Modern Mining August 2022

ELECTRA MINING PREVIEW

Sandvik looks to the ‘Future of Mining’ Sandvik Mining & Rock Solutions will have a 385 m 2 indoor stand at Electra Mining Africa and will introduce its ground-breaking battery electric vehicle (BEV) to the African mining market. In addition, Virtual Reality (VR) and simulator technology will be employed to give visitors to the stand a highly interactive experience. There will also be live demonstrations of Sandvik’s Eclipse fire suppression system, which can be fitted to the company’s drill rigs, trucks and loaders.

Natalie Santiero, marketing manager southern Africa at Sandvik Mining & Rock Solutions.

“ T he theme of our stand this year will be the ‘Future of Mining’ and will highlight the many ways in which Sandvik can assist cus tomers to move into the world of the fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR),” says Natalie Santiero, marketing manager for Southern Africa at Sandvik Mining & Rock Solutions. “We will also demonstrate how our products can contribute to a sustainable, Net Zero future. The mining industry is moving very rapidly along this path and we’re very much a part of the evolution.” The BEV to be introduced will be the 65-tonne payload TH665B. As the largest capacity battery electric truck, this is the flagship of Sandvik’s fast-expanding fleet of BEVs. The machine is at an advanced stage of development with factory testing completed and full-scale tri als on a gold mine in Australia due to start later this year. “The truck we’ll be displaying and launch ing at Electra Mining Africa is, in fact, the machine that will be trialled in Australia,” says Santiero. “Its appearance at the show will repre sent its African debut. We see the TH665B as being a critical development, given the determination of many mines to move towards emission-free equip ment. It is perfectly paired with our 18-tonne capacity battery electric LH581B underground loader, which was officially launched last year. A South African gold mine has already ordered the LH518B, with delivery expected shortly.” Sandvik Rock Processing will be showcasing the 800i series of connected cone crushers through a live demonstration of remotely connected units via the digital service SAM. The 800i series comes with Sandvik’s new generation Automation and

The Sandvik BEV to be introduced will be the 65-tonne payload TH665B.

Connectivity System (ACS), which continuously moni tors and optimises crusher performance and controls the complete lubrication system, increasing uptime and reliability. Training, of course, is a major challenge for many mines and Sandvik will have its Digital Driller™, a com pact and flexible solution to safely train operators on the company’s drills, at the show. It allows operators to learn their trade with a realistic simulator which optimises the transition to the real machine. Also in the digital space, Sandvik’s AutoMine® VR training simulator will be demonstrated. “This deliv ers a realistic AutoMine® experience for training,” says Santiero. “Visitors to the stand will be able to put on goggles and manipulate hand-held controls to experience and interact with a 3D virtual reality environment to master the complete process of the AutoMine® system start-up procedure, without the need for machine or production area allocations. “Newtrax, which has been part of the Sandvik family since 2019, will also have a presence on our stand,” says Santiero. “They will be showcasing the Collision Avoidance System and Operations Management under the OptiMine® banner.” 

The Digital Driller enables comprehensive operator training and learning of the rig’s control system in a realistic environment identical to the real rig.

The 800i series continuously monitors and optimises crusher performance and controls.

44  MODERN MINING  August 2022