SURFACE AUTOMATION
rigs will initially be controlled at BHP Billiton’ s five iron ore mines in Pilbara, with the longerterm aim of remote operation from Perth, more than 1,000 km away, Atlas Copco said. The move will increase BHP Billiton’ s drill capacity by a third and the Atlas Copco drills allow cost reduction of drilling operations by about 27 %.
The Rio Tinto road to success
The pioneering mines in full automation in the Pilbara were Rio Tinto’ s Yandicoogina, Hope Downs 4 and Nammuldi mines – which also became the first in the world to move all of their iron ore using fully automated, driverless haulage trucks. Rio Tinto first introduced the Autonomous Haulage System( AHS) at its iron ore operations eight years ago as part of its Mine of the Future programme and is now the world’ s largest owner and operator of autonomous trucks. The group has 71 Komatsu 930E-4AT trucks equipped with the Frontrunner Autonomous Haulage System( AHS) across three Pilbara iron ore mines, moving about 20 % of the operations’ material. The AHS was developed by Komatsu and Komatsu company Modular Mining Systems, Inc.
Rio Tinto was one of the first in the industry to adopt automation, and it is visible across many aspects of its Pilbara operations. In addition to the AHS trucks, the Group’ s Iron Ore business operates seven fully Autonomous Drill Systems( ADS) to drill production blastholes, and drones are being trialled to measure stockpiles and assist with environmental and maintenance activities. The machines are controlled from the 1,500 km distant Perth Operations Centre, which itself has 400 employees.
Michael Gollschewski, Managing Director of Rio Tinto’ s Pilbara mines, says technology has transformed productivity at the iron ore operations and helped the business ride out the highs and lows of the cycle. This early adoption of technology has played a key role in positioning Rio Tinto as the lowest cost iron ore producer in the Pilbara.
“ Our first mover advantage from developing our Operations Centre in Perth and implementing autonomous technology has been instrumental to our continued success,” he told an industry conference in March.“ Tied in with the other productivity improvements we have made, this technology is game changing.”
Results over the past eight years show the Group’ s investment in automation has paid off, delivering improvements across safety and productivity, and reducing maintenance costs.
“ Autonomous trucks reduce employee exposure to hazards and risks associated with operating heavy equipment, such as fatiguerelated incidents, sprains and other soft tissue injuries, and exposure to noise and dust,” says Yandicoogina Mining Operations Manager Josh Bennett.
And while human drivers require regular breaks, the AHS trucks can run almost 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, stopping only for refuelling and maintenance. Since 2008, the autonomous fleet has outperformed the manned fleet by an average of 14 %, and reduced load and haul operating costs by up to 13 %.
The AHS trucks are specially built with advanced computers that perform the normal tasks associated with driving a vehicle, such as starting the engine, accelerating and braking. The computers then respond to GPS directions, supervised remotely by operators, to ensure greater operational safety.
Bennett, explains:“ What we have done is map out our entire mine and put that into the system, and the system then works out how to manoeuvre the trucks through the mine.”
The trucks are programmed to transport loads as efficiently as possible, and are fitted with proximity detection and collision avoidance
systems to identify and avoid hazards.
“ There are obvious capital savings, in terms of setting up camps and flying people to site, and there are fewer people so there is less operating cost.”
The driverless vehicles are designed to deliver their loads more efficiently, minimising delays and reducing costs associated with maintenance, tyre life and fuel consumption.
“ One of the advantages we have had with autonomous haulage, particularly in the truck fleet, is we notice we are getting consistency in terms of the way the machines are operating.”
At Rio Tinto’ s West Angelas mine, the world’ s first fully Autonomous Drilling Systems have drilled more than 2.6 million metres since they were introduced in 2009. A key advantage of ADS is in removing drill operators from the mine pit, as well as reducing workers’ exposure to dust, noise and vibration. From a productivity perspective, the autonomous drills have resulted in 10 % less downtime compared with manned drills due to fewer interruptions, such as shift changes.
Rio Tinto says it now plans to extend its AHS fleet to other viable Pilbara mines in the future, and continues to review and test new technology, evaluating the cost against potential returns.
One of the latest innovations is the introduction of RTVisTM, which works much like ultrasound and delivers real-time 3D pictures of ore deposits located far beneath the surface. Combining this technology with the driverless trucks and autonomous drills has led to greater ore recovery and lower costs. This is because it enables more accurate drilling and blasting, reduced explosive use and better waste classification. As a result the trucks are carrying less waste material and more ore.
While the introduction of automation has seen a reduction in some traditional mining operational roles, it has also created new ones –
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120 International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2016