Industry Insights: Service Solutions
Advice from the consultants
“A compelling reason why mines prefer BEVs is that ventilation costs are significant in underground mining, and at a certain point it gets uneconomical for diesel operated equipment to be utilized because of the cost of air. In these cases, there are not capital savings, but there would be operating cost savings because mining companies are not going to run fans as much as they would when using diesel equipment.”
Vernon Cameron, CEO, Mayhew Performance
“BEVs existed at the Macassa mine before I arrived there, and I was given the opportunity to both build the machine and operate it. Beyond challenges posed by the simulation, the build, and the components, operating the machine is a completely different endeavor."
Mike Mayhew, Founder, Mayhew Performance
“We have worked on a multitude of projects where we built battery electric assembly garages and charging station projects with various types of design, and we worked with an OEM and a multinational mining client to help design a retrofit kit for their electric haul truck. The kit will allow the battery powered unit to come off and on the overhead trolley, and that will permit on the fly charging of the haul truck, which eliminates the need to park and recharge or swap batteries.”
James Gagne, General Manager, Black Rock Engineering
“Amongst juniors, there is a lack of understanding of the level of effort, time, and money it takes to attain permits to establish a mine, and to maintain compliance with the various regulatory requirements. They also do not have a good understanding of the complexity of the regulations the environmental department must follow. They often underestimate staffing needs and environmental management costs.”
Linda Byron, Director, Blue Heron Environmental
“Noise from mine vent fans can be controlled, but doing it correctly is complex – it isn’t as simple as adding a silencer or acoustical cladding. Especially when these fans are installed in relatively quiet areas, away from urban noise and the steady sound of the mine, the fan noise is easily discernible by residents – even when the regulatory limits are achieved, complaints often arise. Simply, if the appropriate mitigation methods are not implemented at the outset, penalty from the regulators can result, and rectifying these issues can take significant time and capital investment.”
Andrew Dobson, Senior Consultant and Associate, HGC Engineering
“Within a couple months of launching NORPRO Environmental, which focuses on environmental remediation of petroleum and other types of spills, we had the opportunity to acquire Lajoie Bros. Contracting Ltd, who was providing not only emergency spill response services, but also petroleum maintenance services, fuel management systems, and tank installations. The two companies had great synergies and we knew it made sense to integrate the companies.”
Dan Hollingsworth, Vice President, N1 Solutions
“We acquired EcoVac as part of our strategy to use Halyard's skills to diversify into other industrial areas and expand our business. EcoVac is a fully permitted recycling plant in Toronto for excavated soils that used to be disposed of in unregulated ways. Because of its vicinity to construction in the city we have the capacity to process about 10,000 Hydrovac trucks a year and turn the soil into reusable construction materials. With EcoVac, we also contribute to sustainability because the excavated materials are repurposed.”
Justin Taylor, President, Halyard
