Battery Powered Mining Equipment
State-of-the-art clean mobile-mining technology from Epiroc
Underground mining is a very challenging environment to work in. It’s a rough environment both for the operators (humans) and also for the machines that are in operation in the mine. The machines are producing a lot of heat and dangerous diesel particles are created by the diesel-powered machines. To be able to work in the mine a lot of money and infrastructure needed for the ventilation of dangerous particles and to reduce the heat inside the mine.
The diesel-powered machines are also creating a lot of noise and vibrations that affect the mine and also the operators.
Jan Gustafsson
Project leader, EPIROC
You are never bored when you work with new and interesting technology together with other passionate co-worker and colleges. It feels very good to contribute to the environment by developing a series of battery-driven mining machines.
Replacing these diesel powered machines with battery powered driveline instead will improve the environment within the mine.
It will also affect the operators of the machines and also all humans that are working within the mine. The diesel particles are reduced and if all machines could be replaced the diesel particles could be eliminated. Of course, ventilation is a vital part of the infrastructure and needed to be able to work within the mine. Ventilation will always be needed but by using battery-powered machines instead the need for ventilation will be decreased. By that said the cost for the mine will also decrease.
WP6 will develop diesel free mining machines. (loader, mine truck, drill rig) and demonstrate them in a mining environment.
The biggest hurdles within our WP so far has been the challenging time schedule. New battery technology and electrical driveline developed within a short period of time in cooperation with new key suppliers. To source, all material to be able to finalize the assembly of all three machines in time has been very challenging. The machines will be tested and validated prior the final demo session at the mine in Finland. A big challenge is to finalize this and sort out the things that need to be corrected before we have a mature machine to test at Agico Eagle.
When the project is finalized we will have proven the battery-powered machines to be equal in productivity as their existing diesel counterpart.
The machines are tested and we have a lot of operator input and measurement that convinces us that these machines are profitable both from an economic and environmental point of view.
Of course, when implementing a new technology there is always a lot of questions and concerns from the customers and end users. How safe is a battery machine and will it perform? What’s the business case for implementing battery machines instead of diesel machines? The aim within the project is to clarify all these issues and convince the customers that this is the future and the technology are available now to implement.
Jan Gustafsson, Project leader
Demonstration Time in Kvartorp 2018!
See how it all went down that day in October 2018, when these battery machines first rolled out of the workshop.
Demonstration Time in Kittilä 2019.
This time, the demonstration is about the the system of machines working together down in a real mining environment in Agnico Eagle’s Gold Mine in northern Finland – Kittilä. We see a Scooptram, a Minetruck and a Boomer perform together.
Ever wondered how to change a Scooptram Battery?
Then this is the film for you…
Battery powered mining equipment
Tasks
The diesel free Wheel loader in mining.
The diesel free Mine Truck in mining.
The diesel-free Drill rig in mining.
Battery charging and handling for mining vehicles.
Battery charging and handling for mining vehicles.
Economical impact and impact to the environment measurement.
The First Brief
Before every large adventure, there is a vision!
A plan of what to do and how to do it.
In SIMS we are proud to achieve our ambitious goals.
To the