NORDIC SUPPLIERS
Recently Metso has been gathering a
significant reputation for operations
improvement through service contracts. For
example, the company recently signed a
significant service agreement including
refurbishment services for screening equipment,
related spare parts and support. This new
agreement is Metso's largest service contract of
this type in the Brazilian market. With Metso's
solution, the customer is aiming to increase
screen availability and extend the service life of
equipment in their operations.
The agreement covers a period of three years,
and the order will be booked in Metso's orders
received in quarterly basis. “We are very proud of
this agreement, which clearly demonstrates that
we have been successful in supporting our
customer's business objectives. It also further
strengthens our position in the area of screening
solutions,” says Mikko Keto, President of
Metso's Minerals Services business area. “We at
Metso are very committed to offering our
customers the best solutions for the future.”
“We have an extensive and specialised service
organisation in Brazil. Managed from our service
centres strategically located near our customers'
operations, we are well positioned to cater to our
customers' needs throughout the market. These
capabilities have also been recognised by the
customer,” says Marcelo Motti, Senior Vice
President of the Brazil market area.
Uutechnic Oy, part of the Uutechnic Group,
has received two major orders for the
hydrometallurgical industry. Deliveries will be
directed to Finland and to China. Deliveries
comprise a total of about 40 units of agitators,
for demanding applications and designed
individually according to customers’ process
requirements. The total value of orders is
approximately €2 million. Orders have been
booked for the first quarter of the 2018 order
intake. The equipment will be delivered in 2018.
“China’s supply is the first significant direct
delivery for the Asian hydrometallurgical
industry. The orders received are proof of
Uutechnic’s competence and competitiveness in
the mining and hydrometallurgy sector, as the
world’s leading agitator suppliers were
competing in the bidding process, “says Jussi
Vaarno, the head of Mixing Technology business
line.
Uutechnic is based in Uusikaupunki, Finland. It
specialises in large top entry agitators and side
entry agitators for heavy industry which are
designed and manufactured according to the
particular requirements of each process. The
impeller is se lected based on the mixing
requirements and practical experience. Drives,
seals and, where necessary, bottom bearings are
selected according to construction and process
requirements while taking into account the
14 International Mining | JUNE 2018
customer’s experience
and existing machinery.
Uutechnic Group’s
business consists of one
segment, Process
Solutions, which is
divided into two
business lines: Mixing
Technology and Tanks &
Rolls. The Mixing
Technology business line
consists of Germany-
based Stelzer
Rührtechnik
International GmbH and
Uutechnic Oy. The Tanks & Rolls business line
consists of Japrotek Oy Ab and AP-Tela Oy.
Networks
Ericsson and Ambra Solutions have worked
together to deliver Canada’s deepest
underground LTE network for the Agnico Eagle
mining site, LaRonde in Abitibi, Quebec. Located
3 km below the surface, the LTE network will
provide data and voice mobility services across
the site and enable several Internet of Things
(IoT) use cases to improve safety and mining
operations.
LTE cellular networks can provide data and
voice mobility services over low frequency bands
that allow a better propagation than any other
available technology, delivering faster, more
advanced wireless technology. The network in
LaRonde is utilising band 5 at 850 MHz. Ambra is
the only Canadian operator deploying private LTE
networks in underground mines.
The solution is based on the latest Ericsson
Radio System portfolio of basebands and radio
units, software upgradable to provide Massive
IoT capabilities for sensor-based applications
and support 5G New Radio (NR) capability.
Eric L’Heureux, CEO, Ambra Solutions, says:
“The LTE technology is the most cost effective
and reliable solution to provide real-time
coverage to several kilometres of underground
tunnels. A single LTE radio can cover up to 6 km
of tunnel, whereas it would take over 60 active
Wi-Fi access points to cover the same area.”
LTE networks open a new suite of capabilities
and possibilities to cost effectively enable smart
mining-related tasks for open pits or
underground mines. Unlike other options, LTE
networks allow the use of IoT sensors and
devices to monitor, operate, and collect data
throughout the mining site, for example related
to air quality monitoring. This includes remote
control operation of mining machinery, dispatch
systems, emergency notification systems, access
control systems, automated collection of data,
ventilation fan monitoring and gas detection
systems.
Ericsson and Ambra Solutions delivered the
deepest LTE network to date in a Canadian mine
Graham Osborne, Head of Ericsson Canada,
says: “Our work with Ambra brings Ericsson
technology to a specialised environment in a
unique application. Deploying this underground
LTE network will provide us with new learning
opportunities in a novel application and how they
can lead to future technologies and ideas.”
Agnico Eagle is a senior Canadian gold mining
company with eight mines in Canada, Finland,
and Mexico. LaRonde is Agnico Eagle’s flagship
mine, located in the Abitibi region of
northwestern Quebec. LaRonde has produced
more than 5 million ounces of gold since it
opened in 1988.
Completed in December 2017, the LTE network
provides connection across the site. It is similar
to the mining site network of Boliden in
Skellefteå Municipality, Västerbotten County,
Sweden, which was also built using Ericsson
equipment.
Hoisting technology
Alimak Hek are proud to be celebrating their
70th anniversary in 2018. The company was
founded, in Sweden, on 15th March 1948 by
engineer and technical inventor Mr. Alvar
Lindmark (1917-1975).
It was soon after this, in 1962, that the
development of the very first rack and pinion
driven construction hoist would undoubtedly
change the construction industry forever. Alvar
Lindmark was fascinated by the biblical story of
Jacob's ladder, which stretched right up to the
kingdom of heaven. With this idea in mind, he
sought the technical solution for building lifts
closest to this vision. By letting the basket climb
a towed mast, he created a simple, flexible and
cost-effective lift.
During these 70 years, Alimak Hek’s
construction hoists, work platforms and
transport platforms have been used on many
notable applications around the world, such as
the Turning Torso in Sweden, the Statue of