Modern Mining April 2018

TECHNOLOGY

the opportunity for mines to employ a more diverse work force. “Traditionally, miners who work underground have had to be physically strong. Automation removes this requirement and could result in more women, for example, being attracted to careers in mining,” he notes. “It also opens the way for older people, who find an underground environment too demand- ing, to be employed.” Better asset utilisation is another benefit as machines are able to work over longer hours with less of the wear and tear associated with manual operation. “Typically, one needs fewer machines to do the same amount of work and those machines will generally have longer life­ spans,” Andrews observes. Andrews acknowledges that automation is often associated with job losses. “We think this fear is unfounded. One can even look upon automation as a form of job creation as it allows mining to go into areas that were previously regarded as unsafe and/or uneco- nomic. Nevertheless, it’s absolutely imperative to address these very genuine concerns and engage with employees and the unions when planning the introduction of automation.” Sandvik’s key offerings when it comes to the ‘digitalisation’ of mining are its OptiMine ® and AutoMine™ systems. OptiMine ® is a modular information management solution that offers a real-time view of underground mining opera- tions while AutoMine™ is a product family that covers all aspects of automation from tele-remote or autonomous operation of single pieces of equipment through to the autono- mous operation of entire fleets of trucks and loaders underground or drill rigs on surface. OptiMine ® modules include 3D Mine Visualizer, which can provide a three-dimen- sional model of an entire mine; Drill Plan Visualizer, an easy-to-use tool for the visuali- sation of longhole drilling and rock support; Scheduler, an efficient graphical scheduling

and resource allocation tool; Location Tracking, which provides accurate real-time location data for machines and equipment; and Monitoring, which updates equipment information auto- matically in real time. The AutoMine™ modules range from the entry-level Tele-Remote package through to Fleet, which is a highly advanced automation system for a fleet of underground loaders and trucks sharing the same automated production area. While Andrews is enthusiastic about Sandvik’s digitalisation offerings, he empha- sises that the group recognises that not all customers want or need the technology. “Interestingly, we recently launched our LH115L 5-tonne, low-profile loader, which we’re manufacturing here in South Africa in a new manufacturing facility. This is an ‘analog- type’ LHD which meets a clear market demand for simple, straightforward machines without too many ‘bells and whistles’. We understand that there are two markets to address and we have the machines and systems for both,” he concludes. Report by Arthur Tassell, photos courtesy of Sandvik

OptiMine® is a modular information management solution that offers a real- time view of underground mining operations.

April 2018  MODERN MINING  35