SURFACE MINING TRUCKS
Loadpro trials continue in Indonesia
The innovative 60 t Loadpro X60 was developed in direct response from the industry to deliver a more efficient haulage truck to increase productivity and reduce haulage cost per tonne .
The company says the X60 delivers safety , performance and efficiency with high production but low operating costs . It is partiularly aimed at short and long pit to port hauls , long downhill loaded hauls with quicker cycle times and hauls requiring lower ground pressure on slippery , steeper gradients . Loadpro shipped nine of its X60 trucks to Kalimantan in Indonesia in recent years which are operating across two sites with another two trucks on their way . Loadpro Founder , Ron Schliebs : " We had some early reliability issues expected with prototypes and support issues where we could not support our trucks onsite due to covid . We have now sorted out all reliability issues and the trucks have shown high productivity and efficiency . It is very encouraging considering the trucks are working alongside off highway trucks in shorter hauls where we did not think the trucks would be so competitive . The trucks are now running over longer pit to port hauls in the application they were designed for , where we expect to see higher levels off efficiency over other trucks . Given that we are still testing prototype trucks a decision has been made to have each of the trucks reach 8,000 operating hours which is estimated will take another six months ." In a comparison with an equivalent payload rigid truck from a leading OEM , Schleibs says based on load tonnage data over four dayshifts in the same haul circuit with both units loaded to maximum that the Loadpro productivity was 26 % higher . Plus for coal rehandling activities for pit to ROM for three months its fuel burn was 48 % lower in litres / hour .
battery trolley mining truck with the aim of starting demonstration tests at a customer ' s mine in December 2023 and launching it by 2024 . Of the three models in the AC-3 series , development will be based on the model that the partner customer selects . Currently , there are several mining companies in South America , Europe , Oceania , and Africa that are interested in the development of this technology . The specific regions and customers are yet to be determined , therefore a PoC site has not yet been ascertained at this time .”
Liebherr ’ s says its autonomous haulage solution delivers the next generation of on-board intelligence , with reduced dependency on site infrastructure and centralised supervisory systems . “ Together with vehicle-to-vehicle technologies , Liebherr ’ s smart autonomous solutions provide on-board obstacle avoidance and load area path planning capabilities for optimisation of traffic flow . Liebherr ’ s solutions offer a high level of safety integrity with the introduction of an eight-layer safety concept , in combination with the latest on-board perception technologies for long range , high resolution and
Loadpro ' s versatile X60 has nine units in Indonesia ( plus two on the way ) which have been running very successfully
360 ° coverage , which is unique to the Liebherr offering .” Liebherr has developed and , it says , proven the world ’ s first open software interface between its Autonomy Kit and independent suppliers of Traffic Management Systems ( TMS ). The protocol will not only enable customers to choose their preferred Traffic Management solution , but will also enable autonomous machines , including autonomous light vehicles , to coexist within a common autonomous ecosystem , according to the company . Liebherr is working with ASI Mining by having an open interface that enables its autonomous trucks to integrate to ASI ’ s Mobius autonomy platform . Liebherr and Hexagon Mining have also integrated their complementary technology products using an open software interface . Hexagon technology , including its autonomous mission management system , will be used in the mine automation options offered by Liebherr to customers . Hexagon said of this agreement : “ The autonomous mission management system will orchestrate autonomous fleet and unmanned mine traffic movements throughout the mine for optimised autonomous haulage . It is fully integrated with our fleet management and enterprise analytics and reporting portfolio products .”
On zero emissions Liebherr is also going forward in two steps , immediate and mediumterm solutions and initiatives . Firstly , it will offer low carbon emission solutions such as electric drive for all trucks and excavator types , trolley assist and cable reeler beginning in 2022 . Additionally , the first renewable fuel option for the internal combustion engine drive train for machines with Liebherr combustions engines is available . And secondly , it will offer proven fossil fuel free mining equipment by 2030 at the latest . The equipment for digging , hauling and dozing will be based on different drive train technologies such as a battery power module , a H2 fuel cell power module and internal combustion engines with several further renewable fuel solutions depending on the equipment type .
Elsewhere , the “ OEM and FMS agnostic ” AHS market coming up behind the big two is evolving very rapidly , taking advantage of a more open and flexible approach , appealing to larger mines but also mid-Tier miners at the same time . One of the largest and most high profile is the Roy Hill iron ore mine AHS project , under a contract with Epiroc , with the project led by ASI Mining using its technology on both Hitachi EH5000 and Caterpillar 793F trucks and using Wenco ’ s FMS . It has had four phases – starting with a design phase , then initial deployment and testing phase in a sandbox setting , then a performance phase , operating a small fleet in a production environment to meet KPI targets . The last phase is expansion which involves rollout of AHS across the entire fleet , which is now happening and will signal the point at which the full AHS functionality and performance has been achieved to the satisfaction of the client , and they will sign off on expansion . Drew Larsen , ASI Mining Business Development Director at ASI Mining recently told IM : “ For ASI Mining , we will have a complete , fully commercialised version of our AHS , at scale , that can not only meet the needs of big complex mines , but also almost any open pit operation out there . It ’ s important to emphasise that it ’ s not just about achieving the functionality and safety requirements , but also the performance around critical KPIs that indicates our system can deliver on the value proposition of AHS .”
ASI Mining aside , other notable players in this
MAY 2022 | International Mining