict anti-pollution regulations such as Canada, with the innovation having been in development for the past three years.

“The key benefits of the battery concept in underground drill rigs are zero emissions and much less heat, making for safer and healthier working conditions,” Pule said. “There are many other advantages to this technology, however, including increased drilling productivity, reduced operating costs and better energy efficiency.”

One of the first mines to have received the DD422iE was the all-electric Borden mine in Ontario, Canada. Since then, Barrick has trialled a unit at its Hemlo underground mine, also in Ontario.

The Sandvik DD422iE’s electric driveline, with an electric motor mechanically connected to axles for high torque and high efficiency, allows the rig to tram independently between working areas. The unit’s high-precision inverter delivers exact control of the tramming speed, according to Sandvik.

“The rig only needs to be connected to mains power during the actual drilling, at which point the electric motor is connected onto hydraulic pumps,” Pule says.

Improved drilling power of up to 20% is achieved by an active power compensation system which draws reserve power from batteries during peak loads, according to Sandvik. Battery charging is carried out during those phases of the drilling cycle when power intake is low, such as during boom movements. There is, therefore, no waiting time to charge up batteries.

In pursuit of zero-harm safety standards, the unit uses sodium nickel chloride technology – regarded as one of the safest battery systems for underground conditions.

Sandvik also offers a battery rental option to customers, taking responsibility for battery inspection and maintenance, as well as responsible disposal at the end of battery’s life, the company says.

“The battery therefore becomes an operational cost for the mine, rather than a capital expense,” Pule says. “This option also gives the customer the certainty of predictable operating costs while adopting a new technology.”

In addition to zero emissions and less heat generation, the electric drill rig produces less noise, making communication easier and working conditions less stressful, Sandvik added. There is a reduced risk of fire, as there are no fuels exposed to hot surfaces – as can happen with diesel engines.

“The range of indirect savings that customers achieve when they move from diesel to electric includes lower ventilation costs underground, no need for diesel storage and diesel pipelines, and more control over operating costs,” Pule says.

MEDATech speeds up battery-electric mining charge

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The potential for electric drivetrain specialist MEDATech Engineering Services to add another high-profile client to its list of mining company references is high given the developments the Collingwood-based company is currently working on.

Having helped Goldcorp (now Newmont) and several OEMs realise their vision of an all-electric mine at Borden, in Ontario, MEDATech is energising more electrification projects with its ALTDRIVE system.

The company has been developing electrification technology for heavy-duty, off-highway vehicles for about six years. Its current drive train technology, MEDATech says, is capable of being scaled for most heavy haul applications in mining and other industries.

These last six years have seen it help fellow Collingwood resident MacLean Engineering convert underground roof bolters, graders, water trucks and many other production support vehicles for Canada’s underground mining sector. MEDATech has also helped Torex Gold and its Chairman, Fred Stanford, develop the necessary equipment to take the Muckahi all-electric underground mining concept to testing phase. Similarly, it has played a role in Nouveau Monde Graphite’s all-electric open-pit mine vision as part of a Task Force Committee developing studies for the Matawinie project, in Quebec.

Aside from the Muckahi project, the ALTDRIVE system, having been engineered to replace internal combustion engines, has been the driving force behind this work, according to Jeff Taylor, Managing Director of MEDATech Engineering.

The powertrain consist of a hybrid, or completely electric means of propelling the machine with industrial batteries, and can be adapted to heavy equipment such as commercial trucks, tractors, excavators, buses, haul trucks, light rail and – most important in this context – mining vehicles.

ALTDRIVE leverages battery systems from Akasol and XALT, chargers and power electronics from Bel Power Solutions and Dana TM4’s electric motors. The balance of the power electronics, control systems and sub systems, thermo management systems, VMU (a software component critical to the power management of the battery, electric motor charging and regenerative capabilities), and integration engineering is developed by MEDATech.

Taylor says it is the battery chemistry and charging philosophy of the ALTDRIVE technology that differentiates it from others on the market.

“The battery chemistry is really quite advanced and is all based on the future of fast charging,” he told IM. “In this scenario, we don’t want the batteries to be brought down to a high depth of discharge (DOD). We instead want operators to carry out quick, opportunity charging on the go.”

Most of the machines the company has been involved in manufacturing to date have been equipped with 25-100 kW on-board chargers, yet Taylor thinks its new breed of fast-charge battery-electric solutions could eventually require up to 1 MW of power and be charged through an automated system.

Such powerful charging systems may be the future of MEDATech’s ALTDRIVE drivetrain technology, but for now it is focused on leveraging the system for the conversion of a diesel-powered Western Star 4900 XD truck (pictured).

Part of a collaborative project with a Western Star dealer in Quebec where the dealer (Tardif) has donated the truck and MEDATech has provided its materials and engineering expertise, the truck is equipped with a 100 kW capacity on-board charger, 310 kWh of battery capacity, loaded gross vehicle weight of 40,824 kg and 25% more horsepower than its diesel-powered equivalent.

Loaded, the truck can cover 85 km (0% grade) on a single charge (80% DOD). This vehicle is ideal as a pit master unit for short run material moving, road maintenance, water hauling/spraying and snow plowing activities, according to the company. The truck can be on-board charged (2.5 hours) and fast charged (1 hour) during idle periods (at 80% DOD).

The machine will be ready for demonstrations at a gravel pit around 15 km away from the company’s Collingwood headquarters in September, and it has already caught the attention of some major miners.

According to Taylor, Anglo American (Chile), Teck Resources (British Columbia) and Vale (Ontario) are scheduled to see the BEV 4900 XD unit in September at the Collingwood facility. “Each company is looking at an electric machine(s) for their operations,” he said. “They might end up with a different truck, built to their exact specifications, but they want to test this machine out to experience a battery-electric conversion.”

After the 24 t payload truck, the company has eyes on converting a 40 t payload Western Star 6900 XD diesel truck to battery-electric mode.

“This will just be a bigger conversion on a bigger truck,” Taylor explained. “We’ll have extra room on the truck for placing batteries and the extra motor that will be required. It will also be an all-wheel drive vehicle, as opposed to the real-wheel drive of the 4900 XD, which will need some extra engineering.”

While Taylor said work on converting this 40 t machine would not start until the all-electric 4900 XD had been tested, he saw plenty of opportunities for scaling up and down the ALTDRIVE technology to create more customised ‘green’ vehicles for the mining industry.

“If you look at any mine site in Canada, there are five or 10 vehicles you could replace with electric versions,” he said.

2BL to take ‘reuse + repurpose – recycle’ message to battery-electric vehicle market

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2nd Battery Life Inc has appointed a new President and CEO that, it hopes, will position the company ahead of the curve on the downstream reuse of batteries for battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) in mining.

Vernon Cameron has been appointed to the top job, joining Chairman & Chief Technology Officer – and battery-electric vehicle specialist – Mike Mayhew on the executive team.

Cameron brings a wealth of experience in private equity, private and public companies with over 30 years of senior level experience on a global basis, according to the company. His hands-on experience in manufacturing environments, as well as global sourcing connections, will maximise profitability and drive enterprise value, it said.

Mayhew, who with Stacktronic is currently working on repurposing and electrifying a personnel carrier for use in the underground mining sector under the guise of his Mayhew Performance company, said he was “extremely excited” to launch 2nd Battery Life Inc to the market.

“The need for 2BL is critical for the future of battery electric as we implement more BEVs within the mining operations, as part of the overall equipment life cycle towards zero emissions.

“2BL will be the cornerstone of ‘reuse + repurpose – recycle” for mining clients on a global basis and we are going to create a Centre of Excellence to manage 2nd Battery Life.”

Cameron, who recently moved back to Sudbury, said: “The timing of entering this emerging market space positions 2BL to be ahead of the curve on downstream reuse of batteries for mining BEVs.”

CEMI to bolster underground mining network with help of Mayhew Performance

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Canada’s national Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) has welcomed Mike Mayhew’s Mayhew Performance Ltd as a CEMI Associate.

Mike Mayhew and Mayhew Performance bring over 28 years of mining experience and a wide network across Canada to CEMI, the centre said.

“In particular, CEMI will leverage Mayhew Performance Ltd’s network and underground operations industry connections,” CEMI said. “Mayhew Performance Ltd has a proven track record of bringing to market small to medium sized enterprises driving innovation in the areas of battery-electric vehicles all the way to adoption by mining companies.”

Mayhew Performance is currently working with Stacktronic to repurpose and electrify a personnel carrier for use in the underground mining sector ahead of the MINExpo conference in September.

Mike Mayhew said: “I am excited to be part of the CEMI Associate team as we continue to expand battery-electric vehicles to achieve my personal goal of ‘zero emissions’ in underground mining. The CEMI team offers a solid platform and a wide range of industry experience, knowledge and skills that complement Mayhew Performance Ltd as a strategic partner.”

Charles Nyabeze, VP Business Development and Commercialisation at CEMI, said: “Onboarding organisations like Mayhew Performance Ltd into our network allows CEMI to increase its capacity to better serve the global mining innovation and technology development ecosystem. In addition, CEMI believes in leveraging local assets. We see Mayhew Performance LTD as a strategic addition to how we deliver value to all our clients.”

Rokion battery-powered vehicles hit new depths at Vale Creighton

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As Vale continues to go deeper at its Creighton nickel mine, in Sudbury, Canada, it is adopting alternatives to its fleet of diesel-powered haulage, loading and utility vehicles in a bid to lower operating costs and improve environmental conditions for personnel that could eventually be working nearly 3 km underground.

Vale’s PowerShift strategy, part of the miner’s 2030 sustainability goals, aims to make the company’s energy matrix “clean” by focusing on the use of renewable energy and alternative fuels, greater efficiency of operations using new technologies, and forest promotion. As part of this strategy, it will test and adopt existing ‘green’ solutions as well as develop technologies with the potential for greater impact on its carbon footprint.

This has involved the use of Rokion’s battery-powered personnel carriers/utility vehicles at Creighton.

The company has been working with Rokion for close to two years after placing an order for three of its vehicles for the Creighton mine. Alongside these vehicles are other battery-powered haul trucks, loaders and production support machines supplied by the likes of Epiroc and MacLean Engineering. All these machines are being added to the fleet as the company looks to access deeper, more ventilation-constrained areas of the mine.

Todd Van Den Enden, Process Superintendent at Creighton Mine, told IM recently that the Rokion R100, R200 and R400 units had been “very well received at Creighton Mine” and the company had moved forward in purchasing more of these units to further its battery-electric vehicle development at the operation.

The units are currently used by Vale’s service groups – such as industrial mechanics, electrical and planning departments – and generally run for the entirety of a 10.5-hour shift.

The ramps at Creighton, which go from 15-20% on both the incline and decline, according to Van Den Enden, will aid the continual operation of these battery-powered machines. Equipped with lithium-iron phosphate battery technology, the Rokion units recharge their batteries on descent thanks to regenerative braking. This translates to not only a longer operating time without charge, but also greater savings per vehicle over the life of the mine, according to Rokion.

Rokion trucks can navigate mine sites with 20% grade at a full gross vehicle weight and full speed while traveling more than 70 km per charge, according to the company. This is more than enough to get through a full shift without charging.

This means the vehicles are typically only charged after the 10.5-hour shift is complete at Creighton, according to Van Den Enden. The larger R400 (pictured), which includes a six- to 12-passenger crew truck and a three- to nine-passenger utility option, has completed two shifts on a single charge during testing.

When charging is required, the Rokion units can rely on existing mine power infrastructure, with the charging procedure no different to the way people top up the charge on their Tesla vehicles, Rokion says. The company worked within the Global Mining Guidelines Groups’ BEV guidelines to design this standardised system.

Vale’s Van Den Enden said the operation of both the R100, which includes a four-passenger crew truck and two-passenger utility truck option, and the R200, which has a four-passenger crew truck and two-passenger utility truck option, has “exceeded our expectations”.

He explained: “We have roughly 1,200 hours on these units and we see advantages with the availability.”

While availability is a key selling point, Rokion says its battery-powered vehicles have been designed for simple and easy maintenance. The modular change-out options – which extend to both the battery and drive system – are “ideal for remote mining locations where the priority is to have dedicated service personnel with expertise in production mining equipment”.

Rokion explained: “A mine is not going to hire an expert in battery power when introducing a new truck such as this, so we take that aspect out of the equation, compartmentalising our battery systems into a modular form so that they can be easily switched out.”

Mine operators can visualise the operation of their vehicle assets by accessing a live fleet management system that streams data between the truck and site operations team, according to Rokion. This helps customers identify vehicles that are low on power or may need servicing. Customers also have the option of having this data routed to Rokion for additional support, the company says.

“Managing this data into useful information has become a valuable tool in helping to improve operational efficiencies for our customers,” the company said.

While there is the very real prospect of Rokion selling more units to Vale’s Creighton operation, it is also working with the miner on refining its latest R400 unit, which, it says, was engineered to be the company’s most adaptive and modular truck platform.

Van Den Enden said the R400 unit was just finishing up the testing phase with the Creighton mining department, with the machine having performed well. He said the two firms were currently working on a “minor update” for the next series of this unit.

Stacktronic and Mayhew Performance to fast track battery-electric conversions

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Stacktronic and Mayhew Performance say they have agreed a partnership to repurpose and electrify a personnel carrier for use in the underground mining sector.

The project, to take place in the Sudbury Basin of Ontario, Canada, will kick off in early April, with the converted vehicle to be unveiled at MINExpo in Las Vegas, Nevada, in September 2020.

Stacktronic and Mayhew Performance will be working together to install, test, and commission the battery system in an underground mining environment, they said.

Stacktronic says its “truly modular battery platform” simplifies the design process for electric powertrains, allowing any vehicle, of any size and any production volume, to be “battery-powered in weeks rather than years”.

Founded in 2020, Mayhew Performance, meanwhile, is led by Mike Mayhew, who specialises in battery technology, project delivery and execution. Prior to establishing Mayhew Performance, Mike Mayhew worked at Kirkland Lake Gold, one of the biggest users of battery-electric equipment in the mining industry through the adoption of these electrification solutions at the Macassa mine, in Ontario (Mayhew pictured with an Artisan truck at the mine). He was also recently engaged by The GMG Electric Mine Working Group for project management in the working group.

Mike Mayhew, President of Mayhew Performance, said: “I’m extremely excited to partner with Stacktronic to showcase a unique and innovative approach to batteries for underground mining vehicle electrification to create a zero emission mine.”

Keith Teeple, CEO of Stacktronic, added: “Mayhew Performance has the industry experience and has spearheaded electrification projects for major mining companies and OEMs in the past. We’re looking forward to working with him and demonstrating this new battery technology.”

Northern Ontario is the epicentre of underground mining electrification, with several mines having employed battery-electric and other electric loaders, trucks and utility and production support vehicles in their mines.

The companies said the objective is to grow the partnership into a collaboration that “brings together stakeholders across the mining industry by introducing safe, innovative and clean technology”.

Kovatera looks to outperform competition with battery-powered KT200e utility vehicle

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Building on its highly successful line of underground utility vehicles, Kovatera™ has released its new battery-powered KT200e.

This addition to the Kovatera line continues the rough, tough and purpose-built lineage of its diesel versions. The KT200e is not an adapted, converted or modified vehicle, however. “It is purpose-built from the ground up using advanced technology and proven components resulting in a utility vehicle that outperforms the competition in all categories,” Kovatera says.

As part of a strategy to grow domestic and international sales, Industrial Fabrication Inc (IFI) of Lively, Ontario, Canada, launched the Kovatera brand for its line of underground mine utility vehicles in late 2019.

On the latest battery-powered release, Will Gove, General Manager of Kovatera, said: “We have recognised for some time that the demand for electric underground vehicles in the marketplace will continue to increase. But we did not want to stray from the philosophy that has been at the core of our success…building equipment from the ground-up that meets the demands of the challenging underground working environment.

“And, as with previous models, these utility vehicles offer three times the economic life and twice the payload capacity of other marketplace offerings.”

The KT200e, in keeping with previous models, offers a wide range of configurations to meet customer specifications ranging from personnel carriers to specific job applications such as scissor lifts, aerial booms and wide range of options that can be bolted to the chassis, Kovatera said.

“A major consideration was to ensure that this electric vehicle’s capability matches the requirements of the customer’s needs,” Gove said. “A major feature of our battery options is to fit vehicle with a standard 44 kWh battery. With this configuration, we can offer customers a battery size and range that fits their needs without additional capital spend. If a longer range is required, we also offer a battery upgrade that doubles that range – giving the customer a range of 50-90 km between charges.”

Battery life matches or exceeds the known economic life of the unit at seven to nine years, according to the company, while charge time from dead flat is around 1.5 hours with additional optional 25 kW 600 v on-board charger.

“For customers who now use our popular UT99 diesel models, we offer a retrofit kit to economically convert them to electric,” Gove said. “Either way, the customer benefits from our tested and proven chassis, components, configuration flexibility and service longevity that have made these utility vehicles an industry standard.”

Steering the electric mine revolution

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Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, last year, made a clear statement to the underground mining equipment sector with the acquisition of Artisan Vehicle Systems: the future is electric.

With this acquisition having bedded in and International Mining Events’ The Electric Mine 2020 conference, in Stockholm, Sweden, just around the corner, IM caught up with Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology President, Henrik Ager, to get his views on current industry demand for electric solutions and what other elements could come into the OEM’s electrification offering in the future.

IM: In your keynote presentation title for the upcoming conference you have highlighted two benefits to electrification, namely ‘productivity’ and ‘sustainability’. Would you say these are the two most important criteria for companies adopting, or thinking about adopting, electrification solutions?

HA: Productivity, or rather mining economics, is still the primary driver for any technology change. If applying new technology allows you to lower your cost or get more tonnes out of the operation, it tends to make sense. If it doesn’t, it rarely makes sense.

For electrification, we are getting to the point where, when you compare a diesel machine with an electric machine, the economics are starting to be on a par. The electric machines tend to be more expensive from a capital expenditure (capex) point of view, but this upfront capital is coming down; we haven’t yet made that many machines but when we scale up production the price will likely fall further.

Within this, the batteries are, of course, a big capex item. To get around this, we will most likely end up selling the battery as a service to customers, so they pay per kilowatt hour as opposed to investing outright in batteries.

Some of the benefits of using electric machines include the maintenance costs being significantly lower than with diesel-powered equipment. You are also seeing you can get more productivity out of the machines – with any electric motor, you get a lot of torque. This latter point is of use in many applications. For example, when you are running an underground loader and loading your bucket, torque control is very important. Being able to precisely control this and get as much traction from the tyres as possible allows you to more accurately load the bucket. We should, therefore, see better fill factors on the bucket with these electric drivetrains; if you end up getting 10% more in your bucket every time, it makes a difference.

From an economic point of view, you also have the potential ventilation benefits of having an electric drivetrain. The electric drivetrain will put out some heat, but it is about one eighth of what a diesel drivetrain puts out. Obviously, there are no diesel particulates either, so you need to ventilate a lot less. If you start inputting that into your mine plan, then you end up saving a lot of capex on ventilation shafts. That can bring an orebody into being economically viable where it wasn’t before. While that is not the case for all mines and orebodies, it is relevant for many of them.

IM: Does that total cost of operations argument overcome upfront capex concerns in countries that are known to be more price sensitive?

HA: There are some geographies where price is more prominent and others where it is less prominent. But, to put this into perspective, we predominantly make expensive and productive machines. We don’t make low cost or low productivity machines. So, we have been fighting with this same issue for a long time. Yes, it is more difficult to overcome capex issues in some places, but there are still customers in these areas that look at the full productivity dynamic and realise the cost of the machine is only one piece of the puzzle.

In general, the more you separate operations from procurement, the more the discussion shifts to price per machine. The closer the relationship is between operations and procurement, the more chance you have of entering a full productivity discussion.

IM: How widespread would you say interest is for mine electrification? You’re currently speaking to me from Cape Town, South Africa (at Mining Indaba), would you say it is penetrating that continent, as well as North America, Australia and Europe?

HA: Yes, is the short answer. This topic has pretty much been on the agenda in every discussion we have had this week.

One important thing often left out of this conversation is that, in southern Africa, electric loaders have been operating in mines for a long time, but they are cable electric. This is the case across the globe too. We delivered our first cable-electric machine in 1981 and have put out more of these loaders than anyone else. We have delivered 600 electric machines – most of which are tethered or cable loaders.

We have now developed a battery and cable combination machine so when you are underground in the section doing repetitive work – loading and dumping the bucket – you are on a cable, but then when you need to go to the workshop or need to move the machine to another section of the mine, you can unhook and operate on battery. The machine can also carry out a few cycles on battery-only, but this might not be as productive in certain operations.

IM: Out of those three – North America (Canada, more specifically), Australia and Europe – which region would you say is leading when it comes to adopting electrification solutions in mining? What do you put this down to?

HA: It’s Canada for two reasons.

One is the data around diesel particulates is that much more advanced in Canada. There are strict regulations for how much ventilation you need in underground mines to dilute diesel particulates and exhaust gases.

The second – which is also linked to the first one – is that many mines in Canada are going deeper or further away from existing ventilation and cooling infrastructure. As well as the obvious health benefits, the cost of new ventilation shafts and refrigeration can be offset by using electric machines, since they produce zero exhaust emissions and much lower heat.

IM: In terms of your mine electrification offering, Sandvik recently completed the acquisition of battery-electric vehicle leader Artisan, adding to the company’s long history of delivering cabled machines powered by electricity. Do you currently see any other technologies on the market that you might acquire/build to further your status as a leader in mine electrification solutions?

HA: We are looking at a diesel-battery hybrid as an option. We need to, again, see that the economics stack up as these will be more expensive machines to manufacture. We need to answer the questions: Will that machine be more productive? Will it be faster up the ramp? And will it be more practical than using battery-electric only?

We need to see what the case is here and work with our customers.

A couple of the mining contractors are really pushing for the development of these machines. It’s good to work with the contractors on such projects as they are so heavily focused on economics and productivity. They may bid on, for example, developing a 2 km decline into the mine. The cheaper they can do that from a complete project cost point of view, the more competitive they will be and the more projects they will win. So, they really know their numbers and can clearly factor in new technology to these calculations.

As previously mentioned though, if the economics on that machine don’t make sense, it is hard to make things work.

IM: Do you think this speaks to the fact there will be a variety of solutions that help miners ‘go electric’ in the future?

HA: Absolutely. It is not going to be one-size fits all. Some mines are going to go with battery-electric haulage and loading, some will go for hybrid solutions, others cable and some are just going to go with the cleanest diesel machine they can find and, in turn, ventilate as that is the only thing that practically works with them.

IM: Anything else to add on this subject?

HA: For me, it is important to balance the view of how fast the pickup of this technology will be.

It will take some time like it has with every other new technology in mining – it will be different solutions in different places – but I think there is a very bright future for electrification in mining. We simply have to move in that direction.

Henrik Ager will present ‘Productivity and sustainability through electrification’ in the keynote slot at The Electric Mine 2020 conference, in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 19. His presentation will also be streamed on Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology’s LinkedIn page. For more information on the event, click here.

Artisan releases largest battery-powered underground truck

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Sandvik-owned Artisan Vehicle Systems has upped the stakes in the battery-electric underground haulage game by introducing a new 50 t haul truck.

The company made the announcement at the Digitalization in Mining event, in Australia, held by Sandvik on December 3-4, 2019.

The Z50 is based off the existing design for the Z40 truck, which Artisan released back in 2018, but features a stretched rear frame (close to 19 in) to allow for the 50 t box, an Artisan spokesman confirmed.

It has become the largest battery-powered underground truck on the market, topping the Epiroc-produced MT42 battery-powered vehicle, which has a 42 t capacity. Despite the payload increase, Artisan says the technology and design makes it the “smallest 50 t truck on the market”, generating twice the peak horsepower and one eighth the heat of its diesel equivalent.

Artisan, which was acquired by Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology last year and is now part of its Load and Haul division, also worked in some notable upgrades to the Z50 such as the solid-state electronics, the spokesman added.

It is powered by four electric motors generating 560 kW and 8,200 Nm of torque and, like the other Artisan battery-powered vehicles on the market (the A4 and A10 LHDs), uses lithium-iron-phosphate chemistry for the patented battery system.