Automation getting in gear

Donna Schmidt talks to OEMs, suppliers and mines aboutautomation progress in the load
and haul space and those new horizons still to come
aris Abin Toler said safety and sustainability, Sandie ‘That work applies to both
“Technology feeds on ise continuously develops our ‘AutoMine, which allows sealing up
Technology makes more tech- futomation systemstooffer higher of systems at a customised pace and
nology possible.” That is certainly levs of inteligence, optimisation covers all aspects of automation
‘Yue forthe mining industry, and the capabilites, operational fexbilty from one machine to an entire fleet,
industryworld is getting smaller and integration with large digital ‘2s well as OptMine,which Sandvik
thanks to expanding technology. ecosystems," Sandvik global considers tobe the most compre
‘Automation of loading and having business development manager - hensive solution for optimising
‘san enormous segmentof the total ‘automation Jarkko Ruokoirv says Underground hard rock mining
‘automation future for which mining “Astomated loaders and trucks Sandvi’s most recentlaunch,
‘operations are striving. For optimised reed to interact wth other phases ‘AutoMine for Trucks in ramp
producton and total worker safety sources ofthe mining haulage, turns the company’s inteli-
‘ema many are learing onthe fture ‘gent mining trucks into unmanned
‘of automation technology to bring
‘those goals to the world's mine sites.
‘Without a doubt, there is much
progress being made. Each time
‘Mining Magazine organises an

“Loading
and hauling Itis gauging that progress, finding
isan cout whats ding the future and
enormous learning —in many eases,through
‘active avtomation cases how on
segmentof ‘rack mining realy iin tis tol
‘automation goal. MM checks in on
thetotal the latest.
automation
future” OEMs
[As global operations put supplier
technology into place,everyone
{ans insight. The mine finds out
twat werks and what does not,
then shares it withthe developer
"The system's maker, in turn, often
uses that feedback along with its
‘own research to improve and forty
the technology, sending the newly
polished features back into the oper:
ationalspace to begin again. While
‘implied version ofthe cycle,the
result isa better, safer and more eff
cient worldwide mining community
Leading those efforts are those at
the esenrch and design tables of oig-
inal equpment manufacturers (OEMS).
Sandvik
Sandvik, creator of the AutoMine
land OpiMine product lines, says its
‘autonomous equipment has logged
‘over 3 milion hours at operations
‘across the world and the company
hha taken keen notice of whatis
ving he fur.
"a kdven cur comtorers evrds
for greaterefficiencies, productivity
robots that ust keep running,
‘Among its newest features:
‘OptMine connectivity, an upgraded
‘access contrl system (ACS) for
‘greater flexibility, and the ability to
‘extenda truck flet's autonomous
production cycles from underground
to surface tipping.
In December 2019,the OFM also
introduced what t says isthe frst
interoperability platform inthe
‘mining industry for autonomous
Underground loaders and truck.
‘AutoMine Access API gives the
powerto connect non-Sandvie
‘equipment to AutoMine;in other
words, a mine's mixed fleetofunder
‘ground loaders and trucks can now
bbe managed and controled under a
single system
Sandvik has worked with mining
‘operators like North American
Paladium, Glencore,New Gold,
Boliden and many others on ther own
respective autonomous journeys
‘ko implemented automated under-
‘round tuck haulage ona dedicated
‘def ot Hoc’ Cata Berard gold mine
in northwestem Quebec, Canada.
[At the operation, whereit has
been workingsince 2017, it meas:
ured significant changesinefficiency,
‘even overthe goal fguresithad set
forth in the beginning,
“Normally we adapt the develop
ment tothe orebod} and [adapt]the
‘equipmentto the development of
that} ovebody,” Casa Berarmine
vice president and general manager
‘Alain Gerier explains
“Now we have to do theinverse,
You have 20, 25, 30 years of
experience behind you with your
paradigm. At the moment you have
In your mind [that] you want to go,
with automationin your opera-
tion, you have to accept to change
your mind. sa unique opportunity
to extend your mine life, extend
careers, and have a betterhealth
and safety result
Epiroe
Eprocis open about its automation
goal: “To buld anefficient autono-
‘mous production withthe highest
conceivable level of safety where
people and machines work side by
Side" and, from its measurements,
itseems to be succeeding. =
| SO ul!

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Caterpillar
US-basedCaterpillar has recently
achieved quite a milestonefor
autonomoushaulage:twobillion
tonnes hauled with its autonomous
trucks system Cat MineStar
Commandforhauling.
The OEM met its one-billion-tonne
milestone in November2018, mean-
ing it has doubled its amount hauled
autonomously in just 16 months.
MineStarSolutions product
managerSean McGinnis adds that
its newest record was metin just
oversix years, since the OEMfirst
introduced Command for hauling
in 2013.
“[It’s] a milestone we achieved
significantly faster than our competi- mine,” he notes.
tors," he confirms. “This milestone
makes Commandforhauling the
most productive commercially avail-
able solution, and it's something
mining people are noticing.”
Sincelaunching the Commandfor
hauling system, the OEM has been
working to boost implementation
speedfor mines across the world.
Customers haveplayed a significant
role in that advancementbyoffering
feedbackto the equipment-maker.
LOAD & HAUL AUTOMATION
“They identify features, functional-
ity, and eventhe autonomous truck
models they needfortheir opera-
tions,” he says.
Since MineStar's release more
than six years ago, global autonomy
‘operations manager John Deselem
says Caterpillar has continued
expanding its autonomous expertise
from hauling to autonomous dozers,
drills and undergroundloaders.
“Beyond getting better at imple-
mentingthe system, we've become for autonomous haulage later Caterpillar
trusted advisors for mine sites look- this year. recently
ing to take advantage of what Evenwith the changes the achievedquite a
autonomy makespossible. Welisten industry has gonethrough as of milestone for
to their needs, then work together late - thefirst half of 2020 alone has autonomous
tobuild the ideal solution for their beenquite life-changing, by all haulage:two
accounts - Caterpillar has been billion tonnes
To date, Caterpillar has 275 auton- keepingits foot on the accelerator hauled with its
‘omoustrucks in operation, and that with numerous new orders for auto- autonomous
number, McGinnis says,is growing. mated systems. trucks system
“The push toward autonomous In February, the OEM confirmedit Cat MineStar
1g doesn’t show anysigns of will be supplying an autonomous Commandfor
slowing.” haulage system to Newmontfor its hauling
The OEM's autonomousfleet Boddington gold mine in Western
includes the Cat 789D, 793D, 793F Australia. Set to be the first autono-
and 797F trucks, as well as a fleet mous haulage system working in an
of Komatsu 930Es. The Cat 794 AC open-pit gold operation, the fleet of
electric-drive autonomoustruck, Cat 793F trucks will be online and in
the company adds,will be ready use in 2021. »
 Caterpillarwill workwith the
region's Cat dealer, WesTrac, on
logistics for delivery and commis-
sioning to theste,
“WesTrac wil aso play a key role
in implementing technology solu
tions and will work to leverage ts
‘autonomous technology training
facility being constructed in Colle,
Western Aust,” the company
sid earlier this your
Newmont, which bringing in the
fleet to enhance safety and produc-
tivity a5 well sto extend its mine
life, said in February thatthe invest-
‘mentwll generate an internal rate of
retum exceeding 35%.
Newmont CEO and president
‘Tom Palmer expressed atthe time:
“We are...uniquely positioned in the
{gold sector tosupport effective
Implementation and operation of
the fleet thanks to the technical
capabilities and previous experience
‘ofleaders in our business. Simply
put, Boddington wll be a safer,
‘mote productive world-class gold
minein a top-tier jurisdiction."
Totalnet investmentin Bodding
ton's AHSwillbe US$180 milion
‘andwil extend the mine's life by
Epiree, in two years or more.
partnership with ‘Boddington is Western Avet
‘automation gest gold producer,delivering
specialist ASI 709,000 ounces of gold and
Mining,recently 7 milion pounds ofcopper in 2018,
signed 2 Caterpillar officals note that,
contract 0 while the company cannot speculate
‘convert iron ore ‘on whati to come forthe autono-
‘miner Roy Hil's mous industryasa whole, itis seeing
7 manned from it customerfeedback that
surface haul ‘autonomous tucks are benefitting
trucks to miners even more during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Cee
Beet 2 Oat4
This is beinghighlighted in areas
like Australia, where large percent
{age ofthe nation’s workers are yin
fy-out FIFO). Ultimately, autono-
‘mous trucks don't get the veus
Komatsu
‘Michael Lewis, who serves as
Komatsu’ general manager of
technology interoperabiltya the
Komatsu Technology interoperability
Centar of Excllencein Arizona, US,
tolls MMthatthe company‘ latest
stepsin the automation journey have
been significant.
Those elements it feels ae driving
the future,he says, ave a founda-
tion in safety
“Safety isthe primary design
considerationin the development
and operation of any piece of mining
equipment, and even more so for
fsutonomoussystems," he explain.
“Automated mines are operated
With a mix ofautonomous and
‘manual equipment; this creates
Uniquechallenges in the design of
the processes, systems and equip-
‘mentto ensure safe operation. This
will continue to be a strongfocus
from Komatsu as we introduce adch-
tional automated systems towards
the fully automated mine.
Evolution of technologyi another
future driver; this idea gous back to
the work the company has been
doing ever since it developed and
Introduced its fst autonomoustuck
in 190. The challenges were much
different then: localisation, as there
was no requiredinfrastructure and
no GNSS; communications (through-
put was extremely limited at that
time); computing (which was stil
‘expensive at that pointand had low
performance; and sensing (due to
the cost and potentialresolution,
‘options were stil few)
“Most ofthese technology
challenges have been largely
‘resolved such asthat they can be
used as building blocks for auto
mated systems across the mine,”
Lowis points out "Focus hasshifted
10 optimising the use of these tech-
‘nologiesand incorporating them
Into systems that are scaleable to
‘operate even the largestand most
complex mines.”
‘Additionally, he notes that auto-
‘mation development has shifted to
‘equipment postessing more variable
‘operatingscenarios or under highly
variable conditions. Forexample,
‘machine leaming and advanced
_anifcialintelligence (Ahave been
‘Spplied to the growing areas and
Issuesof sensing, perception,
planning and machine control
“This also includes edge caresin
‘automation of complextasks, such
{2s loading. In these cases,the
‘elements of ground conditions and
‘material size a8 wel as blockiness
and oversized material present an
“extreme obstacle" that need
solutions invohing advanced Al
Komatsu considers automation
‘otto be a single machine or tech-
nology, but a spectrum based upon
the existence of qualityguidance
equipment,
‘ranging from operator
‘throughfull autonomy. Those, too,
‘are making strides.
For example, ts operator quid-
ance systems ~ offering real-time
performance to sid mine operators
Improve plan compliance, reduce
rework,improve safety and increase
dozing, loading and drilling equip-
‘ment productivity —was recently
‘applied by partner Modular Mining
10 the isue of spotting haul trucks
In fat, Lewis sys, the Guided
‘Spotting systemhas enabled opera
‘ors to improve shovel productivity
up to 34% withthe use ofsafe
double-side loading and reduced
‘ruck cycle timesby about 1-2%.
‘The nextlevel, partial automation,
ls an area ofkeyfocus for the OEM.
When partial automation tin use
‘optimally, it enables leveling of
‘operator
epee levelperformance
or fatigue despite expe-
“Arecent example ofa Level 2
system is Komats’s D375 MC dozer,
which automates blade control and
‘manages track control in order
‘optimise material push,productivity
and compliance to design surface,”
he says
‘Stepping upto high automation,
Komatsu reports great improve-
‘ments with ts FrontRunner autono-
‘mous haulage tucks. "Komatsu is
Currently expanding deployments
‘crossthe globe,” Lewis explains
“|We're working on step change
improvements to equipment
[as well, such asthe Innovative
‘Autonomous Haulage Vehicle (AHV)
which sa cabless truck designed for
the automated mine.”
Looking atthe idea of autonomy
‘as a whole, fll automationis every-
‘one's goal. Lawis says the OEM sees
tasan aspirational state: “Continu-
‘us improvementwill divethe
developmentof autonomous
systems] that ever improve safety,
productivity, liability and rely on
fess human interaction in the opera-
tion of equipment."
When asked ifthe industry is on
track toward and automated future,
Lewis tlls MM thatthe journey wil
only move a fastas what makes
sense for every global operation,
systems with strongerbias towards
Level 4- High Automation overthe
mated equipment, but the systems
‘that will Be used to run the mine of
the futuro.”
He notes that its Mine-Wide
Supervisory System will have the
ablity to manage and orchestr
whole operation, including equip-
‘mentfrom other OEMs and third-
party providers.
inthis respec, the mining indus-
‘ty has some unique challenges
relative to other industries and we
are leading the way,” Lewis says
“There isa very large investment
in automotive automation whichis
<rivingthe development and
‘commoditition of many technolo-
‘gies on both the hardware/senzor
land software fronts. Some ofthis
technology will trickle down into
mining to furtherimprove safety,
[productivity and the costof the
‘automated systems.”
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
‘As equipment producers roll out
‘new autonomousloading and haul-
ing technology, there is no shortage
‘of mines with & desire to put that
technology to wark. Examples of
how autonomous mining is being
performed, and performed well,
can be witnessed in many of
the globe's miningvich regions.
‘Autonomy’s growth is also ongoing
at this moment, with eapablites
‘expanding day.
Development
In Apri, software developer Wind
River announced a collaboration
with open-pit solutions supplier
Bojing TAGEIdever Technology
(TAGE fora software platform
10 develop autonomous mining
vehicles.
“The open-pit mining industry
has massive potential around the
‘globe, and this collaboration brings
together best-in-class technology
land expertise that i paving the way
for next-generation mining vehicles,”
says TAGE’s CTO Huang Lining,
“We are pleased to have proven
software from Wind Riverthatis
‘embeddedin billions of devices
land systems serving as the rusted
ore software foundation forthe
development of eur autonomous
solution”
Underthe companies’ patner-
ship, TAGE will provide its edge
to-cloud autonomous haulage
system solution,which inches
‘an intelgent coud platform,
V2x telematics and intaligent
‘autonomous mining vehicles.
Poweringit wil be Wind River's
software platform VsWorks real-time
‘operating system (RTOS), alongside
TAGE's central controlunit (CCU)
core algorthm module
Wind River product senior vice
president Gareth Noyes tele MM
the companies’ partnershipfst
‘began in 2019 and is considered to
bbe a long-term des! for both.
“TAGEisaninnovative start- In Apel
up and some oftheir RED team software
members have used VxWorks in developer Wind
‘the past with postive,successful River announced
“experiences,” he says. “Based on ‘collaboration
‘their trust of VaWorks's real-time ‘with open-pt,
performance,safety and security solutions
‘capabilites, it was clear to them to supplier Boling
work with us TAGE Idriver
“Additional, as their portfolio Technology
‘expands, both companies remain (TAGE) fora
positive and open to expand the software
relationship.” platform to
‘The biggest advantagetothe pair develop
‘ofcompanies working together, ‘autonomous
Noyes explains, innovation. ‘mining vehie
“We are working with them to
demonstrate what new innovations
are possible with autonomous tech-
nology withinthis industry. We hope
‘0 spark the imaginations of other
‘companies engaged in mining
‘and transportation automation
products.”
Currently, both are working to
develop next-generation platform
solutions, with « pertcular focus on
(0/5 solutions, vitualisation and
‘workload consolidation, SOTA/FOTA,
capabilities, solution security and
Wind River is hoping that those
‘elements driving the future of auto-
‘mation ~ reduced downtime, lower
‘operationalcosts, improved commu-
rieations and more — will remain core
{ast plans to rapidly deploy new
‘capabilities and also concentrate on
|2 multivendor strategy.
‘As Noyes notes there is indeed
much progress being made in auton-
‘omy and the benchmarks the indus-
‘ry setting.
“We are absolutely making
progress, drawing upon experiences
[and technologies from adjacent
industries and technologies, =
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situational awareness to opera-

tors, new sensing devices, such
as wearable sensors for mine
workers, continue to expand and
build upon workin proximity
detection, sensing of operator
alertness and controls for main-
tainingalertness and engagement;
Research the use of unmanned
vehiclesfor collection of environ-
mental data that could lead to
improvedhealth outcomes, collec-
tion of environmental data to pro-
vide improved safety (prevention
of explosive or toxic atmospheres,
inspection of hazardousareas) and
collection of data during emer-
genciesandcatastrophic events;
Identify measuresof success for
autonomoussystems in termsof regard to autonomoussystems, © Design risk management The Epiroc
health and safety, and disseminate and identify partner offices in approachesthatarelesslinear Control Tower
standardsandtools for such NIOSH,as well as partner than current approachesfor use
measures.In other words, whatis agencies around the world for with complex autonomous
the equivalentto a lost time transfer of knowledge andbest systems; and
accidentin an autonomous use of resources; © Study how the behaviourof
system? Howis efficacy of such Identify partner operations for workers in mines changesas they
systems measuredin terms of holistic research that characterises interact with autonomoussystems.
health and safety outcomes? the best approach for minesite
Conduct a completereview of design orretrofit with regard to According to NIOSH officials,
otherindustries undergoing autonomy, and develop plansfor the groups will be meeting again in
similar transformative change with long term projects; the second half of 2020. ¥
eeet]

Automation at full blast

‘Autonomous technology can enable minesachieve their respective goalsin cost,
productivity and achieving zero harm; this includes significant benefits from autonomous
blasthole driling. Allbhe Goodbody finds out mor
carryout on 4 daily basis when savings. The
dling canbeused to monitor sytem
dusty condtions, machine In eddtion to the ssfeworking beoheour in various eck conditions
‘bration and noe end placethem Ando evaluate pan execution”
in an emiconmentthet inmises tino no need to shutdown for In the long-term, autonomous
thairik dllng means reduced downtime
"The key advantageof autono-
mousdil tnd increased ovallablty ue to less
opetaton i femoving damage ofthedll thas because
the operator rom potentialhaz operate through shit changes, tutomaton vesthe rig within
ardous conditions end enabling the designed operating limits and meth
‘peratorto workin safe, secure fds, minumsing equipment svi
‘environment,” says MasonBena, Reduced damage due to automated
{utonomeusdling appieation spe ency and accuracyoveralong shift functions means lower maintenence
‘slat Cat MineStar Solutions at Constancy is ncreased by the cents due to less wear and tea,
Caterpillar "Thdil sf left to i contnuouly operating snd Bemmat comments: “Autonomous
salely complete ts asigned work” producing reads to design with the ils avays workwithin the stand
However, Demet Har, product Corecthole pouton and dled feds established bythe manufac
manager, eutomation at Sandie depth for every hol,” explains Heri turer and that promotes longer
Miningand Rock Technology, notes: “Automated solisonsmay nt shay consumable life and less unplanned
“The ably to remove people rom be faster than best operator
the mining envtonmantsare
‘whine buttonly a fractionof diling holes 1 dough 5 bat the ‘Asa result, mining operations
orsstency ove ere shiproves progres fester,prove rag
the benefits achieved though auton to outperform figued operators mentation ~ when coupled with n
‘mousdling, In mining, we ensure Guiherme Pave, gabe! automation effective blastingprogramme and
thot safety is engeained in every lead: serground ding ot Eovoe lower componentcost om reduced
product process and person on & sys “By wing digitdel lars and tmachine maintenance reps
mning operation. Autonomous dei ranvigiion you elenathe need for “The benefits wanalate across the
ing supports the regulators, varnng manual dil ole marking, which etic mineral excavationvalue
ad numerous inspections thatwe rearsbetter scaracyand me ‘hain aa wel. The ease Basing

Sitonomousdling couse lest
damage onload andhaul equip
tment which saves maintenance
Coats forthe entre operations fleet.
Mike Ritkol, rectorof enaytics at
Komatss Mining, says: "Blasthole
drling san early step inthe ene
mining and extractionprocess, and
precise adherence to plan provides
Productivity benefits forthe loading
tnd hauing cycles due to properly”
blasted material”
Therealso benefits forhard_
rock operation that ule rushers.
Harris suggests: "The better the feg-
mentation, the faster the feed rate
tt the cusherend the lat energy
‘requre to process the materia”
‘Autoromous dilinghs a psitve
ewonmertl impact at wel. Haris,
says: By ensuring thatthe eauip-
imentis conastenly operated within
Specfatins, the amountof energy
tnd fuelbumed's reducedesuting
ina mon effcent diloperation”
The benefits can extendto the
workforce too. One workercan
‘peratemutiple dil ig, which
teensEater ulationof skied
operat: theycan alsoassist less
experienced dill operators
“Another generaloften mscon-
strued benefit to autonomousdrilling
is itsimpecton the labour force in
the minng industry.” notes Haris.
"Autonomousdingreduces the
operatortomachine contact, making
operaens ste, and shits employ:
trent nonds rel round rein
‘anceothe techricalmechanial
trates sohtion monitoring and
changelorocess manogement.”
Rkola points out that automation
helps inbidging the workforce skis
0p. Hesays: “Whether you have
new or enured employees, autono
tmous operation helps levels your
operaten”
Paivaadde: “The automated func:
tions as create possbiitis to hire
less experienced iabour, in times
SUTTABILITY
Theceat opportunities to introduce
stomaton and formation technolo
ges to noxt mning operation
Some fom of automaton wilbe
drtable, Pavsys “Direlevels
of estonomy and integration can be
schieved depending onthe expecta
tion, ype of application and the
technolegy strategy
However, hereatemany cha
lenges that some operationsface
towards full blasthoe drilling let
automation. “Oneef the biggest
challenge isthe autonomous
readiness ofthe mitng operation,”
comments Harr. “Autonomous
blasthole ling art a feature that
is enabledwith a fipofa switch.
Change management processes
must be conederedandimple-
mented to esist in anationing an
operation from manual operation
toa fuly autonomous operation”
The benefts of apping sutone-
mous ding soluiens ata mine
depend on both the mining applica:
don and technalog culture ofa
mine ite. Sever Eero, product line"
manager at SendvicMining and”
Rock Technology stys: “Fst of al,
the mine ste needato have suff:
ntcompetence to successuly
work with lecticalcontel systems,
networking and software-based
systems and needs have safety
working procedures to work with
autonomous sytem”
However he cautons: “Today
sampling and drillbt changesare
typically not Ky autonomous, dif
the mining application requies very
frequent samping curing dling, or
frequent bt changes, the benefits of
autonomous operation ae reduced.
Or fthere areother reasons tohave
people continuous} working cose
tomachinea thatmake the safe rl:
ing operation more chalenging ”
Rikola agrees: “Upont int
Dt
for automated blasthole dling
tobe effectively put into operation”
'An diona actor for mpl
menting automated blasthole dling
tthe abilityto manage change, a8
theres alot of change management
thattakes place when converong to
autonomous machines. Bier
states: “Caterpilar understands
thesechallengesin terms of ising
process changes, the additonal
layers of safety that come with
robotic machine,the vansion ofan
operator to wotking autthe
eab rather than inside, edetionl
personnel raining and mare.”
Commitment fom top mange
mentkey to guarantes engagement
trom all stakeholders and to develop
competences. Paiva saythercanbe
_eaitation and natural esitance rom
the worKlorce to new proceses, pro
cedures and technologies, 30 Ris
important to “contamotivate
people to We new fetes in order
to gain experience, improvethe 9
temsand add consistency to the
implementation.”
As result, each phase ofthe
Wansiton must consider worlotee
ining. In addtion, Harr note:
“Some operationshave # union
workforceand mustadhere tothe
requirements ofthe union. Other
operations have reguatins with the
governmentthats percentage of
the localworkforce that must be
acquired from local towns”
‘Other important factors to cn
ler include processes regung
26 DRILLING AUTOMATION
Thee Cat
Moa319cite
‘working seme
soured the estonomespone,
re onimporantstep, andlmae
‘llbig,advantageofthe
tmacestifiaeto
benefof
sutonomy, wile miniminns rate
{people andmitigatethe
equipmentrksayand
Rika. “We
“There are septhe proces or seslosing
{eroloutKarate dil atomation
‘rough ste suas, conducted
by‘suipped cetortlid serve
integrateengineers
anaeater
stopsto hap ee customers
‘miigete rik Biertls MM
“Ceterpilar helps mitt the
potential opartional
[St going aight forpan posts
s manned
‘ton by providing bulking block
pprouchto autonomy. Each Block
STtechnology is dsigned tahelp =
‘iatomer incase eutometonand
{moottranation
‘ailing ” to aonernous
‘OEMS
Mining Mapaanespoke tosever
‘ginalequipment mantis
(2d) about tharautonomous
blasthole dling solitons
‘scxwacy of an utoromons solon
‘thot the need ofedaonelste
Ing that iusualy requiredwih 2
{uly autonomous system,a he
sohion nntegrated io he base
tte
rena atthes own pace and athe ‘mechdep Birt sys that Terai or ing
{enc ofautomation tatbet fs apCommand for dingacrobat
‘hav sppitionays Berra
“Every adetoral ayer oftechno ‘reporting capblises
heady preset heathonmonaorng
top afthe
2 budsonthe Benetof the system Prout Link Et) onthe
Cepia il model “Wes Tera
previous technology bling
Thefat evel of dal techncogy fxblock”
tha seluion, beyond thebane ar
‘tomatin incon, Taran for
‘ling “Cat Train fording
Geen sterolert high preion dutty ‘Commend utaationardwalaiy
ol thes machines" he tes
‘guidance tchnslgiesto enable crane con cone“Wth
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{Gestion and to the exactowaton machines aghest manned
pected the renseng=| echnes
panrecet
‘trootha, fer and “keydotaet hati recordwth
lasting explainBier ‘eran frdingrughteSeta
“Thenext building block =Oper Recognton fesure the Monae
tor MatonAssi wich automates ‘ale Deling DAW) data of rock
‘he entre dl eyeautonomously ‘haractaratesat grantee
potilonngsceurstlyover hole “One theoupus otha sa
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the target angle anglingthe
and deiling.mastt © rape reprenrtaton aoerock8D
Str sing Bltox
{orshow the rate rockhaces
‘he bench beng dled haeoyhoe
MasiAust increase the cont
‘ney of dlingwhile proving
ProductotyDenes”
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urs wth the constancyvd the (tibia reecorte Et por
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lt changes, intdlingtne
"Sent the machine state and
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Sectionals for montoring,
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he company figConta Sytem CESSLDAR and rade toni the
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J BYees

Syama’s automation surge

Resolute Mining's attempts to create a fully autonomous underground gold mine in
Mali clearing some big milestones, finds Noel Dyson
esclite Mining’ Syama gold
inein Mausing autono
mous haulageto shit ts ore
and wast tothe surlace and tone:
mous losder to led thove tuck
“Thowe loeders make wae of
Sendvis Autodig, which handles
the loudingitsell~ something
problems doing most ofthe time
‘Speaking attherecent Robot
ies and Automation in Mining
‘conference, which took place
in Perth, Western Australia in
February, Resoluteproject rector
John Wheelersaid the Autodi was
‘shout 70% fective. He added that
‘wasan improvement, because when
itstarted it was about 40% effective.
Without Auto, the next best
‘pprosch isto allow the machines DESIGNED FOR AUTOMATION One ofthe potential challenges
Totvam eutenomousy tothe load Wheeler said Syama has been ‘wasn setting up the operationin
point, be loaded teeremotey, designed to make the most of Mal end havingto upslea!
{tam to the dump pointend dump automation. workers However, the perceived
autonomously before ramming Indeed, Sandvik fet succestfel technological challenges of aless
back to theload point. deploymentof underground scvanced natin actualy turned
“Anotheradvance at Syamais sutonomaous hau wucks was outta be svenaths
SendAutomine for Tucks,which Finch diamond mine South fica, "Thee sno power[in Mal] but
‘allows the haul tucks to run autono- which was azo designed with auto theyall have mabile phones”
‘moualy underground ving UDAR mation in mind. Those original Finch Wheeler sad. "They wereable to
{tnd then itch to GPSwhenthey eutonomoua hau! tucks are under- adapt tothesystem quite qu
each the surface. That system was stood to stl be runingsome ‘The local young generation are more
‘offcilly released in December 2019. 13-pha years ater, tech savyand wereable to pickup
Riku Pll, icepresident, evtoms- Besides the loadingand hauling, the aystem quicker than experienced
tionat Sandvik, saythe Avtomine Wheelerssid Syama was ving loader operator.
{or Tucks vehicles were theft” autonomous drilng. “We've seen Wheelerpointeout how Ite
trucks in themining industy that 8 21%cincreane in dil metres and a the miningindaty was spendingon
‘ean operate autonomously both 20% increase in accuracy in riling,” research and development compared
Underground and surface sections. he told the conference to some ofthe technologyleaders
"These wucke ar set torevolu. "Therehas aso beena decrease In 2018, the technology compan
tinise the mining industry, bringing inmmanval interventiondue tothe spent USS263 bllonon RUDwhile
signieant improvements ina mine's seeurcyofthe dling In addtion, mining spentUSS billon
productivity and safety” Resolute is working on integrating, “One of hedirections Resolte
Onica's WebGen wreless Biting” willbe taking in the future is tol.
system ito ts operations utside our industry to providethe
“One thing Resolute s looking at technologywe needto vunour
is how do youfly manage the ll operation,” Whee sid. “The chal
Value chan?” Wheeler sid. "We're lange''ve set some of our vendorsis
tmovingthe crushing control oom to gain access to sme ofthetech
into the mining control room. roloies already out therein the
“We're happywiththe drllng vehicle automation space
production. The automation of "The other thingwe've been
Ioeding and ticking s working but talking abouts ousll. was taking
DP

weite optimising it We're operating to an od colleaguein defence. He

ahora day and we don'thave t2 wes taling methe defence depart
‘evacuate for basing We've been ment doesn't go tothe universes,
Sie to speed up the uucks and Ugoes tothe gaming conferences
loaders” fd gets the best rom there.”
 eu te |

wi
A.

>» |
Pushing forward
The mining and mineral processing industriesstill have a long way to go to catch up with
other sectors,finds Robert Hiltz
cllecting data isn'ta problem advantage of unused data David some datapoints. Some ofthe data
formost minersor mineral Wick, thecompany's vice-president points are ust useless and others
prccassors. Everypiece of and regional leaderfor Canadthe bre que valuable. So having
auipmert and machinery is putting US and Mexico, say that one ares system that sable to separate those
out date Schneider's locking ais nding sand cllect the good information
‘As the industry looks for ways tousfreverything miners have been utrelly making diference,”
implement diferent automation collecting Wile says
Schemes, Ralso has to grapplewith "The avlabilty of dita these ays
how to tate this data and tan finto i ust endless,” Wick say Alot of MAKING USE OF DATA
semethingvsehd. One snotpossi Schneiders customers ae challenged FLSmidth does similar workin the
be withost the other bythe amountofdata walable ond industry, seeing similar problems and
Tels something of a cliché thatin italke theyre looking ora neediein solutions, The company’s director
the mining industry the raceinto be ahaytack "They'reloking for that ofdigital solution, Greg Weave,
the second toimplementcutting: sconable information.” ‘choos Wilck’s ana
t2dg¢ tecinology. Convincing com- One customer, whichWick did” "Mines have forever beencollect:
panies to mplement automation cannot want to name,was ble to dently ing data and string it. and most
bea difedtprospect especially savings of USS3Omaken ayear after ofthat datareally us ating there
when digtalsaton
Sages im many parsi ofthe
stilin Industy.
the early ofspotting
ficuonbotleneck and other
n ks processes points that's
by combing Ws ntwhere|
relly used fr much.
Uunkthe digitalAnd
art
‘Butthegacstobefound rom through thedataseedy had ‘comes in this how we unlock
innovation are portant tothe long: Findingthose needlesthe key. efclencesand other things, and
term heath of the mining sector. "Wee getting some realy super put that data to work for us,”
Schneicer Electie's one compary inexpensive, connected products Weaver sas. Sutin themining
wth digital products looking to take now and-each one & spewing Ot industry,it stl early days.
 In certain partsof the industry,
dlgitalsation and automation hive
‘moved faster Inthe plane, Weaver
thy, you can agealot ofthat
‘xtomationin something like &
Concentrator, ora the minein wuck
haulage. But elsewhere, automation
tnd control are less prevalent
‘Once mines have picked some of
the lower hanging fruit and begun to
find and realive efficiencies that are
in aeady established processes,
then ifs possible to start looking at
new ways ofdoingthings
PLAYING CATCH-UP
All Madiseh, professor ofmining
engineeringet the University of
With automation Brkish Columbia and the Canada
‘aedcontrol Research Chair in Advanced Mine
‘managers and Energy Systems, says the automative
‘operator are industry s one example of howan
industrycan tranform eet ough
realtime how sustained effort. Thity years299, he
rng. By says, cars were incredibly inefient,
burning as much a6 25 ites of ue
to travel 100k. Today, cars can
cover the same distance burning
Six or seven tres of fuel
‘easier find How did this happen? | woud
say
‘throughout their ment30 nonstop,”
yourof continous improve
Madseh says.
‘Mining is behind,but automation
isn't necessary a siver bulletin the
industry. It can't salve all problems,
tnd the guns arent miraculous
He points toa fourmonth project
his students wereinvolved in
analysing a surface mine with
‘Svtonomous truck,
"We wentthrough the anahsis of
the tucks, and then we showed that
thereie 0 45% efficiency improve
‘ment using an autonomous ea35
compared toa conventional tem
with ever," he sys
‘Why weren't the eficsencygins
higher? "When you have a perion
deving a tuck, that’s a verywel
controlled system, then the Sterence
‘that you getna fly automated, os
‘opposed toa conventional, yam is
the consistency ofthe operation”
Madiehsys
Realisingthe importance of such
gains requires longerterm ticking
Higherupfront capital costs to
designing andimplementingfly
and partially automated systemscan
discourage many companies from
puttingin the investment to change
the waytheir mines operate,
Madiseh say,
Manyotheraspects of the industry
will have to be reassessed, incuding
the make-up ofthe workforce.
You wil ive fewer technicians and
labourers, and more engineers with
‘expertiae in computers, elecvonics
fand mechanic, he ays. Thisnew
workforce wil be focused on analy
ing the data from a mine or mills
“it doesn't necessarily mean that
therewillbe fewer people working
for a mining company, n some parts
ofthe operation it might evenlead
tw hiring more highly qualified per
sonnel, but they will do a much bet-
ter job. They canincrease the pro
ductivity, they can decrease the cost,
they candecrease the carbon emis:
sions,” he says.
SORTING IN THE MINE
‘Anotherisue is minimising waste
rock and maximising good quality
oe. inmostoperations, much ofthe
sorting betweenwaste and oe
done closertothe processing opere
tions, but whatft could be done at
the mineface?
‘Sensors have now been dev!
oped thatcanbe installed inthe
bucket of a loadhau-dump vehicle
ora dragline, thatcan analyse in eal
time what individual buckets contain
tnd tll the operator whether it’s
mostly re or waste. Ths could avoid
bringingmilmuch ofthatexcesswaste
tothe
*One customer that
this with us right now sidusing
theyve
lminated 8% ofall waste thatwas
{ing through the miling proces,” =
Ceeeie
Digital controlWilk says, “Theywore spendinga
ofthe minerals ‘that watt l that energy, and it was
plant gi ‘waste; now theyreable to separate
operators the that before it goes ito the mil”
‘bity to "Those savings have huge knock:
their processes ‘on effects down the lie, soy
ina new light Each tonneofwaste left inthe mine
Visualisation ise tonnethatdoesn't needto be
gives managers heuled and processed
‘and operators
the ability ‘THE VALUEOF DATA
10200, in real For FLSmidtvs Weaver, geting
time,how their ‘miners onboard with digitalention
plant is runing iSless abouttaking about the data
and can they bbut more about what you can do
waysbettor
wth that date
optimise "Letsay, 10 years agoif Google
had come tome andsid, "Greg,we
want to tack every move you make
‘We wantto fellow you around the
‘lobe, and wewant to track your
every step. would have tod them
to forget it” Weaver sys. "But they
sid do that. They did talk about
‘ta,whatthey talked aboutwas
valu. And they sui, Wel ive you
this
‘snd great
withtapp
youcaled
canyouGoogle
canseeMaps,
the
Shortest route you can taketo avoid
trafficjams. They focused on the
‘slrather than onthe dat salt
FLSmidth is using simi
‘pproach to bringing mining
companies, which may otherwise be
feluctanto get on boord with eto
imation programmes, to give them
1 cone look
There are two main thusto
Fismidth's digitaiaation efforts
within the plant. Theft in asset
heath keeping machines and ecuip
tmentgood condition end spotting
problems belore they turn nto major
fedures. The second ain perfor
mance optimaation how to get the
most outofa piece ofequipment
Cra hole process to maximise
Wseney
‘On the asset heath side, ifs about
sing data end runing though
stfical teigence 0 machine
tearing algorithms to pick out those
needles fom the gal haystack
(even adding to that haystack to get
data“Thefomgoalis
all thetokay areas. avaabi-
maximise
ity and acd eiteretsensor pack
ages looking atdiferentways of
Sptuing data whether9 vibra
‘on mensurements, whether its
image analytes, whether fs «ype
of smple pressure WarsducetoF ol
quality sensor
sbsoltely dre~alntoofasses
hosehealth”
things
Weaver say
“This llows for lower maintenance
costby hoping avo catasvophie
{eis and inated detecting
Sages when they requre move
minorfixes,
‘THE OPTIMISATION PUZZLE
Optimisation of mining operations
can be more complex, end involves
lookingata broad series of facta.
Its about looking at an operation in
its totaly, and finding ways to make
leech ofthe dacrate places work
Better as whole
"get diferentorebody, and
then the content ofthe ore changes,
maybe itwhatevermight
‘dayor gets higherpercentage
be; howof
{dol changethe wey my plant oper
‘testo take that intaccount?
Weover sas.
Schneider works to make sir
optimisations Wilickaspointstow
ical basting process yp
one example
Right now, amine may have 8
budget set out for diling ond blast
ing, and ty and optimise the pro
ess for thatbudget, but won't have
Considered that budget a pat of,
the wider picture.
“These gus are optimising the
costs sociated with Basing,
boutit’s actually costing us more
nergy because the productthe
sre sent ontothe ling proce
that wo'e getting in about Sin
(15cm) in ameter] and below,
Wilck say, "Maybe ifspent 8
lie bt more mney onthe blasting
to get maybe a product thts
Sin 74cm) and below, then we
can spend alot ess money onthe
tnling procen
By seeing the data across the
silos of the business, ware able
to optimise the entire business,"
VISUALISATION
Makingdata effective is about
morethan being abe oft ough
it There needs tobe an etsyto
the findings
end ofuserpresenting
{othe way
rasp whetherit's an oper
storor manager, allowing them
‘quickly make «decsion with that
information,
"We help make energy visible,
we help makeoptimisation visible
through these dashboards,” says
Wick. "Once it becomes visible,
lofsudden,we see a dramatic
Improvementusers’ understand
ing, and they become very keen on
‘wanting to contol and wanting to
‘ptimise So making itvblesa
Super important port ofwhat
edo"
“One example he gives i ofan
energy use audit at metals peo
‘esting plant. was unninga bump
testtoincrease the outputof8

‘machineto test ts capabilites the
{rouble was, atthe momentthe
‘operatorpressed the button to
begin the 20-minute test was the
absolute peak of power costa in
the region
Had he done tan hour later or
‘eather would have made «huge
“iference; bt he didn, he ht on
‘that peak" Wilk says.
‘That data was avaiable, butt
wast showing na wayto make
ful$0 twas about making that
‘data vb to beter plan operations
‘round powerrates to optimise
For UBC Madiseh, the process of
‘sutomation goes hand in hand with
the electrification and decarboriae
tion of a mine ~ whether that’s bring
ing’ filly electric feet onkne,or
UWanationing a remote mine to
hybrid powersources.
"You cennot have awind tabine
and diesel generatorgenerating
power fora mine, ad assume that
Someone can contal that system,
[ehas tobeuly automated ana its
highly digtsed because you need to
hvethe electrons on ft beable
tocontolit he say.
Control also reaches outside the
processing af the ore itself and into
Toolingoperates,
at howthe whole operation
supoly
chain A mining
isa complex web ofsuppers and
AUTOMATION AND CONTROL
sub-contractors all working on the
Same project. And the suppliers and
contractors can vary from mine to
tin, even f those mines are feed-
ing the same processingpant.
So, Weaversays, one ofthethings
FLSmidth offers digitaltools to
simpli the aspects of the mining
proces th
the day-to-day operations side.
“Through the use of app, through
the ute of ecommercetool, through
sil of those diferent ype of things
Shasmplity howthy do buses,
their goals,” he sas
NEXT STEPS
“Ithink theres along wayto 90,
even ust for a ill something that
is fatty autonomous alieedy~st to
make sue is up and avalableaall
{ines and fs elise” Weaver ses
Oftentimes we find our customers
wilhave specifi targets they went
to [and] they'll push Beyond the
design limits of design guidelines of
fur equipment. And oftentimes by
doingso, they risk breaking or dam
Saing [the equipment} andi ever
gong down.”
Wieover says this is where a digital
twin comes in. Essential, a digital
fina full model ofthe plant that
exists for running simulationsand
teating diferent changes to pro
33:
cesses And once you havea ital
{i,t opens the deor toasrt of
posible,”
“Advanced heprocesscontel
says and
thote typesof temshave been
‘roundfor «whe, but how do we
thardata even more? How do we
make sure thet we know whats going
nin the pit and how its going to
‘Mec the eraser, or the ma? Or how
ia‘ilwhat
goingyouto alec
have coming
the foatthrough
cel?the
Wisver sys. “Allthat feedforward
tnd feed ack, realy stil early
days, theres st alot ofroom for
‘gromth nal thoe ares”
“The push for automation inthe
‘iningsector will come tom a wider
Community, whether ts shareholders
for government, or the puble os ®
hole, Madsch says Inthe same
waythat the industry was pushed
to improve sfety, end has begun
the process of decarbonsation,
‘utomation wil be intigted fom
the outside
“Companies crete these projects,
instars from few thousand dol,
it goesto few hundred mon
dollars atthe end, and they make
ithappen. Why? Because decision ‘The Schneider
makersate forced byshareholders" Electric
he says. EcoStruurefor
ing about"The reason mining
automation and tale is tale
Mining iobased
tions because there is that Boss in
the community” * 1platform offers
brood view
Rau

The importance of integration

Katie Evans, senior product manager at Thermo FisherScientific, looks at how the mining
industry can benefitfrom smarter data management
he mining industryi dynamic th re maintained and operated mation ManagementSystems (UMS)
‘one, Mineral processing seperately from one another, with and ProcesInformation Manage:
‘operations experience highly process information separated tmentSystems (PIMS). These ae
‘conditions and ore from laboratory data highly specie and largelylca
1g working However, dus type of spaate, _inthat they ony
Demands on production unconnected working structure Hr specifi part of the
yen greater, impacts on the aceurecy end produc- mineral processing workflow,
With feed grades cropping, process. tutyof ning actuty haves aise
ing coats ring end emivormental when management ays Ls cllected though
Testicions and supphchen com operated in aolation making inte- refineryoperations, orto log the deta
Sderatons growing moreand grated, comprehensive workflows a generated by vous iratuments
more complex, tore mportant consideration than PIMS, on theotherhand, calte
Insuch Muctuating, pressurised ever for ning enterprises looking informationonalprocesses occu
‘environment, even the smallest” to improve throughput and maim ring across a mining operation crea
improvements in process ise thet retum onestment. ings comprehensive braryef contin-
contol can havea significant impact ousprocessdata and historiaplant
fon production, profit nd, subse data, ALIMScan improve efficency
‘quently, minelife. Tiss f parc within laboratory self, making it
Iarrelevance when comes to. isteto monitor qual, complete
managing and controling mining eta eporing and integrate diferent
dota and eperations. Minessytem
Sypiealy festruments A IMS, meanwhile, can
Sie mulople management ‘beng more informed oversens of
specific processes. By bringing
togethercontrol, plant and business
data from across the manufacturing
lifecycle, it offers operatorsa single,
streamlined way to access informa-
tion on how processesare operating.
Miningprocessesareinherently
connected to laboratory data. As a
prominent example, the efficiency of
recovery for a particular material
dependson a hostoffactors, such
as the condition of the material
being processed (its dampness or
coarseness, for example), or whether
equipmenthas been properly ser-
viced and calibrated.
Laboratory-centric sample and
reporting activity is increasingly tied
to broaderprocesses and business
procedures — butdespite this con-
nection, LIMS and PIMS areusually
operatedseparately, resulting in
multiple ‘islands’ofdistinct, but
highly interconnected data. Sepa-
rated systemsare actually not much
moreefficient than paper-based sys-
tems. Ona site- or organisation-wide falls. Transferring andvalidating data
scale, LIMS and PIMSrely upon peo- across different sources and formats
ple to bring greater connectivity,
with requests being loggedby per-
sonnel, data transferred manually
Who did what and whenis recorded using secure access and
‘e-signatures to log all actions.
‘Al data including associated metadata are retrievable and readable
foc fl ifecycie flowingture-prooted XML conversion. In an integrated
Aclons wre recorded athe poet lb mae wing te matte LIMS workflow,
‘SampleManager LIMS app and LES to step through processes. laboratory data
can bedirectly
‘Audit wail shows original data and any changes made withtime fed into other
Se analytical
‘Anydata changes includingcaluiations aedocumentedin auc SYSt°™MS,
‘ral Instrument integration eliminates transcription errors. preserving
integrity across
+Complete Data cannot be lost andlor deleted: metadata also available the entire data
workflow and
On
BaeCalg Data proceses recorded cvorlogialy win te/dtestamps,
Sea) Future-prooted and comokant XML dataarchival compliance with
Se WEd Data easty accessible drect rom the sample record ALCOA+
principles
from system to system and parame- standaloneor disconnected systems
ters defined by hand. lead to bottlenecks,inefficiencies and
Non-integrated ways of working inaccuracies that cost precious time
comewith numerouspotential pit- and money,which can be especially
damaging in anindustry that already
faces a complex array of challenges.
can beslow,disjointed and unrelia- Throughputs and operations are
ble, and can result in data of compro- growingin size andscale, bringing
mised or unclearintegrity. Manual, rising costs and often narrowing »
a DATA MANAGEMENT
profit margins asa result. Operators
‘of mine ses, especialy large and
‘mubt-ste operations, must be able to
‘make timely informed decisions to
‘maintain a high level of production
perlormance
[BRIDGING THE CAPS
Digitsed, puperree systems area
promising sep towards automation
‘nd centralaaton. However,inorder
to become nul efficient, manage
iment systems shouldshit their
{focus from lcalied to busines
wide, considering mutiple systems,
processes and stes as individual
pants ofa whole
In an integrated LMS workflow,
laboratory data can be decty fed
into other analieasystems, pre-
serving integrity across the entire
data workflow and ensuring compl
‘ce wth ALCOA princes: that
data should remain strbvtable,
legible, contemporaneous, original
and accurate,
This is the case forThermo Scien
tie Sampleanager UMS softwar
which brings together laboratory,
‘ata and procedural workfiows, ond
‘onnects thom with other nterpeis
syntems,intruments, equipment
‘and customers. UMS, such a8
SempleMarager UMS software, are
pivotalin mineral processing ope
tions: by ensuring data integrity and
improving overal efficiency,the
‘whole orgaisation benefits, produc
ing higher-cuality product with
{fewer variations and reduced los
Integrated LIMS.PIMSsolutions
directly deliver vaidated data tothe
tight people in real-time, enabling
{est and eficent monitoring and
analysis, Theybringa highlevel of
onto to every stage ofthe mineral
processing workflow, allowing tmely
Process corrections and edhutmerts
‘where needed, and feiitating truly
informed decision-making. Al data
is validated,and most is shared
‘betweensystems vi automated
transfer Given thatthe quality of
‘outputs highly dependent on input,
this appreachto data handlingis key
tw achievingreliable, high-quality
results. As the adage goes: garbage
in, garbage out
In an integrated workow, sam
ples are obtained, taken toa labors
{ory and logged into the site's LMS.
These arethen analysed and resus
are sent secutly tothe PIMS, so
that process managers can gain a
bigger picture’ wewofthe entire
production process, and make ste
oF process-nide decisions accord
ingly. Process dataviewable along:
‘de qualty contol data, both
discrete and continuous thet
parameters canbe adjusted before
they negatively impect product
{quality or recovery.
Forexample, laboratory resuks
can enable timely, informed process
<ecisions on reagent addition rates
that ae ericat reducing the
‘amountof concentrate lost through:
‘uta process. Modern solutionsaso
‘Slow users to set their own ceria.
This is valuable for scientistlooking
to tack and identity wends and
censure accuracy, asthe system can
be configured to alert — vie eral
messages or other formats — when
1 spectiedPIMS limit exceeded
‘While LIS already saves time,
‘magnified when UMSaeintegrated
with other management systems,
Integrating sboratory instruments,
process equipment systems and
ties bringseiciency,productiviy
tnd compliance. Centralised systems
Centestandardised, accessible ways
fof working, and support a feedback
loop tofactate continual review
and optimsation
Differentsites o laboratories
cross a mutisite of larger opera
tion can colaborate and share infor:
mation more easily, mproving thet
Ability to make timely informed
<decsons, and benefit from one
snothers experience and expertise.
In tum, inlomad decisionmaking
enables organisationto optimise
Processes, prove quality contol,
‘manage resources effectively and
‘maintain a competitive 0d9@ 48
result
OPTIMISED SOLUTIONS
nthe mining industry, integration
isno longer an option — itis
requirement. Dus to the pressure
—_
tnd unpredtabilty of mining
operationseven the smallest
tenhancemertin data handing or
process management can make a
Signticartefference to mineife and
‘overall sucess. With thi in mind
mining orgunsatons canimprove
information management byseeking
greater integration.
Integrated and connected
igtalsolstons offer numerous
valuable benefits: theyprotect ata
Integety to enable switer and more
informed decsion making, maximise
ticiency va widespread cost
tnd time savings and standardise
systems 30 that alstaff are onthe
same page. Modern UMS solutions
tnd connected LMS-PIMSworkflows
‘ive mines the information they
eed to auickly respond to potential
Fimitations or rk, and make pro-
cess adjustments to optimise their
production performance, lower
processing costs and increasetheir
Throughput Integration is central
te improving mine fe, productivity,
profit and ltaatey, key to
Success in such a competitive and
fastpaced industy. +
All systems go
Professor Robin Burgess-Limerick gave a presentation on the topic of human-systems
integration for the safe implementation of automation in mining at the MineXchange 2020
SMEAnnual Conference & Expo, which took placein Phoenix, Arizona, US, in February.
Ailbhe Goodbody reports
urgesLimericks professor
ffhuman factors within the
Minerals IndustrySafty
snd Health Cente (MISHC)tthe
Univesity ofGueenlandin Austr
sd has provided consultancy and
siog compas rd eauipmert
He noted in hi presentationthat
the ntroduction of automation othe
ning industry has considerable
potential to improve safety and he
Byremoving people fom hazardous
situations, Howevet, he sid: “Auto
tmaton dosen't remove peopl tom
the mine) ust changes the ole they
ployand theteks they undertake.”
“These new tasks need tobe
designedtaking human ables
Sd ttationsito account ifthe
combined sytem ito function
safely nd productively, Automation
cinalsointroduce new are modes components soneed tobe
‘5 well, potently, new hazards contdered in deta
‘The choice of functionstobe
automated requres consideration temsSurges Limerickrecess
engrecrn'g deservedwhchayenas
ofthe capabiities and lations of ily
tnd developed bytheorange
US mltry
humans. For example,patere;
‘9e0d at percevng peoplethey
are
indies nce elece ofre
ron sed acom
‘Sto adapt, improvise and accommo: ton and heaeae~ endo core,
date quickly to unexpected varsity,
‘On the other hand, people are not
ring.
Ruefeltedtan desgred
woot we woede
env
‘900d at precise repetition ofactions, conadaredtingem plowing,
‘or viglance tasks. Gilg, devalopmarnd evetion
However. system designrequires
‘morethan allgeating uneions to whisours that the ot ost
people or machines. nsteed, the between both people and suiomavc
Challenge 2 to ently how the
‘operatoror supers and the eto
componeets
Thre uesfunciona eptinay
cove drenof
mated components can collaborate humerrayatmsintegration that
to perform the functions required trerelevant tothe introduction of
tnd ache Both safetyand health tomation inthe mining int
benefit, as wel as improved Staffing, personne, warning, human
productivity Interactions between factors engineering, safety ond
system mantane’s end automated occupational heath
HUMAN-SYSTEMSINTEGRATION
The ftaspect, salfing, volves
determiningthe number and
herecteratcs ofoes requed to
Safely operate and maintain the
‘stomation sytem
When you're designingthis joint
system, you going to need?
whoaeaegoing
Wat sles tobe needed?
How many?” suid Burgest-Limerik
He added that both operation ond
maintenance oles needto be
considered
in tera of personel and trinng,
methods need tobe determinedfor
selecting
‘oles. “Howpeopltf
areyou goingthe required
to elect
‘people til those oles” he sake.
maybe thatthe same people
[aready onsite can change to 4
<fferentoe, or tay be that
they/re notthe best people for that”
“The extent and nature ofthe
waning requted forsafe system
‘operation and maintenance needs to
be estabahed, well x methods
cf competency assessment and the
twaining thats required to maintain
that competence. The traning
‘equrements for operatorsinterac:
Ing with highly autonomous
‘ar ikely tobeincreased to ensure
‘that the operation ofthe automation
‘sly understood
Burges-Lerickssc “n general,
woul say that across mining there's
a lotoftime spent on veining, but
competency assessment isnt done
partial
He addedwll"that competance i
notalmays checked frequently
ts itshoud be: "So how do you
‘mantasn competence, and ensure
the operator and ther competence
‘amamtained?”
Human factors engineering
teferto the conadertion ofhuman
{Capabilities and limitations. "How do
you take into eccountcapabilities
{nd lmtations of people, particularly
in terma ofthe interface between
people
ents andndthese
autonomous compe-
interfaces?sid
Burgess Limerick "How does the
person provide input: how dees
the system communicate withthe
person? Thats non-trivial ask,
tnd can’t be doneine single shot
‘needs to involve operators ~ the
people whoaereally going to be
‘ong
Methods of addvesing this nude
task anaes, human performance
‘measurements and palispatory
aman-cenred design techniques
such es humarintheloop simulation.
“These
simulated,” he explained "Put
people n the loop, and tydiferent
Interfaces we give someone
<Sitferert interface, doesthei
productivity improve, How
do thee
ror rats decresse? do we
‘optimise that?"
The safety aspect invlves analysis,
cevaication and contr! of automa
‘o'ssafety risksthrough design
The methods inchide hazard and
operat studies (HAZOM), ayers
of protection analysis LOPAY,are
‘mode and effects analysis (FMEA),
task-based sk asesament,cel
control rak manogement ochnigues,
sytem-theorelc procers analysis
(STPA) and functional aety analyte,
“These are conventional ak
managementmethods, but there
tesome new ones required."
Sad Burgess Limerick. "The system
theoretic proces analysis starts from
sn assumptionthat Ifyou have @
suftzenty
an go wrongcomplexwithoutsystem,
anythingthings
fl
Ing. All ou conventional methods—
i are mode analy, lnyers of
protectionanalysis they al nsume
that somathng ha to fal before
you get somethingbad to happen.
Where the system is complex, thats
not meceaarly te,
The final aspect, health, encom:
passes the useandoftask-based
risk management
fechruques, tsk
sessment in particular, to ensure
that the system design minimises
fake of adversehealth consequences
tosystem aperatars and maintains,
simpacted
well as anyoneelse
bythe systempotentially
actives,
“Something we haven't heard
mentioned too much stat for the
‘eople in theheath
control oomthere is
‘ potental hazard,”noted
Burgess Limerick
the introduction of autonomous 9
ters at mines isthe potential impact
‘onthe mental healthof eontrlvoom
peratr tasked with interacting
wth autonomous
‘Ssocated with highsystems,
or low)Suess
coon
tiveworkloads, potently combined
wth reduced socal interactions
‘Plow contalofworkload, and/or
‘production pressures, maylead to
‘Séverse mental heath consequences,
"He sid "You don’t wantpeople
doing realy boring work, theyre not
(geod at that. You want peopleto
‘havewhich
Ing: meaningful work thatintrest
is challenging,
‘Burges Limerick emphatised
that none ofthese aspects are
things that can be addressed just
‘once when introducing automation
te a mineste. He recommended:
“Te happens athe] requirements
nc analysis [stage]. continues
‘hough design and development
12d continues tough testing and
‘evaluation. tis an erative process
‘humanfactors have t be imple-
manted aeverysage
WOW
‘BurgesNOTLimerick
To DOendhispre
IT
tation with an arte showingan
‘example ofhow notto implement
‘Saomation Elon Mu, founder of
Tesla and SpaceX, has admited that
bis electric vehide-menufacturing
company Tesla hasbeentoo reliant
robots fr production,and told
‘reporter in Ap2078: "Excessive
‘eaomation at Tela was a mistake
amane are underrated"
[Burgess Limerickconcluded
=There a another really important
‘naman factor question which parts
‘ofthe system should be automated,
teed whch onesare actualy better
[ett 0 people!
eaeete
Leproreveree ss
peoetenees

PeTe
‘Travel restrictions andinterruptionsto supply chains dueto the COVID-19 pandemic
present dynamic challenges for miner ks to SSR Mining's Kevin O'Kane
‘about how the solutions mining companies are turning to for dealing with the situation
‘could change the industry forever
Cee’ Creerare Pee eet ed
| ree reeeet Ceres Eo enr error
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cepeneer een eateneen
ree Leaner entee pee reprctnerrr ens
[roreayaenmonnatonenn aera
peer noninbee Deee Erormpennereed Gotenceiied
Poa ores perenne eee)
nt,nares Po nee legen arenawt hd
Pee pres pesaroneetats pee ery ‘or capital ow doe diferente
Fate eerieear pend
 With miners ever readyto tout
the benefits they bringto their host
communities, they have a real
opportunity to showtheir mettle
and thatthis is much morethanlip
service to obtain a social licence to
operate, particularly in emerging
markets.
“Emerging markets are going to
be [economically] decimated and
the numberof people going below
the poverty line is getting bigger,”
notes O'Kane.
Mining companiesacross
Latin America have stepped up to
theplate to volunteer assistance to
local communities, from food pack-
ages andpotable waterdeliveries to
medical supplies and donations of
masks andincubators.
TECHNOLOGY
The currentcrisis has brought home
the wide-ranging impacts the utilisa-
tion of digital communication tech-
nology can have,whichwill endure.
"The mining industry has been
slow to adaptto new ways of
working but the need tocreate a
different type of interaction means
weneedto adopttechnology,”
says O'Kane. “Necessity is pushing
us to do things we have been
contemplating for a while. We had
already been implementing new pro-
cesses so executivestravel less, and
this has accelerated. Using social
networking tools like Microsoft
Teamsis a much moreeffective way
of having meetings, sharing and
working on documents together.
The quality of the tools today is so
far superior than evena few years
agosoour travelwill be reduced as
a result.”
Across the Americas, the majority
of white-collar headoffice staff are
working from home, providing a
tangible pause for thought about
the way companiesare operated.
Long before COVID-19, when Mark
Bristow became CEOofBarrick Gold
followingits merger with Randgold
Resources in 2018, oneofhis first
moveswasto devolve management
to the operations and slash the head
office headcount.
COVID-19 will usher along the
redefinition of what a head office
is and potentially result in the
downsizing of HQreal estate and
costs for some, while also giving
them access to a more diverse
talent pool.
“Wetalked in the past about
having people work from home and
there was anxiousness aboutper-
formance and productivity. Now we
are having to do it and wesee the “Our
same outputwithless stress and competition
people with moretime available
as they don’t have the commute.
is not
Connecting people with a common necessarily
agendais also enablingus to see other
a level of leadership and who true
leaders are,” says O'Kane. mining
Such new workingpatternswill companies
likely help with the mining sector's
efforts to diversify its workforce. but other
“People are morerelaxed, happier, industries.
whichcan help with recruitment and In the fight
retention. The younger generation
and the diversity of people that for capital,
mining is trying to attract don’t want how do we
to workatsite; they wanttolive in
cities. We havealready recognised differentiate
that we needto operatedifferently ourselves
as an industry and the pandemic
should accelerate that,” he says.
COVID-19 will see many compa-
nies redesigning processes and
jobs, accelerating moves towards
automation and remote working »
 +> seeady under consideration. Inthe
fearcterm, scenario planing 10,
<etermine under what conditions
‘workcan reaume is teting menage
“itis diffetopick a date, s0
the conditions we needto 308
‘on day one at our site which wil
permit us tobesafe to start up
{in? There are certain things we
‘can't do if we can't move people,
ays O'Kane.
“in Nevada [US] Saskatchewan
(Canada) and Argentinathereis
recognitionthat moving people
‘cron borders creates sues
A lieday sdation period isnot
enough for us to know if someone
como-19 wi isinfected sed infecting their
work coleagues,” he points out
“We need to reduce ak and
exposure and therefore we need to
now where people have been when
remote working they have been away. This leads to
planning questionsfomsuchautasofshould
{we have people province
‘or smallercommunitiesorpeople
‘over a certain age on site? When
you put these constraint on, you ean
See which staff you aremissing and
in which roles This wl dictate how
you can start backup again or not."
‘THE FUTURE
‘The health implicationsof COVIO-19
‘re unlikely to havea sudden end,
‘and it could takemonthsifnot years
{for hevita to fully runt course
This means tht travel restrictions
ould remain in placein some areas
{for considerable time, adding tothe
‘ease for hiring locally s well as
‘iving companies a greater spprec:
‘tonof whichareetal oles,
"We haveseen communities
reluctant to have peoplegoto our
‘Stes and then retum home because
the communities don’t have the
capacity to respond if workers are
Infected wih COVD-19," says
OKane
“The cifeuty[of] moving people
round dueto waverestictons
‘ould continueforthe next couple
‘of years and will put more ofa focus
fon localhires, You may need to
sceept a lower sil level locally,
\ahich mears you ned to make
‘more invesrment in your people and
Took for dierentways to cessthe
so-called higher qualtyperson thet,
doesn’ cone toate
“When sift schedules were
designed, ro attention waspd to
‘the potentfor cros-contaminaion
‘of people. you have roles that ore
Unique or etical you have to keep
people apart so you can maintain
‘perationsf someone becomes
infected
longerandcanwithseeno shifts gettinghand-
overlapfor
cover. Ths was recagnsed before,
land now outof nacesity we need
to change,’ he concludes. ©
 atat Be

Taking a step into the

robotic future
‘As miners are turning to robotics to improve safety and efficiency, Robert Hiltz takes a look
at how far away the fully autonomous underground mine may be
inthe fare, wil
snotpeope,toing taking
Kite smal steps toward arobotlc
ut
Stinetheindustry,
reseaherColorado
ProtoScho!
ndergrund hauing orto"
the ures How fr aways it?hg
dependsonto Well hat Andrew
Sa Petnaka bebeves
hlyastomated we may
underground
Eaulpped
ones wih bevy of seer,
hoversenvy WHAT TT WILL TAKE mies“The key
1620 yor rebots
now’proving
froma
gots stopeblsted
aramuck talonjtwhere
an ur Baring ome mejorchangetough
focenwidexprad dsster that can
fomentworkinhethesyaunderground en
‘dropsolf anotherlad of ore.
‘Along the way comes upon &
haulage bot at Thuncton. The
hauler stops before the ove bts poe eens
‘ven insight, ating pas: pat timesae greatly reduced, and makesthe
Sta finely ued orchestrationof pieaeecee pean
‘icsency and earch that Keeps
the robots moving
Because peape arena longer
working underground, the mee
Ituelthas changed its shape ard
ferr. Inthe same way that the
tinbers and earide lamps of «
foprevious generation aeminerlamar
the contemporary
hie sil vary iflerent, the
utomated underground mine
ofthe futures recogmaable,
if abit out ofphase
This enirorment has been ape
bythe robot scuting though ts
lssages not by the requrements
(ofan ersiconment popated by
pestengor cabs, Whatever doors
‘xido’ need to cater or haan,
‘cca. Theres no need to wory
Sout a miner burping thehead,
because none ofthe miners as 9
BecauseThere
head, are dono not
robots inch rooms,
este,
they charge the batters nb
With the workers powered by
secre motor, and without Kray
the robotic mine need much es
‘nenand ventlaon. Therer of
{an atebsent entry, but ore
of e gentle um. Posonous gees
rev the concern they once were,
tnd the armowed exteior of robot
lant susceptible to damage inthe
way ahuman ean be wounded, 36
{efaty standards have shifted
"Thmintil arin he fue.
tis ach vilon ofthe underground
tevionment Butrightnow, Be
Induty is moving toward thisvision,
OaSeey
ame
77)
By making» South Aiea ia primelocation
its platform fer the expansion of automaton
toa wide sale, Ptraska says.
sable to offer Because the mine there aresome
their Mutscope ofthe deepest inthe word, there
robotfor 3 wil come a time when t makes
variety of ‘more sense to push forward with
ifforont tetomatio than continuingto ty
spplcations scheving results wth people
Byputtingthe “You'tegoing to seeit there fist,
ithe robot’ simply because the conditions are
‘control and ‘getting tothe pointwhere people
power functions stcon't survive to do the mining
hesys. “There's sil good oe, and
‘ssombly the they want'o go deeper, and think
companyble they/re going to get o «point
where the only way they can go
Seeper i trough automation ”
beretrofitted by The shorter term i ikely going
the customer to see slow vansition toward
sutomating dacrte tas, rather
than fll actomation.
The obvious place to start
lain areas ofthe mine where
people cart go. Ore passes,
the mine whereground conto!
procedures can't be put ingoin
place
(ive robotthe ability to
td do a jb people cant
ROBOTICS RIGHT NOW
Based in North Bay, Canada,
SufeSight makes a numberof
‘semvautoromous robots for survey
inglin dangerous areas ofan under
Mike Compigotto says his company
has found tht automationi ne
bling ito make better use oft ut
veing robots by making them easier
to operate.
“The company makes two main
types ofdrones, wheeled or wacked
robots much ikea redio-contrlled
tar and fying fourrotor drone.
‘All cary varietyof sensors, includ
ing UDAR and HDcameras, With the
flying drone n parla, swtomation
makes for much eusler vse, The
‘ator is able to takeout of ts
case, switch I on and then set
hover level where the dane wil
hold alte, Campgota says
"Once thave that hovelevel se,
now fm dealing in two dimensions-—
forward and backoard, left and
right. You don't have to use both
fick,” he ays, Ths removesthe
omplexty of fying something that
can be dificult enough in open
spaces, made much moreso nthe
‘With the drone managing the
hover, he sys I ike the ifr:
nce between fying ahelicopter
tnd drivinga car. Tht simpifistion
now meansthatthe training cycle
‘ery short tobe proficient enough to
getvalue out ofthe technology
In addonto fight stabilisation,
the drones ae also equipped for
object detection and avoidance
tot something,it stops and alerts
the operator
One of the advantages of having
the ceenesonlypartly automated
is it canbe in operation around
people, withoutbeing necessary
te bud shelters orhave miners
leove an ares when oneisin oper
tion fpart ofaunt's autonomous
programming tals, he operators
trust be somewhere protected,
But keoping a personin command
of ts operation means someoneis
‘Shwaysin controltherisan issue.
So thay at any tne have fl
controlover the wt which then
Simpifes the operation And realy
rakes suethat tall times, that ying
Ianmower under total contrl of
the operator.” Comigtto sa
“The operator can hit the kl itch
cor charge the wajectoy ofthat unt.
MODULAR ROBOTICS
The Estonian company Mien
platform that can be modifiedfor
Sit sort of industrial applications te
platform i capable of minesweeping
tnd removal onthe battlefield in one
Sppliczton,and brush dering and
tue planing in another
‘Mart Nootma, Mitem's director of
scenceand development, sys that
in some ways, the undergfound mine
makes an idealenvironment for
 atate

The fundamentalproblem with wise safety systems. You don't need intervention. The keys iguing out
rbot is whilethey re very good at itbecause youjust tll people not how much automation is required to
specialised tasks, theyate essentially to.go there” have theinvestment in the technel-
incapable of operating ouside those The same principle applies to the ogy make economic sense
parameter. Seltdriving care ae still physical envronment of an under- There ae automated systems
Farfrom resdy because ofthe com- ground mine. The robot doesn't with humans in the loop, where
lexis volved in driving. tis have to dealwiththe high peeds of, people are actively providing
‘morethan keepingthe car going infor example, highwaydining. orthe Input and making decisionsforthe
Straightline; is about identiying complex task of identying abtacies sytem, which automating more
tll sorts ofrake ~cyclats, pedest ina forestafield. ta ificul for routine task,
fans, othervehicles and avoiding aobot to easy tellthe diffrence Then there ae systemswith
them. Theseae thingsthat the between brush and grass that can be humans inthe lop, where the
human brain is well suited fr, ands diven over, or grass thats hiding a robots are left to work on thelrow,
tle to process without much dif. rock orsome other serious obstacle, only astng for human intervention
Cult. Getting tobots to perform the Noormasays hen they run into some unexpected
task, onthe etherhend, is stil very For aobotworking underground, situation
complex the envionment makes Reenerto.” Asystem with humansout ofthe
But stick an automated robot in distinguish between whats en _loop completely, unable to intr
‘sectionof an underground mine obstacle and what ian". ene at any paintin the proces, it
herepeople ate unable to go, and “And you'd know what to expect. something moreakin to Skynetof
Its tasks become simpler. There sno W's fixed operating area, so you Terminatot fare, Noormesays,
need to worry about the possibilty. sometimes operate years(in the whch snot what anyone wants
ot hurting someone re area] And that means you can” tis posible now to have one
‘isnot ike street cleaningin install ditional Beaconsfor naviga- operatoroverseeing,fr exampls
downtown Manhattan, whereyour ton or adi relays to watend your several haul trucks at once that only
main concerns to be safe for peo- _radho communicationin under requreoceasional intervention to
le around. In the mine, you can round tunnel,” he ays. keep the operation running
Just al people, Don't gothere, But the ‘ofthe mine
bots work there," Noorma says. HUMANS IN THE LOOP
“And you save hundreds of milions For most applications, there wil able to barpeople entirely while
ofdollars of investment into very need to be some level of human
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN ROBOTICS

ability to make quick decisions with

whatis known, and let people with
the knowledge and experience make
the necessary judgementcalls.
PROVING THE CONCEPT
Right now, the industry is on the
cuspofreally jumping into automa-
tion. Much ofthe technologyis
outthere beingused in other
industries, now the key is proving
to miners that the economic
benefits of automation are worth
the investmentrisks of new
technologies.
“To get this technology under-
ground you need to proveit. Ina
To make that possible, research While it’s tuethe areais well low-risk manner, something that def-
is being done to ready safety sys- defined in many ways and easy to. initely does notimpedeoperations,”
tems for the task. Colorado School navigate through the established Petruska says. “And then once you
of Mines’ Professor Sebnem Duz- partsof a mine, when goinginto a build their level of confidencein the
gunis working on finding where the freshly blasted stope,or other area technology, then they're going to
gaps are when machines and people underactive development, the envi- start asking questionslike, ‘Okay,
interact. ronmentitself is an unknown. how can| put this in the operations
“One of myresearchareasis “if we have more data wetry to setting and use it to help us make
creating an autonomous mine envi- understand the phenomena,for more money?”
ronmentin virtualreality and asking example, a roof-fall hazardis related Wemay be several decades
people to interact with certain to geology and we never have a full away from fully automated mines,
robotic operationsandtry to identify understanding of the geology,” butthe industry is takingits first
potential hazards,” Duzgun says. Duzgunsays. “We have some under- steps toward that future now.
"Designing the new mining system standing, but at a local mine scale, Sciencefiction is day-by-day becom-
ina digital terrain model and doing itis not always the case.” ing sciencefact. The economicsof
some simulations before establi This makes operations more difficult deeper, more dangerous mining,
the system is critical.” becauseurlike a manufacturing set- coupled with the step-by-step adop-
ting, where thereis very litle uncer- tion of semi-autonomoussolutions
MANAGING UNCERTAINTY tainty, the mineis full of uncertainties will bring the industry intoits
Another important aspect of that can bedifficult to quantify. robotic future.
improving autonomyis understand- What's required, shesays,is to The future of mining does not
ing uncertainty underground. give operators and managers the seem thet far awayafterall