MINING RAIL
Minrail continues SAMS progress at Lamaque
SAMS™ , or the shallow angle mining system , has been in existence since 2012 when Quebecbased Minrail consolidated several patents associated with previous iterations of a mechanised mining technique developed for narrow , shallow dipping deposits oriented at 10- 45 °. The rail-based system starts with the excavation of a niche and draise ( a drift / raise hybrid ) through conventional methods . After this , workers install double overhead rail that tracks the angle of mineralisation throughout the excavated area . Various units to carry out mechanised mining of the mineralisation – a hydraulic drill for development , longhole drill for production , rock breaker , a scraper / excavator , power unit , air / water spool , etc – hang off this rail , which is securely bolted in place . A work platform where operators can carry out drilling , explosives loading and mucking from a safe distance under supported ground is also attached to the overhead rail .
The typical mining cycle sees the orebody drilled , explosives placed , and blasted material transported to the ore access drift using the excavator module in combination with a slusher . From here , loading and hauling takes place .
According to Minrail , the system offers the potential to significantly reduce dilution , operating costs and mine capital development costs . Marc R Beauvais , President and CEO of Minrail , explains : “ What makes SAMS stand out so much is it allows companies to significantly reduce the need to excavate tightly spaced access drifts . Other mining methods require reduced vertical separation between each level , thus increasing the number of levels within the mine infrastructure .”
He updated IM recently stating : “ Pertaining to the work activity at Lamaque gold mine [ Eldorado Gold ], it is now going well and pretty much at the same pace as it was set out last year . The pandemic situation had some impact on the project activity . We also encountered
Minrail ' s SAMS™ , or shallow angle mining system technical difficulties where we had to fine tune wireless communication , hydraulic controls , PLC programming and in some instance , redesigning a few components to fulfil the needs of the operation . Nevertheless , we did made significant progress and made several upgrades to the workflow and the equipment so much that we are now very close to an optimal mining cycle . From an health and safety perspective , we would like to report that we have a clean accident record . No lost time after more than 4,000 manhours since the beginning of the experiment . We have learned a lot during the past few months . There is nothing like real life to teach you how things shall happen . Nowadays , most of the above mentioned hurdles are well under control and we trust that they have paved the way to enhance SAMS™ productivity for the next stopes .”
Ferrit ’ s Mexican monorail success
Czech company Ferrit ’ s Mexican service team has recently commissioned a suspended monorail locomotive of model DLZ130F in Mexico , at Mina Santa Barbara , Coahuila , in a mine known for its high quality coal , to be used
Czech company Ferrit ’ s Mexican service team has recently commissioned a suspended monorail locomotive of model DLZ130F in Mexico
on a single-track suspension track in the mine . In the presence of the mayor of Progreso and the local government where the mine is located , the locomotive was christened Esperanza ( Hope ). With the new modern technology , both the productivity of the mine and its safety will increase . The delivered monorail locomotive is the first of its kind in Mexico . Ferrit has been operating in the Latin American market for a long time , supplying its first mining equipment to Mexico in 2009 . After this reference order , which enabled the company to build a service facility , it began to establish itself in the Mexican market . The current order is the result of presentations for mines in the area known as the Carbonifera Region ( coal region ), where Ferrit wants to expand its operations . “ Technical and business negotiations before the signing of the contract lasted many months , but established relationships with Mexican partners allowed us to continue the implementation of the contract even during the COVID-19 pandemic ,” says Dalibor Čudek from Ferrit . Now the company is waiting for regular operation and service of the delivered locomotive .
Becker Warkop focuses on performance & sustainability
Poland based Becker Warkop Sp . z o . o . started developing battery-powered locomotives around six years ago , with its first battery locomotive commissioned in a coal mine in 2015 . All of Becker ' s machines including battery can be remotely controlled and be adapted for data transmission eg to the dispatch office or any other room where remote control and supervision is anticipated . Operating parameters are registered in the so-called black boxes making it possible to recreate a specific
12 International Mining | JUNE 2021