CANADIAN TECHNOLOGY
drawpoint design, according to Redpath, with
production panel drifts spaced at 30 m and
drawpoints spaced at 20 m. The PTRI GBC area 2
project, to date, has excavated more than 250
drawpoints and 13 ore pass entry points. The
PTRI GBC construction crews follow behind the
development with the completion of 221 lintel
sets (steel bearing and support set for
drawpoints) in drawpoints and 10 grizzlies
constructed.
The company concluded: “In the years to
come, the PTRI GBC team will require consistent
gains and achievement in order to permit
production and ramp ups to reach greater
capacities. Redpath will continue to meet and
overcome these unique challenges that an
operation of this scale will present going
forward and will be prepared to adapt to the
conditions in order to succeed in becoming the
underground of contractor of choice for PT
Freeport Indonesia.”
M&A
The development of innovation technology often
leads to corporate activity, with some of the
recent M&A in the Canada space involving global
firms such as SRK and FLSmidth.
In September, SRK Canada announced a
merger with Labrecque Technologies Inc (LTI),
which, it said, would broaden the scopes of the
two companies’ service offerings within the
mining and minerals industries.
The two have worked together on many
underground mining projects in North America,
the UK, Russia and the Philippines, most recently
pairing up for simulation work on North American
Palladium’s Lac Des Iles mine in Ontario.
LTI specialises in conducting dynamic process
simulations to help mining companies predict
future performance, optimise productivity and
“avoid costly mistakes”, the two companies said.
It has a decade of experience in applying
mechanical and industrial engineering methods
to mining, they said.
“The modelling work takes a systems
approach, with models accounting for
interactions and interferences between all of the
ore flow systems and mining equipment,” the
two companies said.
Most projects involve studying ore and waste
handling, lateral development rates, block cave
development, construction, production, crusher
and skipping capacity, truck ramp haulage and
traffic analysis, and bin and storage facility
optimisation.
SRK, meanwhile, offers services from
exploration to mine closure, including feasibility
studies, due diligence reviews, and production
optimisation.
“Combining our shared passion and expertise
in providing mining solutions enables SRK and
LTI to offer mine design and operational
improvements that validate and optimise
production through dynamic mine process
simulation,” SRK Sudbury Practice Leader, Gary
Poxleitner, said. “This increases mine operators’
and owners’ confidence in the mine plans we
develop with them to refine and improve their
economic valuations.”
LTI President, Pierre Labrecque, said: “The
demand for simulation through computer
modelling continues to grow rapidly and, now
that LTI will be operating as a business unit of
SRK Consulting, we will be able to provide
greater value to our clients by further
collaborating with SRK specialists around the
world.”
LTI’s projects have involved operations from
small cut-and-fill mines to large block caves with
capacities ranging from 1,000 t/d to 160,000 t/d.
FLSmidth’s latest North America acquisition,
meanwhile, was geared towards completing its
portfolio of automated laboratory solutions for
the mining industry.
To achieve this, it took over Canada-based IMP
Automation Group.
FLSmidth, explaining the deal rationale, said
the market for automated laboratories was
growing due to a combination of high exploration
activity and an increased focus on productivity,
automation and digitalisation.
“IMP is the global leader in automated
laboratory solutions for the mining industry and
has a strong foothold in Australia and South
Africa. Its solutions complement the products
FLSmidth offers for quality control and
optimisation for the mining process,” the
company said.
The acquisition includes more than 130 IMP
employees, including the Managing Director,
Boyne Hohenstein.
Hohenstein said: “In FLSmidth, we have found
a partner with the right global sales network to
take us to the next level. For years, we have
combined profound laboratory process
knowledge with automation skills and developed
novel and innovative solutions. I am very excited
that we now can reach a global audience with our
offerings and solutions.”
Manfred Schaffer, President Mining for
FLSmidth, said: “Knowing your ore
characteristics from the mine and the way
through the processing plant is of increasing
importance in mining as declining ore grades
make it necessary to increase productivity by
process optimisation. We see a strong match
between some of our digital initiatives in
FLSmidth and IMP’s automation solutions that
will help miners get better data on their ore and
assist in optimising the processing.”
Included in the transaction is IMP’s 50% share
in a joint venture, which provides complete
The new HERO 13 core bit designed for very hard
ground was just one of the products Epiroc and
Fordia presented to the PDAC crowd
operations and maintenance-based solutions for
automated labs.
IMP designs and supplies manual, semi- and
fully-automated robotic sample preparation and
process control laboratories, turnkey sampling
systems and laboratories for mining,
metallurgical, cement, non-ferrous industry and
steel plants. Previous customers have included
Anglo American Platinum, Freeport McMoRan,
BHP and Rio Tinto.
Earlier this year, Epiroc acquired Fordia, and it
hasn’t taken long for the Sweden-based
company to highlight what the Canadian
manufacturer of exploration drilling tools brings
to the enlarged group.
The two companies exhibited together for the
first time at the recent PDAC 2019 event, with
their corporate space featuring the Diamec Smart
6 drill rig and the Exploration Manager system,
along with a complete selection of exploration
consumables.
Epiroc said: “With the strategic acquisition of
Fordia, Epiroc increases its focus on the mineral
exploration sector. This focus will be leveraged
by the high-quality products and outstanding
customer service for which Fordia is known, and
will bring synergies not only to Epiroc’s Rock
Drilling Tools division but also to its Surface
Exploration Drilling and Mining and Rock
Excavation Service divisions, as the company
strengthens its position in the exploration
industry.”
At the two companies’ innovation booth, new
products on show included the DiscovOre head
assembly, the HERO 5 Abrasive core bit, the RC45
HD hammer and the new HERO 13 core bit
designed for very hard ground. IM
APRIL 2019 | International Mining 85