Modern Mining October 2019

TECHNOLOGY

in the process of adopting OptiMine® at BMM, making it one of two mines in South Africa to use the system. The other is a surface coal mine in Mpumalanga. Sandvik, of course, provides full support and training for all its sys- tems and equipment and an exciting recent development has been the introduction of an operator training simulator for the DD422i and some of its sister machines. “It is highly mobile as it weighs less than 50 kg and has a wheeled carrying case, so we can easily take it to our clients on site,” Pule says. “It has the same ‘dash- board’ and utilises the same software as the rigs themselves, so it provides a totally realistic experience.” Andre Blom, acting Business Line Manager Surface Drills for Sandvik

Mining and Rock Technology Southern Africa, points out that the intelligent features of Sandvik’s underground drills are also present on its i-series surface rigs. “Mine owners and drilling contractors are really keen on the new technology,” he states. “Not all users require full automation so we scale the automation features to their needs but all these new machines can be operated remotely using the AutoMine® Surface Drilling package, which allows a single operator in a control cabin to operate several machines simultaneously.” One of the newest i-series rigs to be deployed in South Africa is the Leopard™ DI650i, which was launched globally at last year’s Electra Mining Africa show in Johannesburg. The first unit was bought by mining contractor Moolmans for use at VZI’s Gamsberg open-pit mine near Aggeneys, where it is reportedly acquitting itself very well. According to Blom, it is a firm favourite with drill operators who vie with each other to use it. The DI650i is a down-the-hole (DTH) drill rig designed for high-capacity production drilling appli- cations in surface mining, as well as large-scale quarry applications. Pipe sizes range from 89 to 140 mm, depending on the size of the hammer, while the maximum hole depth is 53,6 m when utilising the carousel option with pipe sizes from 89 to 102 mm. The DI650i is available – like all the i-series rigs – with a host of intelligent on-board options which include TIM3D drill navigation with wireless transfer, fleet monitoring through the My Sandvik service, and full cycle drilling automatics, which merges function- alities such as uncoupling, feed auto aligning and feed auto positioning into a single efficient sequence. Pule and Blom both agree that automation will not lead to job losses but can, in fact, have precisely the opposite effect, as it contributes to the overall health of the mining sector by cutting costs and enhancing

the successful commencement of sublevel caving at Syama on time and on budget in December 2018. A world first is the use of autonomous trucks to haul ore to surface. “The Syama project is the most advanced of its type in the world. Newmines planned in the Southern African region, such as Venetia Underground, the Platreef underground mine near Mokopane, the Waterberg PGM project north of Mokopane and the Kamoa/Kakula copper project in the DRC, are all pro- jected to be highly mechanised and automated as well,” says McCoy. Apart from economics, a key driver of the move to automation, says McCoy, is safety. “Autonomous operation removes operators from dangerous areas and generally reduces the number of workers under- ground, as machines can be operated from control centres on surface. It cannot be applied in all mining environments but where it is applicable it can have a dramatic impact on safety performance.” Saltiel Pule, Business Line Manager Underground Drills for Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology Southern Africa, notes that digitalisation in mining encompasses a range of options, not all of which involve full automation of the type being pioneered by mines such as Syama. “We have a range of ‘intelli- gent’ rigs, for example, which still have operators but that nevertheless offer a range of automatic drilling functions which allow significantly improved produc- tivity and reduced costs. Vedanta Zinc International (VZI)’s Black Mountain Mining (BMM) operation in the Northern Cape, to take one instance, uses our ‘new generation’ DD422i drill rig, which can drill part of the face automatically.” BMM’s mining operation comprises two under­ ground operations – Deeps and Swartberg – producing mainly zinc and lead and the associ- ated flagship Gamsberg operation. VZI is currently

Another view of the Syama Automation Control Centre. According to Resolute, Syama has the most advanced mining automation system in the world.

32  MODERN MINING  October 2019