CONTRACT MINING
GHH brought in not only its Indian staff and support from Germany , but also expatriate specialists from South Africa , Australia and Zambia to ensure the transition to contract mining at Zawar Mala went smoothly
What it has only recently started doing is operating these machines on behalf of the mine owners .
GHH Bumi Mining Service was established late last year after partnering with Hindustan Zinc Ltd , owned by Vedanta Resources , on a plan to improve performance at the Zawar Mala zinc-lead underground mine in Rajasthan , India .
The company has since gone on to be named the Best Performing Business Partner by Vedanta Group / Hindustan Zinc for its work helping expand the underground mine ’ s throughput beyond 3.3 Mt / y .
GHH Group has an existing relationship with the two companies , having supplied LHDs and dump trucks to their underground mines , as well as drill rigs from Mine Master , a GHH Group subsidiary , and a full range of utility vehicles including scissor lifts , fuel and lube vehicles and ANFO chargers . Flat bed cranes and emulsion chargers are also heading to their mines soon .
Yet , at the beginning of 2021 , Hindustan Zinc contracted GHH ’ s new contract mining arm , GHH Bumi Mining Service , to carry out contract mining at the Zawar Mala mine , helping drive the company ’ s wider expansion plans .
Germany-based GHH collaborated with its India-based subsidiary , GHH India , to form the joint venture team to take on the challenging job , with a four-year contract signed between the parties .
In addition to the delivery and operation of all technical equipment , GHH took on all the underground work : development of the orebody , production of lead-zinc ore from stope and pillar operations , supply of new equipment for increased production , backfilling and waste management , and the supply of all consumables ( drilling tools , tyres , etc ).
“ The only items excluded were explosives , fuel and ground support ,” GHH said , explaining that Hindustan Zinc already had existing capabilities locally .
GHH brought in not only its Indian staff and support from Germany , but also expatriate specialists from South Africa , Australia and Zambia to ensure the transition to contract mining went smoothly .
In India , itself , GHH has a training centre where its own staff and those of customers on the Indian subcontinent are trained . This ensured all personnel got off to a fast start at the operation .
The project went so well that , after only 90 days , Hindustan Zinc and GHH signed a letter of intent that would see GHH Bumi Mining Service take on work at the nearby Mochia and Balaria mines . This will see the contractor carry out decline work as part of the expansion at the two interconnecting mines .
“ This is an important stage for both companies : Hindustan Zinc will reach its growth targets faster than originally expected , while GHH will be able to further expand its Mine Development and Operation business ,” GHH said .
This task will be helped by the latest generation of GHH mining equipment – the new MK-42 dump trucks , LF-14 LHDs – as well as two FM 2.3 boom drill rigs and PM 2.2 longhole rigs from Mine Master , which recently arrived in India .
Asked whether GHH employees could be considered the best people to operate these machines , Sara Thorley , Global Marketing and Product Line Manager , told IM : “ In the first three months of the contract , GHH contributed to one of the best results in the Zawar complex ’ s history , with regards to production and development .
Automated delivery
Redpath , as Ramage indicated , is not the only contractor looking to leverage automation to make the most of its existing skilled labour supply .
Over the past 12 months , there have been a string of announcements from contractors implementing new solutions at client sites .
Thiess , for example , recently expanded its Cat MineStar™ Command for Dozing program at the Lake Vermont coal operation in Queensland , Australia , owned by Jellinbah Group .
A total of six Caterpillar D11 dozers fitted with Semi-autonomous Tractor System ( SATS ) technology have been mobilised at the project , currently making it the largest deployment of the technology globally , the contractor claims .
The SATS solution enables one operator to remotely control up to four dozers from an office environment . Lake Vermont , as of June , was running six SATS dozers from two side-by-side remote operator stations .
At the same site , Thiess has helped fit a second Epiroc Pit Viper 275 blasthole drill with an Autonomous Drilling System , making Lake Vermont the first coal mining operation to have two multi-pass fully autonomous rigs drilling side-by-side , Thiess says .
Macmahon Holdings also has some experience automating blasthole drills , having , with support from Flanders , implemented an autonomous Cat MD6250 drilling fleet at the Tropicana gold mine in Western Australia .
Underground , Byrnecut , part of the Murray & Roberts Group , has partnered with Sandvik and OZ Minerals on rolling out the OEM ’ s AutoMine ® platform at the Prominent Hill copper-gold mine in South Australia . This has seen a new system installed at OZ ’ s Adelaide office that allows an operator to remotely to control a Sandvik LHD underground at Prominent Hill – over 600 km away – as if they were directly on-site .
And Barminco , in January , became the first company in the world to debut the new generation of Epiroc ’ s Mobile Carrier Rig – the GEN 2 Epiroc Diamec Smart 6M . This second-generation underground mobile core drill rig uses the drilling capacity of the Diamec Smart 6 automated
operating system , and the mobility and sturdiness of the S2 Boomer carrier with the addition of Epiroc ’ s automated rod handler , the contractor said .
The Rod Handling System , coupled with the Smart 6 Rig Control System , allows for full automation , increasing operator safety and productivity , according to Barminco .
44 International Mining | NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021