AUTOMATION
restricted to the simultaneous semi- autonomous control of up to six long-hole production drilling rigs by one operator using a remote-control console and pre-programmed drillhole parameters. One manufacturer referred to the development of autonomous jumbo drilling rigs for underground development and some types of production as ‘still the stuff of science fiction’. Although this is another target for such advanced developments, computer-assisted drilling for ‘intelligent’ jumbos provides many benifits without full automation.
Advance Australia Te development of semi-autonomous mobile mining equipment has reached its perhaps most advanced and certainly most extensive application in Australia, and especially in Western Australia iron-ore mining open pit truck fleets. As might be expected the investment has come from the largest owners, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and the Fortescue Metals Group. Such developments not only increase capacity to achieve economies of scale in the face of lower world commodity prices but also removes some personnel from repetitive tasks in a relatively inhospitable environment. One of the latest additions is
trials by BHP Billiton at the newly opened Jimbelbar mine, 40km east of Newman in the Pilbara region. BHP Billiton is in joint venture with the ITOCHU Corp and Mitsui & Co Ltd. Te company is also extending its trial of ‘autonomous’ trucks at Jimblebar to the neighbouring Wheelarra operations using six Caterpillar 793-F trucks in four pits. Jimblebar has been trialling six of the Caterpillar 793-F trucks since August 2013, with a second Jimblebar circuit commencing in mid-2014. Control of the Cat haul trucks is
provided within Caterpillar’s MineStar
system that can integrate autonomous, semi-autonomous and remote-control operation of mobile plant seamlessly into the mine management computer software. Caterpillar MineStar Command programmes are also available for dozers and, underground, for longwall mining as well as loading and hauling by LHD vehicles. BHP Billiton is committed to pursuing mature and proven technology options that demonstrate value to the business. It continued: “Te use of autonomous haul trucks has the potential to introduce safety benefits by removing people for potentially hazardous environments; increasing predictability and productivity of haulage operations, providing new employment and training opportunities for our people and reducing the labour intensity of future mining operations.” Despite its high investment in
such trucks, BHP Billiton has not yet committed itself to such technology, pending the results of the trials In Chile national copper-mining operation Codelco was the first to order Komatsu driverless haul trucks in 2008 with 11 units for its Gabriella Mistral (‘Gaby’) mine. However, after one truck hit a loader and another a pile of waste in the first year of operation, the trucks were temporarily replaced by manned operation.
One of BHP Billiton’s driverless Cat 793F haul trucks used in its Pilbara region iron ore mines.
I
n Australia Mount Arthur opencast coal mine in New South Wales is reported to be scheduling a trial of driverless haul trucks despite local opposition over workforce calculations within the controlling environmental assessment, it is claimed. Several other major mines owned by large mining companies there are testing various levels of automation for haulage and rock- drilling systems.
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