Spotlight Feature Articles Caterpillar Surface Automation Sept16 | Page 4

SURFACE AUTOMATION competitors can’t. All miners regardless of size are looking to gain a better bottom line profit by introducing machine automation. The larger players definitely have an attitude that leads to larger scale projects of machine automation and hence a larger capital investment. With the smaller players having a more focused attitude on critical areas of their business they offer productivity gains with a lower capital outlay.” The immediate benefit of integrating automation was the lack of machine damage that was occurring which was probably overlooked when the automation push first came into the industry. “Suppliers were reluctant to drive the machines outside of the OEM specifications, which then resulted in less wear and tear of major components, better fuel economy and less overall downtime associated with operator abuse of machinery. When this is taken into account, the return on investment is still relatively fast, but maybe not seen as an immediate increase in production rather a lowering of the cost base.” An autonomous Atlas Copco Pit Viper 271 at a BHP Billiton operation The Rio Tinto road to success Pilbara continues to lead progress In its June 2016 production quarter, Fortescue Metals Group, the world’s fourth largest iron ore miner after Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vale, stated: “During the quarter, the Solomon Autonomous Haulage System fleet safely transported the 200 millionth tonne of material using driverless trucks.” The company reported shipments of 43.4 Mt of iron ore with cash production costs of US$14.31 per wet metric tonne (wmt), a reduction of 3% compared to the March 2016 quarter and 35% over the prior twelve months. Guidance for FY17 has also been released targeting shipments between 165-170 Mt and cash production costs in the range of US$12-13/wmt. Chief Executive Officer, Nev Power, said: “Our June quarter result demonstra tes the consistent delivery of outstanding operational performance across all aspects of our business. Costs have been lowered for the tenth consecutive quarter and our continued focus on productivity and efficiency measures will drive C1 costs even lower in FY17. With net debt reduced to US$5.2 billion, we are fast approaching our initial balance sheet targets and will continue to apply cash flows to further reduce debt.” In a report coinciding with the results in newspaper The West Australian, Power was further quoted: “We now have 47 autonomous trucks and have shifted over 200 Mt. We are very pleased with the productivity improvements we are getting. We are getting around 20% over and above what we would get from a regular fleet of trucks of the same type.” The fleet now consists of 47 Caterpillar Command for Hauling 793F CMD autonomous trucks, supplied through Cat dealer WesTrac. “These trucks don’t need to stop to International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2016 trial, is for upgrade packages to 18 drill rigs. It also includes two machines already operating autonomously. The 20 Pit Viper 271 autonomous rigs will initially be controlled at BHP Billiton’s five iron ore mines in Pilbara, with the longerterm aim of remote operation from Perth, more than 1,000 km away, Atlas Copco said. The move will increase BHP Billiton’s drill capacity by a third and the Atlas Copco drills allow cost reduction of drilling operations by about 27%. change drivers, clean windscreens and do those sorts of things,” Power said. “The big gain in them is that they can drive at higher speeds in all conditions and that they only need to be stopped when they are being maintained or refuelled. We can do more work with fewer trucks so there is a saving in terms of capital. A key part of this has been developing that relationship with Caterpillar and WesTrac because it does take a lot of work from the vendor and the dealer to do this.” Caterpillar’s Global Head of Mining Denise Johnson was also quoted, saying the Caterpillar 793 had proved to be very productive for remote operations. “We started with that model because we felt it was the sweet spot but we do have intentions of expanding that size truck,” she said. “It’s not the largest but it is one that is very heavily used and is in many remote fleets. The trend is fewer people, less interactions between people and machines, but there are certain elements of site management where human intervention won’t go away completely.” The other Cat autonomous truck customer, BHP Billiton, has been trialling 12 Command for Hauling 793F CMD driverless haul trucks at its Jimblebar iron ore mine. WA Iron Ore Asset President Edgar Basto Basto said in The West Australian that the truck program was making good progress but that the project would be assessed by the end of the year. However, BHP Billiton is moving ahead rapidly with its blasthole drill automation program. Atlas Copco recently won an order from BHPB for autonomous drill rig upgrades to be used at iron ore mines in Western Australia. The order, which follows a two-year The pioneering mines in full automation in the Pilbara were Rio Tinto’s Yandicoogina, Hope Downs 4 and Nammuldi mines – which also became the first in the world to move all of their iron ore using fully automated, driverless haulage trucks. Rio Tinto first introduced the Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) at its iron ore operations eight years ago as part of its Mine of the Future programme and is now the world’s largest owner and operator of autonomous trucks. The group has 71 Komatsu 930E-4AT trucks equipped with the Frontrunner Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) across three Pilbara iron ore mines, moving about 20% of the operations’ material. The AHS was developed by Komatsu and Komatsu company Modular Mining Systems, Inc. Rio Tinto was one of the first in the industry to adopt automation, and it is visible across many aspects of its Pilbara operations. In addition to the AHS trucks, the Group’s Iron Ore business operates seven fully Autonomous Drill Systems (ADS) to drill production blastholes, and drones are being trialled to measure stockpiles and assist with environmental and maintenance activities. The machines are controlled from the 1,500 km distant Perth Operations Centre, which itself has 400 employees. Michael Gollschewski, Managing Director of Rio Tinto’s Pilbara mines, says technology has transformed productivity at the iron ore operations and helped the business ride out the highs and lows of the cycle. This early adoption of technology has played a key role in positioning Rio Tinto as the lowest cost iron ore producer in the Pilbara. “Our first mover advantage from developing our Operations Centre in Perth and implementing autonomous technology has been instrumental to our continued success,” he told an industry conference in March. “Tied in with the other productivity improvements we have made, this technology is game changing.” Results over the past eight years show the Group’s investment in automation has paid off, delivering improvements across safety and productivity, and reducing maintenance costs. “Autonomous trucks reduce employee exposure to hazards and risks associated with operating heavy equipment, such as fatigue-