International Mining

Is AI mining's next frontier? Last week at MINExpo, Weir Minerals launched its new digital offering, NEXT™ Intelligent Solutions, which, it says, extends and expands Weir's current capabilities and transforms its process optimisation services into real-time digital solutions. Built by experts who have a proven record in delivering innovative technology into the toughest mining applications, NEXT is all based on Weir's unmatched experience in supporting customers. Weir knows its market-leading products better than anyone, and when this expertise is combined with the latest in AI capability and the modelling of its proprietary data, it is able to make a real difference to customers. The company has packages available for all of its market-leading solutions – pumps, cyclones, HPGR, screens and hoses and spools. These are built around key customer needs: Insight – Actionable visibility of system health and performance; Uptime – Extend availability using predictive condition monitoring; and Production – Maximise process efficiency with AI-powered optimisation. All of these packages are fully supported by its unmatched service centre network – bringing customers closer than ever to its experts. Find out more in this in-depth interview with Ole Knudsen, Director – Minerals Digital, Weir; Martin Rugfelt, Director – Intelligent Operations, Weir; and Bjorn Dierx, Global Product Manager – HPGR, Weir. #Digitalmine #NEXTIntelligentSolutions #MINExpo2024

All hands on deck #Screening is being factored into the latest forward thinking #flowsheets. Weir Minerals has expanded its range of #ENDURON® screens. Its ENDURON® ELITE screen, unveiled at MINExpo INTERNATIONAL 2024, is a large, high-capacity #bananascreen, with the largest weighing in at close to 50 t. By screening #HPGR discharge product at 1 mm, Weir’s transformational flowsheet only requires a single vertical #stirredmill delivering significant energy reductions. Metso has expanded its standard product offering of screens for North America, Mexico & Central America with the TSE Series™ triple shaft screen used in a wide range of wet or dry applications in coarse or fine screening. Thanks to recent acquisitions, Sandvik Rock Processing offers screens capable of up to 8,000 t/h. This range is being enhanced by the newly launched ACS-s #conditionmonitoring system. Recent orders delivered by JOEST Australia include a large double deck #vibratingscreen, a replacement for an existing screen, which was transported to a major quarry in Victoria. As of January 2024, #Mogensen joined the JOEST group - recognised as a pioneer in screening tech, notably with the #MSizer. Aury Australia Pty Ltd has been continuing success in Australia’s Bowen Basin underground #metcoal industry – Fitzroy Mining Operations recently took delivery of one of its screens for the CHPP at Ironbark No. 1 coal mine. Vibramech (Pty) Ltd recently shipped two 35 t screens, the largest ever horizontal vibrating screens produced in its history, to Kenmare Resources Plc’ Moma mine. AKW Equipment + Process Design says it has capitalised on experience in the field of clay processing, to design & develop a washing drum that delivers outstanding performance. With the addition of a PU made #trommel screen directly at the output of the #AKADRUM, a first screening stage can be performed. Pilanesberg Platinum Mines South Africa was highly satisfied with the results of installing General Kinematics Vibrating Equipment's Two-Mass STM-SCREEN™ which increased efficiency & sustainability. Derrick Corporation's Australia team worked closely with partners to deliver 88 Derrick #FineScreens to the #IronBridge Magnetite Project in WA. Iron Bridge sought to enhance the production of DR-grade #ironore concentrates. HAVER & BOECKER NIAGARA highlighted its latest screening equipment, tech & solutions for mining at #MINExpo 2024, including a full-size Niagara F-Class screen at the event. FLSmidth used the recent Electra Mining Africa event in South Africa to launch its NexGen Polyurethane formula for the company’s wear products. #NexGenPolyurethane is relevant to screening media & mill trommels – particularly at the front-end of the concentrator. Also at Electra Bheka Majola, MD – South African Operations at Multotec Group of Companies highlighted its dedication to SA manufacturing through investment of ZAR100 million in a new #screeningmedia factory. #mineralprocessing #futureofmining Derrick® Australia

Dewatering days The drive to more efficiently #dewater – whether it be #tailings, #concentrates or other products in mining, remains strong as the importance of conservation and recycling of #water in mining continues to be highlighted. While a lot of the attention in #filtration in mining goes to very large vertical #platefilter presses, horizontal or ‘tower’ type #filterpresses have an important role to play as well. Metso recently introduced the upgraded #Larox® PF 60 series pressure filter at the opening ceremony of the new machining unit at the company’s #FiltrationTechnology Center in #Lappeenranta, Finland. To get more detailed insight into the new filter, IM spoke to Geoff Foster, #Metso VP for Mining Filtration. The #GHT2500 remains Diemme Filtration - Filtration & Thickening Systems’ top selling model in mining and new installations continue of this unit around the world. To take Indonesia as an example, Diemme is starting up a new plant with two GHT2500F-30 (the 30 denotes the maximum length of the beam) filter presses to process about 500 t/h of gold tailings. Andrea Pezzi, Diemme Filtration Director Marketing and Communication told IM: “This is one of the largest filtration plants of its kind in the gold sector and it is needed because there is simply no more space to deposit wet tailings there.” Considering the latest on Diemme’s AIDA filter press digitalisation offering, most of the large filter presses being delivered for mining applications today are being sent ‘AIDA-ready’ meaning they already have the sensors and software in place to enable AIDA when the customer decides to start using it. FLSmidth has received an order to deliver five AFP2500 concentrate and tailings filters to South32's #Hermosa. A key requirement for South32 is to utilise the most efficient process technologies with the lowest environmental impact. The project’s design is expected to result in ~75% less water consumption compared to other mines in the region, and #FLSmidth’s filter tailings technology will be a key enabler of this. TAKRAF Group's #DELKOR, through its Indian operations, has been awarded high rate thickeners of various sizes ranging from 25 m to 50 m in diameter by one of the largest iron ore miners in India. The new CDE Group #ProPress filter press is available in a range of different sizes to suit all markets and applications. Available globally, the ProPress is also largely pre-assembled to expedite commissioning, allowing operators to get up and running quickly to help achieve fast return on investment. In July, Terex Washing Systems (TWS), celebrated five years of manufacturing filter presses. This milestone it said underscores the team’s commitment to environmental responsibility in quarry operations worldwide, with its filter presses processing approximately 100 million tonnes annually across the globe. #mineralprocessing #miningfiltration #futureofmining

Coarse and fine #Flotation technology is evolving fast, and the coming years will see greater adoption of newer designs in the latest future #flowsheets. We begin our annual flotation technology deep dive with a look at #coarseparticle flotation (CPF) and a wide ranging discussion with Eriez's Eric Bain Wasmund, Vice President, Global Flotation Business. Wasmund said that Eriez Flotation has more than 20 CPF installations around the world and each of these installations has multiple #HydroFloat units. In addition to phosphate/potash and #copper sulphide minerals, there are now a number of other studies and projects using the Eriez HydroFloat for coarse gangue rejection of silica in #ironore flotation. TAKRAF Group company #DELKOR is making rapid progress in froth flotation. DELKOR's #MAXGen mechanism was developed through research and testing at various levels, including a simulation and computational fluid dynamics study of 72 models of rotor and stator mechanisms. To get an update on the latest FLSmidth flotation developments, we spoke to Dariusz Lelinski, FLS Global Product Director, Flotation and Lance Christodoulou, FLS Global Product Director – REFLUX™ Technologies. There is major potential in the #retrofit/upgrade market with FLS’s new self-aspirated cell - #WEMCOII - with some orders already in place. On to next generation technology in flotation and the REFLUX™ Flotation Cell (RFC™) commercialisation journey is going very well. The #NovaCell is a novel froth flotation machine, exclusively available from Jord International. Capstone Copper now has a NovaCell pilot plant at another one of its operations in the Americas, which was commissioned in September 2024. Glencore Technology has been advancing the the Jameson Cell into larger-throughput cells that enable a small unit to process a large tonnage. The B12000/24 is a single Jameson Cell able to process up to 3,200 t/h. Antti Rinne, Metso VP, Flotation said Metso's #ConcordeCell fine flotation technology has now been deployed for various greenfield, brownfield and plant optimisation projects worldwide. Another development is Metso's new #FloatForce+ mixing mechanism which maximises metallurgical recovery, boosts pumping efficiency, and reduces energy consumption. IM caught up with both Guillermo Bermudez, Product Director, Flotation at Metso and Christian Cardoso Samur, Product Manager, Mechanical Flotation Services. Finally, Barrick says it is ‘revolutionising’ copper concentration through the use of Woodgrove Technologies Inc.’s #DirectFlotationReactor (DFR) technology at the Jabal Sayid Mine in Saudi Arabia, adding: “This technology features a smaller footprint, greater efficiency, and unparalleled selectivity, enabling the transition from rougher concentrate to final concentrate in a single stage.” #mineralprocessing #frothflotation #futureofmining #mineralrecovery

Servicing the sustainability shift Export-oriented Aussie companies are set to play a major role in the sustainable mine of the future, Daniel Gleeson writes in IM October 2024's Australian METS feature. Ahead of International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) later this month, IM casts its net over the mining equipment technology and services space in Australia using a recent report from Austmine and Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), 'Accelerating Sustainable Mining,' to examine the companies helping create: “The Smart Water Mine”, “The Community Mine”, “The Zero Carbon Mine”, “The Small Footprint Mine” and “The Waste Free Mine”. The companies we included within this were: Evocra, Envirosuite, K2fly, 3ME Technology, BluVein, Universal Field Robots (just acquired by Sandvik), Gekko Systems, Glencore Technology, Thiess Rehabilitation, Scantech International Pty Ltd. and Clean TeQ Water. We also give a shout out to Bradken and its latest overseas expansion. Read the full piece below for more... #METS #miningequipment #miningtechnology #miningservices #IMARC

Futureproofing the workforce The mine rescue and safety space never stands still, with the onset of automation and electrification underground bringing with them an evolving set of demands and challenges that need to be confronted, Daniel Gleeson reports in the annual mine rescue & safety feature - published in IM October 2024. For this feature, we sought input from several segments of the mine rescue and safety community - looking at rescue chamber news, SCSR developments, IoT worker solutions, safety culture programs and more. Companies featured in the article include Strata Worldwide (which has just launched its new Emergency Refuge Chamber Modular, on show at #MINExpo2024), MineARC Systems, DEZEGA, STRACON Tech, Caterpillar Inc. (Caterpillar Safety Services) and Exyn Technologies. Thank you also to Jonas Ranggård for the refuge chamber insights from Boliden. Happy reading... #minesafety #minerescue #miningtechnology

A MINExpo news snapshot We're a little late out of the gates with the IM October 2024 issue, but this is for good reason. As our World Prospects section shows, we were soaking up all the big #MINExpo2024 news last week, with the four stories 👇 making the cut. First up was the reveal of a new battery-electric powered LHD machine, the WX04B, along with a 150 kW battery charger, from Komatsu Mining. This debut was complemented by the company's first medium-size class drill jumbo, the ZJ32, and bolter, the ZB31. Another big piece of news IM put out before the show started came from Cat Mining. The company confirmed that the next generation of its battery-electric Large Mining Trucks have arrived at select customer sites for testing and validation, with seven Cat® 793 XE Early Learners now built and ready for deployment. Still on the theme of electrification, STÄUBLI Electrical Connectors showcased an “industry-leading” 7.5 MW Quick Charging Connector System at MINExpo. Last but not least was news of the eMine™ Robot Automated Connection Device, which both ABB and Komatsu Mining highlighted in Las Vegas. The ACD is designed to work in tandem with the ABB eMine FastCharge solution, allowing further interoperability and synergy of connections and interfaces in electric mining trucks. For more stories like this, sign up to our weekly newsletter and magazine for free 👉 https://lnkd.in/dpu8_-H #miningtechnology #mininginnovation #TheElectricMine #mineelectrification

New trolley dynamics The first story in the IM October 2024 issue was also one of the main talking points at #MINExpo2024 last week - trolley and the various adaptations of it for surface and underground mining. In the Leader, Paul Moore focuses on Liebherr Mining’s Innovation Lab at the Las Vegas event; a lab that outlined a range of pioneering concepts for the future of mining from a number of Liebherr’s product segments. One of these was a next generation dynamic charging and power transfer solution, Liebherr Power Rail. Liebherr Power Rail features a lightweight, simple electric rail infrastructure footprint combined with an interoperable and minimally invasive side-arm type current collector. The Liebherr Power Rail builds on the proven success of the Liebherr Trolley Bar, which has been deployed at VA Erzberg iron ore mine in Austria. It represents a truck class-agnostic solution designed to boost productivity and encourage the rapid expansion of zero emissions fleets, Liebherr says. The system’s quick installation, the company says, reduces costs compared with other dynamic charging technologies on the market and ensures maximum utilisation. Liebherr says it offers up to 1.8x faster speeds on a 10% grade (speeds of 55 km/h or 34 mph) and relocation is relatively simple. It is also less intrusive on haul roads with switchback capability (two lanes). It is additionally designed for easy maintenance. Find out more about the solution - and the other dynamic trolley technology being spoken about at MINExpo - in this piece below... And, if you like what you read, sign up for free access to our weekly newsletter and monthly publication here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dpu8_-H #mineelectrification #trolleyassist #dynamictrolley

Ready to disrupt the decarbonisation status quo It was hard to keep up with Fortescue at #MINExpo2024, in Las Vegas, last week – IM did its best – with the mining company having on-booth presentations throughout the three days and four press events on four other stands during the show. The company’s presence was felt far beyond this, with the headline $2.8 billion agreement to supply 475 new Liebherr Mining machines featuring Fortescue’s innovative green technology to Fortescue’s operations in Western Australia being a major talking point. This was swiftly followed by announcements with MacLean Engineering, Epiroc and Scania Group, with the common theme among all these being the perception that Fortescue should be viewed as more than just a mining company. “There is an opportunity here for Fortescue to be seen as a technology company, as opposed to solely an iron ore miner,” Dino Otranto, CEO of Fortescue Metals, told IM. The technology the company acquired and is now deploying via its purchase of Williams Advanced Engineering in early 2022 is a key part of this transition. This has led to the development of battery-electric solutions as well as charging solutions – Fortescue Zero now has a 6 MW charging solution to call on. Alongside this is the company’s “Fortex” solution – which combines autonomous haulage, FMS and Level 9 collision avoidance – to seamlessly integrate all the elements to create optimised autonomous and electric sites of the future. “What we are developing with Fortex is akin to Android,” Otranto said. “Where the traditional OEM models lock you into Apple and iOS, we want to offer an Android-style open source platform that allows you to share data and interface with other apps within the ecosystem. “You will soon see us demonstrate that through the process of a traction power system at a mine site.” Read the full interview below... #mineelectrification #miningtechnology #miningdisruption

Gekko reports major landmark for ILR with 200th production scale unit The Gekko Systems team has announced a major landmark with the sale of its 200th production scale InLine #LeachReactor (ILR) to #MarmatoMine in Colombia, operated by Aris Mining Colombia. The InLine Leach Reactor was invented in 1997 by Gekko’s Technical Director and Co-Founder Sandy Gray one year after the start-up of Gekko in 1996. The concept of chemically treating #gravitygold concentrates rather than using physical recovery on a shaking table was driven by the poor recoveries (50-60%) and low security associated with shaking table devices which were standard uses. Typically, gold plants would experience a spike in cyclone overflow and high tailings grades when gravity concentrates were being treated by tables in the gold room and before intensive cyanidation became standard in gold operations. Key people like Nick Mooney and Nick Katsikaros made significant contributions to the concept and efficacy of the operation. The ILR was the first commercialised intensive leach technology and Gekko says it remains the global technical and market leader in the gold industry worldwide. Gekko adds: “Sandy and Gekko’s award-winning technical and design team continue to constantly review and improve ease of operation and recoveries from the unit which typically run around 98-99%. Whilst developed in Australia, the concept really took off in Africa first with AngloGold Ashanti installing units in many of their operations in the late 1990s and is now installed worldwide.” Fully optimised to mining operations, the ILR boasts consistent free #goldrecoveries of over 98% as well as superior recoveries of #gold from complex ##sulphide ores. Leaching coarse (>300 micron) gravity concentrates and recycling leach solutions delivers low energy and operating costs. #Rapidleach kinetics and an automated system provide fast #mineralrecoveries. In place of open shaking tables that are prone to theft, the enclosed ILR has lockable access points to protect against theft losses and reduce manual handling. The ILR can be easily retrofitted to any #grindingcircuit. The modular, small footprint design requires minimal space for integration. The ILR’s chemical handling is automated and important leach parameters are electronically controlled, making operations faster and safer. #Tailings generated are smaller and can be coupled with the detoxification of cyanide, which protects the environment. #futureofmining #goldprocessing