Innovations in operations
Digitalization, roboticization, and automation
From digital twins to automation and robotics, advancements within mining operations have transformed the image of the industry from being associated with pickaxes and shovels to resembling a science fiction movie. Innovations are aimed at helping mining companies optimize their performance wand minimizing their impact on the environment.
Digitalization
The use of digitalization tools in the mining sector caught the attention of HP Hydraulique, a company that historically specializes in the sale and repair of hydraulic components, planetary gearboxes, and electro-mechanics. Identifying a need in the market for stronger engineering services, HP Hydraulique created its mechanical engineering division Forcetech Consultants in 2015 to work with 3D scanning technologies. The segment can provide HP Hydraulique’s clients with a simulation service to reproduce parts. “We can digitize the environment to create a model to see if we can add conduits throughout existing structures,” explained Viviane Doyon, the company’s communications and marketing manager. “In doing so, we can modify, add, compare, or create concepts and make manufacturing plans without having to use equipment.”
Howden, a company specialized in air and gas handling products, has applied the concept of 3D modeling to the underground ventilation space with its Ventsim DESIGN software. “3D modeling helps determine and visualize numerous factors such as tunnel size, ventilation raises and overall ventilation strategies. Based on those outcomes, we can more accurately determine the required ventilation infrastructure," explained Raphaël Pelletier, account executive of the Americas of Howden.
In addition, the company offers its Ventsim CONTROL software to remotely monitor, control and automate airflow. In using ventilation on demand systems, mine operators not only cut costs but also lower their carbon footprint.
“In 20 to 30 years from now, we could be talking about one control center operating several mines simultaneously. The solutions we are looking at today may be precursors to tools that will completely transform the mining landscape.”
Alain Beauséjour, General Manager, Groupe MISA
Innovative solutions providers are increasingly offering solutions called digital twins, which function as virtual representations of objects or systems throughout their lifecycles. In comparing the real with the simulated through the use of machine learning, AI, and simulations, companies can compare processes in their ideal state with either a new process to see if it is living up to expectations or with an older one to determine whether mechanical issues or signs of wear are present.
Rithmik Solutions was founded out of the realization that there was unlocked value dormant within data being collected from mobile mining equipment. “Through studying AI and machine learning, we realized these technologies were the ticket to unlocking the potential of this data to drive better maintenance-related decision-making,” said co-founder and COO Kevin Urbanski.
Rithmik builds optimal replication models using AI that capture the characteristics of a piece of equipment running at its best. “We then run the model at the same time as the actual assets, enabling us to see which sensors are deviating – for instance low oil pressure with high exhaust temperatures – essentially capturing the failure mode signatures from the equipment,” Urbanski explained.
In this way, Rithmik Solutions’ Asset Health Analyzer, or AHA, uses AI to predict what might go wrong with machinery before it even happens. Through its work in different mining operations, the company has found its customers can save upwards of US$10 million per year for an average-sized fleet of haul trucks, and they have already measured opportunities to save nearly 8,000 tons of CO2 per year at the site level.
Metso Outotec, a global provider of sustainable technologies for mining, aggregates and metals refining industries, created Geminex, a metallurgical digital twin tool, to help companies respond to operational changes more quickly. According to Giuseppe Campanelli, president of Metso Outotec’s North and Central America branch, Geminex combines operational data from both internal and external data sources in order to efficiently test alternative operational scenarios and parameters. It does so by using the company’s HSC process models that already have over 20,000 users worldwide. “The tool provides invaluable information for short- and long-term decision-making,” said Campanelli. “It can operate as a high-level model predictive control or as a backstage planning tool.”
“Optimization and safety are two frontiers of new technologies that our clients are looking for.”
Chris Blair, SVP of Mine Solutions, Maptek
Machine learning tools are being used within operational mine sites to save valuable time. Maptek has been providing innovative software, hardware and services for the mining industry for decades, and its launch of DomainMCF marked the company’s foray into the cloud processing space. DomainMCF is a cloud-based machine learning engine that helps quickly transform input drillhole data into a predicted domain model. “This process typically takes weeks to months with traditional methods, but our solution significantly shortens the time to minutes or hours,” said Jesse Oldham, the company’s global product strategy manager.
In addition to saving time, innovative solutions are helping mining companies hit their ESG targets. TOMRA, a manufacturer of automation machinery, has introduced to the mining industry a sensor-based sorting technology that helps reduce waste and increase recovery, meaning companies process less material and therefore use less energy and water. The company has a digital platform that can connect to its machines and use deep learning and AI to improve accuracy. Though TOMRA has not yet launched its deep learning tools within the mining sector, it plans to do so in the future with the belief that mining operators must take their role within the energy transition seriously by adopting technologies that decrease their environmental impact. “It is crucial that the mining industry not be complacent,” said CEO Tove Andersen. “The sector is under a lot of pressure, and it is the responsibility of mining companies to take control and prove how serious they are about contributing to a net zero society.”
Within a brief timespan, machine learning and AI have opened up new possibilities for planning and optimization that would have been unimaginable even a decade prior. Not everybody is so quick to sing the praises of these technologies, however. “People hear AI and fear we are removing human jobs,” admitted Ben Sharpe of Rockwell Automation, yet he encourages people to compare the dynamics of the market for mining against most other manufacturing industries. “The important question to ask is whether you are removing jobs that can be filled in the mining sector, or whether you are simply replacing jobs that nobody is willing to travel to do. I have worked in the business for long enough that I am confident it is the latter.”
“The ‘greening’ of the mining industry has been a major driving force in our technological evolution.”
Frédérick Bousquet, General Manager, HP Hydraulique
Unleash the robots
According to Sharpe, the metals industry, just one stream down from mining, had the largest robotics growth market in 2021. He believes it is inevitable that the trend heads upstream to the mining sector; the momentum is already building.
Newtrax Technologies is one of the companies at the forefront of this shift. The company was acquired by Sandvik three years ago, and a primary reason being its interest in evolving its OptiMine collision avoidance systems for automated mining equipment. Currently, automated machinery cannot co-exist alongside pedestrians and other vehicles, which serves as the main constraint to their growth within the mining sector. “As technologies and robotics progress at significant speed, the main obstacle remains that robotics are isolated, and no humans or other vehicles can operate nearby,” said CEO Alexandre Cervinka. “We want to unleash the robots.”
Cervinka sees immense potential in applying digitalization and process optimization to underground mining. His company has found that in certain operations, there is an opportunity to reduce waste by up to 40%. When Newtrax started selling underground mining technologies a decade ago, it had to convince its clients of the benefits to these solutions. Now, the company sees more demand than it can supply.
“Canada is well known for being advanced in mining, and competition drives development here. Companies are willing to adopt new technologies. This is important, as it is crucial that the mining industry not be complacent.”
Tove Andersen, CEO, TOMRA
Electrification
Mining plays a vital role in the electrification of other industries, yet given the magnitude of mining equipment fleets and the types of equipment they include, the sector itself is still at the early stages of transitioning. When Kirkland Lake Gold first used battery-powered equipment back in 2012, many onlookers were doubtful. Others remained skeptical and wanted to watch the technology become more field proven before adopting it into their own operations. Today, battrification of equipment repeatedly makes news in the mining world. At Glencore’s Onaping Depth mine in Ontario, set to begin production in 2024, plans are being made for an entire EV fleet – from scoop trams to personal vehicles.
When it comes to charging large equipment in a dynamic environment like a mine, it is not a simple matter of plugging in and waiting. The concept of ‘opportunity charging’ has become increasingly popular as a means of charging industrial battery-powered equipment for short periods throughout the day rather than all at once. “The goal is not always to have a vehicle charged to 100%,” explained Eric Dessureault, vice president of operations at Meglab. “It depends on what must get done before the end of the shift. A vehicle might be at 60%, for example, when it is the optimal time to charge because the operator has the time, and the charger is available.”
Meglab has introduced MegaCharge to the market as a scalable charging solution that can charge from two to 18 vehicles.
Adria Power Solutions has been working on its own battery charging technology for mining equipment for a decade, taking the time to watch the market evolve in order to best identify potential needs of the future. The company observed that, given the multiple ways to accumulate energy at a high rate, it can be difficult for manufacturers to decide which chemistry to use when building the battery for a 400-ton mining truck, for example.
As a result, the company decided to create OEM agnostic chargers that spare customers looking to invest into electrification from making a costly gamble on their charging infrastructure. “We know batteries are the future, but which batteries?” posited Jean-Francois Couillard, the company’s president and CEO. “That remains the question that will define the way the electrification movement unfolds beyond this first iteration.”
Their solution was to design a high-power system with multiple outlets of low power. In this way, lower-powered outputs can be bridged together to generate a single output of high power. Jean-Francois Couillard, the company’s president and CEO, believes this design of charger to be future-proof. “Charging infrastructure is expensive,” said Couillard. “If there is a new battery technology in five years with significantly better performance that requires higher power to charge, you will not need to change your preexisting infrastructure if you have an Adria charger.”
Given the pace at which the industry is evolving, built-in flexibility within product designs will be a safe way for manufacturers to offer scalable, adaptable solutions.
Image courtesy of Meglab