MINING TYRES texpert comes from La Negra to the mine to do this . So really there are currently four types of tyre inspection at Centinela – on the truck via TPMS for pressure and temperature , visual inspection while on the truck , autonomously via the AI-based thermal imaging inspection and the detailed manual inspection both inside and out once the tyres are off the truck .
Minera Centinela alone has about 60 Kal Tire people , of which four are female tyre fitters , as well as a number of women in other roles . Removing and fitting tyres also has been made much less labour intensive using Kal Tire ’ s Gravity Assist System , which is its patented mechanical arm that allows technicians to weightlessly manoeuvre tools , such as 35 kg torque guns , to fit and remove wheel nuts .
Key site equipment at Centinela includes five OTR tyre handlers and a Titan220 jack . The most recent addition to Kal Tire ’ s site services is an autonomous tire inspection station that is powered by Pitcrew . ca and its thermal imaging system of which one has been deployed and a second planned . Kal Tire manages all of the tyres onsite , with the exception of the new Llano pit where Phase 1 of the load haul operations are being conducted by a different mining contractor . Kal Tire therefore also manages the autonomous 980E truck tyres – though there are no special procedures for this as the trucks are always stopped in a special area and in nonautonomous mode when the tyres are removed or fitted . Based on proactive tyre maintenance procedures , all tyre repairs are carried out at Kal Tire ’ s hub in La Negra , near Antofagasta . On site at the mine activities include tyre removal and fitting with rotation strategies , tyre pressure
Kal Time autonomous inspection station with Pitcrew . ai thermal imaging technology at Minera Centinela
maintenance , tyre inspections and assessment , rim management , tyre inventory planning and forecasting as well as TPMS monitoring . Rotation is of course from front to rear but specifically they go from the front outer position 1 diagonally opposite to the rear position 6 first to avoid asymmetrical wear and from there to the other
side inner rear position 4 . The same is done in mirror image when starting with the front outer position 2 . Typically , two trucks are in the Kal Tire maintenance area at any one time but sometimes if needed it can accommodate three .
As stated , Centinela has both a sulphides area and oxides area – the sulphides area consisting of Esperanza and Esperanza Sur pits and the oxides area consisting of the Tesoro Central , Encuentro Oxides , Tesoro Sur , Llano and Mirador pits . Aside from the mining contractor fleet , there are 17 autonomous 980E trucks running at Esperanza Sur and over 50 additional trucks at Esperanza and Encuentro Oxides which are a mix of Caterpillar 793 and 797 trucks plus Komatsu 930s . Centinela has three truck maintenance shops – one in the oxides area then two in the sulphides area – one for Esperanza and one for Esperanza Sur .
Centinela also uses Michelin ’ s MEMS4 TPMS across all the mining trucks and support vehicles but the TPMS provision and monitoring is part of Kal Tire ’ s contract with the mine . The MEMS4 tyre data is analysed in real time by supervisors at the Kal Tire facilities onsite as well as in the mine dispatch control room which is in the IROC in Antofagasta . Kal Tire is also able to see all the truck locations , having access to some of the mine dispatch system data . It is possible to filter trucks which have an alarm that are working and those with an alarm that are parked or in the truck shop .
Geofencing is used to prioritise trucks with known tread damage to go to the autonomous tyre inspection station for continual monitoring , which is located just before one of the main mine
JULY 2023 | International Mining 21