International Mining

International Mining March 2025 issue live! The third issue of 2025 - International Mining March 2025 - is now live and online! On top of a bumper #Bauma 2025 preview feature, we have a packed article on #Comminution, a focus on #SurfaceLoading, our normal in-depth look at the mine #Utilityvehicle sector and the latest from the main players in #Watermanagement. This is on top of a number of the month's big news stories from the mining technology and innovation sector. Read on and enjoy! #miningtechnology #mininginnovation #miningequipment

ICYMI: A handle on H2O The day before World Water Day, we're focusing attention on our Spotlight Feature Article on Water Management, sponsored by acQuire. From advanced water treatment solutions to water stewardship, Paul Moore looks at a range of approaches and technologies in mine water management for this article. For acQuire's part, EnviroSys, the company's environmental data management solution, empowers companies to assess and report compliance across various types of environmental data in real-time. This enables them to answer ‘are we compliant right now?’ with confidence, which is especially important in the water management space. Find out more about this in the article below... #EnviroSys #WaterManagement #MiningESG

Magnetic resonance tech heading to underground load & haul The next iteration of NextOre’s magnetic resonance (MR) sensor technology has come to light, with the company revealing details about a solution meant for the underground loading and haulage space. The New South Wales-based company made its name installing MR sensors above conveyor belts, proving its analysis and sorting capabilities out in, among others, a 6,500 t/h conveyor application being used for data reconciliation in Chile, and a sorting application on a 2,800 t/h installation at First Quantum Minerals’ Kansanshi copper mine in Zambia. Its open geometry (OG) sensor developments have also come into view over the last few years, with a 3-m-wide unit developed by CSIRO to be used in a material feeder setup being developed in 2022 and, later, a 7-m-wide (OG7) sensor undergoing successful field testing at a large copper mine in Africa. Its latest advances involve the 3-m-wide unit CSIRO initially developed, but in an underground mining scenario, with the company now in a position where it could be shipping a unit from its New South Wales base to a mine in the state later in 2025. Upgrades to the hardware – mainly focused on streamlining truck alignment and scan time, as well as ruggedising the sensor for an underground setting – and the addition of user-friendly software has led to a sensing unit able to measure the average grade of up to 50 t of material on a truck tray in 20-60 seconds. The initial application is likely to be for 30-50-t mine trucks given the size of the sensor, with CEO Chris Beal saying the most likely first adopter has recognised that such analysis could potentially reduce the number of truck loads transported from the bottom of the mine to the top as well as the number of truck loads transported from a satellite orebody to a centralised processing plant, among other benefits. Beal also sees potential for having the sensor monitor LHD bucket loads in the right application. Read the full piece below... #oresorting #preconcentration #mineralprocessing #oreanalysis

A pathway to greater operational sustainability We are extremely proud to announce that our sister company International Mining Events has now added Chile's leading mining company and global #copper mining major CODELCO – Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile as a Miner Partner sponsor for The Electric Mine conference, which is coming up fast now - being held May 13-15 at Centro Parque in #Santiago, Chile. Along with other leading global mining groups, technology providers, equipment OEMs plus other stakeholders, #Codelco will have a strong presence at the event with speakers and a delegation. The conference is set to play a key role in helping drive the mining industry's transformation towards carbon neutral operations with a particular focus on the electrification of fleets and equipment, including interim steps and wins on that journey. From dynamic charging to battery LHDs to hybrid retrofits, all the key topics will be discussed and considered. Register at www.theelectricmine.com #futureofmining #theelectricmine #electricmine25 #mineofthefuture #theelectricmine2025

First Hitachi mining trucks in Brazil deployed at Minas Rio In a major development for Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM) in Brazil; the global OEM has deployed the 221 t payload EH4000AC-3 diesel-electric #miningtruck and 260 t class EX2600-7 #miningexcavator at Anglo American’s #MinasRio #ironore mining operation in the state of #MinasGerais. This is significant as this is the first Hitachi mining dump truck to operate in Brazil. #Marubeni Brazil, the HCM dealer, sold the machines to R&D MINERAÇÃO E CONSTRUÇÃO LTDA., a contractor, and R&D has operated them since 2024, based on the contract they signed with #AngloAmerican. HCM estimates that Latin America accounts for 23% of the world’s demand for rigid dump trucks and 9% of the demand for super-large hydraulic excavators. due to the abundance of mineral resource mining in that market, including copper, iron ore, and gold. Many of Hitachi Construction Machinery’s super-large hydraulic excavators are in operation in Brazil. In addition to the increase in new machinery sales, the parts and service business is expected to expand based on the volume of new machinery delivered to date. HCM is taking major steps to strengthen its business structure in Latin America. ZAMine Service Brasil Ltda., a sales and service company of mining equipment for Hitachi Construction Machinery, held an opening ceremony on March 12 to celebrate starting its operations. The company was jointly established in Brazil by Hitachi Construction Machinery and Marubeni Corporation. Assets (service parts and tools, moving vehicles, etc) and employees of the mining machinery division of Marubeni Brasil mentioned aboves are scheduled to be transferred to the new company, which is being led by Kentaro Goto, President and Executive Officer. ZAMine Brasil will begin full-scale operations in March 2025 to expand the mining business in the Brazilian market by combining the Marubeni’s business management know-how and extensive customer network in Brazil, developed over many years, with Hitachi Construction Machinery’s high-quality maintenance and services programs provided. In addition, Hitachi Construction Machinery plans to establish Hitachi Construction Machinery Latin America on April 1, 2025, located in Chile as a new regional headquarters in Latin America. Overall, HCM aims to achieve sales revenue of JPY100 billion in Latin America by FY2030 through the restructuring of its business in the region – this equates to over US$670 million. #futureofmining #hitachiconstructionmachinery Hitachi Construction Machinery Americas Inc.

Hudbay orders Epiroc BEV fleet for Lalor Epiroc AB says it has won a large order from Hudbay Minerals Inc. for a fleet of #batteryelectric vehicles (#BEVs) to be used at the #Lalor underground mine in Canada. Hudbay Minerals, Canada’s third-largest #copper producer with nearly a century in operation, has ordered BEV versions of the Boomer M20 SG face drilling rig, the #Scooptram ST18 SG and Scooptram ST14 SG loader, and the #Minetruck MT42 SG hauler. The machines will be used to strengthen productivity and work conditions while lowering emissions at the Lalor mine in #SnowLake in the #Manitoba province, where Hudbay Minerals extracts gold, copper, zinc and silver. The order is valued at around MSEK 100 and was booked in the first quarter 2025. In addition to the equipment, Epiroc is providing aftermarket support such as service and rock drilling tools. Hudbay Minerals has operated a battery-powered Epiroc Scooptram loader the past couple of years, successfully testing the technology in close collaboration with Epiroc. “We are happy to support Hudbay Minerals as it takes its next step on its electrification journey,” says Helena Hedblom, Epiroc’s President and CEO. “There are clear benefits to our customers that invest in electrical equipment. It improves the health of the employees, saves #ventilation costs, and reduces #greenhousegas emissions. In addition, our battery-powered equipment also outperforms the productivity of corresponding diesel equipment.” Rob Carter, Vice President, Hudbay Manitoba Business Unit adds: “Expanding our BEV fleet at Lalor is a cornerstone of our #GreenRevolution strategy, driven by the tangible benefits we’ve seen including significant greenhouse gas reductions, improved operator satisfaction, and lower #maintenance costs. Our strong partnership with Epiroc, who provides exceptional support and truly invests in our success, made this BEV fleet expansion a logical and responsible choice.” Delivery of the machines to the Lalor mine will take place between the first and third quarters 2025. Epiroc says it has now been awarded orders for BEVs to a total of 39 mine sites around the world. It adds that around a third of the mines with BEVs in production have already placed repeat orders. “#Electrification is more than BEV machines, and #Epiroc is providing a full range of electrification solutions, including competence, infrastructure, #cableelectric machines, battery #chargers, maintenance, and recycling.” #theelectricmine #futureofmining #towardsnetzero

A handle on H2O We begin our annual #waterinmining report reviewing a presentation by SRK Consulting Senior Consultant Noah Levin, P. Eng discussing mine water efficiency improvement. To help mines assess & improve water management practices, SRK Consulting developed a comprehensive database and benchmarking tool. One of the companies at the forefront of innovative #watertreatment solutions is Clean TeQ Water, which over the past year Clean TeQ Water says it has been demonstrating its ATA® Rapid #Tailings #Dewatering technology for several major players in the mining industry - we talked to Will McLean, Clean TeQ Water Sales Manager. Finland’s Weeefiner including CEO Mikko Hänninen told IM that it has addressed water in mining challenges head-on with its selective recovery and water treatment system, Modular 4D Scavenger®. #EnviroSys, acQuire’s environmental data management solution, empowers companies to assess and report compliance across various types of environmental data in real-time - we spoke to Stuart van de Water, Environmental Leader. Gradiant offers an extensive range of solutions for the complete mining life cycle. This covers everything from freshwater supply and wastewater reuse, often in remote locations, to advanced treatment and extraction in preparation for processing ore. #Minewater discharge often comes with high sulphates, and when regulations require treatment for other constituents, such as #selenium, chlorides and nitrates, sulphate will impede the performance of membrane-based treatment systems - IDE Technologies addresses these challenges with its MAX H2O Desalter technology, which combines RO with an integrated salt precipitation unit; we talked with Rosemary Niechcial. Nigel Moon, Principal Water Resources Engineer & Sarah Luu, Senior Water Resources Engineer, both with WSP, recently explained how the company harnessed automation to help a large mining client in Australia to better manage water quality risks, with the project still ongoing. WEC Water has recently completed a wastewater reticulation and water treatment plant for a gold mine in Burkina Faso. This project builds on WEC Water’s comprehensive experience with water and wastewater treatment in West Africa. In addition to water treatment for mining operations, there are also opportunities to improve water and wastewater treatment systems for the workers employed at minesites. Fluence Corporation offers a proven solution in the customisable Ecobox to treat wastewater that is then reused on-site for numerous applications. The article also has an in-depth interview with #dewatering #pumps leader Sykes Group via Global Product Manager, Chris O’Brien, for insight into the approach & technology that have helped it achieve sustained growth in the mining market. Plus we spoke with David Kratochvil, BQE Water President & CEO on industry wide adoption of its disruptive non-biological selenate removal technology, #SelenIX. #futureofmining #miningwater #waterinmining

Towards net zero Our sister company International Mining Events organises The Electric Mine conference and associated exhibition - held annually it is the world's leading and only global #mineelectrification event, firmly focused on the technology and mining fleet aspects of the industry's route to net zero. This year we are in Santiago, Chile - and very proud to have Grupo Antofagasta Minerals as one of our Miner Partner sponsors - join us May 13-15 at Centro Parque along with the world's leading mining groups, equipment OEMs and technology providers. From dynamic charging to battery LHDs to hybrid retrofits, all the key topics will be covered in-depth. Register at www.theelectricmine.com #futureofmining #theelectricmine #electricmine25 #mineofthefuture

Swing low The drive with #loadingtools remains the same – increase productivity and efficiency - plus greater #electrification focus. We begin with a focus on Liebherr Mining's new R 9400 E electric shovels in Australia with Fortescue at both the #Cloudbreak and #Solomon operations, with the customer emphasising parity in power and productivity with the added #zeroemissions and lower operational cost benefit. We also review the #R9400E deployment with BHP at Yandi. Then we move briefly to large #ropeshovels, where the deployments of Komatsu Mining's super sized #4800XPC continue, this time at BHP's #Escondida. This is the third unit worldwide to have been commissioned and the first in #copper. Also on large rope shovels, Immersive Technologies' latest electric rope shovel simulator developments include the Komatsu 2800XPC and Komatsu 4800XPC. Both simulator modules support training requirements for the TRC and Optima dipper configurations, as well as next-generation controls and the Centurion 6 shovel control system. Still with Komatsu we also look at another super sized unit, the hydraulic #PC9000, the first unit of which will be running in the Canadian oil sands this year - we talked to Dr. Thomas Jordan, Komatsu Germany GmbH - Mining Division Marketing Manager, about the new model's focus and differentiators. It is optimised to suit Komatsu’s 830E through 980E mining truck sizes, improving cycle times and lowering the overall cost-per-ton of material moved. At bauma 2025 in April, Komatsu will be displaying its first electric PC7000-11 in backhoe configuration. Lastly, staying with Komatsu we talk #teleremote mining excavators as well as #secondlife - converting diesel excavators to electric when the time is right. We move on to an interview with Hitachi Construction Machinery, homing in on progress with some of its mining related innovation programs including #remotecontrol, #operatorassist and ultra durable excavator boom and arm. Finally on OEMs we move to Caterpillar Inc. - looking first at its new 6020 Hydraulic Mining Shovel which it says meets the mining industry’s need for durable, reliable and highly efficient digging performance. And we close with a case example which happens to be Caterpillar's first ever electric large mining excavator in the dirt working for a customer - a 6060 with IAMGOLD Corporation's #CoteGold in Ontario - results so far have been good with the miner highlighting uptime, much lower maintenance requirements, speed, operator comfort and reduced fatigue, plus overall performance. The report also includes an update on The Weir Group PLC and ESCO Group LLC's new #NEXSYS® GET Lip System for rope shovel dippers which comes with a new tooth design that requires fewer point changes as well as dual lock slots to allow lock installation on the side of the dipper with less wear. It has been proving its worth at sites already with up to 40% lower TCO including in Brazilian iron ore. #futureofmining #surfaceloading

Pakistan coal miner SECMC deploys test fleet of BEV mining trucks In a landmark move for #Pakistan’s mining industry, Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) has become the first mining company in the country to begin a potential transition to #electricvehicles (EVs). #SECMC is Pakistan’s leading coal producer, and was the first to develop and begin operating a large open-pit #lignite mine in the country, which is located in Block II of the #Tharparkar area in #Sindh province. One of the first public-private partnership companies in Pakistan, it has a current annual mining capacity of ~7.6 Mt and is working to enhance capacity to 12 Mt/y with 70 MBCM of overburden removal. The indigenous lignite resource is one of the cheapest baseload fuels available in the country to provide affordable electricity to the consumers, the industry and the country at large. According to Arsalan Anwar, Manager Mine Technical & Expansion at SECMC, the #mining industry has long been reliant on diesel-powered machinery, which accounts for a significant portion of cost. He states: “Currently, SECMC is operating around 250 diesel dump trucks for haulage of 4 MBCM of overburden monthly. Diesel trucks are not only expensive to operate but also harmful to the environment. The mega-shift to #EVs is simply logical and a necessary step forward.” He emphasised that SECMC’s initiative is part of a larger global trend. “Around the world, mining giants like BHP and Rio Tinto are already trialling electric trucks,” he said. In China, manufacturers are producing thousands of electric mining trucks. In this regard, a delegation of SECMC visited several other mines globally and analysed the technical data of their EV trucks to assess their efficiency. The outcome seemed viable which led the mining company to incorporate EV trucks in to its haulage fleet. Therefore, four EV trucks of 70 t capacity were procured and are being tested in different environmental conditions. There are two pairs of #batteryelectric trucks from two Chinese OEMs – two TLE105 trucks from Tonly Heavy Industries and two YTE105E trucks from Yutong Trucks. #theelectricmine #mineofthefuture #futureofmining #Pakistanmining