CANADIAN TECHNOLOGY
Maintenance on a Cat 6050 at Canadian Malartic , one of two units at the mine operated via TeleOp from HARD-LINE
Mighty maple leaf
Companies based in Canada contribute an enormous amount to the mining industry with technology and services – both in the home market but also around the world . Paul Moore looks at some innovative players , project examples & supplier developments
There has been a marked increase in remote control and teleoperation interest in surface mining over the past year or so – partly to address taking the shovel operator out of the pit area where they are loading autonomous truck fleets ; but also operators looking at teleremote again for conventional fleets as a safety measure in certain situations . Sudbury-based HARD-LINE is already known worldwide for its teleoperation success in underground mining , from mobile fleets to rockbreakers , but less known are its successes in a surface context , so it is well placed to meet this new potential demand .
Going back to 2013 , it conducted a trial operation at Codelco ’ s Mina Sur site , 1,400 km north of Santiago ( near Calama ). Codelco purchased seven HARD-LINE TeleOp systems to operate multiple heavy-duty machines at Mina Sur . The systems remotely operated three haul trucks ( Komatsu 830E-AC ), two dozers ( Komatsu D375A and Caterpillar 834H ), one shovel ( Komatsu PC5500-6 ), and one water truck ( Komatsu HD785-5LC ) in the open pit .
HLS HARD-LINE Chile General Manager Brian Laroque told IM : “ This was a pilot project that was developed for Codelco to test out what was then a new mining method called vertical wall mining or ‘ Talud Vertical ’ where they essentially wanted to combine three benches into one 53 m bench , thereby reducing the overburden proportion as the pit deepens . For them to do this safely , they needed to use teleoperation . At that time in 2013 , there were some autonomous trucks operating at the Codelco Gaby mine but AHS was at an early stage . So we supplied a TeleOp solution for operators to remotely run three trucks , one shovel , one wheeled dozer , one crawler dozer and a water truck all from 2 km away and non-line of sight . While the technology had already been around for a while even then & had been used on isolated shovels , this was the first of its kind using a small fleet of machines . The system used a wireless mesh network . The equipment interfaces including hydraulic and electrical worked well . The test from getting the PO to the project ending ran for 18 months in 2012 / 2013 and was a success – they proved that the Talud Vertical method was feasible and we were achieving up to 54 truck loads per shift , but the copper price then hit a low and a number of innovation projects were then put on hold , including this one .”
Back closer to home and Canadian Malartic ’ s gold mine in Quebec continues to use HARD-LINE TeleOp with the system being applied to two large shovels back in 2012 addressing a unique challenge the mine had to overcome in that the open pit operations were located directly above several historic underground mines . The application of HARD-LINE ’ s remote control technology supported the mine ’ s approach to improve safety and increase production throughout its open pit operations . The company
applied HARD-LINE ’ s Radio Remote Control ( RRC ) system to its production fleet and later upgraded to the TeleOp system . The company initially purchased five RRC systems to operate a Cat D10T dozer , Cat 374 excavator , Cat 345D excavator , Cat 6050 hydraulic shovel , and a Cat 994F front-end wheel loader . The systems enhanced the operator ’ s safety by enabling the operation of heavy machinery from a distant location . The systems provided a diverse and flexible solution that managed all the vehicles in the production fleet , ultimately improving safety , productivity , and control of the mining operations . Malartic later upgraded key pieces of equipment in its production fleet with HARDLINE ’ s TeleOp technology to completely remove the operators from the risk zones . The mine later added a Hitachi EX5600 hydraulic excavator with HARD-LINE ’ s TeleOp system to the fleet .
The installation of control stations offered front-line workers a safe and ergonomic environment . The cabins were installed on site and suspended to provide a better view of the work area . There are currently two control stations implemented to operate the Hitachi EX5600 and Cat 6050 .
HARD-LINE says it also has examples of teleoperated shovels working near wet tailings storage facilities ( TSF ), and with the high profile tailings incidents of recent years , working areas close to some TSFs may also become a growing market as mining companies look to minimise risk .
K-Tec helps clean up historic uranium mine
The McIntosh Pit is a former uranium mine site that has undergone a multi-phase reclamation near Jeffrey City , Wyoming . It is the site of a previously profitable and high-demand uranium mining industry during the Cold War era . Western Nuclear Corporation ( WNC ) began uranium mining operations at the McIntosh Pit in 1975 on Sheep Mountain . McIntosh Pit was a 35-acre area of the Crooks Gap-Green Mountain Uranium Mining District where over 4 Mt were extracted , to capitalise on sky-high uranium values . After the uranium mining bubble burst in 1979 with the partial meltdown of Three Mile Island , which triggered increased nuclear regulations and led to an immediate drop in the demand for uranium given the perceived dangers of nuclear power by the end of 1982 , WNC ’ s production ceased .
Commencing in 2014 , the Abandoned Mine Land ( AML ) Program administered by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality
34 International Mining | APRIL 2021