This presentation will provide insights into the Hydra project, consisting of testing a fuel cell and battery-electric technology in a high altitude, dry environment at a mining site in Chile. The project aims to use this technology to simulate the replacement of diesel on mining equipment to achieve decarbonisation goals. The presentation will discuss the learnings gained from the project and further steps for its implementation. Attendees will gain an understanding of the potential and challenges of using hybrid hydrogen technology in mining and its potential role in achieving sustainability goals.
MissionZero is FLS’ sustainability ambition towards zero emissions in mining and cement by 2030. In-pit Crushing and Conveying (IPCC) is a proven technology with references all over the world and a key part of FLS’ portfolio to enable the decarbonisation of open-pit mines. FLS has developed an in-house formula to assess the potential of greenhouse gas emission reduction to benchmark against conventional diesel truck haulage. This formula is based on general physical interdependences of horizontal and vertical transport distances. A hypothetical mine model is the basis of research and the data is derived from literature, empirical values and project work. This presentation will go into detail about the ability of IPCC to reduce carbon emissions by up to 90% based on such research.
The Innovation for Cleaner, Safer Vehicles (ICSV) initiative – a supply chain collaboration between ICMM, OEMs and technology suppliers – has made significant progress towards understanding what is needed to transform today’s fleet of mining vehicles into tomorrow’s new generation of cleaner, safer vehicles. The ambitions of the ICSV initiative are to introduce greenhouse gas emission-free surface mining vehicles by 2040, minimise the operational impact of diesel exhaust by 2025 and make vehicle collision avoidance technology available to mining companies by 2025. Close to five years on from announcing these ambitions, the progress has been vast, with, among other developments, more than 300 vehicle fleets being assessed in over 300 assets across the membership, in five regions globally. In this presentation, we will highlight the latest developments of the ICSV and how this relates to the topic of electrification and decarbonisation.
Lifting the returns of an IPCC project requires focus on design and components defining the productivity and, therefore, mainly uptime. This presentation highlights key design, technology and configuration elements for hard-rock IPCC applications and their impact on productivity.
Climate risks and actions are on top of the corporate agenda and an energy intensive industry like mining is heavily impacted. In addition, the demand for critical minerals and metals to fuel the energy transition means more responsible mining and mineral processing is necessary. Meeting the net-zero goal successfully relies on operationalising best practices. While companies are setting net-zero goals, it is clear the main challenge and concern across the industry is implementation. The mining sector needs to collaborate, implement and invest in a portfolio of decarbonisation options for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. The pathways include emissions reduction, switching from fossil fuel to clean fuel, green/clean/renewable/nuclear energy generation, and removal and sequestering carbon. As well, the industry has the opportunity to “do it right” with equitable transition in mind and needs to innovate in adopting new mine design and mineral processing technologies, accelerating novel technology adoption and demonstrating/tracking results. GMG is developing a suite of guidelines looking at different aspects of the mine with a goal of helping the industry learn and understand different energy management strategies to help reach net-zero goals.
Overland conveyor project execution can differentiate suppliers in the marketplace and significantly influence project delivery economics. It is heavily influenced by different variables and parameters which can result in an overland conveyor being delivered entirely differently for a given geometry and design capacity. Logistics and global supply chains play a crucial role. All conveyor components will be subject to ocean or land freight costs, duties, tariffs, import restrictions, transport limitations, etc. Off-site pre-assembly and modularisation are more involved than simply specifying for project. It necessitates a complete end-to-end assessment of potential impacts and that associated risks are managed. The concept is often assumed beneficial for its potential site labour and infrastructure cost reduction, and lower site-based safety hazards. It can be successful and beneficial provided that certain elements are considered: project risk assessment, early engineering-and-construction engagement, pre-assembly vs site assembly cost tradeoffs, transport restrictions, engineering for intermodal transport, shop pre-assembly labour force availability, double-handling costs and risks.
Trolley assist infrastructure from Siemens is in use to reduce energy costs and to increase capacity, with more than 40 years’ experience. It gives the possibility for a consequent use of electric energy in truck operation and will form an optimum way for efficient and adjustable GHG-free operation. For use in electric trucks with battery storage, trolley assist will facilitate a reduction in the necessary capacity of the truck batteries and to recharge the batteries during operation. This will change the requirements regarding transferred power, operation speeds and charging solutions under several conditions. The development of requirements and interfaces will be described during this presentation. Derived adjustments and solutions for the power supply infrastructure will also be proposed.
FAM, now a part of BEUMER Group, has much experience in tailings handling, proven at a number of major projects. Included among this is the new FAM mobile tailings stacker at the La Coipa gold mine, in Chile. This 1,000 t/h tailings stacker for leached gold ore was commissioned in May 2022 and is helping the mine, operated by Kinross Chile, to increase its operational performance. This presentation will outline some of the company’s solutions for transporting and stacking dewatered tailings, and how they factor into wider IPCC operations.
Siemens patented battery-electric haul truck drive solution cleverly combines a proven off-board power source with innovative on-board energy storage elements to realise zero-emission haulage with increased productivity. The off-board power supply enables dynamic 6C in-cycle charging of 400 kWh on-board energy storage while simultaneously providing increased power directly to the wheels for decreased cycle times. This direct power to the wheels combined with captured regenerative braking energy minimises the on-board energy storage required, thereby maximising payload. Connection to the off-board power source is made through common interfaces, such as pantographs, ensuring interoperability between trucks of different size classes and OEMs.
Effective maintenance of mining equipment is critical for ensuring safe and efficient operations. However, traditional maintenance approaches can often be unsafe and/or inefficient and time-consuming. In order to address these challenges, TAKRAF Group has applied intelligent (and elegant) maintenance solutions leveraging on-the-ground experience of solving many of our clients’ daily problems. The presentation will provide a real-world view of some of these intelligent solutions that ultimately translate into increased safety, improved efficiency and, ultimately, significant cost savings for our clients.
This session will be a discussion, open to audience participation, with a developer that is establishing a new mine utilising sustainable energy sources. Hitachi Energy’s role is to explore both conventional and alternative (green) power requirements for the project. The speaker will explore power-related challenges associated with mine operations today. A key focus will be how to address increased energy consumption when fleet electrification is implemented in the mining environment. Strategic approaches and options to address this challenge will be discussed.
Canada-headquartered Synergy Engineering Ltd offers a highly engineered secondary resistive controller (SRC) system for wound rotor induction motor applications. Its SRC solution for large motor applications is among the most reliable in industry and is ideally suited for constant speed applications with varying torque demand. It is also a cost-effective drive solution for larger horsepower conveyor applications (>1,000 hp) and for conveyors with more than one motor. This presentation will detail some of the benefits of the SRC system along with recent deployments at mining operations.
Cavotec has a leading position in the development of large-scale industrial battery charging solutions and technologies that will enable industries to decarbonise and reduce their environmental impact. In mining, we are designing and delivering connection and electrification solutions that will allow operations to plan for an emissions-free future where the full fleet is electrified. During this presentation, we will talk through this pathway and present solutions that can deliver on the ambitious goals mining companies have set for the next decades. Included within this is Cavotec’s ultra-fast Megawatt Charging System (MCS), which is able to provide up to 3 MW of power from a single connector.
The MMD Group of Companies is a world leading specialist in the processing and reducing of natural and manufactured minerals using sizer technology. MMD sizers and feeders are a core part of its innovative In Pit Sizing and Conveying (IPSC) Systems, both semi- and fully-mobile, which can play a central role in helping mining achieve lower Scope 1 emissions targets. In addition, the Fully Mobile Surge Loader stockpiles material and delivers a regulated flow to the truck fleet. This increases truck and shovel utilisation and provides a system capacity improvement of up to 40% but also helps reduce emissions. Finally, MMD with its Bulk Ore Sorting Systems integrates IPSC and ore sorting solutions to separate ore from waste in the mine – significantly reducing the scale and cost of downstream processing equipment with associated reductions in water and energy usage. This talk will delve into the details of these solutions – which can be used for IPCC applications.
Dave Goddard, Senior Industry Expert, Digital Mining and Automation, McKinsey & Company, will share some of McKinsey’s insight into mining's energy transition, including key stepping stones to net zero that are technically and economically sensible, but are also commercially available at an appropriate time.
Mine operators are challenged with moving more material on conveyors that may cover distances in the tens of kilometres and ascend steep gradients. To increase overall reliability, mining companies also want fewer transfer stations between conveyors, which may require wider and longer belts. To meet these increasing demands, ABB developed gearless low speed drive technology that delivers an efficient and reliable solution. Attendees will learn all about these gearless conveyor drives and how they can form an efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly option for IPCC applications.
The mining industry is deeply committed in improving its environmental footprint. It’s broadly established that replacing diesel-powered mobile equipment with emissions-free propulsion systems (battery-electric, dynamic charging, hydrogen or hybrid battery hydrogen) will contribute to reaching mining industry decarbonisation targets (for mainly 2030 and 2050). However, the shift to decarbonisation is being held back by technical complexities, technology maturity and operationalisation. Simulations are crucial to support educated decision-making processes for mining executives and general management before final financial investment commitments. The decision will always be a balance between capital, fleet performance, commercially-available solutions, energy needs and changes to be implemented in operations to offset new constraints. In addition, when simulation is paired with machine learning and connected to operational and financial data, testing “what if” scenarios within a simulation twin of your mine becomes much more accurate in terms of real analysis and outcomes within your operations versus hypothetical benefits. Stream Systems’ software suite will greatly contribute to the mining industry transformation towards net-zero objectives and energy usage optimisation, through value chain simulation.
Click Here to Download Session PDFDepending on length, overall lift, topology and throughput, a mining conveyor can have multiple drive stations which can contain multiple driven pulleys and drives themselves. The drives must provide the torque and power to overcome the friction resistance and the vertical lift required. Especially during starting and stopping, torque values can be significantly higher than the rated torque. The task of a superior technology controller which is tied in between the individual drive controllers and the conveyor PLC is to minimise, if not to eliminate, oscillations that might be excited in the belt especially during ramp up and ramp down of the system. Therefore, the Siemens SIMINE Conveyor Technology Controller provides a set of functions which are ensuring a smooth and safe operation of the drive system by limiting mechanical stress to the driven equipment and utilising all benefits provided by equipping conveyor drivetrains with variable frequency drives.
This presentation discusses the challenge of decarbonising mine haulage fleets, which currently rely almost entirely on diesel fuel. The presentation examines two potential solutions – battery-electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles – and explores the potential energy density of both technologies compared to diesel. The presentation also considers the complexity of mine haulage systems and how that complexity impacts the modelling of new solutions. Finally, the presentation outlines the potential benefits of discrete event simulation as a tool for understanding the impacts of changes to mine haulage systems on energy demand, productivity and utilisation.
David Brown Santasalo’s Capital team works with customers from OEMs, EPCs, key accounts and users worldwide to support all aspects of a new mining gearbox investment, including greenfield projects, brownfield, expansion or production upgrades as well as new spare gear units. It also offers joint development with customers on new concepts and product development and has the flexibility to offer a standard or tailor-made transmission from two locations. A full in-house service centre network across a global footprint supports all aftermarket requirements. Its latest technology for mining is the FD-Drive, a fully integrated planetary reducer and permanent magnet motor construction with no separate motor bearings. This enables market-leading torque density and compact size when compared to traditional technologies.
Electrification is central to mining companies’ decarbonisation journey. Simulation provides an opportunity to understand and mitigate the risks of electrification. An integrated simulation, covering the entire lifecycle of the mine, of battery-electric mining equipment, ventilation and electrical reticulation systems as well as the energy supply mix to the mine, is required to fully understand and communicate the value in changing over from fossil powered equipment to battery electric equipment. Simgenics & 4Sight will illustrate how such an integrated full scope simulation is essential to determine the feasibility of mine electrification, by quantifying the cost and carbon footprint impact for all use cases.
Mining in Mongolia has all the attributes that make it well suited to In-pit Crushing and Conveying (IPCC) – big tonnage open pit copper and coal mines, plus cheap power – albeit, for now, still largely generated by coal-fired stations. That said, IPCC brings opportunities to increase mining efficiency, reduce costs and, of course, reduce its substantial diesel consumption by reducing its use of large mining trucks. Erdenet Mining Corporation (EMC) is the country's largest copper miner, producing some 530,000 t/y of copper concentrate (containing 125,000 t of copper metal) from processing of 32 Mt/y of ore – still some way ahead of Oyu Tolgoi as it ramps up. It also produces significant volumes of molybdenum. The depth of Erdenet's open-pit mine has already passed 200 m, and the final depth will be almost 500 m. Transportation costs continue to rise in the current context of increasing average truck haulage distances. Erdenet, therefore, opted to introduce IPCC through installing both ore and waste transportation complexes. The project is well underway and is being designed and developed by engineering group 3BTEC Mongolia LLC, which has the EPCM contract.
Click Here to Download Session PDFReborn Electric Motors is a Chilean engineering B-Corp started by a group of electrical and mechanical engineers with international experience in electric vehicle design. In only a short time it has since become a major player in battery-electric vehicle solutions for mine worker transportation. For Chilean state-owned copper mining giant CODELCO it has provided 103 of 155 EVs, including 31 large 44-seat buses and 72 24-seat taxi buses, which are manufactured at the company’s 3,000 sq.m facilities in Rancagua. Reborn has the ability to repower any type of city or heavy-duty bus from diesel to electric. It is also one of the key members of the HYDRA Consortium, which has the aim of developing and validating the necessary technology to replace the use of diesel in high-tonnage mining trucks with hydrogen. This presentation will outline some of the solutions Reborn has provided Chuquicamata, the world’s largest underground copper mine, as well as other projects the company is involved in.
Overland belt conveyors offer a step-change in energy efficiency over truck haulage, and the breakthrough FLS Rail-Running Belt Conveyor™ (RRC) product line promises to be a game-changer in overland conveying. FLS reports on the performance profile of two Rail-Running Belt Conveyor systems that will be commissioned for a top-10 copper miner in late 2023 and mid-2024, respectively. The first system is part of a re-location of an existing conveyor carrying run-of-mine ore at 5,000 t/h over 3,000 m flight. This system is projected to save about 6,500 t/y of CO2 and about $1 million in power costs compared to the conventional conveyor that it is replacing. The second system also has a length of 3,000 m, hauling up to 13,000 t/h of primary crushed ore starting in July 2024. FLS calculates the annual savings for this conveyor at roughly 13,000 t of CO2 and about $2 million in power costs. Because these systems will be the first mine-scale implementations of the RRC technology, out of an abundance of caution, FLS has designed these conveyors as ‘RRC Hybrids’, allowing them to be rapidly retrofitted with conventional idlers in case the performance does not meet expectations. Because the wheeled carriages of an RRC system circulate past automated condition monitoring sensors, idler-related maintenance costs and safety risks are eliminated along the RRC length of the conveyor. RRC systems can reduce the carbon footprint of overland belt conveyors by between 20% and 85%, and operating expenses by 25-60% depending on the application. Customer capital expenditure for earthworks, civil, electrical infrastructure and erection can also be dramatically reduced.
