IPCC
Rail-Veyor as an open pit haulage
option
“I’ve always said that our system doesn’t care
what it’s hauling or where it’s working. It just
works,” Rail-Veyor Technologies Global Inc’s
Executive Chairman, Jim Fisk told IM.
When asked about open pit mining, Fisk
comments: “We’ve done several engineering
studies on installing the system in an open pit.
Many times it turns out to be the most cost
effective solution available as well as better for
the environment and the safety of the workers. I
think, early on, it was just too new of an idea.
Decision makers at the mines perceived the
technology to be too risky. However, with six
systems installed now, and one of those being a
surface application, we’ve proven the
technology works. Data from our customers
validates our ‘sticker promises’ are true.”
Fisk says larger Rail-Veyor installations can
haul up to -36 in rock and easily ramp at a 22%
incline. We could probably do a greater incline,
but since our routine maintenance is mostly
done by inspection, it’s difficult for the workers
to walk any steeper of a grade.”
In regards to in-pit crushing, Fisk says it’s not
necessarily needed for Rail-Veyor’s system
given the rock particle size it can handle but it’s
decline section with regenerative operation. This
wide range of load conditions makes the conveyor
control quite difficult, especially when starting and
probably a good idea for the mine.
“Anytime you can do something to the rock in
order to lessen the number of times it has to be
handled, it’s a good thing. If you can grade the
ore before moving it, you can decide then and
there where you want to haul it. If you know it’s
waste rock, why take it to the mill? We can move
A Rail-Veyor system moves pet coke from one of
several stockpiles on the surface to a barge at
the end of a pier. The system goes under a
public roadway through a standard box culvert.
Once one stockpile is removed, the system can
be moved to work on the next stockpile
Karara opts for mobile stacking
conveyor technology
stopping the system.”
In India, FLSmidth is also executing a lignite
handling system on an EPC basis. The plant has Bis, FLSmidth and Karara Mining have developed a
“unique mobile stacking conveyor” solution that
has cut water use, costs and the environmental
footprint at the iron ore miner’s operation in
two semi-mobile crushing stations (SMC) for
receiving lignite from the mine and transporting it
to the local power plant at a rated load of 1,000 Western Australia.
If Karara’s iron ore mine had chosen a wet
tailings storage facility, the tailings pond would
t/h. The system also incorporates a pipe conveyor
and other material handling systems such as
smaller conveyors, feeders and hoppers.
Lastly, in the last couple of years, FLSmidth has have been roughly 8 km 2 based on its 30-year
mine life, according to FLSmidth.
The operation is also in the Mid-West region of
Western Australia, an area with scarce water
reserves, so losing so much water to wet tailings
successfully delivered two copper producing
plants for a customer in Kazakhstan together with
the associated IPCC systems for copper ore from
ROM material downstream through all the
comminution stages. "These two references are a
good example where we can provide the full value
chain as the only OEM in the market being able to
deliver the full flowsheet. This brings value to
customer processes and allows us to work closely
with the customer throughout their operations to
find the best possible solutions that are
underpinned by a harmonized optimisation from
the pit through the plant. Being active in the
processing side as well as the mining side
combines two very important aspects of the
mining value chain. We can add to the productivity
gains that our customers are looking for and
closing productivity gaps that we currently see on
the market."
International Mining | MAY 2020
would have been costly to both the environment
and Karara’s bottom line.
With these factors in mind, Karara looked at
implementing a dry-stacked/filtered tailings
system to allow for significant water recovery and
reuse. As well as reducing costs, dry stack
technology would reduce the tailings footprint to
around 4 km2, according to FLSmidth.
Bis worked with Karara and FLSmidth to
develop a solution to build, own, operate and
maintain a “unique mobile stacking conveyor”,
FLSmidth said. This fixed infrastructure solution
was developed by the three companies to
integrate a walking conveyor and stacking
technology normally used in large-scale copper
mining operations.
Aside from the significant reduction of the
physical footprint compared with the wet tailings
that to get it out of your way and take the ore
straight to where it will be processed. We can
snake up and out of the pit with the least
amount of effort. Steel wheels on steel rails is
one of the most efficient ways of moving stuff.”
What also makes Rail-Veyor especially
intriguing is its quality of being autonomous.
Fisk adds: "The 'operator' can have another job,
like running the crusher, and monitor the
system with a tablet and an HMI which runs off
software specifically programmed for each
installation. When one area of the pit is
exhausted, the system can be picked up and
moved. Once the software is re-programmed,
it’s good to go."
Because of worldwide COVID-19 related travel
restrictions, Rail-Veyor’s engineering team is
working hard to be able to commission its latest
system remotely. “When we finish this project, it
will be a game changer. We will be able to
commission, and thus service the software,
from anywhere in the world…including a home
office,” says Fisk.
He concludes, “We are in trying times now.
Although I’ve never had to live through
something so disruptive, I do know it’s at these
times we reach for newer ideas to push us
forward and make our world better.”
alternative, Karara was looking for cost efficiencies
in other areas, FLSmidth said. “For instance, the
planning of a wet tailings storage facility needs to
factor in an ongoing maintenance strategy. This
comes with a perpetual cost that can only be
guessed at while the decades pass,” the company
said. “With dry-stack tailings, the total cost of
ownership over the mine’s lifetime is easier to
estimate and Karara were confident the dry stack
solution would be cost competitive.”
Water usage was another key consideration for
Karara. With environmental and cost factors in
mind, Karara wanted to look at ways to have
greater control over water assets on site. The
ability to reuse and recycle water in the mining
process would lead to substantial cost efficiencies
by minimising the amount of makeup water
needed for the mining operation, FLSmidth said.
The technology implemented into Karara’s
tailings storage facility was also an important
factor as Karara wanted the flexibility to
continually update the equipment with the view of
running it more efficiently as new technology
became available. It engaged Bis to operate the
facility machinery based on its deep industry
experience with materials handling and bulk
logistics, FLSmidth said.
FLSmidth, meanwhile, was identified by Karara
as being able to meet the project’s requirements
and mine-specific needs. The mining OEM said: “A
primary demand was the ability to supply a cost-
effective dry stacking technology ideal for dry