Innovation
Machinery innovation aims to enhance underground environment THE 2019 AUSTMINE: MINING INNOVATION CONFERENCE DEMONSTRATED WHAT IS BEING ACHIEVED TO MAKE UNDERGROUND MINING SAFER AND MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY. SAFE TO WORK WRITES.
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nternational equipment manufacturers and Australian companies alike are showing their commitment to changing the underground mining environment. Epiroc and Safescape both used the Austmine 2019 Conference in Brisbane during May to unveil details of their plans to innovate the underground with battery electric technology. Battery electric machinery is set to provide numerous benefits to underground mining in the coming years, such as improved safety, as well as reduced greenhouse gas emissions, diesel fuel consumption and power use. For Epiroc, the technology continues to become further entrenched in the
original equipment manufacturer’s (OEMs) future with the development of its Batteries-as-a-service business model. The new division of the company will be another step towards its ambition to lead mining towards a sustainable future with zero emission machines. Epiroc has rapidly moved in this direction in recent years, making a key move in 2016 by releasing its first generation battery electric machinery, which focused on smaller models of the company’s underground trucks, loaders and drills. In 2017, the Swedish company started development of a battery platform involving scalable, modular
Epiroc’s second generation of battery electric machinery.
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architecture that could be used across its product range, from the smallest to largest machines. The OEM then unveiled its second generation battery electric equipment late last year, including a number of larger machines that will appeal to a broader market, particularly in Australia. To support this expansion, Epiroc realised it needed to change the way it does business to accelerate the transformation. As Epiroc introduced its new battery system, the company also started to plot the Batteries-as-a-service business model to take its development breakthroughs further. Epiroc is shaping the business model to remove the obstacles that come with a transition to the technology, providing an ‘instant technology leap’ to battery electric machinery. Batteries-as-a-service will move the upfront costs of batteries from capital expenditure to operational expenditure, with the responsibility of this function assumed by the OEM. Epiroc senior executive vice president, mining and infrastructure, Helena Hedblom believes Batteriesas-a-service will be a natural choice for many customers. “The bigger mining houses often have the capacity to buy it all, but for the smaller and mid-sized customers the capital expenditure (of battery electric
