CONTRACT MINING
commodities – often making it difficult for mines to know whether to invest for future growth .
“ Mining contractors offer a degree of flexibility to mining companies , as we can adapt more quickly should our customers want to ramp up production as demand picks up . Usually , the contractor is able to add manpower and equipment at short notice , to meet higher production requirements .
“ By contrast , mines may also need to cut back on production if demand slows down . In these cases , contracting companies can generally move resources to other projects to avoid retrenchments and to reduce equipment holding costs .”
Americas-focused contract miner , STRACON , offers up a timely example .
“ COVID-19 has brought about many challenges for our industry , particularly in the Latin America market where the impact to society has been greater than in other jurisdictions where STRACON operates ,” Steve Dixon , CEO of STRACON , told IM .
This has led some clients to defer activities , but it has seen others try to take advantage of an upsurge in prices for metals such as copper and gold by increasing production rates .
“ As a result , we ’ ve seen an increase in demand for contract mining production services from several clients across all markets where we operate , as they seek to take advantage of these higher prices ,” Dixon said . “ As a contractor , we are focused – and well positioned – to quickly mobilise additional resources , to support clients with their production ramp ups .”
This flexibility goes beyond scaling assets and people up and down depending on the cycle . “ We also pride ourselves on taking an innovative approach to the way in which we engage with clients and conduct business ,” Dixon said . “ For example , STRACON , along with several of our clients , were the first to successfully implement and utilise ‘ Alliance Contracts ’ ( commonly known as ‘ Collaborative Contracts ’ in our sector ) in the Latin American contract mining industry .
“ We aim to be a ‘ partner of choice ’ and are very focused on developing lasting relationships . Like any long-term relationship , this requires flexibility and constant effort .”
In addition to offering a cost-effective and flexible alternative to the owner-operator mining model , contract miners have committed to go down the same evolutionary path their mining clients are travelling down ; one full of ESG and carbon emission reduction initiatives . Herne provides some evidence here . “ Concor Opencast Mining is always updating our equipment with the latest technology for high efficiency and reduced carbon footprint ,” he said . “ As responsible mining companies , our customers will include our performance in their environmental and integrated reporting – and our priorities are firmly aligned with theirs .
“ No doubt these reporting requirements will continue to become more stringent as the world moves toward a carbon-neutral future .”
Evidently , this is leading some contractors down a new technology adoption path .
Tech uptake
“ The priority remains our good safety record , our operational excellence and our ongoing social contribution to the communities in which we operate ,” Herne said .
Considering such a statement and the fact much of the mining industry ’ s recent innovation has been skewed towards removing people from harm ’ s way and boosting productivity , it is hardly surprising that contract mining companies have engaged with new technology developments .
As Dixon spells out , clients are starting to assume contract miners will come to the negotiating party with such solutions .
“ Clients expect and demand leading edge practices and performance from their contractors , so those who do not invest , develop and integrate new practices into their activities will simply become uncompetitive and redundant ,” Dixon explained .
For STRACON , this has meant getting hands-on experience of electrification and automation projects carried out at the mining company level in both North and South America .
For example , the company ’ s Dumas Mine Contracting subsidiary has been working with Pure Gold Mining on the design of the underground mine at the Madsen Red Lake gold project in Ontario , an asset set to feature a mining and development fleet made up of a combination of diesel and battery-powered load and haul equipment .
In Latin America , meanwhile , it is carrying out a contract for earthworks and open-pit mining operations at Anglo American ' s majority-owned Quellaveco open-pit copper project in Peru . Quellaveco is set for a staged implementation of autonomous haulage using the Cat ® MineStar™ Command solution for hauling .
Still in LatAm , mining contractor U & M
Initial field tests of U & M ’ s AHS retrofit solution on a Komatsu 730E started at an unnamed mine in late August , following trials at the contractor ’ s own quarry
Mineração e Construção S / A has been working on its own technology niche , as IM has reported on over the last few years .
Instead of aligning with an OEM or dealer to apply autonomous haulage systems ( AHS ) at its clients ’ operations , U & M has developed an inhouse platform to convert manned trucks to AHS operation .
The first haul truck to receive such treatment was a 91 t-payload Cat 777 , which has since been trialled at two client mine sites in Brazil .
The company has now gone bigger on its way to developing a fleet of AHS trucks by the end of 2021 .
A 181 t-class Komatsu 730E AHS converted truck is now running at an unnamed client ’ s mine site , Commercial Director , Mauricio Casara recently told IM .
Initial field tests at the mine started in late August , following trials at the company ’ s own quarry .
Casara explained : “ We ran a trial at the test quarry , removed the kit from the truck and installed it to the truck at the mine site . The tests at the quarry went well , as planned .”
While there has been no change to the AHS ‘ kit ’ the company used for the larger Komatsu 730E , compared with what it had in place on an AHS-enabled Cat 777 , Casara did say the control software had been adapted .
“ The changes between the different trucks were basically on the control software as the rimpull / retarding curves are different on the different truck models ,” he said . “ That is also the case with the actuators and other small parts of the kit .
“ But the concept has not changed from what we initially developed .”
Down under
As underground mining contractor at Dacian Gold ’ s Mt Morgans gold mine , in Western Australia , RUC Cementation Mining has recently been flexing its innovation muscles .
38 International Mining | NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2020