FUTURE MINING AND UNDERGROUND AUTOMATION
Among the services
offered by Joy
Global’s facility in
Australia’s Hunter
Valley are JoySmart
solutions, prognostics
and health
monitoring, and life
cycle management
allow Joy personnel to “provide direction,
anticipating service needs and optimising
machine productivity to drive results and move
the needle in mine performance. In fact, some
coal producers have increased equipment
utilisation from below 50% to as high as 70%.”
For example, Joy Global’s smart, connected
longwall systems include complex networks
linked to highly sensitive gyroscopes, and
thousands of sensors that are constantly
monitoring the performance and health of the
system.
During operation, as the longwall system
moves forward, the roof is collapsing behind it.
Sensors placed in the roof supports transmit data
to the surface. Complex algorithms translate the
data points into visual
information that can
predict significant
changes in operating
conditions in the mine.
“In a recent case
study, the roof support
data analysed by Joy Global’s algorithms,
detected a roof cavity forming. Through advanced
analytics, we were able to predict roof instability,
impossible to see with the naked eye, and define
the root cause for those changes. This allowed
for immediate actions that impacted the overall
mine productivity,” explains Mike Rikkola,
Program Manager – Remote Health Monitoring.
Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology has just
announced an agreement with IBM to jointly
develop market leading offerings in Data Driven
Productivity and Predictive Maintenance services.
Under the agreement, Sandvik and IBM will
develop advanced analytics solutions to improve
safety, maintenance, productivity and operational
services of mining and rock excavation
equipment.
The growth in onboard instrumentation and
data gathering capabilities in heavy equipment
are presenting natural resource industries with
opportunities to employ advanced analytics and
models to identify and resolve productivity issues
and improve process optimisation and
performance. Deployment of digital technologies
is expected to create as much as $100 billion
value to resource producing companies by 2035
(Source: McKinsey Global Institute Report: How
technology is reshaping supply and demand for
natural resources).
As two global leaders – Sandvik and IBM will
be working together to make a clear difference in
productivity improvements globally. A
Memorandum of Understanding has been signed
with the intent to create market leading offerings
in data driven productivity and predictive
maintenance solutions. The two companies are
already working jointly with selected customers
to pilot the concept and commercialise specific
solutions. The first wave of work will be done on
loaders and trucks, connecting up to 15 units and
integrating live data from multiple on- and off
board systems to run the analytic algorithms.
The IBM-Sandvik collaboration will involve the
use of advanced analytics, remote monitoring
and cognitive technologies to allow natural
resource companies to combine equipment and
application data from disparate resources and
Mining Technology
■ CM systems leader
in North America, with
installations throughout
South Africa
■ Precise location of
workers maximizes
safety and productivity
■ Dynamic SharpZone TM
technology
- Maximizes mine
productivity
- Minimizes nuisance /
false alarms
sales@matrixteam.com
Mobile Machinery
Low-Light Camera System
Camera & Bright LED
lights housed in rugged
XP housing.
Hi-res LCD monitor in
rugged XP housing.
18 International Mining | APRIL 2017