CANADIAN TECHNOLOGY
lung function in high concentrations . The generally accepted threshold level has previously been 3 ppm TWA , however , in the provinces listed , it is now 0.2 ppm – which is 15 times lower than it was in the past . It is not yet clear if it will be mandated for greenfield mines only or also for all existing mines . What is clear is that these levels are extremely difficult to meet .”
Howden does have a solution in the form of its Ultra Low Emission Heaters cold flame technology that provides uniform temperature differential while maintaining NO2 emission under 0.2 ppm , significantly reducing miner exposure . It is the only system available that can be incorporated into existing heating plants and footprints via a seamless integration and that ensures temperature uniformity through the mine fan . The temperature uniformity associated with the Howden solution reduces fan blade stress and fatigue and in so doing , it improves fan reliability and eliminates the risk of catastrophic fan failure that can be caused by stratification associated with localised hot air injection . It involves removing the existing burner and control system and replacing them with burners and proprietary controls that are inherently designed to produce lower NOX ( therefore lower NO2 ) levels by using lower flame temperatures . This is achieved using premixing of the fuel in a mixing box that is more precisely controlling the feed of fuel and air into the burner . The system has not yet been installed in a full scale mine heating plant , but has been proven in smaller scale . It is ready for customer use once operations begin to be affected by the new regulations . It will certainly affect new plants , but also any existing plants that need to increase airflow or be expanded as they need to be recertified .
Howden says its solution provides the lowest direct-fired , mine air heating emissions available ; which can be seamlessly integrated into most existing mine ventilation systems plus provides uniform heat distribution . It also protects the existing mine fan and associated devices from potential failure caused by heat stratification , maximises safety and efficiency , while reducing potential downtime and the need for additional footprint and retrofitting .
Cementation and TNT tackle Musselwhite ’ s ConRamp
North Bay-headquartered Cementation Canada Inc ( CCI ) and Terra Nova Technologies ( TNT ) have successfully completed their first joint project as a consolidated team for the Newmont ConRamp conveyor project located at the Musselwhite gold mine at Lake Opapimiskan , Ontario , Canada , some 500 km north of Thunder Bay . The statement said that the consolidated team approach involved excellent collaboration as all parties had a vested interest in project success . The project scope was to replace the main ConRamp conveyor system that was severely damaged in 2019 . This conveyor system and material handling systems work in association to efficiently move material from deeper mine levels to the surface . Haul distances are reduced as the ore crushed at depth is hoisted from the underground crushers to the conveyor system and brought to the surface for processing .
The main components of the system include conveyor CV 102 , transfer tower and discharge chute , and conveyor CV 103 . This was a general replacement “ in kind ” along with requested safety and performance enhancements . “ This was a typical brownfield project which presented the usual challenges for engineering and construction . CCI and TNT were responsible for the Engineering , Procurement and Construction ( EPC ) for the entire project . The Integrated EPC team allowed for seamless project delivery and reduced schedule time and cost . This was recognised by Newmont and was one of the reasons for the award to the CCI / TNT team .”
The engineering involved the conveyor tables and associated components , main conveyor drives , conveyor pulleys , transfer tower between the two conveyors , prefabbed electrical room , gravity take up ( GTU ) units and the overall system integration . Suppliers of the main components included DSI dust solutions , Sumitomo gear reducers , PPI pulleys , Teco motors and Rulmeca idlers and frames , and ABB drives . As the design continued , a 3D model was completed to showcase the conveyor layout , which helped with the final design client approval . This layout provided a good visual for the construction crews to better understand the construction requirements .
Early in the construction , a 3D LiDAR scan was completed of the entire ConRamp for engineering to optimise the elevation of the conveyor tables and associated curvature of the system . This ensured that there was no interference between the wall and the conveyor tables during the final
Paul Moore spoke to Eric L ’ Heureux , President , CEO and Founder of leading mining LTE network solutions provider , Trois-Rivieres , Quebec-based Solutions Ambra Inc , to get some insight into the current market
Q Surface 4G / LTE is now being rolled out in a much bigger way - is this being driven by a greater adoption of things like real time cameras and autonomous fleets ? A Mining companies with large open pit operations want to cover large areas with a limited amount of infrastructure and also have the ability to use QoS ( Quality of Service ) and have guaranteed bandwidth . And yes , we are working on several projects for autonomous truck fleets and remotely operated drills in open pit mines .
Q Has it been sped up by the pandemic ? A Definitely . Mining companies must be more efficient with less people . One mine told me that during the COVID-19 pandemic , there is much more sick leave occurring and mining machines are staying idle due to the lack of operators . The pandemic has without doubt accelerated the roll out of 4G and 5G projects that may have just been under consideration before .
Q When people talk about these private networks being 5G ready is it not the case that mining doesn ' t really need 5G even when it comes ? A I would say that underground mining does not need 5G , 4G is more than enough . However , open-pit mining arguably does need 5G to achieve the uplink traffic generated by devices all located in the same area . And most network infrastructure that we currently deploy can handle both 4G and 5G .
Q Is it also actually the case that most existing mines are opting to keep their wireless mesh system and will only deploy private LTE if they have to or if the project demands it ? A Yes , existing mines that do not have autonomous needs or remotely operated drills will keep their existing mesh . It works fine for the dispatch systems as an example . However , we see a trend that as soon as a mission critical application is required or the mesh radios are nearing end-of-life , the mines are looking to replace the mesh with an LTE network .
Q Are there any notable open pit or underground LTE projects that Ambra is delivering currently ? A We can confirm that we are currently deploying an LTE network with Ericsson equipment at Alamos Gold ' s Island Gold mine near Dubreuilville in northern Ontario . We are also deploying an LTE network with Nokia equipment at the world class Collahuasi copper mine in Chile . Ambra has now deployed the deepest LTE network in the world back in 2017 ( 3 km deep at Agnico-Eagle LaRonde ), and at Collahuasi we are now deploying the highest LTE mining network ( 4.5 km altitude ). AgnicoEagle LaRonde is also keeping its leading place in terms of LTE innovation and is equipping all of its cap lamps with our very low power LTE tracking modules to increase safety for workers .
38 International Mining | APRIL 2021