MINE MAINTENANCE
Dingo is using the unique databases that are under TRAKKA to train Large Language Models with applied additional context from its condition intelligence analysts to accurately automate the maintenance decision-making process
choices, Mulherin explained.
He said:“ Dingo is looking to differentiate itself in this realm by enriching these models with reliability engineering knowledge and know-how, and additional context of the current and historical asset health data, so that maintainers can efficiently address the asset health issue at the source.”
It is contextual information like this that, Dingo believes, will help foster greater adoption of AI in the asset health space.
“ Asset health continues to be an area lacking in AI adoption due to trust erosion from past projects, fragmented data environments, limited real-time sensing, inconsistent non-standardised maintenance practices and the challenge of building AI models that give outputs maintainers can justify,” Mulherin explains.“ These challenges are being overcome by Dingo through using domain-specific models and by incorporating maintenance workflow processes into a model’ s context, including understanding of the data collection process.”
These developments continue to build out the value case for using TRAKKA, which is already seen as a powerful, cloud-based predictive maintenance software system designed to house all asset health data under one roof.
In this regard, the ability of the TRAKKA platform to take in all data types that can be used to infer or directly identify abnormal condition, regardless of if this data is connected( sensor-based) or collected( ultrasonic testing, thermography, vibration analysis, fluid analysis, etc), is improving decision-making processes across multiple parts of the mobile equipment space.
“ By intaking a wider breadth of data, users can be confident in their decisionmaking process, and are able to accurately prevent different fault effects that could arise but are only seen in subsets of data,” Mulherin says.“ TRAKKA keeps the review, the decision step between condition data and maintenance recommendations, at the heart of all data types, allowing users to manage all their data in a single platform to spend more time driving maintenance cost savings and less time wrangling data.”
Dingo is looking to build on this and broaden TRAKKA’ s market reach to give dedicated functionality for fixed plant applications, according to Mulherin, allowing maintenance teams to adopt a site-wide or even global viewpoint of maintaining fleet condition.
“ As production / operations have been blended over time to be considered closer with maintenance, so to have the mine and the plant,” he said.
Prolonging lip life
The Weir – ESCO Division is also looking to reduce downtime at operational mines, with one of the tools it has in its wear parts offering being the ESCO ® Nexsys™ lip system for rope shovels.
Weir says the Nexsys system is designed to lower lip maintenance requirements, extend tooth and adapter life and, ultimately, provide miners with longer uninterrupted shovel operation. This translates to increased production, safety and sustainability. Weir has achieved this using field data from hundreds of Whisler Plus™ system installations, built up over 20 years; laboratory simulation; and analysis and customer input, it says.
The NEXSYS system comes with a new tooth design that requires fewer point changes, according to the company. This is thanks to a rear wear cap that extends service life and protects the rear stabiliser boss. Additionally, the system has dual lock slots to allow lock installation on the side of the dipper with less wear. A single sealed lock on the GET teeth reduces impacted fines for easier removal with an off-the-shelf hand tool.
Weir also stresses the benefits of an optimised nose position and geometry for an extension of adapter life with improved penetration and loading. An advanced point configuration maintains a sharp profile and increases life by over 15 %, the company claims.
The addition of a leading edge lip insert – made from a very high hardness alloy – to increase adapter stability and better distribute loads, provides up to four times greater resistance to wear, reducing overall rebuild complexity and cost, according to Weir, plus it has an up to 15 % lighter adapter for overall system weight savings.
Weir says the Nexsys system is designed to lower lip maintenance requirements, extend tooth and adapter life and, ultimately, provide miners with longer uninterrupted shovel operation
40 International Mining | JANUARY 2026