CANADIAN TECHNOLOGY
Ingerbelle pit over the life of mine . The system will help Copper Mountain reduce carbon intensity by more than 50 % in the medium term of four to six years with a final target of zero by 2035 .
In a late January article , the mine ’ s power supplier BC Hydro gave some power statistics for the new trolley line . “ Equipped with a 2,600- horsepower diesel motor , the hybrid trucks are also equipped with an electric drive system that requires 3 MW of peak power to make it move . The trucks can only run on their electric drive motors when they ’ re connected to the trolley assist . But move they do , at a speed of up to 35 km / h , more than double the top speed of what the diesel motor can manage . The BC Hydro Interconnections team worked throughout 2021 to ensure that Copper Mountain can access the additional load needed to power the project . The finished trolley system can consume 12 MW at any one time – enough for four trucks to be on the ramp hauling while the other seven are loading or unloading elsewhere in the pit .”
ABB has responsibility for the off-truck trolley assist infrastructure and is providing engineering , project management , equipment supply , system commissioning and construction management . ABB designed the overhead catenary system ( OCS ) infrastructure and delivered a rectifier substation providing in excess of 12 MW of DC power to the trolley assist system . The trolley control system can provide connectivity to the existing distributed control system ( DCS ) automation platform for seamless integration and monitoring of trolley operations and energy consumption . ABB also provided OCS components customised for mining applications .
The 830E-5 truck trolley assist package including pantograph has been developed by Komatsu and electric drive partner Wabtec , with onsite work being conducted in collaboration with Canadian Komatsu Mining dealer SMS Equipment . In a recent interview with SMS , Don Strickland – Executive Vice President , Sustainability for Copper Mountain Mining Corporation stated : “ Trolley ’ s been around since the 1980s ; it has some history of success and some history of failure . But what we ’ re doing is a first for North America . So , the decision to move ahead wasn ’ t like buying a new truck or buying a proven technology . It was making a commitment that we will work with partners to make it successful . When you ’ re facing a learning curve like this , you need to be partnered with likeminded organisations that are going to work with you to make the project successful . The people at SMS Equipment have been a key part of that .
Komatsu dealer SMS Equipment is working with Copper Mountain Mining on its trolley assist project in BC
There ’ s also been a full focus with Komatsu on changing the design of their trucks to make them more robust in winter climates . Another important partner is Asea Brown Boveri ( ABB ), which designed the trolley wiring system based on an installation at the Aitik copper mine in Sweden .”
Interestingly on the 1 km trolley haul road he hinted that this is just the beginning of the trolley journey at Copper Mountain : “ It ’ s a straight run and a fairly straightforward installation . Once that ’ s up and running , and we get used to it , we ’ ll start testing corners and seeing how much of the operation we can convert to trolley .”
EURO MINE EXPO
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