Category: Equipment & Technology

The use of drones is increasing across the mining sector, driven by benefits such as improved productivity, safety, and reduced costs, with a wide variety of uses. These include surveying and mapping; monitoring and inspection; site safety management; tailings dam management; blasting assessment and haul road optimisation.  Surveys of mine sites, both surface and underground, over the last four years by GlobalData have shown that the share of mines that have invested to some extent in drones has increased from 44% in 2018 to 65% in 2022, with 32% in… Read More Here

The biggest rigid dump trucks or haul trucks are off-highway vehicles that are primarily used for the transportation of mined materials and at heavy-duty construction sites, quarries and mines. The dump trucks are constantly being manufactured bigger in size as there is a demand for larger payload capacities. Due to the fact that haul trucks are so large and able to transport a huge amount of material, the customers often prioritise to use only one large dump truck rather than a whole fleet of smaller trucks which is more economical.… Read More Here

Diversified miner Anglo American is in exclusive negotiations with specialist engineering technology company First Mode Holding and has agreed nonbinding terms to establish a combined business to accelerate the rollout of Anglo’s nuGen hydrogen-powered Zero Emissions Haulage Solution (ZEHS). The transaction with First Mode, which had partnered with Anglo and other companies to develop the nuGen ZEHS, will include a capital investment by Anglo in the combined business and is intended to accelerate the development and commercialisation of the nuGen ZEHS. The new combined business will retain the First Mode name as an independent business and… Read More Here

Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions has launched a new i-series top hammer longhole drill rig, Sandvik DL422i. Sandvik said the rig is the diesel counterpart to the Sandvik DL422iE battery electric drill in 2021.  The rig, designed for underground mass mining in 4 x 4 meter or larger production drifts, is for operations with challenging site conditions that are not optimized for a battery-electric fleet.  “The new DL422i expands our i-series longhole production drill offering with traditional diesel engine layout, and starts to take over the work load of its… Read More Here

Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions has secured an order of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from BHP for the Jansen potash project, located in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Jansen Stage 1 is being designed with a focus on sustainability and technology and the battery-electric loaders will be used in the most advanced potash-mine in the world. BHP has ordered 10 underground battery electric loaders along with 1 electric tethered loader for use at the Jansen potash project located approximately 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon in the province of Saskatchewan. The… Read More Here

Finland’s Metso Outotec plans to partner with Brazilian technology firm Dynamox on monitoring platforms in mining. Metso Outotec said it will offer Dynamox’s condition monitoring solution to its installed equipment base, and the partner agreement enables also third-party equipment monitoring, said the companies.  “Dynamox is an important addition to Metso Outotec’s partner ecosystem and is complementing our goal of developing and providing easy-to-use and sustainable digital solutions to our customers. We also see significant opportunities for further development in the field of AI and analytics,” says Tuomas Martinkallio, Vice President,… Read More Here

Komatsu, through its wholly owned subsidiary in Australia, has agreed to acquire Mine Site Technologies (MST), a provider of operational optimization platforms for underground mining that leverage communication devices and position tracking systems. “Empowering its customers growing use of digitalization and automation to improve safety and productivity, Komatsu plans to work with MST Global to help customers build digital ecosystems with real-time insights and alerts, voice and communication technologies, software solutions, robust network infrastructure and wireless and geospatial technologies,” the equipment supplier said in a release. With a global customer base,… Read More Here