Tag Archives: VIST Group

Polyus looks for safety gains with Orlaco collision avoidance system rollout

Mining equipment, Mining safety, Precious metals, , , , , , ,

Polyus, Russia’s largest gold producer, is to rollout Orlaco’s collision avoidance system (CAS) across its mining fleet following the successful implementation of a similar system at its Krasnoyarsk business unit in 2017.

VIST Group, which is part of the ZYFRA Group and the exclusive dealer of Orlaco’s CAS in Russia and the CIS, will carry out the installation.

German Popov, Head of the Division at VIST Group, said: “With 30% of all accidents in the workplace, in 2018, caused by mobile equipment, according to the International Council of Mining and Metals, health and safety surrounding vehicle usage is critical. At VIST, we have proved our capability in increasing the safety of mining operations through the implementation of cutting-edge solutions.”

The Orlaco CAS consists of a set of cameras and radars mounted on mining equipment. The information collected from this hardware is communicated to the driver via a monitor, allowing them greater spatial awareness of their vehicle and the surrounding area.

The features include a built-in warning system, which automatically alerts the transport operator to any equipment, people, boulders, poles and stationary structures within a 30-m radius.

The system has been designed to provide operators with greater control over their vehicle for manoeuvring, mainly where space is tight, other vehicles or people may be present in large numbers, and/or weather conditions prove prohibitive.

The implementation of this latest safety solution follows VIST’s 2017 installation of an Orlaco video surveillance and collision avoidance system at the Krasnoyarsk business unit of Polyus. This project was well received by equipment operators, according to a survey, with 77% “fully satisfied” with the installed system and its ease of use, 78% noting an increase in the level of safety in work, and 75% reacting positively to the additional visibility provided by cameras when operating in the dark.

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.”

BELAZ and ZYFRA enhance mine automation and AI ties

Automation, Communications in mining, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , , , ,

Equipment manufacturer, BELAZ and ZYFRA, a company which specialises in industry digitalisation, have agreed to jointly develop “robotisation technologies” for the mining industry and set up a research centre at BELAZ’s facilities for innovation in the fields of artificial intelligence and autonomous transport.

The strategic partnership agreement was signed on July 10 at the Innoprom-2019 International exhibition, in Yekaterinburg, Russia, by Petr Parkhomchik, CEO of BELAZ-HOLDING, and Igor Bogachev, CEO of ZYFRA.

“The main goal of our partnership is to understand better the current and future digital needs of the mining industry and to offer vehicles that fully meet these needs so that customers do not have to waste resources and time upgrading them on their own,” Parkhomchik said. “Identifying these needs will be the object of our joint research activities with ZYFRA and all our future projects will be based on these studies.”

The companies are already taking their first steps together in the areas highlighted in the agreement. For example, VIST Group, a subsidiary of ZYFRA which develops solutions for the mining industry, and BELAZ have launched production of robotised dump trucks.  The vehicles are being successfully used, in particular, in open pits operated by SUEK, according to ZYFRA.

“Experience shows that thanks to accurate tracking of the geotechnology parameters, fully-autonomous and remotely-controlled equipment improves transport efficiency by 20%, while removing drivers from hazardous work zones,” ZYFRA added. “The company expects the solution will be highly demanded by the markets of Sub-Saharian Africa, Chile, Peru and India.”

The collaboration between BelAZ and ZYFRA will have a focus on AI-based technologies, with the companies planning to conduct joint studies of customer needs and an analysis of the global market for digital AI-based products in the mining industry. This will act as a foundation for creating and improving their own developments in this field.

Immediate plans include working on a predictive analytics system for quarry equipment to help predict breakdowns by analysing historical data and carry out predictive maintenance, ZYFRA said. “In parallel, the two companies have mapped out joint steps in the development of industrial safety solutions. In particular, they are planning to test a driver fatigue tracking system using computer vision technologies.”

The companies also plan to develop an environment scanning system for autonomous dump trucks already equipped with artificial intelligence. The system will be able to not only to perceive and react to objects located around the dump truck, but also build a 3D model of the rock mass to be loaded, determine its sequence of actions and correlate its movements with the dump truck’s position.

Bogachev said: “With such a powerful mining technology business unit as VIST Group, ZYFRA is seeking to work closely with the global leaders in the production of quarry equipment.

“I’m convinced that this combination of competences will benefit all parties. For us, it will mean a stronger presence on the global market, a deepening of our expertise and the opportunity to create products equipped with the most advanced technologies, while the mining companies will be able to order their equipment from the plant with their chosen digital features ready installed.”

The agreement includes partnership in the promotion and commercialisation of digital technologies for mining companies and joint training of personnel for the implementation of digitalisation projects, according to ZYFRA.

First Ore-Mining looks to VIST’s AI solution for Pavlovskoye lead-zinc development

Automation, Base metals, Communications in mining, IoT, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining project news, Mining safety, Mining services, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

First Ore-Mining Company and ZYFRA have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that could see the Pavlovskoye lead-zinc deposit deploy artificial intelligence-based solutions for mining and processing operations.

Pavlovskoye is set to become the most northerly mine in Russia, once First-Ore, a Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corp division, moves ahead with development. It is scheduled to have a 3.5 Mt/y ore processing capacity.

The MoU document was signed at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum by Igor Semenov, Executive Director of First Ore-Mining Company, and Igor Bogachev, CEO of ZYFRA.

Bogachev said: “It is more difficult for companies to operate in extreme climatic conditions because of factors such as the high cost of resources and special work safety regulations. The robotised systems offered by our subsidiary, VIST Group, including Intelligent Mine, will reduce equipment downtime by 10-20% and maintenance costs by 15-18%, thereby cutting production costs by 2-3%.”

Intelligent Mine is a set of digital technologies for managing open-pit mining processes based on robotised lоad and haul systems, together with industry solutions in the fields of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics. “One of the advantages of the system is that it enables extraction of minerals in inaccessible and remote regions with severe climatic and subsurface conditions,” the digital solutions provider for heavy industries said.

The parties aim to explore a possible project to implement robotics and remote control of quarry equipment at the Pavlovskoye deposit of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. A bilateral working group will be set up within 45 days for this purpose, while the MoU covers a period of three years.

Semenov said: “Rosatom State Corp and First Ore-Mining Company have a strong focus on occupational safety. We are beginning this work in advance, so that the very first ore will be produced using advanced technologies in the safest possible conditions. Cooperation with Zyfra, which has extensive experience in developing digital smart solutions, will help us achieve this.”

ZYFRA’s VIST Group moves onto automating Kamaz tow truck

Automation, Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining software, , , ,

ZYFRA Group VIST Group has launched a robotised towing truck project in tandem with Nazarbayev University and Russia-based truck and engine manufacturer KAMAZ.

As part of the project, a five-wheel tow truck, a KAMAZ 5490 Neo, will be equipped with computer vision systems to allow it to detect and autonomously manoeuvre around obstacles such as people, animals, traffic barriers and cones.

The development comes shortly after VIST automated a BELAZ 7513R truck and BELAZ 78250 wheel loader for open-pit mining.

Comparing the two autonomous applications, VIST said: “The implementation of the Kamaz autonomous truck is planned to take place on two fronts: one, the robot KAMAZ, due to its smaller (compared to BELAZ) external dimension, is more manoeuvrable and can facilitate the logistics of closed industrial zones at manufactures of various types, two, in the long run, a train of KAMAZ robot towing trucks could serve for long-distance transportation, probably on a separate lane.”

The team is planning to finalise the project by September, it said.

VIST is also working on completing  its Intelligent Mine project – a complex solution for unmanned surface mining with application of self-driving vehicles. The company is planning to spend a material share of investment provided by ZYFRA to accelerate its R&D projects including self-driving vehicles, autonomous surface mining machines and appliances, broader IoT- and AI-based solutions application as well as predictive analytics, it said.