Equipment & Technology
Driving the road toward sustainable mining
According to EY, ESG remains the number one risk and opportunity for mining firms for the second year in a row. OEMs, technology firms, and service providers are on a mission: Decarbonizing mines. Interest in autonomous mining and remote operations has grown exponentially in Nevada, a state where technological penetration rates have historically lagged behind global peers.
Several factors have contributed to Nevada majors’ lateness in terms of autonomous adoption in comparison with Australian, Canadian, or Latin American peers. First, Nevada is home to several legacy mines that have been in operation for decades, making automation technologies harder to implement and working cultures less flexible. But Nevada’s industry is a progressive one. What operators really struggled to encounter in the past was evidence of the need for technology, with little proof of return on investments or clear commercial benefits. Beyond automation, as digital transformation reshapes mining, the failure rate of AI and machine learning remains high, justifying shareholders’ hesitancy towards an often “black-boxy” concept. But safety and ESG-related reasons are prompting a change. As put by Chris Rains, CEO of Inforight, a data and analytics firm, "I forecast that we will see an increase in Nevada in terms of technological penetration in advanced realms such as image recognition."
Today, more than catching up, majors and developers intend to leverage local resources to become leaders in future-facing discussions, as seen with Rhyolite Ridge, the future first greenfield site in the US to use automated haul trucks. Caterpillar’s Reno and Elko-based dealer Cashman Equipment will provide the lithium-boron project with the MineStarTM Command for hauling, after having completed a technology system supply agreement with the Australian firm in September. Touching upon this partnership, Mike Pack, president of Cashman Equipment, explained: “An autonomous approach is being taken primarily because of location, as it is an extremely difficult area for people to access. We have also found that autonomy is the safest and most effective way to run a haul vehicle or load tool.”
Nevada Gold Mines (NGM) is leveraging the latest technologies and the highest level of automation from Sandvik electric haulage trucks at Turquoise Ridge’s third shaft, while Robinson Mine is using autonomy leader Epiroc’s Pit Viper 271 blast-hole drill rig. And as Peter Richardson, executive general manager at NGM, forecasted: “Mining is going towards remote control and automation undoubtedly. This is what we are doing at our underground mines; our operators are sitting on the surface and running underground equipment. Equipment is being operated by people in Remote Operation Stations on the Surface (ROSS).”
"Despite the US not being a leader in technology adoption, a shift is happening, as we are able to quantify the productivity gains and cost savings using our customers’ operational data. We will deliver our newest battery electric vehicles in the US mining market in early 2023."
Jared Pratt, Vice-President of Business Development, Epiroc
Opportunities for OEMs: Net zero roadmaps and strong commodity prices
Through the creation of technology centers or antenna facilities, global equipment manufacturers have grown their footprint in Nevada and the southwestern US in the past two years. Sustainable-led operations and strong commodity prices have pushed up demand from operators for more underground electric vehicles notably, in their push to reduce their GHG. Germany’s Liebherr and Canada’s MacLean were early understanders of this trend. NGM operates a fleet of Liebherr trucks at the Cortez mine, and MacLean set foot in Elko in 2020 to support the joint venture’s underground fleet.
Making the automation step does not have to mean replacing equipment. Upgradable and integrated solutions are becoming a key requirement for majors with large and decade-old operations. Liebherr’s open protocol approach allows it to operate on any existing systems, LIDAR, or radars. US divisional director Shane Kuhlmey explained NGM’s demands: “Customers want today’s technology with the ability to upgrade products as we improve on it. You can take a diesel operating haulage truck, and if we have battery technology in the future through our partnership with Williams Engineering, that battery technology will be able to adapt to the truck that we build today.”
This push towards electrification and sustainable innovation is prompted by ambitious net-zero roadmaps. And for Nevada’s operators, the first step towards success is reducing their equipment’s emissions. In the coming years, the state’s giants will likely use zero-emission power haul trucks like Liebherr’s T264 or Epiroc’s Minetruck MT42, the world’s first underground mine truck made using fossil-free steel. In the meantime, Kuhlmey assessed OEM’s missions in the green economy: “The OEM is responsible for developing the technologies the customers didn’t know they needed. We are responsible for eliminating the reliance on fossil fuel in our equipment and are expected to improve efficiencies and minimize the cost of the decarbonization transition.”
"We recently got involved with a carbon net negative footprint project which has the potential of changing the way haul roads are maintained in the US."
Kjell Truesdell, General Manager, F&H Mine Supply
Overcoming the fourth utility conundrum
Inseparable from automation discussions is the topic of connectivity. The challenge of the “fourth utility” is particularly prevalent in Nevada. Automation requires extensive connectivity, along with solid broadband and wireless networks. The heat, harshness and remoteness of mine sites in Nevada pose a challenge to technology providers and firms trying to maintain their networks.
Having been acquired by Epiroc in 2021, 3D-P is on a mission to provide wireless networking and connectivity to Nevadan mine fleets. The firm’s service offerings, particularly the Intelligent Endpoint product line, are custom-built for the Nevadan environment. President Ron White shared: “Our Endpoints may seem expensive because they are custom-built specifically to be capable of handling the extreme temperatures, vibrations, and harshness of mining. But looking at the true costs of downtime on equipment, quality technology is a good investment, and our cost gets way down. The industrial and even “ruggedized” devices we find off-the-shelf today are not built for mining fleets in harsh environments.”
Looking to expand its connectivity-related product line in the state is Sandvik’s Rock Processing (SRP) division. The firm recently designed a remotely operated Automation and Connectivity System (ACS) device, which controls and monitors signals to protect crushers and help operators. Providing real-time data, this device allows operators to operate the crusher away from the site. Manipulating this hefty amount of sensitive data is key for operators. As put by Raphael Carmona, vice president of sales area north America at SRP: “Connectivity is becoming the biggest challenge, as people are still a bit skeptical regarding how they can share data and what data they can share, so this is a roadblock to creating trust.”
Network outside Nevada’s main metropolitan areas can be unreliable, and further system interference caused by the number of contractors setting their networks at the peripheries of mine sites can cause downtime for operators. This further increases the need for reliable infrastructure in the state: When autonomy is at play, any wrong interferences will force machines to shut down for safety reasons, meaning a stop in production. “The backbone to any autonomous solutions is connectivity,” concluded Pratt.
Image courtesy of Coeur