Technology and innovation
Improving slope stability
The future is smart
Maptek showcased its latest mobile monitoring system at the
Slope Stability Symposium held in Seville, Spain, recently.
Providers of mining software Maptek showcased its latest mobile monitoring
system at the Slope Stability Symposium held in Seville, Spain, recently.
According to James Howarth, mine measurement product manager at Maptek,
slope stability has a real impact on risk and safety in opencast mines. “The better
our understanding of slope stability, the better placed we are to improve safety to
mining personnel, the environment, and mining equipment,” says Howarth.
“Mine safety is hugely important to Maptek. It’s an area where we invest
significant research and development, specifically on our range of 3-D laser
scanners, our geotechnical analysis software and in recent years, on our Sentry
surface monitoring system. We’re really keen to be a part of the conversation on
slope stability or ground movement monitoring, helping attendees grasp how
effective our technology is and how it can help them to monitor, analyse, and keep
ahead of geotechnical risk,” says Howarth.
Many monitoring systems are fixed or simply not inherently mobile. Maptek’s
Sentr y system is fully designed for permanent monitoring, but it can also be
moved around the mine with ease. “Which means you can react to changes in
your mine and quickly begin monitoring them,” says Howarth.
“Equally, if you’re performing weekly or monthly monitoring, the laser
scanner can be detached between monitoring sessions to perform routine
survey tasks, such as volumetrics or reconciliation. It’s such a versatile system
and we think a lot of mining companies will be pretty excited to learn more
about it at the symposium.”
Future mines will become the ultimate measured
environment, with remote sensors able to monitor
everything, from gas levels to the stability of ground
surfaces. This is according to Michael Walter, product
engineer at Ansys, who says that these sensors will
constantly feed back to systems that can analyse and
alert operators of dangers ahead.
“Autonomous and remote-controlled vehicles will
increasingly become the norm and will be able to locate
themselves in 3-D space and position themselves
around objects without human intervention.
Maintenance regimes will become predictive, with
more live monitoring of equipment to detect part
failures before they happen,” says Walter.
The endgame is mines that are safer for workers,
more efficient, and more cost effective to run. But a
future in which every mine is smart, is still a long way
off.
Although there have been some early adopters
of Internet of things (IoT) solutions, Walters says
that South African mines have not embraced the
technology yet. “This is maybe because there are many
technical challenges to operate networked equipment
underground, and plug and play products are still in
their infancy,” Walters adds.
“Right now, there are underground mines that
have wireless networks that run all the way to the
rock face,” says Walters. “But for the most part,
underground mines are still using UHF or VHF-based
communication systems.”
The way IoT devices communicate underground
is a critical issue, because any network needs to be
robust, with failsafe options that mean if one node or
antenna goes down, overall network performance and
connectivity is not affected. It also cannot interfere
with emergency response channels.
“The advantages make IoT adoption inevitable,
though. Already the safety and productivity solutions
division at Ansys is working on solutions that can be
commercialised to reduce the cost and difficulty of
deployment. We already have a good background in
the technology that is needed from our work deploying
IoT systems in the rail industry. Pivoting off that base
and into the mining sector, we aim to develop systems
that provide real-time, actionable information to mine
personnel and supervisors,” Walters concludes.
Tower lights the way
Rand-Air, a company that specialises in
the rental of compressors and generators,
has introduced its new Atlas Copco
QLB 60 LED light tower, which is ideal
for use in open-case mining operations.
This light tower enables mines to keep
working after the sun goes down, thanks
to its luminous coverage LED floodlights,
which feature special optics that
maximises light coverage. The four 350W
LED lights match the typical luminosity
of four 1 000W metal halide lights.
According to Craig Swart, fleet
manager at Rand-Air, the use of this
light tower not only translates in the
brightening of a mining site, but also
a mining company’s bottom line. “This
includes savings of up to 34% on
maintenance costs and construction,
which will keep the light tower running
for longer and less. The galvanised steel
canopy also assists in preventing rust and
corrosion,” says Swart.
“Low running costs is a staple feature
of the QLB 60 and can be as much as
95% lower thanks to the time-saving
remote start functionality that eliminates
the need for personnel to be sent to the
worksite. The remote start can be set via
photocell or weekly timer,” Swart adds.
Mines will not have an issue when it
comes to positioning the QLB 60 light
tower where it is required, because the mast
is extremely stable and quick to operate.
It extends to a maximum height of eight
meters and rotates 340 degrees.
“Once the light tower is set up, the time-
saving remote functionality and the QLB
60’s large fuel tank, which delivers 260
hours of uptime, will help ensure that it can
lighten up the site with greater autonomy
for longer as well,” concludes Swart.
JUNE 2018 MINING MIRROR
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