MINE MAINTENANCE
service around data-based indications , rather than via a time-based schedule .
This is where , in the case of Cummins ’ MaaS through PowerCare solution , Cummins PrevenTech ® comes in .
A proactive , data-driven digital solution to improve equipment reliability and ultimately decrease cost of production , Cummins PrevenTech can track every connected engine , securely transmitting alerts ( via 4G or Wi-Fi ) for urgent and potential problems and recommendations for actions and servicing , Cummins says .
With PrevenTech , miners can optimise maintenance intervals for each site individually , see the status of equipment in real time , and plan downtime and repair work to minimise disruption , the company claims .
Continued digital investments
Metso ’ s VP , Equipment Performance , Rashmi Kasat , acknowledges a notable difference in the approaches to maintenance from mining companies ; mainly tied to the size of the organisation and captive resources .
“ Customers who do not have their own condition monitoring teams see the benefits of utilising our investments in digitalisation and our OEM expertise to help them keep their equipment healthy , with high availability and utilisation and to deliver high product quality ,” she told IM . “ Large customers , meanwhile , see the benefit of utilising a single platform for monitoring their entire fleet in one place for higher efficiency and productivity .”
This , Kasat says , is reflective of increasing demand for remote performance monitoring in comminution and beneficiation , both with Metso ’ s Life Cycle Services ( LCS ) contracts and with “ transactional services ”.
Metso ’ s Data Driven Equipment Services , a broad range of monitoring and prescriptive maintenance services , powered by AI and deployed from its Performance Centers , can help here , allowing both pools of companies to
Cummins PrevenTech is able to track every connected engine , securely transmitting alerts for urgent and potential problems and recommendations for actions and servicing , Cummins says
leverage data and advice in a suitable form .
This digital platform covers crushers , mills , filters , screens , pumps , Courier and PSI analysers , chutes and more .
Recent additions to the line up come in the form of Chute wearsense for monitoring chute liner wear , Vertimill ® wear sensing solutions , advanced monitoring for large mining crushers and a digitally-enhanced version of crusher chamber optimisation .
Metso has over 100 pieces of equipment that are digitally connected within its Data Driven Equipment Services , with plans to reach “ at least ” 1,000 units over the next two years , according to Kasat .
This ambition is closely tied to rising interest from customers to improve equipment reliability , uptime , capacity , performance , OEE management and shutdown time optimisation . This is especially so when the industry is so resourceconstrained , Kasat says .
Sustainability is also part of the maintenance discussion .
“ Sustainability is a very important topic in mine maintenance because you want to consume , say , wear parts in an optimal manner , changing them out at just the right time ,” Kasat says . “ Our VertiSense™ solution , for example , offers just that : accurate estimation of remaining wear life on a VertiMill screw .”
And , while Metso has made many digital investments over the years to get its offering to this point , Kasat says it is continuing to put
IM touched base with Lee Hillyer , Director of Global Sales – Mining at McLanahan , following the recent launch of its condition monitoring package .
IM : How has your condition monitoring package been received by mining customers to date ? Could you provide any examples of where you have helped customers address what could end up being potentially critical failures before they reach that level ? LH : Our condition monitoring package has been well received by customers . We recently had a notification on our system that a feeder breaker tail shaft bearing was running at an elevated temperature . This alerted us to contact the customer to make them aware the temperature was elevated but still in the acceptable range . Following our notification , the customer inspected the machine and found that the tension on the chain was skewed , which was causing additional loading on the tail shaft bearing . As a result , the chain tensioning was adjusted and the bearing temperature returned to normal . This early intervention prevented the customer having a bearing failure and any unplanned maintenance downtime .
IM : How have you seen customers ’ maintenance procedures change with the integration of this McLanahan oversight ? Are you able to offer customers slightly different maintenance agreements if they take up the use of the package ? LH : The benefits of a condition monitoring package allows our customers confidence that their equipment is being monitored between shutdown intervals . This will typically allow our customers to extend the periods between maintenance intervals in order to reduce their annual operational expenditure .
IM : What has demand been like for the package from mining customers ? Are most of your new machines now being equipped with this ? Is it more in demand for certain pieces of equipment ? LH : Our condition monitoring packages are very popular with our customers across a whole range of equipment . Typically our crushing equipment such as our feeder breakers and sizers will almost always have a condition monitoring system – this is due to the large amount of sensors and technology that are fitted to these machines . Due to the high-wear nature of crushing equipment , this type of sensor technology ensures the longest possible life of the equipment along with optimising maintenance efforts .
IM : Do you have anything else to add on the evolving trends in the mine maintenance space ? LH : The future plan for McLanahan condition monitoring systems is to incorporate AI and machine learning so that we can better understand the trends of the data being recorded . This will give us better insight to spot a potential failure and inform our customers to plan well ahead of time , in order to prevent any unplanned downtime or failures .
30 International Mining | JANUARY 2025