Verton Australia says iron ore miner Roy Hill has purchased its remote-controlled load orientation system, the Everest 6.

Designed to dramatically improve safety in crane operations, the Everest is a load management system designed to control and rotate a load to its target destination.

Everest eliminates the need for human held taglines to control suspended loads, thereby improving safety and productivity for crane operations, Verton says.

The Everest 6 and R5 models that are being employed at Roy Hill’s iron ore operations, in the Pilbara of Western Australia, can manage loads of up to 20 t and 5 t, respectively, while significantly improving workplace safety and efficiency, according to Verton.

Verton CEO, Trevor Bourne, said: “The Everest series is a great example of how mining companies are committed to reducing the risk of crane incidents by ensuring no human contact is required for managing suspended loads, with tag line use and associated workloads removed.”

Roy Hill has provided positive feedback on how the Everest performed during a recent mine shutdown when they replaced an 18 t transformer, according to Bourne.

“The Everest responded perfectly in smooth rotation with the load on the hook without causing the crane rope to twist and there was no need for taglines during the lift so Roy Hill was able to keep the riggers out of the line of fire during lifting operations,” he said.

Located 340 km southeast of Port Hedland, Roy Hill has an integrated mine, rail and port facilities and produces 55 Mt/y of iron ore, with approval to increase to 60 Mt/y.