AUSTRALIAN METS
grinding mills across multiple operations across the globe .
“ In the past , this distance away from company headquarters has seen technology or research from overseas vendors tested , but I see a future where it is Australia-based innovation being trialled by Australia-based companies in Australia-based projects that can be commercialised and find homes in Australia and all over the world .”
Big BEV ambitions
3ME Technology hopes its technology ends up fitting that brief .
The company , based in New South Wales , is proof of the effectiveness of METS Ignited backing . In July 2018 , it kicked off the METS Ignited-backed Project EVmine and has not looked back .
Project EVmine saw it collaborate with Aeris Resources and OEMs Safescape and Batt Mobile Equipment to come up with two mine-ready electric vehicles designed to meet the strict compliance of Australian underground mines . These became the Bortana EV light utility vehicle and the TRITEV loader / integrated tool carrier .
The key drivers of the project were improving the safety and health of underground miners , while concurrently providing a demonstration of battery-electric vehicle reliability and performance in the underground mining environment .
The Bortana EV combines the chassis of a diesel-powered Agrale Marruá , electric technology from 3ME Tech and Safescape ’ s design and engineering expertise . This vehicle has been trialled at Kirkland Lake Gold ’ s Fosterville mine in Victoria and nickel operations in the Goldfields Region of Western Australia . A 10-vehicle beta phase fleet is now being built for deployment across the sector , according to Safescape .
The TRITEV , which was predicated on the diesel to battery conversion of a second-hand Volvo L120E , is undergoing trials at Aeris ’ Tritton operation in New South Wales . This project saw 3ME Tech apply its engineering , hardware and software expertise to create a safe and efficient 20-t payload battery-electric vehicle . Batt Mobile Equipment carried out a mechanical overhaul of the same machine .
Justin Bain , 3ME Tech CEO , says the company was always planning to progress Project EVmine , but the METS Ignited backing added “ boost charge ” to its innovation battery .
“ What ’ s really important with any type of METS Ignited project is the connection and collaboration between , for our project , a technology company , an OEM and the mining company ,” he said . “ Having a mining company involved , specifically , was of great importance .
Any innovation needs to solve a customer ’ s problems , so having the customer engaged in the development was critical to the project ’ s success .”
These two flagship projects have got the company on the map – both domestically and internationally – but , close to three years since initiating them , 3ME Tech has become a different entity altogether .
Its workforce has grown from five – all based in Armidale , New South Wales – to a group of 30- plus personnel based in much bigger premises in Newcastle that the company will grow into and a planned office opening in Perth , Western Australia
“ The workforce now is still in the mid-30s , but we ’ re looking to triple that over the next 12 months , at least ,” Bain said .
Additional machines incorporating 3ME Tech input are coming to light , with the company taking on more of the all-important system integration work required in battery-electric retrofits . Official partnerships with other companies have also followed .
Bain and Steve Lawn , 3ME Tech ’ s Chief Growth Officer , recognise the role METS Ignited has played in this growth .
“ METS Ignited funding has allowed us to carry out the electrification integration works with the Bortana and TRITEV , but it has also enabled us to gain exposure to the industry and realise the mining sector has limited options when it comes to a battery-electric offering ,” Lawn told IM . “ It has guided us down the battery development path , which has led to Bladevolt ® , but , on top of that , it has seen us become a battery and electric vehicle technology company , rather than a vehicle supplier and / or OEM .”
The industry growth centre backing on Project EVmine also led to the company addressing technical challenges that came up as the project progressed , according to Bain .
“ A good example of that is the 1,000 V charger ,” he said . “ This was not in the project
The TRITEV , which was predicated on the diesel to battery conversion of a second-hand Volvo L120E , is undergoing trials at Aeris ’ Tritton operation in New South Wales
scope – nor was its development funded by METS Ignited – but , as we progressed Project EVmine , we identified that requirement and initiated it concurrent with the project .” First to Bladevolt . Bladevolt is an evolution of the battery system used in the Project EVmine vehicles that features intrinsically safe technology to appease the concerns of even the most conservative underground miners , according to Bain .
The system includes what he believes is the safest lithium-ion cells on the market – ones proven in marine , aerospace and other ‘ safetyfirst ’ applications , tested to be intrinsically safe by independent mining certification authorities ( IEC60079 standard ) and rigorously tested by 3ME Tech ’ s own internal team in scenarios replicating a typical mining duty cycle .
These same cells have been matched to the charging , performance and lifecycle demands of the mining industry , and are monitored by a battery management system at the cell level , a cell management system .
“ Thanks to a proprietary , modular , scalable hardware system , we are able to package Bladevolts in the kWh voltage arrays and mechanical configurations customers ’ integration requirements demand ,” Bain said .
The ability to prevent thermal runaway while delivering high-performance batteries has always been the focus – there is a range of failure modes that can contribute to thermal runaway risks in lithium-ion batteries which are not unique to Bladevolt , but the combination of these extrasafe cells and the individual cell-level monitoring and management is , Bain says .
“ The failure rate on these cells is so low and so rare but , in the event a cell is trending in an unfavourable direction , or there is an issue in its lifecycle , we ’ re able to identify that before an
16 International Mining | MAY 2021