WORLD PROSPECTS
Komatsu passes 2 billion autohaul tonnes
omatsu America Corp announced on
November 15 that the FrontRunner
Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) has
achieved the unprecedented milestone of more than 2
billion tons of surface material moved autonomously.
The company states that the FrontRunner system has
now hauled more than all other commercial mining
autonomous haulage systems combined.
Since its first commercial deployment in 2008 at
Codelco’s Gabriela Mistral (Gaby) copper mine in
Chile (after a trial at Radomiro Tomic), “the
FrontRunner AHS has experienced exponential
growth in cumulative production, breaking the one
billion tons mark in 2016 and the 1.5 billion tons
mark in late 2017.” This has been accomplished with
more than 130 trucks in operation to date. An
additional 150 trucks will deploy to the Canadian oil
sands over the next seven years. Aside from the
mentioned Chilean copper operations, the
autonomous Komatsu fleet includes 830Es, 930Es
and 980Es running at Rio Tinto iron ore operations
and Suncor oil sands operations.
“Working closely with customers, the system’s
ten-year zero-harm and productivity record, and
unmatched ability to accommodate an array of
mining environments has enabled Komatsu to
accelerate the pace of AHS deployment. Today’s
FrontRunner system operates around the clock;
hauling copper, iron and oil sands, at seven sites,
across three continents.”
“The ongoing investment in technology and
K
equipment by major mining
companies in Chile, Australia and
Canada underscores their belief in the
value of autonomous haulage,” said
Anthony Cook, Vice President
Autonomous and Communications
Solutions at Modular Mining
Systems, a subsidiary of Komatsu.
“Komatsu’s best-in-class approach
for FrontRunner AHS brings together
the world’s best-selling, ultra-class
dump trucks with Modular Mining
Systems’ industry-leading DISPATCH ®
Fleet Management System, the preferred
management system in nineof the 10 largest mining
operations in the world. The system enables 100%
compliance to its proven optimisation methodology,
delivering unrivalled performance.”
“AHS continues to play an increasingly crucial
role in effective mine management as more and
more operations transition from manned to
unmanned fleets,” said Dan Funcannon, VP/GM,
Large Mining Truck Division, Komatsu America. “As
the demand for autonomous systems grows,
Komatsu will continue raising the bar in an effort to
help mines provide safer working environments,
maximise production, and reduce operating costs.”
Just prior to achieving the autonomous haulage
milestone, Komatsu hosted a well-received,
Autonomous Haulage Demonstration Day recently
in Tucson, Arizona, showcasing the company’s
Redpath on track at Lady Loretta
n December 2017, Redpath Australia was
selected to be the Site Operator at Glencore’s
Lady Loretta high-grade Pb-Zn (lead-zinc)
orebody which will be mined at a rate of 1.6 Mt/y
with the scope of work including the entire
underground and surface operations, along with
the associated facilities management on site.
Redpath reports that to date its work at
Glencore’s Lady Loretta mine has delivered
excellent physical results, exceeding all key targets
for Glencore. “Significant planning and teamwork,
especially in areas such as recommissioning the
paste plant, batch plant and crushing plants has
made this possible. There have been many
learnings during the mobilisation/commissioning
period, but overall, Redpath is meeting or
exceeding the client’s expectations and is on track
to meet the nameplate capacity of 1.6 Mt/y of ore
crushed by the end of December 2018. A key
process implemented is having quarterly
‘alignment sessions’ involving all key Redpath and
Glencore management so that all aspects of how
I
the project is operating are maturely debated, and
actions put in place to improve in the subsequent
quarter. These sessions flush out any uncertainty or
issues present, and ensure that the management
team align and work together to the common goal.”
The mining method at Lady Loretta is
conventional sub-level open stoping (a slot is
opened up using a Redbore 30 raisebore raise drill)
with paste used to fill the void upon completion.
Ore is removed by Sandvik LH621 loaders (LHDs),
using the Sandvik AutoMine system and is trucked
to the surface ROM using
Epiroc MT65 underground
trucks. The surface crushing
plant is then loaded, operated,
and maintained in addition to
loading the Glencore-
controlled roadtrains which
deliver the crushed ore to the
Mt Isa processing plant.
“The excellent work that
Glencore did in setting the
Albion Process™ for Campo Morado
T
4 International Mining | DECEMBER 2018
processed flotation tailings and historic tailings
to increase recoveries of gold and silver, plus
zinc flotation testing focused on Jameson Cell™
mine up with underground WiFi, has allowed
Redpath the opportunity to embrace some of the
modern technologies available in underground
mining. These include Sandvik’s AutoMine which
provides for automated tramming of underground
loaders allowing operation over shift changes and
optimised performance. Mobile fleet monitoring
has commenced through Certiq and OptiMine
which help operators to operate equipment better
and data analysis for continuous improvement.
Plodtrack, for recording shift by shift mine activity,
is the start of a move toward real time information
capture.”
www.redpathmining.com
technology to increase zinc recoveries and zinc
concentrate grade at the Campo Morado zinc-
lead mine in Guerrero, Mexico.
Antonio Berlanga, Telson CEO, states: “In our
ongoing quest to maximise the returns from
Campo Morado production we are excited to
elson Mining Corporation is retaining
Glencore Technology to conduct Albion
Process™ leach testing of newly
autonomous haulage and assisted operations
solutions. Close to 100 mining professionals,
industry journalists, and students from the
University of Arizona’s mining engineering program
met at Komatsu’s Arizona Proving Grounds (AZPG)
for a series of presentations, tours, and
demonstrations, all supporting the event theme:
Automating Progress.
To underscore the company’s commitment to
progress, Komatsu plans to enhance the AHS’
mixed-operation functions, enabling manned trucks
of any make to interoperate with Komatsu AHS
trucks in a blended operation. Komatsu is also
working with industry stakeholders towards
standardisation of interoperability between
Komatsu and non-Komatsu autonomous vehicles, to
improve safety and efficiency at customer
operations. www.mining.komatsu