UTILITY VEHICLES AND PERSONNEL MOVEMENT
Working overtime
With mines venturing further underground , utility vehicle and personnel movement fleets are only set to get bigger . Dan Gleeson hears from some of the leaders on what new solutions they have to equip mines for the future
The demand for utility and support vehicles , as well as personnel movers , is currently far outstripping supply . As mining operations get deeper and more complex – and , as more mine developments are greenlit on higher commodity prices – the pressures placed on these industry workhorses – from both a numbers and exertion perspective – are increasing .
This has made it difficult for many miners to get hold of new machines ; whether they are of the battery-electric or diesel variety .
In The Electric Mine Consortium ’ s latest report on progress , released last month , the group highlighted such an issue .
For the consortium – made up of the likes of Gold Fields , South32 , Evolution Mining , Newcrest Mining , OZ Minerals , Independence Group , Barminco and Blackstone Minerals – this has made it difficult to trial new battery-electric technology , much of which is retrofitted on existing diesel models .
“ The consortium itself spans 86 assets with its members owning over 2,200 light and auxiliary vehicles and 500 heavy vehicles ,” the report stated . “ Currently there is a limited number of electrification equipment available for trials in all the companies that would like to , let alone convert a fleet for even one of these sites .”
It added : “ The light and auxiliary equipment market is experiencing supply constraints , but not to the same degree as for heavy equipment .”
Fitting the profile
GHH Group and its affiliate companies have a distinct advantage in this respect , with a series of
‘ from-the-ground-up ’ utility machines manufactured in-house that include general purpose vehicles , personnel carriers , scissor lifts , tyre handlers , bulk emulsion carriers , charger trucks , concrete remixers , concrete sprayers , fuel and lube vehicles , supervision vehicles and multi-purpose cassette carriers .
This range covers both standard profile underground mining as well as low-profile mining ; through GHH partners Titan , from Turkey , and UVB , from Botswana .
Being based in southern Africa and close to the world ’ s low-profile mining centre , UVB has been able to develop what it says is the best “ fitfor-purpose products ” for the region and beyond , and one of the largest , most comprehensive utility portfolios in this size class .
One of the latest product launches in the UVB
The Mixkret 6 offers a mixing and concrete capacity of 6 cu . m and a top speed of 25 km / h , Putzmeister says
range is the Road Preparation Vehicle . Customers are showing great interest in this vehicle due to the fact the purpose-built machine can be used in numerous applications such as scaling , rock breaking and road preparation . Already being trialled in Zimbabwe , the vehicle can be brought ‘ as-new ’ or UVB can adapt existing underground loaders to accept the boom and related mechanisms the Road Preparation Vehicle offers .
With a vehicle height of 2 m , cabin width of 2.33 m and tramming length of 9.75 m , the vehicle can fit into low-profile and mid-seam operations .
The Road Preparation Vehicle is fitted with a powerful and adjustable Montabert Hydraulic Hammer that can remove rock and protrusions from both the foot wall and hanging walls . It is also capable of breaking oversize rocks in stopes , on roadways and at the feeder breakers .
The rock breaker is built for minimal hydraulic maintenance with few wear parts and no tie rods . Bushing , pins and tools , meanwhile , can easily be replaced in the field without removing the breaker from the carrier , according to UVB . The fully-enclosed , sound-proof cradle reduces vibrations transferred to the carrier and limits noise on the work site . It also has high backpressure tolerance through smart pressure and
8 International Mining | MARCH 2022