IM 2016 September 2016 | Page 46

MINEXPO 2_proof 24/08/2016 08:11 Page 10 MINEXPO PREVIEW II option with four-wheel independent drive that can be disengaged for towing. “Mobility and flexibility are two of the biggest challenges in narrow vein mining. Due to the tight constraints and narrow passageways, miners need safe, portable and compact equipment,” said Carlos Bravo, Global Product Manager for Boart Longyear. “The StopeMaster is ideal for the tight and narrow spaces. Designed for bulk mining applications, it is compact, mobile, versatile and durable, with a proven track record of high productivity and long service life.” In addition to the StopeMaster hydraulic drill, Boart Longyear offers the StopeMate™ pneumatic drill, which also is designed for flexibility and productivity in tight access locations. Both are durable and compact, with 360° rotation for greater flexibility. For added safety, both rigs are equipped with heavy-duty hoses to protect the driller from hose rupture, and can be controlled with a remote positioning system up to 25 m away, which improves safety by removing the operators from the immediate drilling area. The StopeMaster also has an emergency stop circuit to cut the power to the drill in the event of an incident. “When developing new technologies, equipment and consumables, Boart Longyear continues to focus on making the driller safer and more productive,” Bravo said. “With current trends toward rod handling and drilling deeper, we are always looking to see where we can upgrade or expand our product lines to meet the customer’s needs.” Product experts will be available at the display, which will include a broad range of underground, surface, multipurpose, sonic and production drill rigs; performance tooling; and the first two products in the company’s instrumentation line, TruCore™ and TruShot™. Howden is an established North American supplier to mining ventilation in both coal and hard rock underground mining. Established in 1857, Howden has been pushing the boundaries of ventilation technology in mining, power utility, and other applications for over 100 years. It has many celebrated brands that are today part of the Howden organisation and is proud to continue to supply full, exclusive OEM aftermarket support for those brands. These include Alphair Ventilating Systems, Buffalo Forge, Joy Green Fans, and TLT-Babcock. Simsmart Technologies was recently added to the product family. Howden has a global & North American footprint that allows the company to support mining customers wherever they are located in the world. The recent acquisition of Simsmart Technologies has enabled Howden to extend system expertise into sophisticated ventilation 44 International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2016 control systems that will add value in ventilation cost savings. It has already installed systems that have demonstrated the strength of combined expertise in both fans and control systems, that means bottom line savings for the user. The Sm artEXEC™ system has been documented to save up to 55% by using a full control and monitoring system for both underground and main ventilation fans. Moreover, by channelling air to functioning areas of the mine, the conditions can be created to overall increase mine productivity by supplying additional air typically at a lower rate of power consumption. J.H. Fletcher & Co has a new product to improve the roof bolter operator environment. The machine, known as a dry scrubber, is supported by field testing, and backed by a long history in dust suppression. The dry scrubber is permissible and has the ability to operate in a variety of applications, making it a complement to the Fletcher roof bolting product line. The need for this product is evident, as dust concentrations downwind of the continuous miner can exceed regulatory standards and overexpose roof bolter operators. Underground, on-board flooded bed scrubbers are used on continuous mining machines for respirable dust collection. Though these systems are proven, dust by-passing the continuous miner scrubber may expose roof bolter operators to high levels of respirable dust when working downwind of the continuous miner. Fletcher was a pioneer in dust collection, receiving patents as early as the 1950s. When maintained, Fletcher MSHA approved onboard dry dust collectors are proven in removing the respirable dust generated from roof bolting. With this background, Fletcher’s research and development department developed the MSHA approved Fletcher dry air scrubber. The machine is a stand-alone, self-propelled, electrically powered ventilation fan. It has two operating modes: tram and ventilation. While in tram mode, the fan cannot be operated. The dry air scrubber is engineered to be positioned between the rib and vent curtain. The unit then works to clean contaminated air before it enters the roof bolter work space, working to provide roof bolter operators with a cleaner air supply and lowering their exposure to respirable dust. The design reflects Fletcher’s diversity in the underground Other potential applications for the dry scrubber, include: belt conveyor transfers, underground truck dumps, single entry air cleaning, and diesel particulate matter removal mining sector, with the ability to fit into a wide variety of mines and applications. The dry scrubber is 5 m in length and 1.4 m wide, and is equipped with 305 mm crawler pads. The dry scrubber pulls a portion (up to 4.25 m3/s) of the air flowing between the rib and the vent curtain into the filters on the inlet side of the fan. Filtered air is directed out of the machine and back into the main air stream. A pressure sensor arrangement is used to monitor filter conditions to alert the operator when the filters need replaced. A hydraulically operated hood and pivoting electrical controller allow access to the air filters. The fan speed and resulting airflow is controlled by a variable frequency drive (VFD). This allows the mine to select an airflow controlled with a feedback loop to automatically adjust the fan speed to maintain a constant airflow output as the filters are loaded with dust. NIOSH laboratory tests found that the dry scrubber averaged greater than 95% respirable coal dust removal while being operated at two different fan airflow speed quantities of 1.42-4.25 m3/s. Underground studies found a collection efficiency of 99.2%. For over 20 years, the MinCa (Mining Car) has been a successful model in the Paus product range — a front-steered, all-wheel-drive underground transporter vehicle. MINExpo visitors will see the new generation – the MinCa 5.1, based on the proven MinCa 18A concept, a versatile vehicle. With its compact dimensions of 3,998 mm x 1,725 mm and a payload of 1,200 kg the MinCa 5.1 is an ideal personnel transporter even for