BATTERY AND ELECTRIC MACHINES
“ The vast majority of customers are now on BaaS agreements ,” Lina Jorheden says . “ It is not just certain markets that have bought into this ; there is global interest from big and small customers ”
the industry is going on ,” Jorheden said . “ Some of these are very technology focused and might be candidates for new battery-electric machines , but want a 10 t battery-electric machine now ; others are lower down the technology adoption scale and see this as a way to take advantage of the benefits of battery operation without taking too much financial risk .”
Franck Boudreault , Electrification Transformation Lead for Epiroc ’ s Underground division , added : “ The 10-t segment for loaders is huge and this offering will help us reach out to a considerable number of customers and mine sites .”
These new options are representative of Epiroc ’ s aim of being more than just a solution provider in miners ’ electrification journey .
Jorheden said : “ It is really all about building strong partnerships . This goes beyond just selling the equipment .”
This includes providing its Batteries as a Service ( BaaS ) agreements .
This aftermarket option sees the company take full responsibility for the batteries , from certification to maintenance plus technology upgrades , using a business model that provides the battery operation as a service . With BaaS , the OEM keeps track of the battery performance and replaces them when needed . It also makes sure the battery has the required capacity for the application and provides the possibility to install the latest technology when it becomes available . As they get worn-out , the company then recycles the batteries to reduce the carbon footprint .
Such a service is being appreciated across the industry , according to Jorheden .
“ The response has been fantastic ,” she said . “ The vast majority of customers are now on BaaS agreements . It is not just certain markets that have bought into this ; there is global interest from big and small customers .”
Boudreault said the positive reception goes beyond just the company ’ s direct mining customers .
“ We are working with other OEMs to accelerate battery electrification and even these OEMs are selecting the BaaS option ,” he said .
The company is now in the phase of finalising the secondgeneration battery-powered machines Epiroc is offering to market , according to Boudreault . “ We are completing the building blocks to ensure they are 100 % mature ,” he said .
“ This means when we take on new products and enlarge the offering , the development of those products will go a lot faster because of all the ‘ carryover ’ we have built up .”
And these new machines could benefit from potential upgrades of the battery cells – more power in the same battery pack footprint – in addition to purpose-designed battery-electric vehicle components , according to Boudreault .
“ The way these machines are designed and built means you can make progress on one side and then , a year or two later , address another part of the machine ,” he explained .
One area of focus this year will be on the delivery of a new battery charger , specifically designed for underground mining .
Boudreault explained : “ The big difference with this new charger to what we were offering before , from a charging perspective , is it is , for one , much better suited for an underground mining application and , two , much more flexible .”
Protected against the elements that come with the realities of underground mining – dust , heat , humidity , etc – the new chargers allow operations to modulate the charge of machines to suit their needs .
“ In a charging station setup with two or three machines , for instance , this will allow you to prioritise one vehicle over another , ensuring this receives the bulk of the charge and can get back to work quicker ,” Boudreault said .
The company has other options outside of pure battery solutions , too .
“ Customers realise that the most demanding zero emission application is hauling ore up the ramp ,” Boudreault said . “ This type of activity is not really optimised for battery-electric vehicles as it is so energy demanding .”
Epiroc is currently engaged with a long-term customer on converting one of its batterypowered trucks to work on existing trolley infrastructure .
More widely , Boudreault sees potential opportunities to deploy this option in greenfield operations and brownfield expansions , alike .
“ Moving tonnes up a ramp with energy coming
from the battery wears the batteries faster than one would wish ,” he said . “ In order to find more economical solutions , trolley is definitely the way to go .”
The company has much experience with trolley-diesel hybrid truck thanks to its Kiruna truck offering – which are still running at two of Vale ’ s underground mines in Sudbury – but the latest idea is to have a hybrid trolley battery generating zero emissions .
“ Some people in the industry think trolley is expensive , but with every case I have looked at , trolleys are cheap compared with pure battery solutions ,” Boudreault said .
“ Everything we can do to lower our customers ’ cost per tonne will be a huge benefit to them .”
Electrification optionality
MacLean Engineering has become renowned for its battery-electric equipment in the last four-tofive years , having announced its electrified plans at MINExpo 2016 , and steadily upped its offering in line with industry demand .
The latest additions to its growing EV Series of battery-electric machines come in the form of a new shotcrete-transmixer combination that , according to MacLean , makes it the only OEM able to offer fully electrified , articulated shotcrete operations purpose-designed for underground mining applications .
Launched in late February , the batterypowered SS5 shotcrete unit is close to 7 ft ( 2.13 m ) wide and is the first-ever MacLean sprayer to have a forward-facing cab for a better view of shotcreting operations from inside the cab .
Alongside this machine will be the 2.59-mwide battery-powered TM3 concrete transmixer , which is based on a diesel-equivalent machine already on the market and will serve the SS5 ’ s shotcrete needs .
Like all of MacLean ’ s EV Series machines , the SS5 sprayer will be able to tram on battery and connect to the power infrastructure within the mine for spraying , but Jonathan Lavallee , Product Manager – Shotcrete Equipment at MacLean , said there was also potential to spray off battery power .
“ Depending on the size of your heading , the battery re-generation capability on site and the air quality / quantity , there could be an option to shoot on pure battery ,” he told IM .
Recent testing at the MacLean Research and Training Facility in Sudbury saw a prototype machine complete two full mixer trucks worth of shotcrete – roughly 12 cu . m – while still having enough battery power remaining to conduct a thorough wash down and washout of the equipment and tram to the nearest point of recharge , according to Lavallee .
This ability will be tested further when a new SS5 unit is shipped this quarter to the MacLean
12 International Mining | MARCH 2021