BATTERY AND ELECTRIC MACHINES
Vale and Epiroc commissioned four Epiroc ST14 Battery Scooptrams and two MT42 Battery trucks at the Creighton operation in preparation for the deepening of the mine in the December quarter of 2022
RCT concluded : “ The project demonstrates RCT ’ s automation technology can successfully integrate with battery-electric mining equipment , and is an important step toward delivering an autonomous , carbon-friendly mining fleet of the future .”
Expanded electrification
With more underground machines being electrified from the off – as opposed to retrofits – the industry is now moving to equip this zero-emission equipment with all the other smarts mine operations have become used to , Dan Gleeson learns
Catalysed by stakeholder requirements around sustainability of operations , mining companies are now making the long-term investments in their fleet and infrastructure to decarbonise their operations over the long term .
The pace and scale of this move has caught the supply industry by surprise , with mining OEMs rapidly expanding their production and assembly footprint to capture this major market opportunity . At the same time , they are looking to bring their zero-emission platforms into the automation sphere they had created for their conventionally-powered fleet , realising that mining companies can obtain the biggest productivity benefits through leveraging these automation and electrification synergies .
IM casted its net far and wide in this market overview , looking at key examples of where these benefits will be realised , and where the electrification dynamic continues to catch on .
Rham and RCT ’ s ‘ world-first ’
Having been told that electrification and automation will make good bedfellows in a load and haul context , the industry is now gearing up to put that theory to the test in a series of commercial deployments or trials .
All the major mining OEMs are involved in this testing , including the likes of Sandvik , Epiroc and Caterpillar .
South Africa-based Rham and RCT , now owned by Epiroc , appear to have got in ahead of the pack , with the pair announcing late in 2022 that they had collaborated on a “ world-first ” automated battery-electric loader deployment .
This technological feat saw RCT work with Rham to specifically engineer the automated loader to effortlessly work in height-restricted drives in Sibanye-Stillwater ’ s Bathopele mine in South Africa .
RCT ’ s market-leading ControlMaster ® automation technology was integrated with the Rham ultra-low profile 25HD battery-electric loader , with the package installed at Rham ’ s factory prior to the loader ’ s deployment to site .
This project showcased ControlMaster as a proven interoperable automation platform that can be integrated across any mobile equipment make , type or model , RCT said . With the technology established on site , the loader operators can manage LHD operations from the safety of a ControlMaster Automation Centre on the mine ’ s surface .
In addition to this , RCT interfaced with the Rham dash display and replicated it on the Automation Centre , to provide the operator with important machine health information .
The project also included the implementation of RCT Connect , a specialised underground communications network designed to enhance autonomous fleet operations .
Epiroc going Smart and Green
Epiroc is not far behind automating one of its own battery-electric machines , with the Swedenbased OEM currently engaged on a batteryelectric and automation project with Vale at the Creighton mine in Sudbury , Canada , as well as a similar project at Boliden ’ s developing Rävliden mine in northern Sweden .
For the former , Vale and Epiroc commissioned four Epiroc ST14 Battery Scooptrams and two MT42 Battery trucks at the operation in preparation for the deepening of the mine in the December quarter of 2022 . Full-scale operation is ramping up with a first charging bay already commissioned and new ones coming in the next months , a Vale spokesperson told IM .
“ The next steps will be to leverage the autonomous capability of those battery-electric scoops to enable operations between shifts depending on the application at the mine ,” the spokesperson said .
Vale has previously said it will transition to an all-electric fleet at Creighton as part of its plans to develop the orebody down to circa-3 km below surface .
Boliden ’ s Rävliden , meanwhile , is set to deploy the first automation-ready battery-electric Scooptram ST18 SG .
This 18 t loader , part of Epiroc ’ s Smart and Green series , is the most powerful loader yet in Epiroc ’ s growing fleet of battery-electric vehicles . According to the company , it is fitted with a battery that has an up to 50 % higher capacity than other OEM alternatives , allowing for higher running time and fewer stops for battery swapping .
According to Erik Gert , Global Product Manager – Scooptram at Epiroc ’ s Underground division , the interest from customers for this new machine has been extensive , with several orders already booked .
“ Compared to using a fossil-fuelled loader with similar capacity , the Scooptram ST18 SG eliminates 365 t of CO 2 emissions annually ,” he said . “ It also reduced heat , noise and the need for ventilation – which is crucial as mines become increasingly deeper .”
The Scooptram ST18 SG uses Epiroc ’ s secondgeneration battery-electric drivetrain , which , the
32 International Mining | MAY 2023