As professionals rev up for MinExpo International 2024 in Las Vegas, here’s a look at some mining innovations released since the last gathering.
Electrified vehicles, battery storage, and autonomous technology are top of mind across the mining industry, as all companies strive for net-zero targets and more sustainable operations. One glaring challenge is providing fast charging and regenerative energy systems to limit or eliminate vehicle downtime. Hybrid solutions continue to buffer the transition to all-electric powertrains, while OEMs continue improving hydraulic machines. In light of the upcoming MinExpo International 2024, here are some advancements that a few OEMs have released since the 2021 event, along with more work they intend to accomplish.
Battery electric and autonomous mining solutions prove successful
In 2021, Caterpillar launched an Early Learning program to work with customers on developing and validating its battery electric prototypes. In 2022, such customers gathered for a live demonstration of its first battery-electric 793 mining truck. The company built the prototype at its Tucson Proving Ground in Green Valley, Arizona, dubbed the “mine site of the future,” aimed to be a beacon for sustainable solutions with various renewable energy sources.
During the demonstration, Caterpillar sent the 793 prototype on a 4.3-mi (7-km) course and monitored more than 1,100 data channels, gathering 110,000 data points per second, to validate its simulation and engineering modeling capabilities. Fully loaded to its rated capacity, the truck achieved a top speed of 37.3 mph (60 km/h). The loaded truck traveled 0.62 mi (1 km) up a 10% grade at 7.5 mph (12 km/h). It also performed a 0.62-mi (1-km) run on a 10% downhill grade, capturing the energy that would otherwise be lost to heat and regenerating it to the battery. The truck maintained enough battery energy to perform additional cycles after completing the entire run.
Since then, Caterpillar has grown its battery electric and semi-autonomous technology portfolio for underground mining applications. Late last year, the company successfully demonstrated its first battery-electric prototype underground mining truck for gold miner Newmont and other industry leaders at a proving ground in Tasmania, Australia. The companies are collaborating to achieve Newmont’s vision of a fully connected, automated, zero-carbon-emitting, end-to-end mining system. The new battery-electric truck will complete Caterpillar’s first fully electric underground load and haul solution when paired with the R1700 XE battery electric loader.
Caterpillar also completed a demonstration of its growing autonomy and automation capabilities. This technology addresses safety challenges, such as collision risks when moving heavy machinery through dark, cramped spaces. Autonomous trucks can help improve mine site safety by removing operators from potentially hazardous or remote sites. Additionally, these features can improve productivity by increasing visibility for mine site coordinators, enabling more consistent operations for both staffed and autonomous machines.
At the World Mining Congress 2023 in Brisbane, mining services provider Thiess teamed up with Caterpillar and Cat dealer Hasting Deering to demonstrate Thiess’ semi-autonomous dozing operation using a remote operating station located more than 528 mi (850 km) away from the site. Thiess controllers remotely operated multiple Cat D11 dozers at the Lake Vermont mine in Central Queensland, live from Caterpillar’s event stand. The demonstration marked the first time multiple dozers had been controlled off-site using Cat MineStar Command for dozing’s semi-autonomous tractor systems (sats) since the product became commercially available. With the autonomy layer enabled, operators can control multiple dozers simultaneously without being physically on-site.
“We’ve seen improved safety, productivity, and efficiency benefits and have upskilled more than 100 employees on autonomous mining systems,” said Trent Smith, group manager of Thiess Autonomous Services, in a press release.
In 2023, Caterpillar also completed an in-house validation of Rajant BreadCrumbs LX5 CA radios, enabling field trials with Rajant’s wireless products and Cat MineStar Command for hauling.
Rajant provides Kinetic Mesh networking systems, a class of networking that uses fully autonomous nodes to achieve high performance under ever-changing conditions. Using its patented InstaMesh routing technology, Rajant networks provide dynamic network connections in a mobile environment, routing traffic through the best available route as the network topology constantly changes.
Rajant’s wireless nodes have multiple radios operating at different frequencies and route traffic through mobile nodes to improve connectivity and throughput in dynamic environments. This approach creates more available radio paths, delivering uninterrupted communications. The next step is to validate the solution with Cat MineStar Command for hauling in production at a mine site to confirm performance and scalability.
New hydraulic machines come with hybrid versions
Earlier this year, Komatsu introduced its new WX11 load, haul, and dump (LHD) machine for underground hard rock mining. The machine’s payload capacity is 24,250 lb (11,000 kg), which the company claims is an 8 to 10% increase from comparable LHDs. Its diesel engine is rated at 280 hp at 2,000 rpm (209 kW at 2,000 rpm) with Canmet, MSHA, EPA Tier 3/EU Stage IIIA, and EPA Tier 4F/EU Stage V certifications.
The new machine includes integrated data management, operator ergonomics, intuitive controls, and compliance with EU Stage V emission requirements. Additional features that differentiate the machine include new heavy-duty hard rock axles with spring-applied hydraulically released (SAHR) brakes and new structures to support the extra payload capacity.
The company also has two hybrid LHDs, the WX18H and WX22H, with switched reluctance (SR) hybrid drive systems that capture and store energy in a kinetic energy storage system (KESS). The company claims that the KESS and hybrid technology can reduce fuel consumption by 30% compared to diesel LHDs while increasing power by 550 hp, potentially increasing tons moved by 20%. This, in turn, decreases total operating costs and reduces emissions.
Aside from LHDs, Komatsu also introduced the second generation of its Z2 product line of small-class development drill and bolting equipment this year. The small-class ZJ21 jumbo drill and ZB21 bolter were initially launched in 2020 with a common platform. The new Z2 bolters and jumbos aim to maximize operator comfort and visibility and afford ground-level maintenance. The second-generation ZB21 is a small-class bolter with a fully enclosed ROPS/FOPS-certified operator cabin, integrated patented screen handling, and drifters manufactured by Montabert.
The bolter has an optional Komatsu pumpable resin system using J-LoK P by Jennmar. The solution allows operators to pump resin into the drilled hole before bolt installation, permitting the use of more economical bolts and helping decrease overall installation costs.
The second-generation ZJ21 jumbo drill is a single-boom development drill with a fully enclosed ROPS/FOPS-certified operator cabin, innovative drilling feeds, advanced pilot hydraulics, and drifters manufactured by Montabert.
Both product lines now include battery-electric versions with onboard, smart, opportunistic charging. The ZB21 and ZJ21 are the company’s smallest size-class drills and bolters with a battery-electric option and have a modular battery driveline with 83 kW-hr of onboard energy. Komatsu aims to support underground operations with these new mining innovations as the industry shifts toward electrification.
Energy storage and electric-diesel options are underway
As the mining industry moves toward electrified operations, energy storage quickly becomes a top priority. Sandvik has initiated a pilot project to deploy a second-life battery energy storage system (BESS) for Glencore, a Switzerland-based natural resource and commodity company. The BESS is expected to support mine services, such as lighting and light electric vehicle (EV) charging at Glencore’s operations. Sandvik will study additional use cases during the pilot, including power shifting, peak shaving, and arbitrage.
Sandvik’s technology partner in the project is Eco Stor, a second-life energy storage system provider based in Olso, Norway. Eco Stor will develop the solution with modules recovered from Sandvik battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) that have reached their optimal use in mobile mining applications.
“Modules can be easily replaced when they reach the end of their second life. Ensuring the batteries that power our mining equipment are used to their full potential before being recycled improves circularity and substantially reduces our carbon footprint,” said Ville Laine, VP of Batteries and Chargers at Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, in a press release.
The BESS will be constructed as an industrial 20-ft container holding 128 Sandvik battery modules. The system’s nominal energy is expected to be around 1 MW-hr. The container includes Sandvik systems for battery management and monitoring, energy management, and fire detection and prevention.
“Due to such early adoption of our battery systems in mines around the world, thousands of modules will reach the end of their first life over the next few years,” said Laine. “These modules still hold as much as 70% of their original energy storage capacity when they reach the end of their optimal use in a mining loader or truck. Utilizing this remaining capacity in a stationary energy storage solution is a win-win, providing both environmental and economic benefits. We can as much as double the useful life of our batteries and optimize their full lifecycle.”
Sandvik aims to deploy the prototype BESS container at a Glencore asset in 2025 and launch a commercialized solution in 2026. Once commercialized, Sandvik plans to assemble each BESS as close as possible to a customer’s mine, reducing shipping and further improving sustainability.
However, contract miner Byrnecut Australia predicts that the transition to battery-electric will be gradual, with electric, diesel, and hybrid machines working in tandem. Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions agrees, stating that the future of mining will likely include a combination of multiple coexisting technologies.
Consequently, Byrnecut is collaborating with Sandvik to develop new diesel-electric mining equipment to boost sustainability, efficiency, and underground productivity. Diesel-electric machines typically have a diesel engine that drives a generator, which, in turn, provides electricity to motors responsible for movement and operating equipment. Unlike conventional diesel, diesel-electric machines generally have no torque converter and fewer rotating components, allowing for a more flexible design, requiring less maintenance and enabling lower operating costs while maintaining high availability.
Sandvik announced last year that it was moving ahead with developing a diesel-electric range of underground loaders and trucks to complement its battery-electric machines. The decision followed the showcasing of its Toro diesel-electric truck demonstrator at a technology workshop in Turku, Finland, in 2022.
This year, for those ready to make the leap, the company introduced its new electric Sandvik DR416iE, the next-generation i-series rotary blasthole drill based upon the DR416i. The electric drill is suitable for iron ore and copper applications and can drill a hole 10.6 to 16 in. (270 to 406 mm) in diameter. It has a 1,400-hp (1,044-kW) electric power group to meet high-altitude application demands. Its electric system incorporates a soft starter to help reduce impact on the mine’s power grid, preventing disruptions to other equipment. The multi-voltage and multi-frequency electric motor provides flexibility, and the optional 1,378-ft (420-m) cable reel provides ample capacity for connecting to the mine substation.
For hard rock formations, the DR416iE has a heavy-duty, hydraulic motor-driven chain feed system for more pulldown force and increased weight on the bit, resulting in significantly faster penetration rates.
Overall, Sandvik aims to provide a seamless transition from diesel to electric. Thus, the DR416iE uses the same modular platform as the company’s diesel-powered rotary rig and the same DRi control system featured across all Sandvik i-series surface drills.
Digital mining innovations improve safety and efficiency
Last year, Hitachi Construction Machinery launched a Technological Center of Excellence (TCoE) to provide support for mining sites operating Hitachi’s dump truck Autonomous Haulage System (AHS). The company aims to offer AHS worldwide and to help increase safety and overall mining operational efficiency. Earlier this year, the company announced it would start full-scale remote AHS monitoring from its location in Brisbane, Australia.
Approximately 20 people at the TCoE monitor the same real-time information that Hitachi’s AHS customers receive in their control rooms. TCoE experts specializing in mining machinery, mining operations, and software use advanced digital technologies to accumulate, analyze, and deconstruct all data acquired in real time from multiple mining sites. They then derive solutions for the issues faced by each customer to help streamline and optimize the entire mine. In the future, the company intends to evolve the TCoE into a core hub for coordinating its mining solutions business. It plans to use various digital technologies and accumulated knowledge to create new value and provide continuous support from a customer perspective.
Hitachi began researching AHS in 2009 and has validated it at an Australian test site since 2013 to realize sequential mining operations for loading, hauling, and dumping with autonomous dump trucks. In July 2018, the company started collaborating with Whitehaven Coal and, after roughly six years, confirmed its AHS reached a practical level of performance. Going forward, the company intends to offer AHS to mining customers worldwide to improve safety and productivity across the industry.
Also this year, Hitachi announced a new Operator Assist System to support ultra-large hydraulic excavators’ digging and loading operational performance. Operators of such equipment must efficiently and repeatedly dig and load materials onto dump trucks while carefully avoiding contact and collisions with surrounding machinery. With the Operator Assist System, Hitachi aims to reduce operator burden, improve mine site safety, increase productivity, and reduce fuel consumption.
The company planned on conducting a verification test at one of Rio Tinto’s iron ore mines in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to demonstrate the system’s practical application and help improve its accuracy. Sensors, monitors, and other equipment attached to a backhoe EX3600-7 ultra-large hydraulic excavator will help test the digging and loading performance and verify the monitor display’s usability. Hitachi aims to achieve practical application of the Operator Assist System in stages starting in 2025.
Since late last year, Rio Tinto has also been helping conduct durability testing of a new boom and arm design for Hitachi’s ultra-large hydraulic excavators. Hitachi announced that it will apply the new design to the EX5600-7 backhoe excavator starting in March 2025 and gradually expand to other applicable models. The company aims to increase the service life of its equipment by 1.5 times that of previous models to reduce the emissions generated each time an excavator is scrapped.
Additionally, Hitachi began a feasibility trial for an ultra-large full battery rigid frame dump truck (shown at the beginning of this article) this year at First Quantum’s deep open-pit copper-gold mine in Zambia. The trial aims to verify the truck’s basic performance, such as traveling, turning, and stopping, under actual operating loads and verify the battery charging and discharging cycles. Hitachi jointly developed the full-battery dump truck with ABB to operate continuously by drawing electrical power from the dynamic charging system during operation while simultaneously charging the battery. Limiting the battery volume also reduces the battery weight as a percentage of the overall vehicle weight and helps maximize the load capacity.
Caterpillar
caterpillar.com
Komatsu
komatsu.com
Sandvik
rocktechnology.sandvik
Hitachi Construction Machinery
hitachicm.com
