CANADIAN TECHNOLOGY
loaded onto a waiting barge which takes the material to an ocean-going ship .
“ In this case , the insightfulness of the engineering solutions that the Railveyor team deployed to solve our customer ’ s unique problem was matched by the strength of our commitment to getting the job done , regardless of the challenge ,” said Railveyor CEO Jim Hawkins . “ I believe this is an emblematic success story that shows how the Railveyor system can exceed all competitive material haulage solutions at the critical junction of port-to-ship loading , in the mining industry and beyond .”
As of late February 2022 , 15 vessels had been successfully loaded with over 440,000 t of material . The South American project currently has a simple point-to-point design , and plans to extend the installation in the near future are under development . “ We were excited by the promise of efficiency and cleanliness that the Railveyor system offered us at Maroil ,” said Ulises Armas of Maroil Trading Inc . “ And as commissioning was underway , we were even more impressed by the tenacity of the Railveyor team . In spite of extraordinary circumstances , they delivered on their promise . Now we are able to see the positive outcome of our work as the vessels are loaded .”
Integra Resources Corp in the results of the Pre-feasibility Study and Mineral Resource and Reserve Statement on its 100 % owned DeLamar gold-silver project in Idaho outlined its plans for the project ’ s haulage system . The operation will utilise Railveyor ’ s light rail system . “ Composed of a light rail train cars propelled by stationary drive stations , Railveyor is controlled and optimised by sophisticated automation software . The system will be employed for the long-distance portions of the haulage routes between various pits and the processing location , replacing the equivalent
Hot green air
Paul Moore spoke to Peter Terkovics , Howden Sales Director - Mining about mine heating systems with a focus on zero emissions electric options
Q What is considered to be the " greenest " option for underground mine heating from a Scope 1 emissions perspective ? A Indirect is typically used where there is no access to propane or natural gas . The usual option would be diesel but of course it doesn ’ t burn as clean as gas . It is indirect as it heats a heat exchanger , with the warm air then taken underground . But the diesel emissions are expelled into the environment . So that would be the least “ clean .” The next option would be natural gas or propane – where there are emissions sent underground as the system is direct fired , but are low as covered by air standards regulations , plus NO 2 restrictions are becoming much tighter , which has led to Howden developing low NO 2 heaters in the form of Ultra Low Emission Heaters cold flame technology . But the cleanest of all in emissions terms and having the lowest carbon footprint are electric heaters , assuming of course the power has come from a green source . These can be electric only or form part of a hybrid solution with a propane / natural gas system – we installed a system like this at the Brucejack gold mine for example . Electric heating is of course limited by what power sources are available at the mine location and the power costs . Many remote mines generate their own power – but often using diesel generators so are creating emissions that way . A lot of the mines in Canada looking at electric heating are in Western Canada or Quebec where there is access to lower cost hydropower .
Q Are you seeing more electric heating interest , plus within electric heating what are the main design options ? Are there also options for use of waste and naturally occurring heat ? A Despite the fact that heating systems of any kind are a relatively small emissions contributor compared with other mine sources , notably diesel mobile fleets , definitely we have seen an increase in enquiries for electric heating options . But the main mine priorities currently on the Scope 1 front is looking at battery electric equipment underground . Plus in doing that the ventilation air volume requirements will be reduced , so by default you are then having to heat less air . After electrification of the mine and the mobile fleet , then another priority will be to optimise the heating solution that is there . Some natural thermal heat recovery is possible in a few mines – leveraging waste heat from geothermal sources underground to heat water which can be pumped and heat some of the mine that way . In very deep mines that are hot due to the thermal gradient – you can pump some of that exhaust air up to a heat exchanger to partially heat the shaft and upper levels . The issue with that is that it is not very hot air and is also dirty and wet so it can ’ t be relied on to cover the mine needs . The other issue is that the supply and return air sources should be in close proximity to each other to be worthwhile . Other heat recovery options include the utilisation of waste heat from other equipment such as generators , compressors , boilers , etc . On electric heating options – it is basically the same overall design but we do select appropriate coils to facilitate ease of maintenance , plus maximising efficiency and heat transfer . The systems are staged so that banks of elements can be brought on as needed .
New WipWare Momentum camera system at Rosebel Mine in Suriname of approximately five diesel haul trucks . Powered electrically , Railveyor will decrease the project ’ s diesel usage , and will decrease the associated direct ( Scope 1 ) greenhouse gas emissions . In addition to Railveyor , the company will continue to evaluate the feasibility of other electric and low-emissions equipment .”
Real time material monitoring
Reliable systems and rugged construction – two reasons North Bay ’ s WipWare says its customers come back and install updated systems later . An example is with IAMGOLD which saw the second major system installation of a WipWare camera system for Rosebel Mine in Suriname . WipWare
56 International Mining | APRIL 2022