Australian Mining - Oct 2017

TECHNOLOGY AIMEX REVIEW VOLUME 109/9 | OCTOBER 2017

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COMMENT

BEN CREAGH

Ben.Creagh@primecreative.com.au

THE IMPORTANCE OF INTEGRATION WILL THE INTEGRATION OF MINING TECHNOLOGY AND PROCESSES BE THE NEXT MAJOR THEME TO DEVELOP?

W

e have, by now, all heard about how crucial collaboration is to the future of mining.

The industry has listened to the advice around collaboration and, as industry body Austmine puts it in this edition, a paradigm shift has started to emerge.

Another theme that has been mentioned as being vital to the industry’s future, and one that also links to collaboration, is integration.

The need for integration is important to mining in several areas. In some of these – like human resources – there is evidence that integration is working, while in others – like technology – it remains a work in progress in the eyes of industry professionals.

We explore many current and future aspects of integration in this edition.

For example, the integration of Indigenous Australians into mining operations continues to gather momentum and has been a success story for many leading miners over the past decade.

Indigenous employment has risen significantly. Mining companies are also joining forces with communities to create Indigenous-based mining services groups.

These stories are heartening for regions, such as the Pilbara and North Queensland, and build the diversity initiatives that dominate the direction of human resources departments nowadays.

Then there’s the technology sector that has become prominent in mining. A variety of technology vendors have emerged in mining, offering state-of-the-art software or solutions to enhance operations for their users.

These solutions, however, remain somewhat siloed and often don’t allow each

MANAGING DIRECTOR JOHN MURPHY EDITOR BEN CREAGH Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: ben.creagh@primecreative.com.au JOURNALIST SHARON MASIGE Tel: (02) 9439 7227 Email: sharon.masige@primecreative.com.au CLIENT SUCCESS MANAGER NATASHA SHEKAR Tel: (02) 9439 7227 Email: natasha.shekar@primecreative.com.au

part of an operation to work together in a unified way as they should.

But as RPM Global CEO Richard Mathews explained (p22), this issue has been identified by the industry and some of its major players are collaborating (that word again) to bring integration to technological applications like software.

RPM Global is working with the likes of BHP, Komatsu, Caterpillar and Schneider Electric to introduce standard messaging formats to mining.

That can only be a positive development, and one that will release more operational efficiencies in the coming years.

Meanwhile, it’s worth mentioning in this issue: what a difference a month can make in the mining industry.

Here I was last month spruiking the buoyancy of the gold sector in Western Australia. Fast forward a few weeks and the sector is up in arms about the WA Government’s plan to increase the gold royalty rate in the state by 50 per cent.

Whether this move will cost jobs and profits or not is something only time has the answer for. It is, however, another reminder of how volatile and unpredictable the mining industry can be.

In this edition of Australian Mining, we review the recent Asia Pacific’s International Mining Exhibition (AIMEX) in Sydney, including feedback from mining suppliers on the state of the industry.

While on major mining events, this issue also previews the upcoming International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne.

This edition looks at how mining companies have integrated Indigenous communities into their operations over the past decade, with employment improving substantially in a number of regions around the country.

We also review the materials handling sector of mining in a promotional feature on this important area of the industry.

And as usual, we review the latest mining technology and equipment in our regular Product Showcase spread.

Ben Creagh Editor

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AUSTRALIANMINING

FRONT COVER

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OCTOBER 2017

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CONTENTS

PROFILE EMR CAPITAL’S OWEN HEGARTY The mining stalwart takes a golden path

IMARC

14-15

32 A LEADING MINING CONFERENCE A preview of this year’s event in Melbourne

AIMEX

WEAR RESISTANCE

16-18

33

MINING’S NEW NORMAL A review of this year’s event in Sydney

RIMCO’S KEY DEVELOPMENTS The company’s high wear polyurethanes

COMMUNITY RELATIONS MINING AND INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS The industry gives back to Indigenous communities

SOFTWARE

20-21

34 MICROMINE’S RELATIONSHIP FOCUS The software developer continues its growth

DIGITAL MINING INTEGRATING A DIGITAL FUTURE RPM Global urges the industry to work together

AUTOMATION

22

35 DRONES CHANGE THE GAME Insitu Pacific expands its mining offering

TRACKING THE TRENDS OPTIMISING BUSINESS MODELS The next key trend affecting mining

MAINTENANCE

24

36

CRC CATERS FOR MINING A rich vein of mining solutions

EFFICIENCY

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK VANADIUM RISES FROM THE SHADOWS Is vanadium the next battery metal in the spotlight?

26-27

37 EVONIK’S INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY Improving fuel efficiency and productivity

MINING EQUIPMENT

TYRE MANAGEMENT

28-29

38-39

ADDING VALUE IN MINING Kal Tire builds its Australian presence

THE ROLE OF MAINTENANCE Dingo Australia provides advice for miners

INTERVIEW

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

30-31

40-51 MATERIALS HANDLING A review of the sector’s key players

DIGITALISATION IN THE AGGREGATES INDUSTRY Metso’s Giuseppe Campenelli discusses its impact

REGULARS

INDUSTRY COMMENT 8

NEWS 10-12 AUSTRALIANMINING

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INDUSTRY COMMENT

RE-THINKING MINING’S PARADIGM THE TEAM AT INDUSTRY BODY, AUSTMINE, DISCUSSES THE POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS IT HAS OBSERVED IN MINING OVER THE PAST YEAR.

T

here is an exciting shift happening in the mining industry which, over the last 12 months, has resulted in changes in attitudes, outlook and thinking.

Talk of industry collaboration has moved from concept to a reality.

New business models are being discussed that challenge traditional ownership structures and empower greater community economic benefit.

The concept of a hackathon to solve real problems is becoming an accepted norm, and through this, young people are becoming energised by mining, or rather, mining is becoming energised by young people.

Our once very inward looking industry, is looking out and recognising an urgent need to fundamentally change how we do things.

Austmine’s Mining Collaboration Laboratories (Co-Labs), sponsored

by METS Ignited and Wipro, identified a simmering frustration with the slowness of response to current realities.

They also confirmed the great willingness of people to work together to solve some of the mining’s greatest challenges.

The Co-Labs focused our attention on a new way of thinking, to achieve not just a step change, but a great leap, to ensure our industry is sustainable, competitive and relevant, for many years into the future.

We concluded that in order for us to cross this chasm, we need to go back to fundamentals and re-frame how we view the mining lifecycle.

Re-framing how we view mining

The mining lifecycle is currently thought about in a very linear fashion, clearly segmented into phases which are often viewed as discrete businesses.

EXPLORATION

FEASIBILITY STUDY

THE MINING LIFECYCLE IS CURRENTLY THOUGHT ABOUT IN A VERY LINEAR FASHION, CLEARLY SEGMENTED INTO PHASES WHICH ARE OFTEN VIEWED AS DISCRETE BUSINESSES.” This is evidenced by not only how mining projects develop from a financing perspective, but the often decoupling of the economic and operational value-add, as one phase flows into the other.

METS companies currently provide solutions to one or more of these phases, with the majority working in operations.

Without a holistic view of the project, products and services can often be rendered for siloed functions, rather than being fully leveraged as part of an end-to-end vision, thus missing opportunities for efficiencies, scalability and strategic application.

The traditional mining lifecycle also focuses on the inputs into the process versus goal-orientated results. It is this shift to an outcomes-centric mining lifecycle that can truly change our thinking and embed a new paradigm into the industry.

The mining lifecycle of this new paradigm looks quite different and focuses on outcomes, seeks to breakdown siloes, ensures the community is front of centre and takes into account the changing nature of the mining industry, by recognising the important role of innovation.

The concepts are not new and are already widely discussed as what the industry is striving to achieve.

Therefore, it is a true re-framing of our thinking that provides us with a new view and strategically links important outcomes to drive sustainable benefit.

However, what does this shift mean in real terms for the industry?

Sustain

Sustainability must be the underlying principle of any mining project and is conceived even before the first stake goes into the earth.

This includes reducing the

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

OPERATIONS

footprint of the mine both in size and scale, easing the strain on associated resources such as energy and water, and community engagement being integrated from the beginning.

The current requirement of design for closure becomes design for benefit, which naturally flows from a sustainability ethos.

The application of technology is certainly a core component of sustainability and the move towards micro-mining and the use of precision-drilling and small mobile equipment, along with smaller, modular, fixed plant equipment, will allow operators to mine deeper and in a more targeted way than ever before.

Connect

Connect is about bringing together people, processes and technology to deliver the next generation mine.

Allowing all involved parties to have a perspective on the entire value chain, and the optimising of that, as opposed to parts of the whole, will allow full connectivity and drive continual innovation.

Connecting also means leveraging digital technologies in the form of advanced communications, automation, smart equipment and data.

The need for open source systems and platform infrastructure is greater than it has ever been, and METS technology, communications infrastructure, software and hardware providers will deliver this shift, thereby significantly reducing the risk of new technology integration.

Innovate

Innovation is moving in an exciting direction with a focus less on point

CLOSURE AND REMEDIATION

AUSTRALIANMINING

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SUSTAIN

OCTOBER 2017

CONNECT

solutions and more on a strategic, long term approach.

The application of new technologies, including in the areas of automation, data analytics and machine learning, is becoming more prevalent in operations large and small.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is truly starting to revolutionise our industry and how we work.

Old notions of business models must be deconstructed and new formats embraced, that encourage risk-sharing and a desire for the other party to succeed.

These new business models will be underpinned by an increased openness between parties, from the beginning of a working relationship through to its natural conclusion, with METS and miners working as joint partners, not client and service providers.

Benefit

The most important element is the long-term benefit from not only a project, but the mining industry itself.

If all previous phases of a mining lifecycle have been evolved to the new paradigm, then the benefit stage will come naturally and organically.

The concept of closure will cease to exist, as the mine will simply evolve into a community asset that continues to contribute beyond its functioning as a mine site.

The ultimate benefit provided by the mining industry goes far beyond the obvious, allowing us to power our homes, hold a smartphone in our hands, or drive our electric vehicles.

Providing the tangible benefit to all industry stakeholders is where we stand most to improve and most to gain. AM

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NEWS

THE LATEST MINING NEWS AND SAFETY AUSTRALIAN MINING PRESENTS THE LATEST NEWS AND SAFETY AFFECTING YOU FROM THE BOARDROOM TO THE MINE AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN. VISIT WWW.AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING. CATERPILLAR DEVELOPS BATTERY ELECTRIC LHD

THE CAT PROOF OF CONCEPT

Caterpillar’s Underground Mining group has developed a proof-of-concept battery electric LHD (load, haul, dump machine) that it is testing at a mine site in Canada.

The initial build and validation testing of this R1300G test unit began in early 2017 at the Caterpillar Peoria Proving Grounds. It will continue through the fourth quarter and into 2018 at the Canadian mine.

The test machine is a proof-of-concept for packaging and performance of a lithiumbased energy storage solution Caterpillar plans to bring to the LHD market.

Its R1300G proof-of-concept does not represent a final design that will go to market, Cat explained. After testing, Cat plans to launch a full-fledged new product introduction program that follows a more in-depth, rigorous design and validation

process.

“Our customers are planning for deeper mines with very high ambient rock temperatures where ventilation costs are pivotal to making the mine viable,” Jay Armburger, product manager with responsibility for underground technology, said.

“One means of reducing ventilation demand is through electrification of the mining equipment.”

With over 250 patents in the electric drive and energy storage fields, and products like the D7E dozer, F-Series asphalt pavers, 794 AC and 795F AC large mining trucks, the 988K XE wheel loader, and even microgrid technology, Caterpillar has fully integrated electric drive train technology and components to offer underground machines.

The program started with a full production study and data analysis of the diesel machine to set a baseline.

Once this was accomplished, the transformation of the R1300G to a battery electric proof-of-concept began.

The modifications included removing the engine, transmission and torque converter then reconfiguring the engine end frame to accommodate the battery boxes and electric motors.

This resulted in a battery electric powertrain driving a conventional and mechanical drivetrain (drive shafts and axles).

Cat’s R1300G proof-of-concept is an older machine without the benefit of efficient electro-hydraulics.

As a result, it will drive worst case scenario loads on the batteries. The design of the new loader will enhance battery life using load-sensing hydraulics driven by piston pumps, such as those on the new Cat R1700.

The less refined proof-of-concept machine will yield solid understanding of heat generation and cooling needs, performance criteria, space claim and safety considerations in the day-to-day operation of the machine.

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BHP ADDS 1000 WOMEN TO WORKFORCE

PEABODY SELLS MAJORITY OF BURTON COAL MINE

BHP’s workforce has grown to be more than 20 per cent female.

The company, which set an ambitious target of making half of its workforce women by 2025, increased its female representation by 2.9 per cent in the 2017 financial year, just below a 3 per cent goal.

BHP chief executive Andrew McKenzie said the company hired 1000 more women in fiscal 2017, lifting its female presence to more than 20 per cent.

The company also halved its female turnover rate during the financial year, from 8.4 per cent higher than men the previous year to 4.7 per cent.

“These numbers are important. If we achieve balance in and balance out then we can move towards our goal more quickly,” McKenzie said.

“This year the number of female leaders rose to 18 per cent. There are 100 more female leaders in our company today than a year ago. It makes a noticeable difference to how we make decisions and how it feels to work in our teams.”

McKenzie reinforced the strong commercial reasons for targeting diversity, including a safer, more innovative and productive workforce.

He said BHP’s most diverse sites outperform the company average on many measures, such as lower injury rates, and greater adherence to work plans and production targets.

“There’s also a moral imperative for diversity. As a father, I believe my children should be able to succeed because of their skills and achievements – the fact that they are women should not make a difference,” McKenzie said.

“An increase in the participation of women will also make a difference that benefits the communities in which we operate.”

Peabody Energy has secured a deal to sell the majority of its Burton coal mine in Queensland to the Lenton joint venture for $US11 million ($13.7 million).

The Lenton joint venture – of which New Hope Coal owns a 90 per cent interest – controls mining tenements that adjoin the Burton coal operation.

The mine, located in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, was placed in care and maintenance in December last year.

Peabody reduced production at the mine in 2014 due to falling commodity prices.

At the time, the company said Burton was its highest unit-cost operation and production levels were not sustainable in the current market environment.

Production levels were reduced to around one million tonnes per year by the company.

The sale of the mine, which includes related infrastructure, is subject to a number of regulatory approvals and is set to be complete in the first half of 2018.

Peabody came out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year after a turnaround in the coal marketplace.

The American coal company has a renewed focus on “reducing debt, targeting high-return investments and returning cash to shareholders over time”.

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OCTOBER 2017

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NEWS

PM TURNBULL OFFERS $100M FOR THE NEXT PHASE OF MINERAL EXPLORATION Image credit: 360b/Shutterstock.com AUSTRALIAN PM MALCOLM TURNBULL

The Australian Government plans to revive greenfields exploration through a new scheme.

The Malcolm Turnbull-led LiberalNational Coalition has unveiled a $100 million initiative to secure additional investment in greenfields exploration and drive the next wave of mineral discoveries.

The Junior Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (JMETC) replaces

the government’s Exploration Development Incentive (EDI) scheme, which it announced would be scrapped in May. According to the Australian Government, the new scheme will provide tax incentives for exploration companies, encouraging the investment and risk taking needed to underpin the future of the resources industry.

Turnbull said the JMETC would allow the tax losses in greenfield exploration companies to be distributed as a credit to Australian resident shareholders.

“Everything my government is doing is focused on promoting investment and driving economic activity,” Turnbull said.

“These tax incentives will encourage junior explorers to take risks and to have a go at discovering the next large-scale mineral deposit.

“We want to back enterprise. We want to turnaround the greenfields minerals exploration expenditure that have declined by almost 70 per cent over the past five years.”

Under the scheme, Australian resident investors of junior explorer companies will receive a tax credit where the exploration company chooses to give up a portion of their losses relating to their greenfields exploration expenditure in an income year.

The ability to immediately distribute tax credits to investors will make investing in an explorer more attractive and encourage investment in small exploration companies undertaking greenfields mineral exploration in Australia.

Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) chief executive officer Simon Bennison described

MACA SECURES PILGANGOORA OPEN PIT MINING CONTRACT

POWER TO STEP DOWN AS FORTESCUE CEO

Pilbara Minerals has awarded the open pit mining contract for its Pilgangoora lithiumtantalum project in Western Australia to MACA. The contract scope will see MACA provide drill and blast, and load and haul services at the operation, which is around 120km from Port Hedland.

It is based on a mining rate of around 8 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) for production of 2Mtpa to meet the ore feed requirements of stage one of Pilgangoora’s development.

MACA mobilised to the site soon after the announcement, with pre-stripping of the main Pilgangoora deposit to be begin in November.

Mining activities will ramp up for the rest of the year and into next year to meet Pilbara Minerals’ timetable to launch shipments of spodumene concentrate to its Chinese customers in the second quarter of 2018.

Pilbara Minerals managing director Ken Brinsden said awarding the open pit mining contract was a key milestone for the project as site-based activities continued to ramp up.

“The site is already a hive of activity, and this will only continue toincrease in the coming weeks following the award of this pivotal contract as the MACA mining team begin to mobilise to site,” Brinsden said.

“This contract will employ around 70 personnel and will require the mobilisation of an extensive mining fleet comprising two hydraulic excavators, seven large capacity haulage trucks, drill rigs and numerous items of support equipment.”

The contract has been signed for two years, but also includes three one-year options for Pilbara Minerals to extend the agreement.

MACA director Geoff Baker said the company was excited to have the opportunity to participate in the project and continue its long-term mining presence in the Pilbara.

“We look forward to being part of the expanding lithium industry and assisting the team at Pilbara to deliver the Pilgangoora project,” Baker said.

The stage one open pit mining contract follows the award of other key contracts at Pilgangoora, including for bulk civil earthworks, camp expansion and camp services.

AUSTRALIANMINING

the four-year JMETC scheme as “visionary”.

“The JMETC is a tax credit arrangement which allows mineral exploration companies (with no mining income) to renounce and pass future tax deductions (losses) to their Australian resident investors,” Bennison said.

“The JMETC is a critical investment in Australia`s future, particularly as contemporary research in relation to existing mines indicates that there will be significant reductions in production and government revenue streams as those mines reach the end of their current lives. They need to be replenished by new discoveries as soon as possible.”

Bennison said tax credits under the JMETC would be available to new raisings of capital, similar to the model used in Canada.

“The credit to investors will represent 30 per cent of the eligible greenfield mineral exploration expenditure incurred, and renounced by the company. This is an extremely attractive arrangement which should result in more investors entering the equity market,” Bennison said.

“The rewards are even greater for those investors in successful exploration companies which subsequently develop a new mine.”

12

FORTESCUE OPERATIONS IN THE PILBARA

Nev Power’s tenure as chief executive officer of Fortescue Metals Group will come to an end in February next year.

Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest announced in September that Power would complete his term as CEO on February 16 2018 – almost seven years after he started in the role.

Forrest commented: “Nev has executed his duties to the highest degree and met or exceeded the often unreasonable standards set by his board.

“We could not be more pleased with his stewardship and respect his decision that it is time for the next chapter of Fortescue to begin.

“This is consistent with our long term succession plan and we both share great confidence in the quality of internal and external candidates to continue Fortescue’s legacy.”

Power took over from Forrest as Fortescue’s CEO. Forrest and Power are the only executives to hold the position in the iron ore miner’s 15-year history.

According to Fortescue, the company has more than quadrupled its iron ore production to 170 million tonnes per annum since Power was appointed as CEO in July 2011.

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AIMEX

NAVIGATING THE MINING INDUSTRY’S ‘NEW NORMAL’ THE ASIA PACIFIC’S INTERNATIONAL MINING EXHIBITION (AIMEX) RETURNED TO SYDNEY FOR ANOTHER YEAR, THIS TIME WITH A NEW FUTURE OF MINING CONFERENCE. SHARON MASIGE REPORTS.

T

he Asia Pacific’s International Mining Exhibition (AIMEX) kicked off once again in Sydney, holding panel discussions at its new Future of Mining Conference.

More than 30 industry experts across the three days discussed topics on automation, technological advancements in drilling and blasting and occupational health and safety.

The new normal

One of the panel discussions, titled Championing technology and innovation in the ‘new normal’ environment, addressed how miners can best implement technologies to their advantage.

Moderated by Austmine CEO Christine Gibbs-Stewart, the panel included head of Telstra Mining Services, Jeannette McGill; Mining3 CEO, Paul Lever; executive general manager operations excellence at Centennial Coal, Steve Burgess; and research director for hard rock mining at CSIRO, Dr Ewan Sellers.

The panel opened by defining what the ‘new normal’ is for the mining industry.

Lever said it was broader than the concept of reducing costs and improving productivity.

“It's focused around where we’re going to find deposits – deeper deposits – of the future and where the money’s going to come from to support funding of those deposits,” he said.

Another facet of this new normal Lever mentioned is the growing emphasis on corporate social responsibility and how companies can better address environmental and social concerns.

“The new normal for mining is not just doing what we’re doing today better, but fundamentally changing what we do,” he said.

“It is more about responding to those pressures rather than saying ‘How do I take a big mine and make it faster, more productive and more cost effective?’ I think those paradigms are what we’re fundamentally changing.”

Burgess, however, said volatility and complexity are part of the new normal.

“It’s no longer about growth,” he said. “I think the new normal is about operational effectiveness and for me, operational effectiveness is about the combination of people skills with the technology that is before us.

“If we look at what that means for us as an operator today, it means more than just automated machinery and real-time monitoring – it is about being fully connected on mine sites.”

How to address the new normal

Lever said Australia has built a strong history of investment from government, industry and academic institutions to support the mining industry over the past 20-30 years.

He said this created industry experts that have reinforced the idea that technology and innovation drive mining’s competitive advantage.

Lever added that the level of investment in Australia has also boosted the amount of overseas companies investing in their own mining industries.

“When other countries look at where mining innovation is happening, they look at Australia and many of them are looking at how they can take a chunk of that,” he said.

“Mining related countries are starting to invest significant amounts of money into funding academic institutions, collaborative ventures etcetera, to see if they can get a share of that pie.”

While the continued investment in the mining industry is one of the biggest ways to support this ‘new normal’, Sellers highlighted the importance of sourcing innovation expertise from different fields, such as education.

“We need to look at encouraging people from different parts of the education sphere to link into mining innovation and keep bringing those ideas to develop new technologies,” Sellers said But with all of this emphasis on AUSTRALIANMINING

AIMEX ATTRACTED ALMOST 5000 PEOPLE

innovation, McGill said companies should not just get technology for the sake of having technology. Instead, they should understand how this technology will affect the overall organisation.

“It’s around being able to take the technology, understand what impact it’s going to have on the people, and how it will affect the fundamental process of the organisation,” she said.

“To fast track the deployment of innovation technology, companies need to take a step back and say, ‘What is the impact this innovation’s going it have on my fundamental business process?’ ‘Is it going to speed up the process or am I going to bring in fresh constraints into my mining cycle?’”

The turnout

Nearly 5000 attendees descended upon the Sydney Showground for AIMEX, which featured more than 350 companies, including Kal Tire, Mobil Oil Australia, ESS Engineering and Insitu Pacific.

There were five pavilions in the showground designed for

16

OCTOBER 2017

international exhibitors from China, Korea, France, Germany and the United States, with several other countries also showcasing their wares, including Russia, Canada and Spain.

Adhesives company Loctite held demonstrations on its polymer composites, a cheaper alternative to replacing ceramic tiling. The adhesives absorb impact and cope with sliding abrasion in fixed plant mine sites. In the coal industry, they are suitable for centrifuge doors, discharge chutes, feed chutes and raw coal areas.

“You preserve the parent material because the cost to replace or repair is extremely expensive,” Siva Ayadurai, maintenance, repair, operations (MRO) technical support for regional ANZ, told Australian Mining. “Not only that, it saves on downtime and you can apply it between shuts.”

Ayadurai added that the company received a good response from attendees at the event, with several queries regarding their product range. AM

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AIMEX

SUPPLIERS SOAK UP IMPROVING MARKET CONDITIONS IN MINING AUSTRALIAN MINING INVESTIGATES HOW THE TURNAROUND IN MARKET CONDITIONS HAS IMPACTED RESOURCES SUPPLIERS AROUND THE COUNTRY.

A

IMEX in 2017 revealed that resources industry suppliers are enjoying the same lift in optimism as the broader Australian mining industry.

That optimism has not only grown as the year has progressed, but also extends to the future, with Global Pumps sales director Darren Seeley saying the company is preparing for what it has labelled the “2018 rush”.

“It is something we have come up with because we do a lot with the engineering companies and consulting firms. We are finding they are putting on extra staff to deal with this extra workload,” Seeley told Australian Mining.

“What we are finding is that the starting dates of a lot of new projects is November or December this year or early next year.

“So, we are starting to term next year as the 2018 rush because it seems like everyone that is restaffing is trying to get in first to get the best deal.”

Global Pumps, which has about half of its business in mining, was not severely hit by the industry downturn,

Seeley explained.

Although, the pumps supplier did see a fall in activity due to the lack of new mines starting, as well as many going into care and maintenance.

“If you are in the sole business of supplying to new mines then you would have been wiped out overnight,” Seeley said.

“But we’re not – we are in the business of solving existing applications, as well as the new mines and the restarts.”

Mobil Oil Australia has experienced a lift in activity across the country’s mining regions, but particularly in the east coast coal sector.

Matthew Ayres, Mobil Oil Australia business consultant – industrial and CVL, said it was not only the miners, but also the contractors that were buoyant.

For Mobil, this has also meant a change in approach to how it works with its mining clients.

“What we see now is much more demand for a total package in terms of services,” Ayres said.

“We see mining companies looking for lower costs wherever they can get

them, in particular, we have seen a push towards extending oil drains in mobile fleet and fixed plant as well.

“They are trying to get more life out of the oil, which reduces the cost of the oil and reduces the waste involved. If you are changing the oil less then you are interacting less with the machinery so there is a safety benefit there as well.”

The ability to reduce downtime is another part of the service miners are demanding, Ayres added.

“Any extension in the oil life has a big impact on the operating costs of a mine site or any operation, mobile fleet included,” Ayres said. “We are also seeing a big push towards energy efficiency products.”

MTG’s expansion into the mining industry has been well timed to support the market improvement.

The Spanish-headquartered company, which manufacturers teeth, adapters, shrouds and locking devices for machinery, has historically focused on supplying the construction industry.

It, however, moved into light mining applications in recent years, and has ambitions to expand further

THE MOBIL OIL AUSTRALIA STAND AT AIMEX

AUSTRALIANMINING

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into heavy mining.

Robert Moloney, MTG’s technical services and reliability engineer in Australia, said the move into light mining had been successful.

“We have the StarMet system, which has been a good catalyst for us in Australia to get us into mine sites, get us runs on the board and get us trust from the customers to then launch our bigger products,” Moloney said.

MTG has focused on providing Australian mining companies with an agile service, Moloney added, with its ability to react quickly standing out in a competitive marketplace.

“We are not as big as some of the other GET (ground engaging tools) suppliers, but that gives us the ability to adapt and change, acknowledge the feedback, but also make changes quicker,” Moloney said.

“If we go to market and test, and have issues, we are able to make quick changes for the customers.”

An agile, hands on approach for the mining industry also continues to be effective for air filtration systems manufacturer, Breathe Safe.

This type of service even allows the company to reduce costs for its clients, Breathe Safe director Nick Johnstone explained.

“Cost is a big part of the equation for us and we are the cheapest (air filtration system supplier) on the market,” Johnstone said.

“We are the cheapest because we design, build, tool, manufacture and install ourselves. I still go to sites to do the installs and that is the only way we can get either positive or negative feedback on our products.”

The Breathe Safe service has now expanded to include modern technologies that are becoming commonplace in the industry, Johnstone added.

“We have taken it one step further by adding remote monitoring to our products,” he said.

“Without having the remote monitoring I wouldn’t be able to educate I couldn’t star educating the actual operations team.

“Now I’m giving them regular reports on the activities.” AM

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COMMUNITY RELATIONS

HOW MINING SUPPORTS INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS WITH AN ESTIMATED 60 PER CENT OF AUSTRALIAN MINES LOCATED NEAR INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES, HOW DOES THIS TRANSLATE INTO BENEFITS FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE? SHARON MASIGE WRITES.

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esearch from the Asia and Pacific Policy Studies Centre found the number of Indigenous Australians working in the mining industry has more than doubled since the 1990s – rising from “the hundreds” to more than 7000 by 2011.

This 2011 surge has been attributed to the increase of Indigenous Land Use Agreements between mining companies and Indigenous communities, which allow negotiations over several native title factors, such as compensation, protection of cultural sites and future acts.

The study also found higher employment rates for Indigenous Australians in regions with mining activity.

“In remote areas, the overall Indigenous employment rate in mining areas was four percentage points higher than in non-mining areas (43 per cent compared with 39 per cent), and the rate of full-time employment was five percentage points higher,” the study said.

“In non-remote areas, there was an even more marked difference, with 55 per cent of Indigenous people in employment (compared with 48 per cent in non-mining areas), and the full-time employment rate in

mining areas was seven percentage points higher.”

But it is not just in employment that mining companies support Indigenous Australians, with various school programs, scholarships and training opportunities provided aswell.

The majors have often implemented these strategies, such as Rio Tinto’s Indigenous Scholarship Program for those in tertiary studies and Fortescue Metals Group’s Jawun program, which places skilled workers into Indigenous organisations to support Indigenous leaders in reaching their own development goals.

And better yet, in August this year, an Indigenous-owned mine and training centre was opened in the Northern Territory. Established by Gumatj Corporation in the Northeast Arnham Land – with support from Rio Tinto – the Gulkula Regional Training Centre and Gulkula bauxite mining operation is set to bring economic benefits for the local Yolngu people. It is 100 per cent owned by the Gumatj clan.

BHP’s approach to supporting Indigenous Australians BHP completed its fifth Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) for 2017-2020, designed to

AUSTRALIANMINING

“acknowledge and respect the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people”, by contributing to their “sustainable, long term economic empowerment and social and cultural wellbeing”.

WA iron ore asset president Edgar Basto told Australian Mining that at the end of the previous RAP in 2016, the company employed 950 Aboriginal and Torres Islander people across its Australian businesses, with several others employed through its contractors.

He also commented on the other benefits of its previous RAP. “Around 300 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander apprentices and trainees have been employed over the life time of our most recent RAP,” Basto said.

“Around $350 million worth of contracts have been awarded to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business between 2013 and 2015.

Over 100 Indigenous Tertiary scholarships have been awarded since 2013 and more than 22,000 Australian-based employees were trained in cultural competency.”

Basto reinforced the importance of mining companies providing employment opportunities to Indigenous Australians.

“We know that by providing sustainable opportunities in

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education, employment and business for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the benefits flow both ways,” he said.

“Many of our operations are located on or near traditional Indigenous lands and the long-term nature of our operations allow us to establish long lasting relationships with the Indigenous communities in which we operate and for those neighbouring our operations.

“We have agreements with Traditional Owner groups across Australia in relation to ensuring there is access to education, training and employment programs so Traditional Owners have the capacity to participate in direct employment opportunities with the business.”

BHP has noticed a number of benefits from the opportunities the company has offered Indigenous people.

“What we have seen is that employment opportunities with BHP often create a significant increase in income for Indigenous Australians,” he said. “This has a positive impact on families and we hear many stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have been empowered to purchase their first home or support their families in other ways.

“We also believe that our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees are role models for others in their families and communities and we believe that their employment creates a ripple effect for the next generation.”

This year, BHP announced plans to double the number of apprenticeships and traineeships it will provide in 2018 – taking on 200 more positions as it expands

COMMUNITY RELATIONS

its training program. Most of the intake will go to young people in the Pilbara, with a key target to award one in five of them to Indigenous people.

“Our 2018 campaign is still under recruitment but I am excited that the increase in the apprentice and trainee intake will create further opportunities for Indigenous people in the Pilbara,” Basto said.

Adding contractors to the mix

Mining contractors have also maintained a strong position when it comes to Indigenous employment.

Western Australian-based contractor NEMMS (Nyiyaparli Engineering Mine Maintenance Service) JV – which is 50 per cent Indigenous owned – was founded nearly five years ago and undertakes both civil and mining works.

NEMMS JV CEO Clinton told Australian Mining one of its main focuses was linking the outcomes of Indigenous communities with their client’s outcomes. As a result, in the first two years of the company’s development, it delivered three houses to displaced elders during the stolen generation, returning them back to their homeland.

In the mining sector, the company began with an iron ore contract across Roy Hill’s mine, rail and port infrastructure. It has also worked

with Rio Tinto, Anglo Gold Ashanti and Fortescue.

Keenan said the company aimed to deliver sustainable and tangible outcomes to Indigenous Australians.

“We’ve always been a company that has looked to be known by the development we do, whether they be the development of outcomes for our clients, or support of our partners in the community,” he said.

“We are looking to essentially grow on the back of longer term opportunities under which we can develop longer term solutions for both our clients and the community.”

Keenan added that there were still more opportunities for Indigenous businesses in the mining industry.

“I think there’s a definite void in the market for a credible Indigenous business that is able to take on what would essentially be some of the more complex scopes,” he said.

“We’re seeing a lot of interest from larger Tier 1 mines looking to partner with us and support us as well for some of those more technically complex works. We see a definite opportunity to start to open up to large expansion programs in their portfolio and hopefully there will be an ongoing swing in the commodity environment so that we can continue to expand our scope.” not only across the Pilbara but across other areas in WA and beyond.” AM

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DIGITAL MINING

INTEGRATION: THE KEY TO A DIGITAL MINING FUTURE RPM GLOBAL IS PUSHING FOR MINING’S EMERGING TECHNOLOGY SECTOR TO BECOME MORE INTEGRATED SO THE INDUSTRY CAN SUCCESSFULLY TRANSITION INTO A DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT. BEN CREAGH WRITES.

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mproving how technology solutions are integrated will be critical for mining to effectively transform into a digital industry, according to RPM Global chief executive officer Richard Mathews.

RPM has grown into a leading Australian developer of mining software, despite the mining downturn, by continuing to drive investment towards the research and development (R&D) of new and integrated solutions.

While much of the industry focused on lowering operational costs, RPM increased its R&D investment to $13 million in the 2017 financial year.

Since 2012 it has spent close to $67 million on product development and acquisitions.

This commitment has paid off, with RPM delivering three new software products – Open Cut Coal, Stratigraphic Metals and Operations Manager – during fiscal 2017.

RPM Global also launched its Underground Metals Solution (UGMS) product – a scheduling solution tailored for underground metals mines – in July.

The company’s growing product portfolio has helped it double sales of software licenses over the past year as

market conditions have improved.

While RPM has been rewarded for its ambitious strategy, for Mathews, the primary goal is to bring enterprise integration to the mining industry.

“For our customers, who are also using other vendors’ products, we want them to be able to integrate our software with those products as well to ensure that the information they use to make operational decisions is accurate and truly reflects what is happening on their operational sites,” Mathews said.

“That’s why we have been working with industry partners, like BHP, Komatsu, Caterpillar and Schneider, to introduce standard messaging formats across the mining industry using the ISA-95 standard.

“Once all of the software vendors, including ourselves, use the same messaging formats then data will be able to flow through all applications right across the mining value chain.”

Mathews, who joined RPM in 2012, considers collaboration to be crucial for the mining industry. He believes that successful integration of technological solutions will be the catalyst to collaboration and this will only occur if mining companies demand their suppliers use open information technology standards.

“When you look at the industry five

years ago (before we got involved) the software space was very fragmented, particularly in the operations space.

All the solutions were desktop solutions that relied heavily on excel and manual data entry, data was certainly not shared across the mining value chain it was kept in silos,” Mathews said.

“Collaboration has to occur in this industry. If we look at manufacturing, their success and ability to deliver the operational excellence they have today is due to messaging standards, collaboration and an enterprise approach across the entire supply chain.

“Just as large ERP vendors, such as SAP, have standardised financials and HR across the corporate entities, RPMGlobal is working to deliver collaboration ‘below the line’ in the operational space.

“The only way for the miners to benefit from the digital landscape is to collaborate.”

The company’s approach to growing its business through continued heavy investment in software R&D has bucked the industry trend. Most suppliers to mining have instead focused on reducing costs.

Unlike most companies in the postboom environment, RPM increased RPM GLOBAL’S MINING SOFTWARE

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its investment to be ready for when a turnaround arrived.

With conditions improving since late 2016, RPM is now enjoying the benefits of its investment strategy, as its financial results have revealed.

“Our belief was that when the market came right miners wouldn’t want to keep doing what they were doing five years ago – they would want to have the technical capability right across the organisation,” Mathews said.

“We have also purchased two companies and acquired the rights to four software code bases over the last four years as well. We haven’t just increased our own investment but we have also grown inorganically through M&A.” RPM’s R&D team has, therefore, expanded significantly too, growing from around 30 employees when Mathews started five years ago to more than 100 personnel (and counting) now.

Just don’t expect this growth to get in the way of RPM’s technological target for the mining industry – enterprise wide integration.

“Everyone has their own definition of the digital mine and what the benefits are for their business. Whilst business outcomes may differ, critical to the digital mine will be integration and collaboration,” Mathews said.

“When we started out, we said the key thing is going to be having an integration platform for mining.

“It is not about having a relationship between just us, or having integration between us – it is about putting all the data on an integration framework for anyone to use, which we have successfully built with our Enterprise Integration Platform (EPF) that is deployed globally at a number of our key customers, delivering them true operational excellence, shareholder value and above all, visibility and improved safety.” AM Richard Mathews will present on collaborating to make productive use of mining big data and critical information for operational decision making at the International Mining and Resources Conference in Melbourne (IMARC), which runs from October 30 to November 2.

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TRACKING THE TRENDS

OPTIMISING MINING BUSINESS MODELS DELOITTE’S NICKI IVORY DISCUSSES THE NEXT KEY TREND AFFECTING MINERS IN 2017 – SUPPORTING STRATEGIC PRIORITIES. SHARON MASIGE REPORTS. technology without having a massive negative impact on their people,” Ivory said.

Culture

MINERS ARE URGED TO IMPLEMENT MORE EFFICIENT OPERATING MODELS TO HELP THEM SUSTAIN BUSINESS GROWTH

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ith commodity prices recovering, mining companies are realising the importance of implementing more efficient operating models to help them maintain growth.

According to Deloitte’s 2017 Tracking the Trends report, companies are finding ways to align their operating models so they can meet their strategic objectives and sustain a new, lower cost organisation.

One of the first things companies need to consider during this alignment is the organisational structure, where management decides whether a centralised or decentralised form is better for their business.

Deloitte national mining leader Nicki Ivory said one wasn’t necessarily better than the other.

“If you look back over the past 20 years, you’ll see waves of centralisation and decentralisation – it’s very company and strategic specific,” Ivory told Australian Mining. “It depends on the strategic directions which you set for yourself so you need to find the operating model that best enables that≈strategy.”

Ivory referred to Canadian miner Goldcorp, which employs a decentralised system; deferring power

back down to mine sites. This, she said, contrasts with the many major mining companies that are centralising their businesses.

While organisational structure is one of the key areas miners need to re-examine to strengthen their overall business model, Deloitte specifies four other facets to consider: processes, technology, culture and skills and people.

Processes

Streamlining processes creates better workflows and this can be achieved by clustering similar roles together.

“It comes down to looking at all the different work that has to be done in the company and trying to categorise those types of things, and manage them together, rather than having lots of people in the company doing similar processes,” Ivory said.

“If you can try and cluster processes together you can remove a management layer.”

She said in the past five years, major mining companies had taken out whole layers of management to better align their processes.

Ivory added that companies should “dig deep” and understand what issues needed to be solved to make the whole company operate efficiently.

“You really have to go quite deep AUSTRALIANMINING

and map out all your processes. Find out what people do and then question it. Do they really need to be doing that or is it just something you do because you’ve always done it?” Ivory said.

“Pull out things that don’t need to be done. Often there are layers of approvals that don’t need to be there and layers of management that don’t need to be there so define the process so you can tie them into a structure optimally.”

Technology

Technology has improved and become cheaper over the past five years, Ivory said, making it more feasible to adopt.

She mentioned robotic process automation (RPA) in particular, which has been gaining traction in the mining industry.

“It’s about finding things that people currently do that is very repetitive and finding out whether it can be done in an automated fashion,” she said.

Ivory warned that automation was not just a “magic word” that you could set and forget – there needed to be a human machine interface.

She said it was about balancing a particular system with the effect it would have on workers.

“The human impact is something companies grapple with. They need to work out how they unlock the value that they see with some of the

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A company’s culture is linked to its key values and how it operates both internally and externally.

Ivory highlighted the importance of internal collaboration and its advantages for the company.

“When your employees are encouraged to collaborate with other parts of the business – to share information and share ideas – you get a happier workforce. People like being included and being part of something bigger it makes them feel valued,” she said.

Mining companies should also reinforce collaboration externally, whether that be with other mining companies, academic institutions or industry bodies.

“The control freak mentality is just too costly so we’re seeing a big shift away from this,” Ivory said.

She mentioned Austmine’s collaboration labs or “Co-Labs” as an example, where “fierce” mining competitors worked together to solve mutual problems.

Skills and people

To help take the mining industry into the digital age, companies must also invest in their workers, both at the operational and leadership level.

Ivory said there would be a need for skills the mining industry had never seen before in the digital space, but this would not remove all physical jobs.

“There’s always going to be an element of physicality but technology will be used to reduce some of the riskier places where humans have been sent by mining companies,” she said.

Another major challenge for the industry to address, according to Ivory, is to recruit more people amid this growing digital shift.

“We have a public image that really isn’t the same as Google and Facebook so mining companies they have to convince people that they are great places to work,” she said.

“Millennials have definite views on the kind of environment they want to work in so how can mining companies create an environment that attracts the staff they need for the future?” AM

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INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

VANADIUM EMERGES FROM THE SHADOWS

AUSTRALIAN VANADIUM MD VINCENT ALGAR (LEFT) AND DIRECTOR DANIEL HARRIS

VANADIUM IS THE LATEST MINERAL TO ATTRACT ATTENTION FOR ITS USE IN THE BATTERIES THAT WILL SHAPE THE ENERGY MARKETPLACE OF THE FUTURE. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

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s vanadium set to be the next star of the booming global battery market?

The metal, traditionally used as a material to strengthen steel, has made a comeback in the past two years as demand has re-emerged.

Prices for the metal have soared since July, continuing a rapid rise that started in early 2016.

China has again been the major driver of this price surge, with its iron and steel institute proposing to increase the amount of vanadium required in construction steel, boosting demand and consumption of the metal, as well as its value.

Prices for vanadium were almost twice the value they started the

year by September. This increase followed vanadium also doubling in value during 2016, ending a multiyear decline where the metal almost fell into obscurity.

Currently, about 90 per cent of the world’s vanadium is used in the steel industry. It is, however, the metal’s use in energy storage batteries that has sparked a wave of activity at early-stage vanadium projects, both in Australia and internationally.

Batteries to power vanadium?

The battery potential for vanadium is what project developers are hoping will make the improvement in prices sustainable beyond this year’s spike that has been ignited by the steel industry.

AUSTRALIANMINING

Vanadium flow batteries, which are up to the size of shipping containers, can be used to store power for renewable sources of energy. They are recognised for their ability to smooth out peaks and troughs in power to make the supply more reliable.

ASX-listed junior Australian Vanadium is planning to time the development of its high-grade Gabanintha vanadium project in Western Australia to supply the rising market for the metal.

Australian Vanadium managing director Vincent Algar said emerging opportunities in the battery market were adding new incentives for vanadium companies now that optimism has returned

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to the sector following several difficult years.

“If you look at the long-term price of vanadium it had been in the doldrums or well below the longterm average for three to five years,” Algar told Australian Mining.

“That slope and that sustained low has led to quite a lot of production cutbacks around the world. That’s led to the situation now where demand has been growing in the steel space and in the Chinese rebar space, which is a governing factor in the price environment.

“While that has been ticking along we have the situation where production has actually tapered back and you have a deficit situation.”

resource of 35.5Mt grading 0.75 per cent V2O5.

This updated estimation is a 96 per cent increase in the overall resource compared to a 2015 estimation.

Australian Vanadium’s next priority at Gabanintha is to confirm the metallurgical and economic elements of the project, while also expanding the company’s understanding of vanadium electrolyte production and vanadium flow batteries.

Burgeoning battery market DRILL CORES AT THE GABANINTHA PROJECT

Australian Vanadium promotes the application of vanadium in energystorage batteries through subsidiary, VSUN Energy, which uses vanadium

IF YOU CAN CREATE A DIVERSIFICATION, THEN YOU ALSO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR VANADIUM TO BE INVOLVED IN SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAT ISN’T DRIVEN BY THE SAME PARAMETERS.” Growing Gabanintha

Australian Vanadium’s Gabanintha project near Meekatharra has emerged into one of the country’s standout vanadium prospects.

The company joins ASX-listed counterparts Atlantic, Neometals, TNG and King River Copper as developers of vanadium projects in Australia.

Algar is not only bullish about the possible timing of the project’s development to supply future demand, but also the site’s tonnage, high-grade resource and its proximity to quality infrastructure.

He said the company planned to supply both the vanadium battery market and steel industry with production from Gabanintha, if the operation receives final approval for development.

“We are taking a more traditional approach (at Gabanintha), which is a high-grade vanadium deposit where you can rely on a single commodity’s value,” Algar said.

“There are different options, but none of them are cheap in terms of development. In a rising market where you have relationships with key players, however, you can really take advantage of that.

“The underlying importance of any mining project of a relative size and scale is access to infrastructure – location is very important.”

Australian Vanadium released a resource upgrade for Gabanintha in September, with an updated measured, indicated and inferred mineral resource of 179.6 million tonnes (Mt) at 0.75 per cent V2O5. The upgrade included a measured and indicated mineral

redox flow batteries to create a renewable energy storage solution for consumers.

Algar said it had, however, been a challenge to educate a marketplace consumed with the rise of another battery metal – lithium.

He said lithium had rightfully been cemented in the market for its value in the battery sector, but vanadium’s place should not be overlooked.

“We think VSUN is helping us with the promotion of the capabilities of vanadium as a storage product, but it is up against a juggernaut,” Algar said.

“You have to really seek to differentiate it, look for the good stories and try to educate people.”

Algar believes mining companies involved in the vanadium sector need to work together to grow awareness of the applications of the “relatively unknown mineral”.

“We are really into the long- term benefits of what a very large-scale energy storage is about,” Algar said.

“There’s real payback in us pushing that industry forward and it also diversifies the market for you. You have the situation where the vanadium market is very hooked in with steel, so it rises and falls with steel.

“If you can create a diversification, then you also have the opportunity for vanadium to be involved in something different that isn’t driven by the same parameters, which is very good for the producers of vanadium.”

Achieving diversification in the vanadium industry would provide two distinct markets for producers of the metal – with energy “a great market to be locked into”’ next to the steel industry, Algar concluded. AM AUSTRALIANMINING

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TYRE MANAGEMENT

ADDING VALUE FOR AUSTRALIAN MINERS KAL TIRE HAS CONSOLIDATED ITS POSITION IN THE COMPETITIVE AUSTRALIAN MINING MARKETPLACE IN RECENT YEARS. THE CANADIAN COMPANY NOW PLANS TO ADD FURTHER VALUE TO THE INDUSTRY THROUGH INNOVATION. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

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anadian tyre management company Kal Tire regards Australia as home to some of the world’s most sophisticated mining companies.

It is also a jurisdiction where the company has set lofty ambitions for its Mining Tire Group to become a leading provider of services and products that deliver competitive advantages for these operators.

While Kal Tire has operated in Western Australia since 2000, it wasn’t until 2016 that the company became a truly national player in the country’s mining industry.

Kal Tire expanded through the acquisition of tyre services business, Klinge & Co, in June last year, demonstrating its coastto-coast commitment to the Australian market.

ALMOST THREE YEARS AGO WE SET UP THE INNOVATION PROGRAM AFTER NOTICING THAT TYRE MAINTENANCE, TYRE PRACTICES, TYRE OPERATIONS HADN’T CHANGED IN 25 YEARS.” The acquisition of Klinge also followed the opening of Kal Tire’s Muswellbrook mining tyre repair facility in New South Wales earlier in the year, a milestone that kick-started its emergence on the east coast.

Kal Tire’s expansion across the country has proved to be a positive move for the company, according to its senior vice president, Mining Tire Group, Dan Allan.

He described the acquisition of Klinge as a crucial development in Kal Tire’s strategy to position itself on Australia’s east coast, in addition to the foothold it had already established in WA. AUSTRALIANMINING

“When the opportunity with Klinge came around, it provided two things. Firstly, it gave us an opportunity to have a presence nationally on more than 20 mine sites across Australia, guys on the ground serving customers every day, and an outstanding long-term reputation,” Allan told Australian Mining.

“The second thing it gave us was a team that was aligned with our aims. If you know anything about Kal Tire, our aims are important to us in terms of how they guide our team members and what anchors us in terms of decision making and behaviour. The Klinge team was

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very well aligned with that.”

Kal Tire’s Australian presence now consists of around 250 team members servicing more than 20 operations in major mining regions, including the Pilbara region in WA, the Hunter Valley in NSW and the Bowen Basin in Queensland.

This may seem like a strong platform for Kal Tire to build on but the company has not lost focus of an aim to add value to its existing mining offering through innovation.

It set up a tyre management innovation program to help it achieve this and, while only a few years old, the initiative has already delivered a series of products and tools into

TYRE MANAGEMENT

KAL TIRE PERSONNEL ON SITE

the mining industry.

“Almost three years ago we set up the innovation program after noticing that tyre maintenance, tyre practices and tyre operations hadn’t changed in 25 years,” Allan said.

“They were using the same tools, the same methodology and the same training practices as 25 years ago. We just had the idea that there must be a different way to go about that.”

Kal Tire recently showcased two innovative services developed through the program that are now offered to the mining industry: the Gravity Assist System and Ultra Repair.

The company originally unveiled the Gravity Assist System at MineExpo in Las Vegas in September 2016.

It then exhibited a next generation version of the system at the AsiaPacific International Mining Exhibition (AIMEX) in Sydney this year.

The mechanical tool has been

developed to safely and weightlessly manoeuvre the 36kg torque guns used to fasten lug nuts on earthmover tyres. The next generation version is two times the size and four times the weight of the prototype, making it capable of performing this job at mine sites.

Gravity Assist acts like a mechanical arm to hold and swivel the torque gun like a weightless extension of the technician’s body, removing the need to fasten almost 70 lug nuts holding an enormous torque gun.

Kal Tire innovation, research and development manager Peter Nilsson said the company focused on how it could improve the safety of this operation, while also making it easier for technicians, in the development of Gravity Assist.

“I thought, there must be a better way to operate and handle these torque tools,” Nilsson said. “We need to create something to support them, and

AUSTRALIANMINING

make this operation safer and improve performance.”

Gravity Assist is valuable for its ability to eliminate pinched fingers, muscle strain and repetitive task muscle disorders, as well as fatigue to help improve efficiency, precision and safety.

Kal Tire is also adding value for Australian miners with the Ultra Repair service, which is available to the industry at its Muswellbrook and Kewdale service centres in NSW and WA, respectively.

Both of Kal Tire’s Australian service centres have become expert practitioners of Ultra Repair, an innovation that uses a proprietary patch to replace damaged tyre cables, as well as a unique installation technology to extend the life of the tyres.

Ultra Repair was 15 years in the making for the company, which had recognised the limitations of traditional tyre repairs in Canada’s coal industry at the start of the century.

Over this period, Kal Tire researched a process that could solve a long-standing, expensive tyre problem that had plagued mining companies.

Australian managing director Daren Flint said the company wanted to develop the materials and the procedure to perform larger and stronger repairs.

“Today, that means we have the capability to repair not only large injuries, but also those located in areas that were previously impossible to repair,” Flint said.

Kal Tire launched Ultra Repair in 2014, expanding possibilities for miners when traditional patches risked bulging, lasted only short periods, were appropriate for only smaller injuries or suited only certain locations, like the tread.

With Gravity Assist and Ultra Repair making a positive impression in the industry, Kal Tire remains focused on developing new tools and products that will add further value for the mining industry. AM

A KAL TIRE EMPLOYEE DURING INSPECTION

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INTERVIEW

DIGITALISATION IN THE AGGREGATES INDUSTRY – WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? AN INTERVIEW WITH METSO’S GIUSEPPE CAMPENELLI, GLOBAL VICE PRESIDENT – LIFE CYCLE SERVICES, DISCUSSING THE IMPACT OF DIGITALISATION. What are the main challenges facing aggregate producers today?

The main challenge facing our clients in today’s markets, is how to make their operations more efficient and therefore more profitable. Key to building better efficiency is having the right information at your fingertips to help make the right decisions. With mobile crushing and screening equipment frequently

moving between sites, often in remote locations, it can be difficult to track, monitor and maintain fleets of equipment for maximum performance. The often-conflicting pressures to drive performance while keeping costs in check, can also be problematic. When a decision is made without the correct information or data, the result can be extended downtime or lower production rates,

which impacts the bottom line of any operation.

What trends are you seeing in the industry to address these challenges?

We are seeing more and more aggregate producers focusing on their core business while turning to partners to find smarter, more efficient ways to design, operate and service their equipment and processes. Services and tools that can help address things such as utilisation rates, maintenance planning and spares management are all being looked at by our clients to help lower costs.

You launched a new digital solution, Metso Metrics Services at Conexpo 2017 in Las Vegas. Can you explain what it is exactly?

Metso Metrics Services is a remote monitoring and reporting system that gives our customers access to key operational metrics and data. It allows utilisation rates, production levels, maintenance plans and fuel consumption for mobile equipment to all be remotely accessible by authorised personnel wherever they happen to be. The solution also helps track the location of a single unit or an entire fleet no matter where they are located. Time stamped

MORE AGGREGATE PRODUCERS ARE TURNING TO DIGITAL SOLUTIONS

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INTERVIEW

AT METSO, WE DON’T SEE DIGITALISATION AS A STAND-ALONE SUBJECT. IT TIES IN WITH ALL THE SERVICE ACTIVITIES WE OFFER BUT TAKES THEM A STEP FURTHER, AMPLIFYING THE RESULTS WE CAN PROVIDE.”

METSO’S GIUSEPPE CAMPENELLI, GLOBAL VICE PRESIDENT – LIFE CYCLE SERVICES

alarm notifications and maintenance planning as well as logging capabilities are also built in. By accessing the right information at the right time, an operator supported by advice from Metso can maximise equipment utilisation and minimise maintenance related costs, helping them to achieve their business goals.

Can digital tools solve all your customer’s production issues?

No. A solution such as Metso Metrics Services is not just a digital tool, it can provide a range of operational and maintenance data on a single crusher or an entire crushing and screening fleet. Once a trend or outlier is identified, steps can be taken to address the issues. The key is having the know-how to analyse the data provided by such a digital solution.

This is where the expertise provided

by Metso and our partners makes the difference. Using decades of crushing and screening experience acquired though working with customers around the world, coupled with an intimate knowledge of our equipment, means that operators can rely on us to provide solid recommendations that can help them to get more out of our equipment and their process.

How can this solution help operators get more out of their existing assets?

One key way it can help is by providing the data to see how each crusher in your fleet is performing in terms of production levels and utilisation rates. By looking at outliers, customers, supported by Metso when needed, can quickly identify underperforming assets. The

interesting part then becomes trying to understand what is causing the underperformance. Is the machine set up with the right operating parameters? Is the equipment out of action because the right spare parts aren’t readily available? It could also be a question of a need for operator training to push the equipment to its full capabilities. Metso Metrics Services will not identify the exact cause of underperformance for you, but it will help you to start asking the right questions. You need to have the data to analyse in order to spot these types of situations. With additional support, insights and expertise available from the Metso team and our distributors in terms of operational or maintenance planning, there are opportunities to make a big difference in terms of performance.

How does a solution like Metso Metrics help with maintenance planning?

It helps by shifting the focus away from corrective maintenance and more towards preventive maintenance.

Corrective maintenance has been shown to be many times more costly than preventive maintenance. The reason being is that when assets fail in the field, production is often interrupted, resulting in costly downtime. Parts may not be readily available or may be on order, causing further delays. Repair staff may not be available immediately or allocated to other sites. With a built in digital log book, individual maintenance plans integrated into the system and access to optional troubleshooting advice, customers gain visibility of their equipment to help them take the next

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step towards having a true preventive maintenance program. This in turn, helps to minimise unwanted service issues in the field, and ensures that operations are run in the most cost effective manner.

What does it take for an OEM like Metso to succeed in a world pushing towards digitalisation?

A very good question. At Metso, we don’t see digitalisation as a standalone subject. It ties in with all the service activities we offer but takes them a step further, amplifying the results we can provide. To succeed in a world heading towards digitalisation, we believe an OEM needs to: 1. Have a global service presence with people on-site, close to the customer 2. Possess a deep understanding of the customers’ processes and productivity levers.

Create skills and capabilities to solve the customer’s digital challenges with remote monitoring and advanced analytics, coupled with efficient backend and service processes and supported by easy-to-use digital sales channels.

We are already leading the way in all three within the crushing and screening space. However, we believe there is much more to do and feel that we are very well positioned to extend our digital capabilities allowing us to capture the growth that digitalisation offers. The next 10 years will be an incredibly exciting time for Metso as we blend together technology, parts and service elements to offer the very best solutions for our clients. AM

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IMARC PREVIEW

WHEN IMARC TAKES THE FLOOR AUSTRALIAN MINING PROVIDES AN INSIGHT INTO WHAT WILL BE ON SHOW AT THIS YEAR’S INTERNATIONAL MINING AND RESOURCES CONFERENCE (IMARC) IN MELBOURNE. innovations, bulk handling and transport, water supply and removal developments, and energy and community infrastructure. The program will discuss initiatives such as the federal infrastructure funding projections and global opportunities like China’s One Belt and Road trade route.

Future Energy

DELEGATES NAVIGATE AN IMARC EXHIBITION

T

he International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) returns this year with sessions exploring best practice strategies to support the future of the mining and METS industry.

Kicking off on October 30 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, the four-day event will bring together around 3000 decision makers, policy makers, mining leaders and investors from more than 60 countries.

This year’s theme is ‘Creating value through collaboration’.

The mining industry is showing signs of a turnaround, with several mining projects restarting, resurgent iron ore and coal prices and evidence of employment spikes in Australia’s mining states.

International commodity investment expert and CEO of Sprott Holdings, Rick Rule, said he was optimistic about the commodity marketplace.

“Global commodity markets experienced a real trough in 2014 and 2015,” he said.

“Markets have been slowly rebuilding from that low and some commodities are more advanced than others – but most are showing positive signs. Zinc and cobalt are more advanced in their recovery than others, but both still have a lot of upside.

“I would expect to see most commodities reaching a high point

around 2019 or 2020, so right now is a good time for discerning investors to get into the market.”

Rule is also one of the speakers at the event and will provide expert insights and analysis on the current commodity market.

IMARC Asia Pacific general manager Anita Richards said miners would gain exposure and direct access to a range of investors at the event.

They also have an opportunity to see the latest technology and innovations optimising mining processes, Richards added.

“Junior miners can also take advantage of the networking opportunities to meet with c-levels of leading mining companies, including Ivanhoe Mines, BHP, Rio Tinto, MMG, OceanaGold, Newcrest and Fortescue to name a few,” she said.

IMARC will build on this renewed optimism by featuring concurrent discussions on several areas of the mining industry, including technology and innovation, infrastructure, social and environmental responsibility, finance and investment, and future energy.

address diversity and inclusion and to tackle mine rehabilitation to ensure the environment is left in an even better condition when operations cease.

Social and environmental responsibility

Mining Infrastructure

With social and environmental responsibility becoming a key strategic objective for mining operations, delegates will learn how best to AUSTRALIANMINING

Finance and investment

The finance and investment program will discuss the industry’s key trends, commodity market analysis and provide expert insights. Mining companies will have the chance to connect with private equity firms and learn how market changes will be necessary for increasing investment into the mining industry.

Technology and Innovation

Innovation is one of the most talked about topics shaping the future of the mining industry. These discussions will explore emerging tools for increased productivity and the implications of industry 4.0 developments, such as automation, robotics, the internet of things (IoT) and remote operations. There will also be a focus on collaboration between mining, METS and academia on best practice technology to take mining to the next level.

IMARC will feature a full-day conference on mining infrastructure on November 1. It will explore developments that support the mining industry, pit-to-port logistics

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Another program at the event is Future Energy, which will highlight the opportunities for miners and investors amid the worldwide growth in renewable energy and battery storage. Lithium, cobalt and graphite have become highly sought-after commodities, critical for battery storage. The program will also discuss low emissions coal technologies for the future and how miners are replacing their diesel-fired power stations with solar plants and energy storage facilities.

Excellence in Mining

The Excellence in Mining section will explore four main areas to achieve operational excellence: how major mining companies can support junior and mid-tier miners and how METS can develop; workforce development; mine safety; and ways to restore mines from either a slow down or care and maintenance.

A massive line up of speakers will also take the stage at the event, including Ivanhoe Mines Executive chairman and founder Robert Friedland, Roy Hill CEO Barry Fitzgerald, Austmine CEO Christine Gibbs-Stewart, BHP chief technology officer Diane Jurgens, KPMG’s Greg Evan and Adani Mining CEO Jeyakumar Janakaraj.

There will be a plethora of exhibitors as well, including De Beers Group, Caterpillar, Leibherr, Sandvik, Boeing’s Insitu Pacific and Sick Australia.

Delegates can also attend one of the many pre-conference workshops at the event, including smart mining efficiency, mining for non-miners, mining law and transactions, social licence to operate, digital disruption, automation and robotics in mining, and JORC fundamentals.

As the mining sector begins to see signs of optimism, these four days will ensure the industry continues to grow in a positive direction. AM

WEAR RESISTANCE

RIMCO’S HIGH WEAR POLYURETHANES FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY AUSTRALIAN MINING SPEAKS TO RIMCO GENERAL MANAGER AND DIRECTOR SCOTT ADMANS ABOUT THE COMPANY’S RECENT DEVELOPMENTS.

R

imco has been in operation since 1978, developing and supplying custom polyurethane mouldings to the automotive, oil and gas, mining and power supply industries.

Several years ago, Rimco identified the need for improving the quality and performance of wear components supplied into the mining industry.

Rimco started by pioneering an innovative manufacturing process guaranteeing a consistent close tolerance product. It also formulated a unique polyurethane which offered exceptionally good characteristics combined with faster processing times giving a quick turnaround for customers.

A further improvement was achieved by modifying the adhesive properties of the polyurethane to alumina ceramic, silicone carbide, fused zirconia and steel.

Rimco general manager and director Scott Admans said the end result of these improvements combined with the highest performance wear technology inserts

produce an exceptional wear product which can survive the harshest, abrasive environments.

“We can make them a lot quicker and within close tolerances,” he told Australian Mining.

The company has recently developed skirt liners for conveyors, which were built using the new processing technology.

“We use a calibrated machine to produce the products and can also include alumina ceramic, silicone carbide or fused zirconia inserts on the conveyors so that the ore or whatever else is going along the conveyor doesn’t wear out the sides.

“We have the very best quality high wearing inserts and use the polyurethane to hold it in place,” Admans said.

“We’ve also developed very high wear polyurethane, which has a very low coefficient of friction and material slides on it really well.”

Another focus area for the company, according to Admans, is enhancing its adhesives for the mining industry.

“We’ve done a lot of testing over the last few years on adhesion to the polyurethane because that’s a key

aspect where a lot of our competitors fall short,” he said. “We have invested a lot of research and development in this regard to ensure a solid, fail-proof component.”

Quality is king

Having been in operation for nearly 40 years and quality assured for 25 years, Rimco has a strong quality ethic.

“Quality is a paramount issue with our mining customers because of the huge costs involved with a shutdown in the event of a failure or breakdown” he said.

“Our customers are continually striving to extend the life of wear products to reduce costs. We believe our new formulation, new manufacturing process, combined with the highest performing inserts, goes a long way to achieving this goal,” Admans said.

“In the past, there has been a lot of poor quality parts and what we’re finding is our customers were having to swap them out earlier than what they usually would.”

Rimco is also focused on developing products with close tolerance to ensure each part is the same size.

RIMCO DESIGNS HIGH WEAR POLYURETHANE MOULDINGS FOR THE MINING, OIL AND GAS, AND AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRIES.

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“Consistency of product is what our customers demand. With our quality control, we’re supplying a consistent product that lasts a full life so customers don’t have any problems with failures,” Admans said.

Getting better and better

A major achievement for Rimco over the past few years has been receiving certification for its subsea products used in the oil and gas sector and renewing its certification to the new ISO 9001:2015 standard.

However, looking ahead, it wants to strengthen its position into a major Polyurethane and wear products supplier.

“We have a policy of continually reviewing the way we do things in order to improve the durability, quality and competitiveness of our products,” Admans said.

“We’re always improving our materials, processing equipment and tooling to establish ourselves as a major supplier of wear products in the mining industry. We look forward to continuing to help our customers wherever there’s wear problems or new products required.” AM

MINING SOFTWARE

FOCUS ON INDUSTRY RELATIONSHIPS SETS MICROMINE APART MICROMINE HAS MAINTAINED A RELENTLESS FOCUS ON THE SERVICE AND SUPPORT IT PROVIDES MINING COMPANIES TO COMPLEMENT ITS WELL-KNOWN SOFTWARE PLATFORMS. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

B

uilding strong relationships with mining industry partners continues to guide the growth of software developer Micromine.

After more than 30 years in mining, the global solutions provider has maintained this focus in an increasingly competitive environment where more emphasis than ever is placed on increasing efficiencies and reducing costs.

Micromine’s reputation as a leading global provider of intuitive mining solutions that span the entire mining process speaks for itself.

Whether it is the namesake Micromine software, or the complementary Geobank and Pitram, the company’s solutions have become well known to mining and exploration companies around the world.

Earlier this year, the spotlight was on Micromine’s Pitram, which was implemented at MMG’s Dugald River zinc mine in north-west Queensland.

The mine, one of the world’s highest-grade zinc deposits, has an optimised mine plan that supports a

1.7 million tonne per annum (Mtpa) operation, with annual production of around 170,000 tonnes of zinc in zinc concentrate.

Pitram allows the mine’s control room administrators to capture live data, ensuring data accuracy, as well as increased efficiency and control over equipment, tasks and personnel.

The Materials Management module, which uses mine design, survey and production data to provide real-time stockpile balances throughout the mining operation, was also part of the Dugald River deployment of Pitram.

The module adds value to the Dugald River operation by providing an accurate method of tracking the material flow, including grades from source to processing.

Micromine released Pitram 4.8, the latest version of the fleet management and mine control system in May. Pitram joins Micromine – a comprehensive and easy-to-use exploration and mine design solution – and Geobank – a secure and flexible data management system – to provide mining companies with an end-to-end software offering.

Despite its complete software

portfolio, product strategy manager Mark Gabbitus emphasised the importance the company placed on establishing relationships with customers to support these solutions.

“One of our key aims is to keep that strong integration with our clients through great support, great service and training,” Gabbitus said.

“Basically, we listen to their problems and develop our software based on their needs – that’s what Micromine has been famous for over the past 30 years. We want to continue on that path.”

Gabbitus, who is responsible for the development of the Geobank products, joined Micromine in October 2016 – around the same time the company announced Claire Tuder as the new chief executive officer of the company, replacing her father and founder, Graeme.

He said the expansion of the Geobank team, both in Australia and internationally, had been a notable achievement in his first year with Micromine.

This growing team supports the latest release of Geobank, which has delivered improved usability,

STRONG RELATIONSHIPS ARE CRITICAL FOR THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPER

AUSTRALIANMINING

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functionality and performance, as well as a variety of user benefits for exploration and mining companies.

Gabbitus explained why Geobank has proved to be such a valuable asset for mining companies wanting to effectively manage their accumulation of data.

“If I asked what’s the most important asset a mine has, most people say it is the trucks, or the plant, or it’s the people, but it’s the whole operational database because every single decision a company makes is based on the information that is in the database,” Gabbitus said.

“Then you go into Micromine, which builds a block model and does all your scheduling, and then you have Pitram which handles the execution of the schedule and reporting of that information, so you know where things went and then you can reconcile and close that loop.

“That’s the value, we are a single vendor providing all those assets through the mining value chain.”

Gabbitus added it was critical for product strategy managers to develop close relationships with companies so the company could identify exactly what they would need from the next generation of software packages.

“As a product strategy manager, my job at its most basic level is to listen to what a client tells me and then translate that to a programmer so they can develop the product for release,” Gabbitus explained.

“The art of it is not just listening to what they say they want but digging down to find what they need. They don’t always tell you what they need but more often what they think they want.”

With Australia’s mining industry being a large, yet close knit community, Gabbitus said this personable approach was critical for Micromine to maintain its reputation in a competitive environment.

“Everyone knows everyone – you have to maintain that strong relationship. It is really hard to make strong relationships in mining because you have to build trust. Our longlasting relationships is something we really pride ourselves on at Micromine,” he concluded. AM

AUTOMATION

DRONES CHANGING THE GAME IN RESOURCE EXTRACTION INSITU COMMERCIAL VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER ANDREW DUGGAN DISCUSSES HOW THE COMPANY’S MILITARY EXPERIENCE ENHANCES ITS REMOTELY PILOTED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (RPAS) FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY. SHARON MASIGE WRITES.

A

s the mining industry plunges deeper within the ever-advancing technology landscape, the implementation of autonomous systems has become common, particularly with devices such as drones.

Boeing subsidiary Insitu – which has the Australian-focused entity Insitu Pacific – is one of the companies leading the charge in the drone space, providing aerial survey, inspection and surveillance products and services.

For more than 10 years, Insitu has developed unmanned systems and software technology for the military.

But with the growing use of these systems in other applications, the company has spread its reach into the commercial sector – providing remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) to the mining and oil and gas industries.

Insitu Pacific is Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) certified, and one of the few organisations in Australia permitted to conduct commercial RPAS operations beyond visual line of sight.

RPAS is changing the game in the resource extraction sector, increasing safety, productivity, efficiency and cost savings at operations. It provides monitoring capabilities, streamlines inspection, aids environmental compliance, and reduces the need for operators to drive long distances to survey large areas.

Insitu Commercial vice president and general manager Andrew Duggan said the company has a strong military focus, but over the past three to four years has worked more closely in the commercial space.

“More and more people are interested in robotics and how they can use automation to make their businesses more efficient,” Duggan told Australian Mining.

“So we formed the Insitu Commercial division to work alongside the military division so we can grow in both those areas across the globe.”

Having a military and defence background has been beneficial for the company as it already has data retrieval capabilities and significant flying experience.

INSITU DEVELOPS REMOTELY PILOTED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (RPAS) FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY

“We have a strong background in the aerial side of things and we’ve honed that in over a million hours of flying,” Duggan said. “That gives us a good strong reputation with regulators like CASA who will have some certainty that we are going to operate in a safe manner within the rules and regulations required of these technologies,” Rapid technology advancements Duggan emphasised the benefits of RPAS compared to manned aviation in reducing safety concerns.

Manned aviation advances slower than RPAS, as a primary objective is to ensure the safety of those on board.

This, Duggan said, means a lot of time and money is spent certifying engines, control systems and the aircraft itself.

“You don’t have to go through such a rigorous amount of testing with RPAS, particularly the smaller systems that only weigh a couple of kilos,” he said.

However, Duggan said one of the AUSTRALIANMINING

biggest issues for operators was not the cost of the RPAS, but rather the data they generate.

“Quadcopters are great - they go up into the air and they take nice videos – but realistically it needs to be more than just that – they need RPAS that are robust and rugged enough to survive constant use in a mining environment and have the range to cover large areas,” he said.

“And it’s really more around the data that the systems deliver and how that data is manipulated to provide answers for planners, surveyors and safety experts.”

Slashing downtime Among the top priorities for miners is reducing downtime, which Duggan highlighted as another key benefit provided by autonomous technologies like RPAS. “Whether you’re stopping to blast or because a piece of critical equipment has had a failure or needs a component change, every minute that you’re

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not processing, you’re missing the opportunity to make money,” he said.

This prompted the company to conduct trials of its systems at hard rock mines in Australia to reinforce their efficiency.

“After a few serious trials, it became obvious that whenever we could use autonomous systems for monitoring to allow operations to continue or shorten the stoppage time, it created real value,” Duggan said.

“Autonomous systems don’t sleep, so you could have these systems out flying or driving around constantly checking your operations and making sure that nothing is going to a red state or needs to be shut down.”

Insitu plans to continue using its expertise in the military industry across the commercial space, as more miners introduce autonomous systems.

“I think more miners will be looking at their strategies on how they can make best use of autonomous systems,” Duggan said. AM

MAINTENANCE

CRC – A RICH VEIN OF PRODUCTS FOR AUSTRALIAN MINING AS A WORLD-LEADING MANUFACTURER OF CHEMICAL MAINTENANCE PRODUCTS FOR OVER 50 YEARS, CRC INDUSTRIES IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING THE BEST SOLUTIONS FOR KEEPING MINING PLANT AND FLEET EQUIPMENT PERFORMING AT ITS PEAK.

C

RC Industries caters for the diverse maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) challenges faced by operators in the resources sector with its broad range of precision cleaners, heavy duty degreasers, lubricants, corrosion inhibitors, sealants, adhesives and more.

The company is dedicated to increasing the reliability and profitability of mining operators through the provision of technologically advanced and high performance products.

The benefits offered include reduced product consumption through extended service internals, increased equipment life through reduced wear and lower energy

consumption from reduced friction.

Mining companies are well aware of the importance of asset protection and performance and the detrimental effects poor lubricants and inefficient lubrication techniques can have on machinery and engine wear, safety and workplace productivity.

CRC’s proven products and industry best practice are giving companies peace of mind and – particularly when incorporated into planned maintenance programs – the ability to drive up economic and competitive advantage while extending the life of machinery and equipment.

CRC Industries Australia managing director Shona Fitzgerald said the company’s expertise in supplying the mining sector was based on its commitment to innovation,

CRC HAS MORE THAN 50 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

AUSTRALIANMINING

strong process understanding and distribution networks.

“Through our proven systems, products and services, backed by over 50 years’ experience, we are proud of the role we have played in providing customers with competitive advantages in productivity, labour management, equipment maintenance and safety,’’ Fitzgerald said.

“The mining industry has high standards and so do we. CRC is recognised as being a leader in product quality, performance and regulatory compliance.

“Our research and development team continually advances new and improved products to help workers in the mining industry do their job faster, easier and safer.

“Our experience and expertise in the market is second to none. As a premium supplier of quality industrial cleaners, degreasers, corrosion inhibitors and effective lubricants, we offer the tools needed to keep operations running smoothly, even in the harshest environments.”

For decades CRC has been the brand of choice for major resource companies with products such as 5.56, CO Cleaner, NF Contact Cleaner, Penetr8, Zinc It, Brakleen and Trefolex becoming part of everyday life in the mines.

Locally manufactured with ISO accreditation, CRC Industries also offers an extensive line of nonflammable products.

In manufacturing its range of products for the mining industry, CRC has successfully anticipated and adapted to changing regulations.

The company ensures that its family of bulk and non-chlorinated products remain compliant in today’s often complex and fast-paced regulatory environment.

“CRC Industries prides itself on being a forward thinking and agile business focussed on adding customer value through extensive research and development, anticipating demand and delivering the right solutions in an ever-changing market,” Fitzgerald said.

Starting with one product, the multipurpose lubricant CRC Corrosion Inhibitor, CRC Industries began

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in a Pennsylvania garage in 1958 as Corrosion Reaction Consultants.

Today, CRC has evolved into a global supplier of speciality chemical solutions, manufacturing in excess of 1300 products to meet the unique needs of the industrial and electrical, automotive, marine, food and beverage, mining and manufacturing sectors.

The company operates 26 facilities around the world, producing more than 80 million aerosol products each year. AM Here is a small sample of the products the mining sector turns to for maintenance, productivity and efficiency.

CRC CO Contact Cleaner: A precision electronic cleaning solvent, CO Contact Cleaner is a technically proven, stable, inert, plastic safe formula. It is a high purity, non-staining, cleaning solvent with rapid evaporation.

CRC Zinc It: CRC Zinc It is a single component zinc rich galvanic rust prevention compound with a special epoxy binder which contains over 90 per cent of highest purity zinc in the dried form. The product fuses directly to clean iron or steel surfaces through electrochemical action and presents a hard, singletime protection against corrosion for many years.

CRC 5-56: This multi-purpose lubricant has superior penetrating power that breaks through rust and corrosion while it cleans away scale and dirt. CRC 5-56 eliminates the need for many disassembly operations. Fondly referred to as the original toolkit in a can, it also protects metals against corrosion and displaces moisture to help start wet engines.

CRC Penetr8: CRC Penetr8 is a high-speed penetrant that rapidly frees rusted and corroded fasteners, pins and bound mechanisms. It helps dissolve rust and corrosion while quickly penetrating. It eases disassembly of mechanical equipment, fittings and fixtures through its high-speed penetration.

EFFICIENCY

FUEL EFFICIENCY FOR BETTER OPERATING PERFORMANCE SPECIALTY CHEMICALS COMPANY EVONIK HAS DEVELOPED DYNAVIS – AN INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVING FUEL EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY AT MINE SITES.

T

he mining sector is one of the key drivers of Australia’s economy and miners constantly face challenges maintaining fuel efficiency to reduce their operational costs.

Extreme working conditions in the mining industry place strong demands on hydraulic systems. Intense heat is particularly dangerous for hydraulic fluid, potentially causing it to thin and contribute to a condition known as “internal leakage”.

When internal leakage occurs, thin hydraulic fluid causes the volumetric efficiency to drop, resulting in the creation of more heat and thus, more internal leakage. This leads to productivity loss and to reduced fuel economy.

Evonik’s Dynavis technology reduces the instances of internal leakage and its associated problems, allowing any hydraulically powered machine to operate more efficiently.

Dynavis technology supports the formulation of hydraulic fluids that meet higher performance standards.

According to the company, hydraulic fluids formulated to the Dynavis performance standard achieve fuel savings of around five to 10 per cent compared to conventional monograde hydraulic fluid.

Hydraulic fluids with Dynavis technology have an enhanced temperature operating window, which leads to better performance of the hydraulic pump, increased productivity in the hydraulic system, improved wear protection and longer oil drain intervals.

Putting the technology to the test

Performance demonstrations under real-world conditions are an essential part of Evonik’s support for their customers.

“For the actual testing period, we often bring our technical experts to run the test,” said Carlos Vernet, Dynavis marketing manager Asia Pacific.

“Measuring devices like flow metres, oil and fuel temperature sensors might also be retrofitted into the machine. This allows us to

track and collect statistically reliable data which, at the end of the test, is analysed.”

The team evaluated the technology at a coal mining operation near Ranchi, India with very positive results.

The test was conducted at an open pit mine where several hydraulic excavators are used to mine coal and roofing slate.

Dynavis selected one of India’s global industrial groups and a major Indian oil and lubricant marketing company as partners during the trial.

“Over the course of the testing, some 40,000 tonnes of material were moved – and more than 450 loading cycles were studied. Numerous efficiency gains were observed with Dynavis-formulated fluid flowing through the excavator’s hydraulic system,” Vernet said.

“Fuel efficiency (measured in L/ million tonnes [Mt] of material moved) improved by nearly 12.8 per cent.

The excavator moved 12.2Mt of material per litre of fuel, compared to conventional fluid performance of only 10.8Mt.

EVONIK’S DYNAVIS TECHNOLOGY REDUCES THE INSTANCES OF INTERNAL LEAKAGE, ALLOWING HYDRAULICALLY POWERED MACHINES TO OPERATE MORE EFFICIENTLY

“Time efficiency in minutes/trip also improved by 11.8 per cent and trip efficiency (in litres of fuel/trip) showed a gain of 10.6 per cent.”

Dynavis in Australia

Evonik sells its oil additives to lubricant companies that formulate, blend and sell the finished products to the end-market, with its technology starting to attract attention in Australia.

In July, the Dynavis marketing team ran its first webinar in Australia, sharing the successful field case study in India with major mining customers, OEMs and lubricant companies.

“Feedback from the audience confirmed that there is indeed a business fit on our Dynavis technology within Australian mining companies’ key goals,” Vernet said.

He emphasised that the performance of a hydraulic system also depends on the machine type, as well as the working and weather conditions.

“The performance demonstration in India had similar working and weather conditions to Australia. In consequence, expected efficiency results should be similar, if not better in some cases. The reason for saying this is, the tougher and more challenging the working conditions are, the better is the results in the field,” Vernet explained.

Dynavis licensee Total Oil has also launched a hydraulic fluid in Australia – Total Equivis HE – that is formulated with Dynavis technology.

The way forward

According to Deloitte, the top three mining trends for 2017 include ‘understanding the drivers of shareholder value’, ‘unlocking productivity improvement’ and ‘operating in an ecosystem’ and these are the key areas the Dynavis aims to assist miners.

“Evonik’s Dynavis team is searching for partners regionally and globally to fulfil as best as possible the trends and needs of the specific markets in each region,” Vernet said.

“Therefore, we are continuously working to increase the number of our licensees to build a strong and competent network of experts.” AM AUSTRALIANMINING

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MINING EQUIPMENT

MAINTENANCE IN THE DIGITAL AGE DINGO AUSTRALIA CEO PAUL HIGGINS DISCUSSES THE ROLE OF MAINTENANCE AMID THE MINING INDUSTRY’S SHIFT TOWARD MORE DIGITALISED PROCESSES. SHARON MASIGE REPORTS.

MACHINE BREAKDOWNS CAN HAVE A HUGE IMPACT ON OVERALL PRODUCTIVITY

M

aintenance is a constant factor for mining operations, ensuring companies keep their efficiency and productivity on track.

Paul Higgins, chief executive officer and founder of Dingo – a company which provides conditionbased maintenance advice to miners – highlighted the importance of health assessments for machinery as companies shift toward more digitalised processes.

“The idea of making decisions and doing maintenance based on data that’s coming out of machines is a hot topic,” Higgins told Australian Mining.

“Maintenance in the past was done on time intervals and recommendations from manufacturers but now, with the pressure of costs and capital constraints, it’s all about doing more with less.”

Machine breakdowns and system failures can have a huge impact on overall production, potentially costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in downtime.

As the mining industry moves towards the fourth industrial revolution – and more companies adopt the integration of operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) – the data generated from these digitalised systems and processes will be the driving force for more efficient maintenance activities.

AUSTRALIANMINING

“As the inevitable transition to more digitalisation continues, the data and the processes used with them are coming to the forefront,” Higgins said. “If you have an autonomous fleet of vehicles, you want to optimise the whole output – including their maintenance – so having good, up-todate data on the health of those assets is extremely important.”

Predictive maintenance

Dingo has a strong mining base in the Sunshine State, partnering with the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Austmine and METS Ignited, the industry growth centre for the mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector.

The company’s latest project

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with QUT focuses on developing predictive maintenance technologies and Higgins said they have hired their first data scientists and are currently working on real customer data.

“We’re engaging with QUT to develop the next generation of predictive algorithms so we can tell customers more accurately when something is more likely to fail,” he said.

“We will be able to predict out into the future and give them the most scientific prediction of when something is likely to fail so they can plan better for that.”

To keep up with the shift toward digitalisation in the mining industry, Dingo is ramping up its efforts in machine learning and the big data

MINING EQUIPMENT

IF YOU HAVE AN AUTONOMOUS FLEET OF VEHICLES, YOU WANT TO OPTIMISE THE WHOLE OUTPUT – INCLUDING THEIR MAINTENANCE – SO HAVING GOOD, UP-TO-DATE DATA ON THE HEALTH OF THOSE ASSETS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.”

AS THE MINING INDUSTRY MOVES TOWARD DIGITALISATION, BIG DATA BECOMES MORE IMPORTANT

space, while also planning to expand its global reach.

“Our challenge is to get that technology to more customers. At the moment, our biggest opportunities are developing an international partner network in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe and enabling those partners to implement our technology with customers as efficiently as possible,” Higgins added.

Begin at the end

Higgins explained how Dingo has implemented more digitalised processes to deliver better maintenance services.

“Five years ago, we might have had a person in an office looking at a computer and analysing some data.

Now, our software does more than 50 per cent of that job, which means its more scalable and we’re able to provide a better solution more cost effectively,” he said.

“As the number of customers grow, it doesn’t degrade our performance; it means that the service gets better because we have more data to build on.”

While the notion of implementing digitalisation is often considered in terms of machines, it can also refer to overall processes within a company.

When undertaking this digitalisation journey, Higgins suggested companies should “Begin with the end in mind”, quoting from Steven Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Rather than setting out on a technology driven journey, Higgins said more successful companies are those which solve specific business problems, then find digital solutions to carry them out.

“Start with business problems.

Talk to the people in the business AUSTRALIANMINING

and understand where their barriers are, what they’re struggling with, what’s stopping them doing their job or preventing them from taking the next step. Really understand what that is and then apply the digital solution,” he said.

Another crucial area Higgins stressed for companies was not to neglect their employees in their pursuit to implement digital strategies.

“Data and technology is a really big part of solutions in the digital world but never forget that people element,” he said.

“We have a saying: ‘The soft stuff is the hard stuff’. No matter how good the tech solutions and platforms that you come up with, they have to be adopted and implemented by human beings at a mine site.”

“Mining locations are tough, hot, often dirty, dusty, challenging environments, and many of the issues that mining companies face today are not so much technological

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issues but are factors like social licence to operate, community engagement and workforce relations issues.

“So, recognising that up front and building a healthy dose of change management or understanding the cultural aspects of what you’re doing in the project is important. In my view, it’s a combination of the soft and the hard that wins the game.”

Australia leading the way

While the mining industry still has a way to go in implementing digitalised processes, Higgins believes Australia has the chance to be the global leader in the sector.

“I think Brisbane, Queensland and Australia has a real opportunity to lead in this area in the world,” he said.

“If you think about it, what does Germany do brilliantly? A lot of people think they make fantastic cars, so I’d like Australia to be known as the place in the world that makes mining the best it can be.” AM

MATERIALS HANDLING

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

ESS WELCOMES A NEW GENERAL MANAGER AUSTRALIAN MINING SPEAKS TO ESS ENGINEERING’S NEW GENERAL MANAGER PETER THORPE AS HE SETTLES IN TO HIS NEW ROLE.

S

ince its beginnings in Wollongong in 1978, materials handling equipment supplier ESS Engineering has maintained a strong presence in Australia’s mining industry.

From initially marketing bulk flow aid devices manufactured by United States-based Martin Engineering, ESS became the exclusive licensed manufacturer of Martin products for Australia and the Asia Pacific, developing air cannons, conveyor belt cleaners, skirting systems and track mount idlers.

ESS this year appointed Peter Thorpe as its new general manager to help guide the company through its next phase of growth.

Thorpe spent 15 years in the Royal Australian Airforce before moving to the mining industry, where he has remained for the past 17 years.

“In 2000, I left the defence force and went into petrochemical, nondestructive testing. I then migrated into mining and where I used some of my non-destructive testing experience,” Thorpe told Australian Mining.

In 2004, Thorpe started his own business, which he later sold to conveyor developer Fenner Dunlop.

He then replicated the business model he had at Fenner Dunlop and set up businesses in America, Chile, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Thorpe then left the company in 2013 and served as managing director of manufacturing and supply company Shaw Almex for three-and-ahalf years.

But a call from ESS chief executive Bob Law about a position that had opened up at the company changed Thorpe’s career direction once more.

ESS was seeking someone who could take the company to the next level, and had Thorpe in its sights for the role.

Thorpe described ESS as a wellrecognised business with good people and said he would bring a fresh perspective to its operating style.

“What they needed was a fresh person to come in and look at how

the business is structured, and where they can add value and a different perspective than what they had been doing,” he said. “They just wanted fresh eyes to look at the business and give it a new direction.”

Addressing customer needs

WHAT THEY NEEDED WAS A FRESH PERSON TO COME IN AND LOOK HOW THE BUSINESS IS STRUCTURED AND WHERE THEY CAN ADD VALUE AND A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.” neither good nor bad. We’re also seeing Indian belts coming into the market and these are driving the industry to make a better product at a lower cost. We’ve got to have that diversity of product to show our customers that return on investment is better when using our products.”

Thorpe said customers were looking for value more than lowered costs,

An ESS speciality is conveyor belts and Thorpe said one of the main things operators were looking for in this area was a better return on investment (ROI).

“They want products with a longer life and that have increased maintenance windows,” he said.

“There are a lot of Chinese belts coming into the market and that’s

ESS GENERAL MANAGER PETER THORPE

AUSTRALIANMINING

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OCTOBER 2017

which is what he hoped to continue delivering as the new GM. “We’ve got to show value to our customers, not just a product that competes with someone else’s product that is exactly the same. With the mining sector turning around, I think operators are willing to spend a lot of money to see the value,” he said.

Taking ESS forward

Although he is still fairly new to the role, Thorpe believes some of the company’s key challenges are to further increase its visibility among customers, product development and providing solution-driven programs.

Looking ahead, Thorpe wants to use his knowledge in the automation space to strengthen ESS’ products.

“My background is automation and condition monitoring systems, and automation is very much the flavour of the month,” he said.

“ESS has several products that have a lot of contact with the belts and a lot of the automation processes for belt thicknesses and testing need that belt contact. If we can add these processes to a current system and without creating any more problems, then we’ve got the potential for a new product range.

“I think we have an opportunity to work with our customers and decrease the maintenance shut downs while increasing the reliability of products like the belt itself.”

The company is also building its training capabilities, offering a new program for the next generation.

Thorpe said he was excited about his new role at ESS. “I like the challenge and it comes down to the people I’ve been introduced to and the good reputation ESS has in the market. I think just little things need to be tweaked so we can steer this ship in the right direction,” he said. AM

THE MINING INDUSTRY HAS MOVED TO A NEW PHASE FOLLOWING THE MINING BOOM, ONE WHERE PRODUCTIVITY, INNOVATION AND SAFETY HAVE EMERGED AS ITS KEY PRIORITIES

DIGGERS & DEALERS MINING EQUIPMENT VOLUME 109/8 | SEPTEMBER 2017

WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

TECHNOLOGY

Established in 1908, Australian Mining continues to lead and inform the Australian mining industry of the latest innovations in mining technology and equipment.

Australian Mining’s promotional features provide organisations with a forum to showcase the role each mining sector plays in helping the industry achieve its modern-day targets.

POWERING THE INDUSTRY

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TO BOOK IN AUSTRALIAN MINING CONTACT JONATHAN DUCKETT NOW JONATHAN.DUCKETT@PRIMECREATIVE.COM.AU | 0498 091 027

MATERIALS HANDLING

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

SCHENCK PROCESS DELIVERS MODERN-DAY INTELLIGENCE TO MINING WITH MARKET ACTIVITY IN MINING ON THE RISE, SCHENCK PROCESS IS EVOLVING AS A COMPANY TO MEET THE NEEDS OF MINING COMPANIES IN AUSTRALIA AND INTERNATIONALLY. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS. WHAT WE ARE SEEING IS MINERS WANTING TO GENERATE MORE OUT OF THEIR ASSETS. WHAT THAT MEANS FOR US IS WE NEED TO IDENTIFY WHAT EQUIPMENT WE CAN UPRATE.”

THE VIBE2KNOW APP

E

quipment manufacturer Schenck Process is focused on making its assets smarter to support the strategies of mining companies.

Schenck Process, like most suppliers, has experienced a lift in activity from the mining industry in recent months following the improvement in commodity prices in late 2016.

The materials handling specialist has also observed a change in approach from mining companies, which are increasing investment in both brownfields operations and new projects, while remaining focused on optimising productivity.

Schenck Process general manager Raja Ratnam said the “significant ramp up” in activity had been in both the Australian and international marketplace for the company.

He said a common demand emerging from mining companies was for Schenck Process to help them identify ways they could lift productivity even further at their sites.

“What we are seeing is miners wanting to generate more out of their assets. What that means for us is we need to identify what equipment we can uprate,” Ratnam told Australian Mining.

“Uprating increases the capacity of

the machine for the same footprint, which is a major advantage on a brownfields operation.”

Another area where miners need improvement is maintenance, and in particular, lowering the frequency required on Schenck Process’ equipment, Ratnam added.

This then increases production uptime availability.

“There is more and more focus placed on reliability, being able to extend the intervals between maintenance and reduce the duration of each maintenance shut,” he explained.

This environment has provided Schenck Process with an opportunity to enhance its equipment portfolio, while also expanding the commercial and after-market services it offers these companies.

Ratnam said this involved Schenck Process exploring ways it could “smarten up” to boost the performance of its assets.

“One of the areas we are looking at is how do we smarten up our assets so they become intelligent assets, which means applying artificial intelligence,” Ratnam explained.

“We started by adding some rudimentary condition monitoring equipment, but now we are able to communicate cloud based for data collection.

AUSTRALIANMINING

“Mining companies are de-manning their equipment, so they don’t have all the knowledge on site like they used to. What they need in place is intellect that tells key personnel what is taking place on site and what needs to happen next.”

Schenck Process is adding this intelligence to its equipment through its future lab innovation division, set up to expand traditional research and development further.

Its latest innovative smart technology is the vibe2know app, created to simply measure the performance of any vibrating machines through motion patterns to obtain data around the vibration amplitude, oscillating angle and operating speed.

This technology provides meaningful data to the end user.

“The open platform will allow miners to import the data on to a common platform and put whatever smarts they want on it,” Ratnam said.

The next step for Schenck Process will be to add sophistication to the commercial options it has, and can offer, mining companies.

“What we are finding now is that you have to provide more innovative

commercial models for the miners,” Ratnam said.

“So we are considering the options to package equipment with strategic partners, where we can provide several products in one agreement.

“We are also building our aftermarket service, which has become significant for us globally.

“We see this whole of asset life approach, essential for our customers.

We are there for the long haul,” Ratnam reaffirmed.

Schenck Process is confident these developments will help extend the presence of its solutions around the world.

With the company maintaining a strong footprint in the iron ore and gold industries, Schenck Process views the east coast coal sector, as an area that could potentially deliver more growth.

Schenck Process Australia is the centre of competence for vibrating equipment and train load out systems globally, facilitating the supply of major projects into Panama, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, India and China. Schenck Process sees this trend growing. AM

SCHENCK PROCESS IS RESPONDING TO IMPROVING MINING MARKET CONDITIONS

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OCTOBER 2017

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MATERIALS HANDLING

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

NO TEETHING TROUBLES AT WILUNA GOLD SEW-EURODRIVE HAS EFFICIENTLY UPGRADED THE GIRTH GEAR AT BLACKHAM RESOURCES’ WILUNA GOLD MINE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA, SAVING THE MINER A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF LOST PRODUCTION. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

W

hen a new girth gear was urgently required at the Wiluna gold mine, the site’s new owners were confident that a segmented girth gear from SEWEurodrive’s would fit the bill.

As this was a non-traditional girth gear design, reputations were on the line. However, with the backing of their global operation, SEWEurodrive’s local team delivered in spades.

When refurbishing a closeddown mine, it is impossible to know exactly what to expect, no matter how carefully the exercise has been planned. That is just the nature of the business.

Sometimes the refurbishment includes a mission-critical production item, and that means quick action is required.

After two teeth on a 4.5-metre diameter girth gear had snapped off during the last phase of operation in 2013, prior to the refurbishment, that was the situation facing Stewart McCallion, project manager – Matilda Gold at Blackham Resources, at Wiluna Gold Mine, in outback Western Australia.

“It takes a lot of pressure to break a tooth off a girth gear. You can imagine the noise,” McCallion said.

Fixed in place at the larger of the mine’s two mills, the girth gear is a heavy-duty piece of machinery that rotates the ball mill shell. This slowly rotating shell is filled with steel balls that grind the ore down to a fine powder, whose particles are only 75 microns in diameter.

There was much to be done to replace the girth gear in the short time available between obtaining investment approval and commissioning the plant in readiness for the planned production schedule.

McCallion and his colleagues would need to align procurement, fabrication and installation of the new gear and pinion with all the other refurbishment and construction deliverables.

Mammoth task

The mine has a long history, dating back to 1897 with the discovery of a 13kg gold nugget – the largest found in Australia to that point.

It has undergone numerous transformations in the years since, as successive owners have introduced more modern technology

and techniques to deal with its complicated ore bodies.

The complication is that in addition to oxidised ores, the area is rich in sulphide ores, which require an extra step in the process to recover the gold.

The girth gear that failed was just one part of the infrastructure that McCallion and his team encountered

THE GIRTH GEAR IS A HEAVY-DUTY PIECE OF MACHINERY THAT ROTATES THE BALL MILL SHELL

when Blackham Resources took over the mine in early 2014.

Bringing the mine back to life after its three-year hiatus in care and maintenance was a huge task.

The company invested heavily in all aspects of the mine, from the crushing and grinding circuits and leaching tanks to the mine’s village.

“No matter how much you do at the beginning to estimate the amount of work needed in a refurbishment program like this, it’s almost impossible to make an accurate assessment. Stripping things apart to find out what’s really required is almost half the job,” McCallion said.

In addition to the as yet undiscovered but nonetheless expected tasks, McCallion’s team also undertook a number of planned activities, such as building a new power station and a new tailings dam.

A major challenge for his team was to align the timing of the girth gear replacement with all the other elements of the mill’s refurbishment.

These included concrete and structural repairs, replacement of the trunnion bearings, refurbishment of the mill motor and gearbox, removal and replacement of the mill liner, and also refurbishment of the mill’s electrical systems and instrumentation.

Racing to replace

McCallion said the mine aimed for 95 per cent availability. It operates around the clock, except for scheduled maintenance shutdowns.

With the ball mill out of action, the daily cost of lost production would be significant, so the race was on to find a replacement girth gear that could be installed before the mine’s planned re-opening date.

Nathan Langham, SEW-Eurodrive technical sales representative – industrial gears, was aware that his company was better known in Australia for its gear motors and heavy industrial gearboxes rather than equipment like girth gears.

However, he was also aware of SEW-Eurodrive’s reputation for successfully installing hundreds of AUSTRALIANMINING

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OCTOBER 2017

Gearmotors \ Heavy Industrial Solutions \ Electronics \ Decentralised Systems \ Services

Australia

When you plan BIG, even the tiniest details matter SEW-EURODRIVE offers high-torque drive packages and tailor-made system solutions for applications such as dryers, rotary kilns and horizontal mills. The segmented girth gear package covers everything from planning through to maintenance of the complete system.

Your Benefits: Reduced Vibrations: High accuracy and quality of segmented girth gears – better than AGMA 8.

Simplified Exchange and Repair: Individual gear segments instead of an entire girth gear would need to be disassembled.

Longer Service Life: Precision-machined segmented girth gears, manufactured from Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI), are virtually wear free.

Reduced Maintenance Cost: ADI allows narrower gears for the given power rating, thus substantially reducing consumption of costly lubricants.

Reduced Transportation and Installation Cost: Easy handling of relatively small girth gear segments.

Want to know more? Contact us today: www.sew-eurodrive.com.au 1300 SEW AUS (1300 739 287) to be directed to your nearest office Melbourne (Head Office) I Sydney I Brisbane I Townsville Mackay I Perth I Adelaide

MATERIALS HANDLING

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

girth-gear sets around the world over the last decade.

Langham said he expected an initially sceptical response when he first approached Blackham Resources with a solution for their problem.

By their nature, girth gears for retrofitting are often designed and produced individually according to careful measurements so that they fit in place when delivered.

This meant close cooperation with an overseas manufacturing plant would be necessary at all stages of the project as the gears were neither assembled nor stocked locally.

On top of this, the SEW–Eurodrive design was radically different from others used in Australia to date. It was a lot to ask of a new customer.

Segmented at girth

Perhaps the most unusual aspect of the SEW-Eurodrive solution was the construction of the girth gear.

According to Langham, most conventional girth gears are fabricated in two parts. In contrast, the girth gears from SEW-Eurodrive are formed from several identical segments.

He said that although this approach was still regarded as unconventional in Australia, it had a number of clear advantages.

“Transporting these girth gears to site is much easier,” he explained.

“Unlike the traditional parts, these smaller segments easily fit into containers for transport to Australia.

Similarly, transport to the mine itself is just as easy.”

The segments are constructed from Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI), which has a higher tensile strength than the usually employed materials.

Because of this, the girth gears from SEW-Eurodrive are thinner.

Less material means less initial cost.

It also means that less lubrication is required when the mill is running, so operating costs are reduced as well.

“Production times are faster, delivery times are shorter and, with the right dimensioning, load and lubrication, an ADI girth gear is virtually wear-free,” said Langham.

“Other advantages of the segmented design are that each part can be easily checked before installation and fewer spares are required.

“The savings do not stop there either. Risk Engineers and Special Industrial Insurers love our Segmented Gears as the shorter lead time and lower costs for spares reduce risk and therefore reduce Insurance Premiums significantly. There is

no need for the additional cost of a complete spare gear, as is usually the case.”

Laser production

The major challenge for the engineering team was to design a girth gear that would precisely match the existing mounting arrangements of the mill.

Rather than relying on archival documents or approximate manual measurements, the SEW-Eurodrive engineers chose to bring in an external contractor to take threedimensional scans of the mill, using highly accurate laser technology.

This allowed the international team of designers from SEW-Eurodrive to customise the new girth gear to fine tolerances.

“Each hole for mounting needs to be accurate within microns,” McCallion said.

“Despite the assurances from SEWEurodrive that their quality system was the same regardless of which plant in the world the equipment is designed and manufactured, our contractors on site were very concerned about putting a multisegment gear together on site and getting it to fit.”

When the time came to put this to

the test, the results were stunning.

So much so that representatives from SEW-Eurodrive’s project engineering team who had travelled from Perth specifically to witness the girth gear being mounted missed out on seeing it.

He said that normally, girth gears needed a little ‘coaxing’ to align.

However, at Wiluna, the segments were assembled and mounted so quickly that it was all over before they arrived.

“It went in amazingly well,” McCallion said. “The guys on site were gobsmacked at how easily it went together. Because of the nature of a large mine refurbishment project like ours, things don’t always go smoothly, and we have our challenges.

“The installation of the new girth gear was probably the one thing that came to fruition precisely as planned – including on schedule and within budget. I now recommend them and would use them again.”

With Australia’s first segmented girth gear from SEW-Eurodrive installed successfully, two more have been ordered for mines in WA and more are expected.

It is clear that this alternative girth gear design is now gaining acceptance in Australia. AM

THE INSTALLATION OF THE NEW GIRTH GEAR WENT PRECISELY AS PLANNED.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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MATERIALS HANDLING

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

REDUCING MAINTENANCE DOWNTIME IN MINING SHOVEL LIFT A LOOK AT HOW ENERPAC’S EVO SYNCHRONOUS LIFT TECHNOLOGY INCREASES SAFETY AND REDUCES MAINTENANCE DOWNTIME IN MINING.

R

outine maintenance is required on a P&H 4100XPC Electric Rope Shovel after every 30,000 hours of operation.

These machines – which are used on coal in Australia – require maintenance in which the upper section is lifted off the car body to machine bearing surfaces and inspect and repair structural components.

Weighing approximately 1000 US tons (approx. 907,000kg), lifting the upper car body requires a significant amount of force and control.

The maintenance team at Joy Global (now part of Komatsu) reached out to Enerpac to deliver a shovel lift system to undeck a P&H 4100XPC shovel in approximately one hour and be transported on the highway without oversized load permits.

The EVO synchronous lift technology involved in this US lift – technology which is widely deployed

by Enerpac for heavy precision lifts in Australia and New Zealand – provided the speed and safety of the lift that were critical components in reducing labor and equipment.

The solution

The EVO system included four 500 US ton cylinders with 72 inches of stroke (approx. 1829mm), an EVO synchronous control unit and four custom 8000 series hydraulic pumps.

Each pump was built to operate in extremely cold or hot environments.

“Enerpac had previously built a similar shovel lift system for Joy Global’s maintenance team in Chile.

The second-generation system built for Joy Global’s service team in Gillette, Wyoming, provided significantly more speed,” said Warren Baltineshter, Australasian Mining and Heavy Lift Solutions manager for the global Enerpac organisation, which has operated throughout Australasia for more than 50 years.

The EVO synchronous control unit enabled a single operator to control the entire lift and ensure each lifting point remained within 3/8 of an inch (9.525mm). The shovel was successfully undecked in approximately one hour and the entire system was transported on the highway without oversized load permits.

Products involved were four custom 500-ton cylinders with 72 inches of stroke, four custom 8000 series hydraulic pumps and an EVO synchronous control unit.

EVO lift system

Enerpac’s EVO synchronous lifting systems replace manual control of hydraulic heavy lifting with PLC control of multiple cylinder lifts, offering accuracy, safety and productivity benefits for precision lifting of heavy resources industry machinery.

THE ENERPAC EVO SYNCHRONOUS LIFT SYSTEM

AUSTRALIANMINING

THE EVO SYSTEM USES DIGITALLY CONTROLLED HYDRAULICS TO LIFT SOME OF THE LARGEST AND MOST CHALLENGING STRUCTURES IN THE MINING AND OIL AND GAS SECTORS

The EVO system is the evolutionary result of Enerpac’s 25 years of experience in specialised hydraulic engineering and lifting technology, using digitally controlled hydraulics to accurately and safely lift some of the largest and most challenging structures on earth, including mineral and oil and gas processing equipment.

Recent examples range from 1500 ton grinding mills in Western Australia to the superlifting and launch of a 43,000-ton floating oil production system in Malaysia for the Gumusut-Kakap offshore field.

The latest EVO synchronous system offers eight standard hydraulic control modes and can control four, eight or 12 points with one hydraulic power unit (HPU). A master control unit is also available that offers daisy chain control of multiple EVO systems, giving a maximum of 192 lifting points.

Instead of whole teams of lifting personnel trying to manually coordinate with each other lifts by hydraulic cylinders dispersed around a job, the EVO series synchronous lifting system integrates the highpressure hydraulic cylinders involved with a PLC system to monitor and control precise movement and positioning of heavy loads. Through an integrated human machine interface (HMI), all movements are managed from a central control position that displays live operation

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with real-time status updates for each lifting position.

The multifunctional EVO-Series can be used with multiple standard 700 bar (10,000 psi) single- or doubleacting cylinders and is offered with a 5 HP or 10 HP hydraulic power unit with 250-litre reservoir.

Accuracy is one of the main benefits of using the EVO system, which also offers increased productivity, with less staffing required than for manually controlled lifting.

“With synchronous lifting, one operator controls the entire precision lifting process, during which the status of every lifting point is constantly monitored and displayed,” Baltineshter said.

“Time saving is another advantage of synchronous lifting. The process does not have to be stopped after any incremental value, checked, manually re-measured and corrected. The EVOSystem carries out these actions during the entire lifting process, even with low lifting or lowering speeds. Depending on the application, time savings up to 60 percent can be achieved.”

Safety benefits of the PLCcontrolled system include elimination of the potential for error with the multi-operator manual control approach. The digitally precise EVOsystem incorporates warnings and stop functions. It offers full monitoring and control, with programmable failsafe monitoring and safety alarms. AM

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MATERIALS HANDLING

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

CARRYBACK NO MATCH FOR BELT CLEANING SYSTEM UPGRADES HOW PORT KEMBLA COAL TERMINAL AND FLEXCO WORKED TOGETHER TO IMPROVE SAFETY, OPERATING AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE, AND RELIABILITY OF THE BELT CLEANING SYSTEMS.

A

t Port Kembla Coal Terminal (PKCT), carryback and spillage generally occurs due to inadequate belt cleaning. A large proportion of the existing materials handling systems were based on older and less efficient technology.

As such, PKCT identified various opportunities where improvements to the existing belt cleaning systems could be implemented to improve their safety, operating and environmental performance, as well as their reliability.

The belt cleaning system upgrades are part of the larger restoration and compliance project undertaken as PKCT sought to improve and modernise their conveyor belt cleaning systems to achieve improvements in carryback, spillage, belt cleaning, belt wear, maintainability and dust control.

Port Kembla Coal Terminal in New South Wales

Port Kembla Coal Terminal is a key coal exporting facility on the east coast of Australia, 72km south of Sydney. It services two of the nation’s richest coal reserves, the southern and western coalfields of New South Wales, exporting highquality coking and steaming coal to customers around the world.

Bruce Chapple, PKCT customer representative, Mitch Harm, basic design and execution, and Shannon Ballard, detailed design, from Project Portfolio Management (PPM), were the personnel in charge of the planning and execution of the Port Kembla Coal Terminal conveyor NC14 spillage reduction project.

“The project created various opportunities for the terminal to implement improvements to our systems, to increase safety, operating

and environmental performance, and reliability,” Harm said.

Tackling the carryback issues

One problematic conveyor was creating substantial carryback issues for the terminal. NC14 is a critical conveyor spanning 383 metres in length, running parallel to the harbour and feeding the site’s two ship loaders.

It is a 2000mm wide, 20mm thick conveyor belt, running 5.5 metres per second and with the capacity to carry up to 6600 tonnes per hour of either thermal or coking coal.

According to both Harm and Ballard, conveyor NC14 had extensive carryback material spreading along its full length.

“This created further issues as the carryback material resulted in spillage, slip hazards, and environmental issues,” Harm said.

THE FLEXCO INSPECTION DOOR INSTALLED ON THE HEAD CHUTE OF NC14

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It was the constant build up underneath the length of the conveyor that caused the most issues.

Not only was the area a slip hazard for site personnel, but considerable time was spent by maintenance crews hosing down the area to control dust emissions.

While the conveyor did have belt cleaning systems installed, it was 1980s technology and was ineffective at combating the considerable carryback and spillage along the beltline.

The original primary cleaner and spray secondary cleaner both had bolt tensioners and were difficult to maintain.

Carryback testing was undertaken

by Flexco on the conveyor in its current state and with a range of coal types determined carryback levels to be an average of 32kg per hour.

“PKCT identified that a good belt cleaning system performs at around 4kg per hour, however, our specific goal was to reduce carryback on NC14 to less than 2kg per hour,” Harm explained.

It was these problems that led to a complete overhaul of belt cleaning systems on NC14 inclusive of primary and secondary belt cleaners, spray bars, and a custom-built belt wash station.

PKCT had done their research and knew they wanted to implement a belt wash station on NC14. After realising Flexco had a standard wash box design, they discussed the suitability of the standard design with Josh Abberton, New South Wales manager at Flexco.

It was determined the Flexco standard wash box design was not suitable for the positioning on NC14 and, after conducting extensive research at other coal ports in Queensland, PKCT held a decision analysis with the purpose of deciding on a wash box preferred solution.

The outcome of the decision analysis determined a custom-built wash box incorporating the use of ‘squeegee rollers’ would be better suited to the application. This was primarily due to seeing the proven success with this style of wash

MATERIALS HANDLING

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

box at other coal terminals which resulted in consistently low levels of carry back.

“The main difference between the two options that were being considered is the standard wash box design incorporates additional scrapers into the box without the use of squeegee rollers, whereas the custom-built wash box, and the ones used at these Queensland coal terminals to great success, use one or more belt cleaners with multiple squeegee rollers inside the wash box, which is positioned after the primary and secondary belt cleaners on the belt,” Abberton explained.

“After PKCT obtained information from other coal terminals, we found that these sites utilise squeegee rollers to great success. We determined that utilising squeegee rollers would help us achieve the belt cleanliness levels we needed on NC14,” Harm said.

Since the Flexco standard wash box is designed and manufactured from scratch by in-house engineers, PKCT knew Flexco had the capability and expertise to design a custom wash box with squeegee rollers to the specifications requested

by Port Kembla Coal Terminal and unique to the application required for conveyor NC14.

Thus, Flexco was commissioned

by PKCT to design, manufacture and supply the wash box for PKCT while placing paramount importance on the health, safety, environmental and technical requirements described in the specification by PKCT. Flexco was also commissioned to supply additional belt cleaning equipment for NC14 as part of the overall restoration of the conveyor cleaning systems.

Getting Technical

Several technical requirements were specified by PKCT, namely that all belt cleaners should be configured to allow for easy access to all points requiring inspection, adjustment, maintenance and repairs.

The configuration must also allow for safe access when replacing components, including inspection doors and chute cut-outs for inspection and adjustment when the conveyor system is operating.

“We also needed all equipment supplied by Flexco to be maintainable within a threeday shutdown period, occurring quarterly,” Ballard said.

Flexco designed, manufactured

THE CUSTOM-ENGINEERED WASH BOX DURING INSTALLATION ON CONVEYOR NC14

and supplied a custom wash box containing four squeegee rollers which work by adding slight deflection to the belt to assist in removing water and carryback.

The wash box also incorporates two spray bars which provide the water necessary to remove the stubborn product from the belt.

There is also one U-Type heavyduty secondary cleaner, specifically chosen as it provides the highest cleaning efficiency – especially in tough applications requiring the removal of water or sticky carryback materials.

The stainless-steel wash box and recovery system was mounted on the return side of the belt at the head end of the NC14 conveyor.

Before the belt washing station, a Flexco heavy-duty H-Type primary cleaner with spring tension system was installed at the head pulley, designed to remove the bulk of the carryback from the belt.

The dual compression spring tensioners maintain uniform, constant blade tension to the belt and makes visually checking the tension easy and safe, essentially adhering to the important safety requirements stipulated by PKCT. Teaming up with the Flexco H-Type primary cleaner are two MHS Enhanced Service Advantage Cartridge heavy-duty secondary cleaners.

With the proven and patented PowerFlex cushion, the MHS ESAC secondary cleaners deliver highly efficient cleaning in the most difficult environments.

The service advantage cartridge AUSTRALIANMINING

can be easily removed and replaced, even in the dirtiest conditions, another critical feature to PKCT to ensure fast, easy, and most importantly, safe maintenance.

Overall, the new belt cleaning systems were going to be a tough defence against carryback, but the real test was when subsequent carryback testing was conducted over the several months following the equipment being installed.

Carryback reduced by 94%

Carryback testing conducted before the belt cleaning system was updated on NC14 measured an average of 32kg per hour.

Port Kembla Coal Terminal’s specific goal was to reduce carryback to a minimal 2kg per hour. After the new belt cleaning equipment was installed and commissioned, the same carryback tests were conducted over a period of several months to see how much carryback had been reduced on the belt.

Carryback measurements taken after the upgrade of NC14 produced an average of 2kg of carryback per hour, meeting PKCT’s specific carryback target.

This is a total reduction of 30kg/ hour. That’s an enormous 720kg reduction in coal spillage over a 24hour period of the belt running.

This is a huge amount of coal that is no longer spreading along the underside of the conveyor, spilling off the belt, damaging the conveyor system, causing environmental concerns and safety hazards for work crews.

The belt cleaning system upgrade

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on NC14 resulted in a reduction in carryback levels by 94 per cent, effectively meeting all expectations and specifications, and tackling the carryback issues head on.

Looking to the future

The team at Port Kembla Coal Terminal are looking forward to the maintenance challenges in the future, with further work planned on site. Due to their extensive experience and their solid relationship with Flexco, they now have another trick up their sleeve when tackling future belt conveyor issues.

Flexco’s Tasman Warajay Technology Transfer Systems have been installed on the new stackers at Port Kembla Coal Terminal, with the aim to eliminate bottlenecks and reduce dust emissions. Flexco is also currently working in partnership with Transmin by supplying customengineered conveyor belt cleaners for the Transmin Low Profile Feeder (LPF).

The proven heavy-duty combination of the H-Type Primary Cleaner and MHS Enhanced Service Advantage Cartridge Secondary Cleaners is also being implemented on the new reclaimer and stacker machines on site.

“We are really excited to be part of the restoration and compliance project at Port Kembla Coal Terminal, and we look forward to tackling the next belt conveyor issue on site with the excellent PKCT team, with the aim to implement safe solutions that increase productivity,” Abberton said. AM

PRODUCTS

ABL PROLOK DRUM SOCKET SYSTEM FOR DRAGLINES Dragline rigging manufacturer ABL Services has introduced its patented ProLok drum socket system to the Australian dragline mining community.

The ProLok socket system is a safe and proven alternative to OEM rope clamps used for securing wire ropes on dragline hoist and drag drums.

Until the development of the ProLok drum socket system, changing wire ropes on dragline drums has been one of the riskiest tasks performed by dragline workers on a frequent basis.

Most dragline drums have multiple rope clamps that secure the hoist and drag ropes to the drum. These clamps are heavy and cumbersome with bolts that are known to strip or break. In addition, workers typically use a large 1.5” drive air impact gun to tighten as many as 24 bolts per drum. During operation the ropes must be monitored for slippage, which can occur and necessitate additional tightening of the rope clamp bolts.

The ProLok drum sockets provide a single point termination for the wire rope and mount directly to the drum.

Only simple hand tools are required to secure and release the wire rope from the ProLok drum socket. Heavy impacts and multiple rope clamps are eliminated, therefore reducing the time to change ropes and improving safety aspects of the rope change process. With the dragline drum positioned properly, the hoist and drag ropes may be secured in the ProLok sockets by personnel standing on the floor, therefore reducing the potential of falls associated with ladders and climbing on drums.

By simplifying the rope change process, the ProLok drum socket system not only makes the job safer, but also faster. Small crews of two-three workers are able to remove used ropes from the drums and secure new ropes in a fraction of the time. With minimal experience, crews can expect to cut the time it takes to replace drum ropes by more than 50 per cent.

The safety and time saving benefits of the ProLok drum socket system are demonstrated on 60 draglines in North America with wire rope sizes ranging from 48mm to 127mm. ABL has ProLok drum sockets engineered for virtually every Page, Marion, and BE dragline. The ABL ProLok drum socket system has been awarded international patents in Australia, the United States and 129 other countries.

• ABL Services 0011 1 903 509 2256 www.ABL-Services.com

WINCHES WITH INCREASED SAFETY FEATURES

SOLAR HAZARD AND COLLISION AVOIDANCE DELINEATORS

Western Australian-based company Vector Lifting has released its latest heavy winch, designed to ensure simple installation and operation on site.

With a focus around ease of use for operators, the company has incorporated a number of features that assist with productivity and ensure a safe working environment. The safety features ensure an efficient shutdown of the conveyor and reduce downtime in production.

Through the design and manufacture process, Vector Lifting ensures that a Safety of Machinery study and risk assessment are completed in compliance with AS4024.2014. The company uses this standard as the basis for Design Risk Assessment for the re-development of existing products and design of new products.

Throughout both design and manufacturing stages the risk assessment is established and periodically reviewed to ensure risk to the health and safety of people associated with the use of the machine is minimised, ensuring safe installation and operation. As well as the impacts on people, the effects of the machine, its surrounding equipment and the environment are also taken into consideration.

The winch is designed to have interchangeable parts with all Vector winches and has easy access lubrication points fitted to it. Each new product is also re-assessed to ensure the conditions and requirements of the new site and operating location are taken into consideration.

Design of controls, guarding and interlocks are critical areas in the interaction between the operators and the winches in order to provide safe and efficient equipment. This is a key area for the safe use of the winch in direct relation to personnel. Other major features that have been included in the winch design include load cells, rope overlay detection, inspection points and clear signage.

SolarOne Enterprises released its world-first solar hazard warning and collision avoidance delineators for mines and worksites at the 2017 Asia Pacific’s Mining Exhibition (AIMEX).

Frontliner delineators improve safety and visibility of heavy haulage roads, mines and worksites. They are a set-and-forget solution designed for extreme conditions, 24/7 operations and are easy to install, remove and redeploy.

The units are designed with the latest LEDs – visible for 500 metres, a highly efficient solar panel and an energy silo all in an impact resistant casing. This avoids the use of batteries which present a significant danger on some mine sites. Frontliner’s solar panels charge in three to six hours, run for 20 hours and are rated to 300,000 cycles.

Frontliners were designed as a future-proof technology with an integrated circuit on board that allowed the light colour to change to red, green, blue, yellow, amber or white according to road and weather conditions or for traffic management. The ICB could also allow a cluster of light units to communicate via mesh network technologies.

SolarOne also exhibited another solar-powered product it has developed – Pathfinder – which optimises off-grid lighting for footpaths, cycling paths and walkways. It can provide different styles of lighting – safety, ambient and aesthetic – with easy installation and maintenance.

• Solar One (03) 5202 5444 www.solarone.com.au

• Vector Lifting (08) 9417 9128 www.vectorlifting.com.au

AUSTRALIANMINING

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PRODUCTS

LATITUDE 7212 RUGGED EXTREME TABLET Dell has launched the Latitude 7212 Rugged Extreme Tablet, delivering the high performance, flexibility and reliability needed for jobs in harsh environments.

Whether it’s extreme cold, heat, humidity, corrosive sand or sea water, the tablet is built to withstand the challenging environments. Backed by Dell’s global support and supply chain services, the tough tablet has been engineered to be lighter and more powerful than previous generations while providing more performance and battery life.

Weighing just over 1.2kg for base configurations and built with the latest Intel 6th and 7th Generation Core I-series 15 watt processors, the system delivers up to 19 hours of battery life, with dual, hot-swappable batteries. Despite all of these improvements on the inside, the tablet is still backward compatible with docking solutions for desks and vehicles. It also offers enterprise-ready security and manageability to safeguard data and sensitive information for field service, public safety and military professionals.

The tablet features up to 16GB of memory – double the amount of the previous generation; up to 1TB of removable PCI-Express NVMe SSD storage; a fourth generation Dell Quad-Cool passive and active thermal management system that uses a sealed fan assembly that dissipates heat while preventing water and dust particles from entering the device; optional dedicated GPS location capabilities and optional integrated 4GLTE; and a multi-touch glove capable bright and vivid 11.6” FHD display that features a Gorilla Glass cover for outdoor view-ability and durability.

The tablet includes an assortment of handles and straps that have been redesigned for maximum comfort and ease of use; Dell’s new external battery charger, which provides on-the-go charging of up to two extra batteries; a kickstand that rotates 180 degrees for a variety of comfortable viewing angles; and forward and backward compatibility for ecosystem and expansion, making it a future-proof investment whether it is a replacement or a new purchase.

The tablet is available with ProSupport Plus with SupportAssist, delivering remote monitoring technology that quickly reacts to, and even gets ahead of end-user needs. ProSupport Plus is a highly responsive, proactive and predictive support experience that accelerates issue resolution, identifies potential problems before they occur and keeps systems optimised and running with peak performance.

• Dell www.dell.com/rugged

SCRAP METAL DETECTOR WITH HIGH SENSITIVITY

CONTINUOUS DIESEL PARTICULATE MATTER READER

Thermo Fisher Scientific has released the Ramsey Oretronic IV tramp metal detector designed to reduce downtime.

Belt conveyor operators at mining, mineral, steel, cement and other industrial sites can now install a new, highly-sensitive scrap metal detector designed to optimise production time, protect process equipment and reduce false alarm rates.

The metal detector builds upon the existing line of tramp metal detectors by increasing sensitivity for improved detection capabilities. The detector is designed to work with belt conveyors that move minerals, iron pellets, coal, aggregates and other bulk materials, to better detect all types of metallic scrap, including bucket teeth, manganese steel mantles, bore crowns, bar scrap, chains and tools.

The increased sensitivity in the Oretronic IV detector allows it to identify tramp metal buried in wet conductive materials quickly and accurately.

It is available in two versions with two levels of sensitivity and includes a microprocessor-based control unit, a receiver coil, a transmitter coil and a support frame.

Additional features of the Oretronic IV tramp metal detector include variable frequency, designed to allow the operator to adjust the frequency to eliminate interference and false alarms from motors, radios and other external devices; a fiberglass support structure for coils that is resistant to moisture; advanced electronics with an LCD display, touch button keypad and new menu for easy setup, calibration and system use; and simple installation and easy upgrade from existing instruments in the Oretronic tramp metal detector line.

The Pinssar diesel particulate matter (DPM) reader provides real-time smart monitoring of DPM below 800 nanometres on a continuous basis by using laser light scattering photometry as a way of measuring particles in the ambient air.

The reader is specifically designed to be deployed in enclosed environments such as underground mines, construction sites, workshops and tunnels, and in a wide range of industries, including mining, defence, oil and gas, shipping and transport.

The DPM’s key features include a rugged solution that would withstand the demands of harsh environments, the ability to design and manufacture the internal layout of the unit, as well as managing internal and thurd party testing for international certification.

• APC Technology (08) 8363 0400 www.apctechnology.com.au

• Thermo Fisher Scientific www.thermofisher.com/OretronicIV

AUSTRALIANMINING

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EVENTS

CONFERENCES, SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS EVENT SUBMISSIONS CAN BE EMAILED TO EDITOR@AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU

TENTH CONFERENCE ON COAL MINE SUBSIDENCE NOVEMBER 5-7 2017 HUNTER VALLEY, NEW SOUTH WALES The theme for this year’s Conference on Coal Mine Subsidence is ‘Adaptive Innovation for Managing Challenges’.

The event will cover the latest management issues associated with compliance and approvals, managing subsidence impacts on built features and natural features; the latest research, developments and case studies; community and stakeholder consultation processes; and mitigation and remedial measures. It will also feature a Subsidence Workshop held by the NSW Government, which will have two sessions. The first session will be by the Subsidence Advisory NSW, Department of Finance, Services and Innovation, and will provide information on proposed changes to the Mine Subsidence Compensation Act 1961; a new online claims portal and independent assessment panel; mining companies’ responsibilities for compensation; and reduced levies to compensate for subsidence impacts from non-active mines. The second session by the Resources Regulator, Department of Planning & Environment, will provide information to assist the mine operators in complying with their obligations under the WHS laws in relation to subsidence and in identifying and controlling hazards that may cause harm to people from subsidence.

• Tenth Conference on Coal Mine Subsidence www.msts.org.au

panels discussing coal cost reduction measures adopted at coke plants, global logistic challenges to improve delivery times, global challenges of buying coal in the current market, coke quality monitoring and Met Coke preparing for next generation of mining works.

• Met Coke 2017 +1 330 762 7441 www.metcokemarkets.com/metcokehome

2017 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR SERIES: STRATEGIC RISK QUANTIFICATION AND MANAGEMENT FOR ORE RESERVES AND MINE PLANNING NOVEMBER 8-10, 13-15 2017 PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) is holding two seminars on managing ore reserves and mine planning in November. The first, ‘Geostatistical/ stochastic simulation methods, tools and applications from ore reserves to mine production’ will be held on November 8-10. This will be presented

by Roussos Dimitrakopoulos from McGill University, Canada. Delegates will learn how the application of modern geostatistical (stochastic) simulation technologies for modelling

mineral deposits can add value to major aspects of mining ventures such as feasibility and production planning and valuation. The other seminar, ‘Strategic Mine Planning with New Digital Technologies, Risk Management and Mineral Value Chains’, will be held on November 13-15. It will also be hosted by Dimitrakopoulos as well as Brett King from COMET Strategy, Australia. This will help operators learn how applying new digital technologies can enhance strategic mine planning and asset value.

• 2017 Professional Development Seminar Series (03) 9658 6120 www.ausimm.com.au

THIRD ANNUAL ASIAPACIFIC DEEP SEA MINING SUMMIT NOVEMBER 21-22 2017 SINGAPORE The third annual Asia-Pacific Deep Sea Mining Summit brings together deep sea miners, scientists, ocean regulators and subsea technology companies to learn about emerging opportunities in deep sea mining industry. This year’s theme is around forming new partnerships and building on existing relationships to create framework agreements, new technologies and technical expertise to address the challenges that face deep sea miners and industry providers.

Topics include achieving sustainable seabed mining projects, the economic landscape and growth for deep sea mining, new exploration and mining

projects; regional opportunities, regulatory frameworks, and new technological developments associated with commercialising deep sea mining.

The event will feature two days of in-depth presentations, networking opportunities, updates on the latest projects and research, technical presentations and case studies from industry experts.

• Third annual Asia-Pacific Deep Sea Mining Summit +1 206-582-0128 www.asia.deepsea-mining-summit.com

MINES AND MONEY LONDON LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM NOVEMBER 27-30 2017 Mines and Money London will bring together more than 2500 attendees from 75 countries to identify major investment opportunities in the mining sector. Now in its 15th year, the event will see mining companies, investors, bankers and brokers discuss these new opportunities and listen to keynote speeches on ways to advance in the mining industry.

Delegates will have the opportunity to listen to presentations, visit exhibitor stands or set up one on one meetings with investors in attendance.

This year’s speakers include Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland, Randgold chief executive Mark Bristow and Goldman Sachs managing director Stephen Withnell.

• Mines and Money London +44 (0) 208 004 3888 www.london.minesandmoney.com

AUSTRALIAN MINING BRINGS YOU THE LATEST EVENTS IN THE MINING CALENDAR

MET COKE 2017 NOVEMBER 7-9 2017 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA The Met Coke World Summit connects delegates from leading coal mining companies with industry analysts. It will provide forecasts on coking coal, coal and steel markets. The event will have two pre-conference workshops; one full day workshop titled ‘Steelmakers Guide to Cokemaking’ and a half day workshop on ‘New Coals and New Coal Blending’. It will have five AUSTRALIANMINING

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