Tag Archives: truck and shovel

Bis’ Rexx 20-wheel dump truck impresses at Glencore’s Murrin Murrin mine

Automation, Equipment maintenance, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining safety, Mining services, , , , , , , , ,

Bis Industries says its “revolutionary” new mining haul truck has delivered outstanding results in trials at Glencore’s Murrin Murrin nickel mine in the north-eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

Known as Rexx, the dual powered 20-wheel dump truck has been designed with a range of features specifically incorporated to deliver savings to Bis customers, the company said. Rexx has more than four times the range of conventional dump trucks, outstanding manoeuvrability, operator comfort and maintainability plus on demand power that lowers fuel consumption, according to Bis.

Bis CEO Brad Rogers said the testing at Murrin Murrin mine has been carried out in `real-life’ operating conditions and the results to date indicated Rexx had the capacity to deliver up to a 30% reduction in operating costs compared with conventional dump trucks. These savings will be delivered to miners as part of Bis’ integrated haulage solution, it added.

Rogers said one area of the savings that could be passed on to Bis customers in haulage costs was average fuel use by Rexx, which was around half the fuel consumed by equivalent competing dump trucks.

“The fuel savings are a direct consequence of Rexx being designed with patented on-demand power that lowers fuel consumption,” the company said. “The vehicle has the capacity to carry enough fuel for at least two 12-h shifts, eliminating downtime needed for refuelling.”

Rogers said Rexx had been designed in-house by the Bis engineering team while the construction had used the talent of Western Australian tradespeople.“In Rexx we have a game changing work horse that showcases Australian innovation,” he said.

For example, the steering system enables an industry leading turning circle of just 13.5 m, allowing Rexx to manoeuvre easily in smaller spaces, the company said.

With an eye to industry trends, Rexx had also been designed and built to be easily retrofitted for autonomous operations with features including steering sensors, stability control sensors and a futuristic in-cab console, Rogers said. The console provides the operator with real-time data including pressure monitoring on all tyres and sensors for detecting bin tipping, engineering operation and payload.

Mining Manager at Murrin Murrin, David Ayres, said: “We were thrilled to be involved with Bis on this exciting project. Outside of autonomous systems, there haven’t been many major fundamental design changes in the rigid-frame off-highway game in a long time.

“The Bis design offers the ability to haul directly from pit-to-plant from a much longer distance, without the need for the re-handle step, which should save costs and reduce ore loss/dilution. Rexx solves a niche haul-distance equation,” he said.

Rexx has sparked significant interest from major miners both internationally and within Australia and a series of demonstrations are now being staged with interested customers, Bis said.

Austin Engineering after safety and service life boost with two-piece excavator bucket

Equipment maintenance, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining safety, Mining services, , , , ,

Austin Engineering has designed and manufactured a new two-piece excavator bucket that, it says, can both improve safety and service life.

The bucket assembly features well-defined reusable upper and consumable lower structures, designed for quick and safe bucket change-outs during scheduled maintenance intervals, the company said.

The bucket has been structurally verified for the nominated fatigue life using both ANSYS FEA software and EDEM simulation, according to Austin. This showed the new bucket assembly will achieve the theoretical target payload at the nominated fill factor. Meanwhile, the upper and lower sections of the new bucket are fabricated with combinations of high-strength steel for maximum fatigue resistance and durability, Austin said.

“The design is focused on safety with extensive consideration given to the potential for ‘stored energy’ safety hazards to exist and these have been eliminated from the design wherever practical,” Austin said.

The reusable upper section maintains overall structural integrity of the bucket assembly for a predetermined service life through multiple change-outs of the lower, consumable, section, according to the company.

The typical baseline service life for the upper section service will be in the vicinity of 30,000 hours; around four-to-five years based on industry expectations of conventional one-piece buckets of similar size and capacities, Austin said.

“Designed to be mine site and application-specific, the upper section offers scope for customisation and benefits proportionate to minimising costs over the assembly’s operational life,” the company said.

The bucket is available as fully-lined or liner-less, while the consumable lower section features a simplified design to improve the change-out time of a complete lower section or the removal and replacement of worn individual components.

For fully liner-less, lower bucket assemblies, the resulting structure uses alternative high strength and wear resistant materials in key areas along with increased thickness of identified structural components, according to Austin.

“Components subject to high wear and impact, such as the main shell and side plates, are designed as modular inserts which can be customised to customer specific operations,” Austin said, adding that these can be easily removed and replaced if required ahead of planned change-out.

Replaced lower sections provide an option for remanufacturing and can be returned to site for storage and direct replacement as required.