battery and electric machines charging ahead · 2021. 3. 5. · minute battery swap milestone with...

BATTERY AND ELECTRIC MACHINES

8 International Mining | MARCH 2021

Every second conversation IM has engaged

in over the past 12-24 months has involved

the theme of mine electrification.

It is no exaggeration to say the industry is

putting more focus on this area than any other at

the moment, realising that the market is

transitioning to a place where every tonne of ore

mined will be measured not just by its economic

value but also by the amount of emissions that

come with extracting and processing it into a

saleable product.

This has changed the typical vendor-miner

dynamic, with mine site operators and corporate

head office representatives pushing equipment

makers for more varieties of electric machines

that can go faster, be charged or changed out

quicker and help them achieve their ambitious

corporate sustainability goals.

OEMs and service providers are struggling to

keep up with such demand, knowing it is not as

simple as plugging in a battery to an existing

chassis and ‘hitting play’.

The road to electrification Henrik Ager scored top points for a major reveal

at International Mining Events’ Electric Mine

Virtual Conference back in November, with the

President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions

confirming the equipment maker is working on

developing a 65-t payload battery-electric truck.

Topping the largest battery-electric truck in the

mining OEM’s range, the 50-t payload Z50

developed by Sandvik’s Artisan Vehicle Systems,

the new machine is likely to find a home in

Australia; a market where underground bulk

mining methods require large capacity trucks to

operate on ramps but where operations are

governed by strict diesel particulate regulations.

Speaking to IM in late January, Brian Huff, Vice

President of Technology for Artisan, said a new

65-t payload machine would, most likely, follow a

similar blueprint to the Z50 design.

“A 65-t truck, which is on the plan as Henrik

announced, is not going to be that much heavier

than the 50-t truck,” he said. “These are

incremental size increases. It is likely to be

largely the same from a topology sense.”

The company is looking to scale up battery

capacities for use in larger trucks (the Z50 is

currently fitted with a 354-kWh primary pack),

but Huff said the ability to changeout batteries

quickly somewhat negates the need to fit bigger

payload vehicles with massive battery cells that

keep the vehicle running for longer.

“As the time to swap batteries decreases, the

impact of battery energy on the machine

lessens,” Huff said. “What is another five

minutes of downtime to swap a battery versus

having the battery running a little longer?

“The more performance we can get out of

smaller capacity battery packs, then the lower

the total cost is for the client. At the same time,

there is no negative effect on productivity from a

tonnes per hour standpoint.”

The company is getting closer to this five-

minute battery swap milestone with the help of

its AutoConnect tool. Originally released for the

company’s LH518B 18 t loader, AutoConnect

automatically connects and disconnects the

battery pack to the machine.

Sandvik explained: “Aside from unplugging

and plugging in the charger, the operator doesn’t

need to leave the cabin, which saves minutes on

the swapping procedure and decreases effort and

risk in the swapping process.”

A retrofit version of this tool for the company’s

Z50 truck is already being lined up, according to

Huff.

While a 65-t machine equipped with

AutoConnect may be some way off, a closely

matched loader in the form of the LH518B is

already appearing underground at mine sites.

Huff confirmed the first LH518B unit off the

production line is heading to North America, with

multiple units scheduled to arrive in Australia

later in 2021.

One of these will be going to Kirkland Lake

Gold’s Fosterville mine in Victoria, as Rob

McLean, the operation’s Chief Mining Engineer,

confirmed back in November at the IMARC Online

event.

There is a lower payload Sandvik electric

machine making an impact at one mine in Canada.

The 14-t payload LH514BE gets its power from

an electric cable during normal mucking

operations but uses battery power for relocating

to another production area. The battery also

provides a boost to ramp speeds, which

traditionally have been the weak spot of electric

Charging ahead

A key trend, mine electrification is accelerating at a rapid pace across the globe. Dan Gleeson checks in with some of the major players and integrators to obtain their latest ‘green’ developments

The new SS5 shotcrete-TM3 transmixer combination makes MacLean Engineering the only OEM able to offer fully electrified, articulated shotcrete operations purpose-designed for underground mining applications, the company claims

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loaders as they have been designed for level

applications.

Huff, who confirmed Artisan developed the

battery back for this machine, explained the

LH514BE loader’s niche: “Really the focus was to

replace a cable loader that intends to operate on

multiple levels. The addition of the battery was

about tramming to a new location, plugging in

when you get there and mucking on that cable

power.

“Traditionally, if you have multiple stopes

operating, you will have to have one loader per

stope in this setup.”

During testing at the mine in Canada, the

battery’s performance was pushed even further,

with the mine site completing mucking of a

whole stope solely on battery power, according

to Huff.

“We did increase the battery performance

enough that the customer is actually using it for

battery-only mucking,” he said. “It was not

necessarily the intent, but it can be used for

that.”

Sandvik has produced more than 600 electric

loaders powered by cable to date, but this is the

first equipped with a battery-assisted drivetrain.

Huff is certain battery drivetrains will become

a major part of the underground mining

ecosystem in the future, but he acknowledges

they could be used in combination with other

power and energy sources.

“All the technologies are a necessary part of

the electrification landscape,” Huff said. “There

are going to be solutions that really benefit from

trolley or cable connection, versus the flexibility

of battery-only equipment.”

Battery and diesel power could also combine

as a power option for future underground

machines.

As it stands, battery-electric adoption comes

with the fewest

hurdles to jump over,

according to Huff.

“Mines that use the

same section of ramp,

for example, for a long

period of time may

have a better business

case for a trolley type

of solution. Mines that

operate further from

the ramp and are

shallower have less of

a benefit from those

elements,” he said.

The associated infrastructure cost of these

type of trolley solutions – adding power supply

stations as the mine expands, for example – can

be prohibitive, according to Huff.

“We found in early deployments, where the

industry is right now, we can deploy a battery

solution for these mines very quickly, with

minimal infrastructure and minimal time to set up

that infrastructure,” he said. “We can also

achieve all the haulage profiles needed since we

have a dynamic battery-swapping solution.

“This allows us to do these long haulage route

applications where you would normally think

trolley is the only solution.”

Such observations have been made during

trials with many Artisan machines, several of

which have involved the Z50.

For instance, in phase one trials with Barrick

Gold at its Turquoise Ridge joint venture gold

mine, in Nevada, USA, a Z50 reached production

operation of up to 18 h/d, with speeds of over 10

km/h observed on the ramp to the tip.

The two companies are now well into a three-

year production trial involving up to four trucks

to test even more haulage profiles.

An ongoing Z50 trial at a mine in Canada has

observed similar production and ramp speed

performance to Turquoise Ridge, Huff said.

He concluded: “In the short term, we see

batteries as the preferable choice for risk

mitigation and to avoid that high capital cost and

lack of flexibility. It is the best way to get

electrification started at a mine site, but there

may be business cases that work out in specific

types of applications where trolley would prove

useful.

“It is all part of the electrification roadmap.”

This trend towards battery-electric operation is

likely to be aided with the launch of Sandvik’s

Battery as a service offering. This aftermarket

option is being developed to provide peace of

mind to customers in their transition to battery-

electric vehicle technology, according to the

OEM.

“The battery is a substantial part of the

investment in battery-electric vehicles and

optimising battery performance will become

business critical with these machines,” it

explained.

Sandvik is currently in the pilot phase of this

service offering, with trial projects in the US and

Canada representing just a fraction of the market

interest, but it has plans to officially release the

product to market during the latter part of 2021.

Asked how it may differ from other similar

solutions on the market, Sandvik told IM: “As

battery-electric vehicles are in their infancy in

mining, we can’t say much for the details of other

solutions. Our offering, however, will focus on

leveraging our expertise and connectivity

capabilities to give a strong advantage in getting

the optimal performance from the batteries.”

It expects in the future that such a business

model will be the industry aftermarket norm with

battery-electric vehicles.

An electrification partner Epiroc is taking a two-pronged approach to

accelerating electrification in the mining sector.

Having already amassed more than 130,000

operating hours from new generation battery-

electric machines that include 7 t and 14 t LHDs;

20 t and 42 t trucks; and a range of battery-

electric mid-sized drilling equipment including

face drilling, production drilling and rock

reinforcement rigs, it is now taking its first steps

into offering miners a commercial electrification

retrofit option.

IM discussed this mid-life rebuild option in the

recent Rebuilds and Refurbs article in IM

February 2021, but Lina Jorheden, Operations

Manager with Epiroc’s Rocvolt function, provided

some further details on the initial underground

LHD retrofit plans.

“The first two loader retrofits will be launched

on the market during the year,” she said. “We are

in the final prototype stages with both kits and

the retrofitted machines should be up and

running by mid-year in different countries.”

Both kits are being developed in different

ways, according to Jorheden, with one

specialised conversion project orchestrated by an

“agile global team” and the other kit leveraging

off the existing platform for the Scooptram

Battery machine already available on the market.

The maintenance barriers to entry for these

kits are relatively low, according to Jorheden.

“The idea behind these kits is that we will

utilise our global network, with highly skilled

mid-life workshops, to be able to carry out the

retrofit,” she said.

All this hints at both the type of customers the

company is aiming this solution at, in addition to

the market potential Epiroc feels electrification

retrofits have.

“There are a lot of customers that see this as a

good complement to the electrification journey

In phase one trials with Barrick Gold at its Turquoise Ridge joint venture gold mine, in Nevada, USA, an Artisan Z50 reached production operation of up to 18 h/d, with speeds of over 10 km/h observed on the ramp to the tip

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the industry is going on,” Jorheden said. “Some

of these are very technology focused and might

be candidates for new battery-electric machines,

but want a 10 t battery-electric machine now;

others are lower down the technology adoption

scale and see this as a way to take advantage of

the benefits of battery operation without taking

too much financial risk.”

Franck Boudreault, Electrification

Transformation Lead for Epiroc’s Underground

division, added: “The 10-t segment for loaders is

huge and this offering will help us reach out to a

considerable number of customers and mine

sites.”

These new options are representative of

Epiroc’s aim of being more than just a solution

provider in miners’ electrification journey.

Jorheden said: “It is really all about building

strong partnerships. This goes beyond just

selling the equipment.”

This includes providing its Batteries as a

Service (BaaS) agreements.

This aftermarket option sees the company take

full responsibility for the batteries, from

certification to maintenance plus technology

upgrades, using a business model that provides

the battery operation as a service. With BaaS, the

OEM keeps track of the battery performance and

replaces them when needed. It also makes sure

the battery has the required capacity for the

application and provides the possibility to install

the latest technology when it becomes available.

As they get worn-out, the company then recycles

the batteries to reduce the carbon footprint.

Such a service is being appreciated across the

industry, according to Jorheden.

“The response has been fantastic,” she said.

“The vast majority of customers are now on BaaS

agreements. It is not just certain markets that

have bought into this; there is global interest

from big and small customers.”

Boudreault said the positive reception goes

beyond just the company’s direct mining

customers.

“We are working with other OEMs to

accelerate battery electrification and even these

OEMs are selecting the BaaS option,” he said.

The company

is now in the

phase of

finalising the

second-

generation

battery-powered

machines Epiroc

is offering to

market, according

to Boudreault.

“We are

completing the

building blocks to

ensure they are 100% mature,” he said.

“This means when we take on new products

and enlarge the offering, the development of

those products will go a lot faster because of all

the ‘carryover’ we have built up.”

And these new machines could benefit from

potential upgrades of the battery cells – more

power in the same battery pack footprint – in

addition to purpose-designed battery-electric

vehicle components, according to Boudreault.

“The way these machines are designed and

built means you can make progress on one side

and then, a year or two later, address another

part of the machine,” he explained.

One area of focus this year will be on the

delivery of a new battery charger, specifically

designed for underground mining.

Boudreault explained: “The big difference with

this new charger to what we were offering before,

from a charging perspective, is it is, for one,

much better suited for an underground mining

application and, two, much more flexible.”

Protected against the elements that come with

the realities of underground mining – dust, heat,

humidity, etc – the new chargers allow operations

to modulate the charge of machines to suit their

needs.

“In a charging station setup with two or three

machines, for instance, this will allow you to

prioritise one vehicle over another, ensuring this

receives the bulk of the charge and can get back

to work quicker,” Boudreault said.

The company has other options outside of

pure battery solutions, too.

“Customers realise that the most demanding

zero emission application is hauling ore up the

ramp,” Boudreault said. “This type of activity is

not really optimised for battery-electric vehicles

as it is so energy demanding.”

Epiroc is currently engaged with a long-term

customer on converting one of its battery-

powered trucks to work on existing trolley

infrastructure.

More widely, Boudreault sees potential

opportunities to deploy this option in greenfield

operations and brownfield expansions, alike.

“Moving tonnes up a ramp with energy coming

from the battery wears the batteries faster than

one would wish,” he said. “In order to find more

economical solutions, trolley is definitely the way

to go.”

The company has much experience with

trolley-diesel hybrid truck thanks to its Kiruna

truck offering – which are still running at two of

Vale’s underground mines in Sudbury – but the

latest idea is to have a hybrid trolley battery

generating zero emissions.

“Some people in the industry think trolley is

expensive, but with every case I have looked at,

trolleys are cheap compared with pure battery

solutions,” Boudreault said.

“Everything we can do to lower our customers’

cost per tonne will be a huge benefit to them.”

Electrification optionality MacLean Engineering has become renowned for

its battery-electric equipment in the last four-to-

five years, having announced its electrified plans

at MINExpo 2016, and steadily upped its offering

in line with industry demand.

The latest additions to its growing EV Series of

battery-electric machines come in the form of a

new shotcrete-transmixer combination that,

according to MacLean, makes it the only OEM

able to offer fully electrified, articulated

shotcrete operations purpose-designed for

underground mining applications.

Launched in late February, the battery-

powered SS5 shotcrete unit is close to 7 ft (2.13

m) wide and is the first-ever MacLean sprayer to

have a forward-facing cab for a better view of

shotcreting operations from inside the cab.

Alongside this machine will be the 2.59-m-

wide battery-powered TM3 concrete transmixer,

which is based on a diesel-equivalent machine

already on the market and will serve the SS5’s

shotcrete needs.

Like all of MacLean’s EV Series machines, the

SS5 sprayer will be able to tram on battery and

connect to the power infrastructure within the

mine for spraying, but Jonathan Lavallee, Product

Manager – Shotcrete Equipment at MacLean, said

there was also potential to spray off battery

power.

“Depending on the size of your heading, the

battery re-generation capability on site and the

air quality/quantity, there could be an option to

shoot on pure battery,” he told IM.

Recent testing at the MacLean Research and

Training Facility in Sudbury saw a prototype

machine complete two full mixer trucks worth of

shotcrete – roughly 12 cu.m – while still having

enough battery power remaining to conduct a

thorough wash down and washout of the

equipment and tram to the nearest point of

recharge, according to Lavallee.

This ability will be tested further when a new

SS5 unit is shipped this quarter to the MacLean

“The vast majority of customers are now on BaaS agreements,” Lina Jorheden says. “It is not just certain markets that have bought into this; there is global interest from big and small customers”


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branch in Elko, Nevada, for additional testing.

This testing will include the development of a

brand-new method of introducing accelerating

chemical to the shotcrete, creating increased

savings in material use that will be passed on

directly to the mines, MacLean says.

The unit in question will also be fitted with a

new chiller package to cool the battery.

Set to be released commercially in the next

few months, this chiller is intended to ensure

battery-electric vehicles can operate in

environments that exceed 35°C.

Keeping up the electrification developments

and building on its experiences of helping

convert (in partnership with MEDATech

Engineering) a Cat 12M diesel-powered dozer to

electric power for the Borden gold mine in

Ontario, MacLean is also working on a purpose-

built battery-powered grader for underground

mines, as Maarten van Koppen, Product Manager

– Mine Operations at MacLean, revealed.

He explained the product development

rationale: “First and foremost, any mine with a

ramp or roadway benefits from having good

ramps/roadways. That message might have got

lost at some mines with diesel equipment, but

when you look at the top performing ramp

haulage mines, that ramp is always in

immaculate condition.”

This maintenance effort allows trucks to tram

faster, while lowering the maintenance costs of

the machines that travel up and down it, van

Koppen said. MacLean has conducted tests that

demonstrate battery-electric vehicles regenerate

more energy while tramming downhill on a well-

maintained ramp, too.

He continued on the grader’s development: “It

will be one of the heavier-class road graders on

the underground market, in the same category as

the Cat 12M. In terms of drawbar pull, weight,

blade-down pressure, operator comfort and

visibility etc, it will be very competitive.

“It will also be purpose built for the

underground mining industry, which is different

to some machines being used at underground

mines that have been adapted from typical civil

road construction configurations. This means that

some functions seldom used underground were

eliminated while making maintenance-intensive

components more robust.”

The company is also lining up a Tier 3 diesel

engine version of this grader, with both diesel

and battery-powered machines able to operate in

drifts as small as 4-4.5 m wide by 4.5 m high.

van Koppen says the company is looking into

equipping the machine, which leverages one of

the company’s own frames, with other

attachments that could be used outside of road

grading while the machine is operating at low

speeds.

More details could follow closer to the

machine being launched,

expected in the

September quarter.

Further down the

project pipeline is a

battery-electric, heavy-

duty forklift for

underground mining that

could feature attachments

such as a tyre handler.

The company is also

considering developing

new products for South

Africa’s narrow-reef

miners, a market it knows

well with a longstanding

MacLean branch and manufacturing facility in

Parys, as well as a service and support footprint

in Phalaborwa.

More widely, the company is setting itself up

to provide a comprehensive battery offering to

clients that considers the specifics of the

applications at hand.

“I would say our current battery offering is in

the middle of the battery capacity range and will

suit most applications,” van Koppen said. “But, if

you design a product that fits the majority of

applications, it means you are not providing an

optimised option for most of them.”

He expanded on this: “On the SS5, for

instance, operators could have applications

where they plug into the grid more and can,

therefore, get away with a lower-capacity battery.

Whereas, on the TM3 transmixer, you can have a

lot of uphill tramming over a longer distance, so

we could afford to expand the capacity of our

current batteries a bit.”

Right now, the company’s batteries have a

capacity of 93 kWh, but, in the future, it will

present miners with options from 78-155 kWh.

“We have realised not every application is the

same,” van Koppen said. “It is unfair to have one

product servicing all types of different mines –

such as block caves and truck haulage mines

with significantly different duty cycles. We

wanted to ultimately provide better value to our

customers.

“It is eventually going to be a battery option

similar to the way customers select a Tier 3 or

Tier 4 Final diesel engine, or a compressor on

board a machine.”

Customers will not be stuck with these

selections for life. There is the potential to swap

out the batteries should a machine move to a

different mine or application requiring more or

less power.

SmartDrive shifts gears It has been a year of progress for Normet and its

SmartDrive series of battery-electric machines.

Having refined the platform during testing at

First Quantum Minerals’ Pyhäsalmi mine, in

Finland, with its Charmec MC 605 VE SD, the

company has since rolled out several machines

to the international market.

Soon, a Multimec MF 100 SD cassette-type

vehicle will be put to operation at a mine site in

Canada, while an Utimec MF 500 Transmixer SD

concrete transport vehicle is in transit to an

underground mine site in Chile, according to the

company.

The latter machine was also put through its

paces at Pyhäsalmi, with the initial findings from

one month’s worth of testing proving to be

positive.

Carrying a 7.5 t load (for a gross weight of 23.5

t) from surface to level 990 at Pyhäsalmi – a

distance of 7.6 km – the vehicle’s battery

regeneration capacity stood out.

Driving down a decline with an average slope

of 14%, the battery went from 14% state of

charge at surface to 55% at level 990. This

regeneration was possible even when rotating

the concrete drum, which Normet said only

consumes 2-5 kW of power.

Extrapolating out these results, Normet

estimated that regeneration charges the battery

by around 4% per vertical 100 m with a 23.5 t

truck weight and 5 kW of auxiliary consumption.

The tests confirmed that, as planned, the control

system starts to automatically reduce vehicle

speed when the battery state of charge reaches

80% to ensure safe operation and machine

controllability even when the battery is

approaching its capacity.

The results were equally impressive on the

incline with an empty drum, no auxiliary

consumption and a gross weight of 16 t.

Driving from level 660 to surface over a 5 km

distance on the 14% grade (average) incline, the

battery state of charge went from 91% to 24% at

The Normet Charmec MC 605 VE SD trial at the Carrapateena copper-gold mine in South Australia involved the charging of 30 faces with tramming times of 5-15 minutes and tramming distances of 1-3.5 km


MARCH 2021| International Mining 15


surface. The company estimated that battery

consumption during this test was approximately

10% per vertical 100 m in the 16-t vehicle.

The tests also showed that, with an empty

bowl and fully charged battery, the maximum

speed can be reached almost immediately after

driving starts. And, when loaded for a gross

weight of 23.5 t, a 20 km/h incline speed can be

achieved on a 14% ramp.

Normet said this trial boded well for the

Utimec MF 500 Transmixer SD’s performance in

Chile, given similar conditions were expected

from the mine site application.

In concrete spraying applications, the

company has solid feedback from tunnelling

projects using its battery-powered Spraymec

8100 VC SD in Norway and Australia, too.

These sprayers have not yet found their way

into underground mine sites, but Anssi

Mykkänen, Director, Charging, Lifting &

Installation Product Lines at Normet, said there

had been lots of interest from miners in the

Nordic region and Australia for these machines.

Speaking of Australia, OZ Minerals became the

first miner in the lucky country to take delivery of

a battery-powered Normet Charmec MC 605 VE

SD in October. The charging unit, which arrived at

the Carrapateena copper-gold mine in South

Australia, was recently put through its paces over

a three-month period.

Like the Utimec MF500 Transmixer SD, the

deployment followed extensive testing at

Pyhäsalmi, which showed the charging of a

typical mining face consumed 20-25% of the

battery capacity, with 10 kW required for

emulsion pumping (12 kW with reel retraction or

string loading) and 15-20 kW for basket boom

movements.

The trial at Carrapateena involved the charging

of 30 faces – all of which were charged without

any major problems – with tramming times of 5-

15 minutes and tramming distances of 1-3.5 km

from the explosives warehouse to the face and

back. The process saw 4.5 m long cuts and an

average of 65 holes, with 300-400 kg of emulsion

loaded per cut.

Testing involved the use of an on-board 1.5 t

Emulsion Charging Module system provided by

Normet and the application of Downer Blasting

Services’ HEAT® 9000 ammonium nitrate

emulsion.

The unit carried out charging with and without

a trailing cable plugged into the mine site’s

electricity infrastructure and a SmartDrive CT40

DC-charging trolley was also employed.

A snapshot of charging procedures carried out

on one face on the afternoon of December 5

showed 15 minutes of tramming over a 265 m

vertical and 2.6 km total distance took the

battery state of charge from 80% to 40%. The

explosives charging of 66 holes took 65 minutes

and the battery recharged when it was plugged

into the mine’s 1,000 V power infrastructure,

taking the state of charge from its lowest point of

20% to 50%.

On the trial, Normet said: “SmartDrive battery-

electric vehicle architecture proved its ability for

emulsion charging as this process is extremely

energy efficient and enables independent

operations even without a trailing cable plugged

in.”

It added: “Silent slope performance as well as

exhaust-, heat- and noise-free charging

operations made a real impression on all users of

the SD Charmec.”

According to Mykkänen, this unit has now

gone back to the factory and is being equipped

with a different explosive supply to take to

another mine site in Australia for a trial. In fact,

the company has three trials in Australia lined up

for the year on top of the Carrapateena work.

“This process of going back to the factory will

allow us to get machine feedback after every

trial; see the battery status, corrosion, etc; and

compare and contrast between applications,” he

said.

While Australia is undoubtedly a key market

for the battery-electric Charmecs, the Nordic

region, the Americas and Russia were also

singled out by Mykkänen as potential sale hot

spots.

Marjo Koivisto, Design & Marketing Manager,

Equipment Business Line at Normet, said there

has been interest from the mining sector across

the portfolio of SmartDrive machines.

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“We have different size-class machines for

SmartDrive in the pipeline as well, but if a

customer wants some of our current diesel-

powered applications with battery-electric

SmartDrive architecture, we can potentially

develop it even if it is not in the planned

pipeline,” she said.

“It’s actually quite an efficient process to

implement our modular battery-electric

architecture in different machine types.”

Looking to future machines, Mykkänen, like

others in mining’s battery-electric industry,

pointed to developments in battery energy

density as a game changer.

He said: “On our machines, the batteries are

pretty big, and the chemistry is really safe, but, in

the future, can we perhaps get a higher capacity

battery in the same footprint?

“The battery we are using is enough and

works great on its own in process equipment

such as explosives chargers and lifting and

installation equipment, as they can be charged

from the mine grid during operation. For

transportation, logistics and other applications

with long tramming distances, we provide fast

charging units (the CT40 and CC150 chargers) to

ensure operational efficiency. With fast charging

units, batteries can be charged full in half an

hour, during a break or, for example, during

concrete dispatching.”

Koivisto concluded: “However, more capacity

in the same size footprint as current batteries

would be a positive development.”

Going green GHH Group, comprising GHH Fahrzeuge, GHH

Mining Machines and Mine Master, says it is

constantly supporting the industry drive towards

reducing emissions and ventilation requirements,

while improving performance and efficiency.

GHH Fahrzeuge has recently developed a

tethered battery-electric loader predominantly

for soft-rock applications. The LF-19EB is

specifically designed for flexible loading into a

feeder breaker. It reduces the loss in productivity

that typically comes with having to tow a

tethered machine between production ends by

using an on-board battery that allows operators

to easily relocate the machine regardless of mine

power infrastructure.

The LF-19EB has a 19-t payload capacity with a

tractive effort force of 380 kN and an average of

250 kVA power under permanent load and 315

kVA peak. It comes with a maximum cable length

of 250 m.

With a high payload and low height, the

machine is designed to operate at a maximum

grade of 28%, a 15% slope and a maximum

temperature of 52°C, the company says.

“This loader is a perfect intermediate between

tethered-electric and a pure battery solution –

more flexible than a tethered loader and less

risky than a pure battery loader, based on

wanting a full shift operation on one charge,”

GHH says.

In addition to this electric LHD, GHH Group has

been working on various battery-electric product

solutions for the industry.

Mine Master recently added to its portfolio of

underground mining machines with a battery-

powered electric bolter, which is already

undergoing testing.

Jerzy Nadolny, Mine Master CEO, said: “With

new developments, we work closely with KGHM,

one of the world’s biggest copper producers. The

design of the electric machine was a response to

the needs of this customer.

“The mines are going deeper, so the cost of

ventilation is increasing with every metre.

Battery-electric solutions will help to reduce gas

emissions, improve safety and ease maintenance

requirements.”

The Roof Master 1.8KE is undergoing testing at

KGHM’s Lubin mine in Poland, with the first

comments from mine operators enthusiastic:

“During the driving process, the machine is very

quiet, the engine is hardly audible,” Karol

Ignatowicz from Lubin mine said. “I am

impressed, the cabin is very comfortable; so far

everything works well.”

The machine is designed to work in galleries

from 2 m up to 5.8 m in height, and it is equipped

with a 1.8 m mechanised bolting mast for nine

bolts.

The battery installed

on board is a 120 kWh,

sodium-nickel system,

which is intrinsically

maintenance-free and

comes with a long life,

high reliability and an

enclosure with good

thermal insulation, the

company says. The

battery cells are

hermetically sealed and

enclosed in a metallic

box, making exposure to

hazardous and flammable

materials highly improbable.

Said battery can be recharged without any

special equipment by using an existing mine

power network in the 500-1,000 V range. For this

purpose, a battery charger is built onto the

machine chassis. At the same time, regenerative

braking allows the battery to recharge when the

rig is tramming downhill.

All of this means cycle times are not disrupted

and the machine has increased working time

compared with the diesel-powered equivalent

that requires refuelling.

The RM1.8KE will recharge once a week during

non-working time to reach full capacity, Mine

Master claims.

The company added: “Overall, the Mine

Master battery-powered machine has a far higher

efficiency than the diesel equivalent, so the

effective energy put into the mining network is

far better utilised than it is with diesel energy.

“The true benefit of battery technology comes

in the total cost of ownership reduction per meter

advanced, taking not only the machines but also

the services supply into account.”

The machine is equipped with an

ergonomically designed, closed, air-conditioned

operator cabin to add to the benefits of an

already quieter, emission-free operation, Mine

Master says.

GHH’s LF-19EB tethered battery-electric LHD is specifically designed for offering flexible loading into a feeder breaker

The Roof Master 1.8KE is undergoing testing at KGHM’s Lubin mine in Poland



“It is a technological breakthrough for KGHM,”

Andrzej Czajkowski, a Vice Chairman of the

Management Board at Mine Master, said of the

KGHM trials. “Very soon, in the same mine, we

will be testing an electric drill rig – the Face

Master 1.7LE.

“What is special about this machine (the Face

Master 1.7LE) is that even with the battery

charger built on, it is still the lowest in its class –

with the tramming height of 1.65 m adapted to

heavy-duty mining excavations in a room and

pillar system, with slopes of up to 15°.”

The Face Master 1.7LE is designed to drill 41-

76 mm diameter blast holes over net lengths of

3.2 m, in heights above 1.7 m. The ergonomic,

closed, air-conditioned cabin gives the operator

good visibility even in lowered positions and, for

better visibility during drilling, the cabin can also

be raised.

The battery-electric drive technology – the same

as on the RM1.8KE bolter – ensures significant

noise, as well as DPM, NOx and CO2 gas emission

reductions, reducing ventilation needs while

improving operator comfort and safety.

The telescopic boom’s design allows for the

replacement of all wear slides in around 15

minutes without the need to disassemble the

boom. This innovative, patented solution

significantly improves the ease of maintenance and

reduces the downtime of the machine significantly.

More precise and effective drilling can be

conducted with the Face Master 1.7LE through an

optional drilling monitoring system. Mine Master

can equip this underground drill rig with an easy

and simple Drilling Monitoring System or with

more advanced Feeder Guiding System. Both

systems are well suited for drilling in a room and

pillar mining context, it said.

Both the bolter and the rig provide for similar

tramming distance and speed as their diesel

equivalents, the company added.

Narrowed focus Aramine, a specialist in narrow-vein mining

equipment design and production, is in the

process of launching a battery-powered drill rig

of its own.

The DM901HBE miniDriller® is due to be

released at the end of this year. Based off the

design of the diesel-powered DM901HDE

miniDriller, the machine will complement the

battery-powered L140B miniLoader®, launched

by Aramine in 2018, Marc Melkonian, President

of Aramine, says.

To adapt its battery technology to the rig,

Aramine’s R&D department redesigned the

kinematic chain to optimise the machine energy

consumption, according to the company.

This rig will retain the advantages that come

with the diesel-powered equivalent, such as a

very low centre of gravity and two front

stabilisers for optimal stability.

“Thanks to this great stability, the DM901HBE

will be able to achieve face or vertical drilling,”

the company said. “As with the diesel version,

the machine will be designed with various

modular elements allowing easy assembly and

disassembly in order to be able to squeeze

through the narrowest of mines.”

The DM901HBE will use the battery for

tramming, hydraulic controls for steering, brakes

and the boom, and be powered by the mine’s

electrical network for drilling. The battery pack

will be fixed, with chargers mounted on board

that provide recharging during drilling.

On top of this, the company is working on a

miniDumper® T500B based off the diesel-

powered-equivalent miniDumper T500D. This

machine has a 4.2-t payload capacity and is

suited to narrow-vein mining operations as the

vehicle’s width is just 1.45-1.6 m.

Electrification integration Mine electrification is nothing new for ABB and

its electrical, control and instrumentation (EC&I)

business. Over the last 45 years, it has provided

integrated electrical solutions for the entire

processing area, as well as draglines, shovels

and excavators in open-pit mining and facilitated

hoist and complex ventilation projects at

underground mines.

The company is looking to drive the move

towards the all-electric mine by incorporating the


http://www.normet.com/smartdrive


latest technology into solutions that drive

sustainability, a reduced operational footprint,

zero harm, minimised CO₂ and increased

profitability, according to Mehrzad Ashnagaran,

Global Product Line Manager – Electrification &

Composite Plant at ABB.

ABB has recently been helping the industry to

achieve these goals by, for example, providing e-

drivetrains to Epiroc for the OEM’s second-

generation battery-powered machines, delivering

electrical infrastructure for a trolley assist trial at

Boliden’s Aitik copper mine, and developing

electrification and automation solutions at the

LKAB-led Sustainable Underground Mining

project.

On top of this, it is collaborating on several

machine electrification retrofit projects, including

the conversion of a diesel-powered Western Star

4900 XD truck with MEDATech Engineering and

Tardif and helping Volvo Trucks, Kaunis Iron and

partners construct and test an all-electric Volvo

FMX truck prototype in the Arctic conditions of

northern Sweden.

Nic Beutler, Global Product Manager – Power

System & Charging Solutions at ABB, explains

some of these electrification interactions with the

industry: “We are trying to put vendor-agnostic

systems forward and have open-communication

standards across these separate systems as they

interact within a platform. The key challenge is to

harmonise these interfaces across vendors so we

can facilitate and support the customer during

the operation of them.”

The industry may have made significant

progress on its journey towards the all-electric

mine, but it lags in its broader automation move,

according to Ashnagaran.

“Compared to mine automation, the all-electric

mine is still behind,” he told IM. “The key is

achieving electrification across the fleet. Once

miners realise the benefits that come with, say,

more reliable electric motors with less

maintenance, the drive will be accelerated.”

Miners also need to realise that the whole

ownership model of new-generation electrified

machinery is changing.

Solutions providers are looking to reduce risk

by offering ongoing service options that change

the dynamic from a capex to an opex item.

Beutler says ABB can help clients understand

such changes, as well as the future infrastructure

requirements that may come with employing

electrification solutions today.

“We can walk the client through the options of

getting rid of diesel; understanding the

constraints imposed by power availability,

operational planning, process and assets, both

mobile and stationary,” he said. “We, as ABB, are

proposing together with the BEV-OEM

coordinated and optimised electrical solutions;

mapping the constraints and matching the

technology, thus trading off between a charging

process, versus a trolley and even going a step

further versus a hoist, and conveyor system, for

example, will be key for a successful

decarbonisation.

“We can allow them to get a feel of the

expenditure associated with all these solutions.”

As previously discussed, ABB has been front

ABB previously provided electrical infrastructure for a trolley assist trial at Boliden’s Aitik copper mine in northern Sweden

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BATTERY AND ELECTRIC

and centre when it comes to facilitating the early onset of electrification

through retrofit solutions that are installed by multiple parties.

It sees industry OEMs taking the lead over the next decade.

Beutler said: “Retrofitters have an important space when it comes to

pushing the technology and the OEMs with pilot projects and proof of

concept studies; they are really accelerating this change and showing it is

feasible – hence making it a reality.

“But, when it comes to larger conversions of equipment on a global

scale, we are unfortunately seeing miners rather reluctant to perform these.

We think this is down to the conversion, for one, being quite expensive if

you do not have the required economies of scale.”

“Secondly, if the OEM is not supporting this transition or retrofit, then it

will be very hard to make any changes down the line. Such changes could

see the warranty invalidated. This means there is a bit of a risk for the

miners.

“Thirdly, considering the logistics associated with such a retrofit, these

companies need to be locally based. Shipping the vehicles forward and

back over a long distance means it is hard for the numbers to work.”

Instead, the next phase of electrification is likely to be OEM-led retrofits

(see An electrification partner for one example of this) and new generation

machines that have factored in electrification from the off.

“This could be very relevant for the open-pit sector where the lifetime of

the vehicles is larger or longer, so you can use the chassis of the vehicle for

something like 20 years,” Beutler said of the OEM-led retrofits. “But it

would need to be supported by the OEMs so they can provide all the

necessary support and assistance for the vehicles afterwards.”

Along these lines, ABB is currently engaged with miners looking into the

potential of incorporating a battery into the trolley assist mix at open-pit

mines.

Beutler explained: “Customers are looking into this and, for many

applications today, it would already be feasible. As you know, the trolley is

installed at the incline where the major energy consumption is happening.

You only need to potentially overcome the last stretch from the trolley to

the crusher, or to the pit on battery.”

In this new landscape, Beutler says ABB will continue to be a system

integrator able to provide a holistic view.

“We are trying to support the shift away from diesel by setting out the

roadmap, showing the constraints and matching the right technology to

realise this change,” he said.

“The focus, which we embrace at ABB, is interoperability, standardisation

across electrification and automation and trying to bring the players in this

ecosystem around the table to promote an agnostic service so miners have

the freedom of choice to assort their fleet according to their operational

needs. “This is the only way to get a fully-optimised, fully-electric solution.”

Driving change It is the development of new variable frequency drive system technology

that has Kenny Boles, VP of Market Development for Saminco International,

predicting a speedy transition to battery or hybrid machines in the mining

market.

In addition to supplying non-exclusive products, the US-based company

also designs and manufactures brand-labelled drive systems for some of

the world’s largest mining OEMs.

Saminco recently launched its VFD-3 traction drive system for DC charged

trailing cable shuttle cars after undergoing significant development and

testing at its Fort Myers facility in Florida and launching its first system at

an underground US coal operator at the back end of 2020.

Following the successful completion of the trial at the US coal mine, the

company has received multiple orders for additional machines from this

coal producer, according to Boles.

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producers on room and pillar development

equipment: a final product that comes out of the

gate a winner,” he said.

The company’s engineering team were able to

produce and test this system in the middle of the

pandemic, and the system has now been in full

production use on a 550 V DC cable reel powered

shuttle car (two drives for AC traction, one drive

for AC conveying, and one drive for AC pump

control) for more than 100 days, according to

Boles.

The second system is being installed in

February for the same coal producer, he told IM.

Saminco could not have chosen a better

customer to test out the new equipment given

the miner in question has more

than 100 of its VF1-75 variable

frequency drive systems in

operation throughout the US.

“These systems have

performed extremely well since

the launch in 2006,” Boles said of

the VF1-75. “The VFD-3 system

builds on the reliability and

smooth, strong power the

customer expects…and has

performed extremely well with

acceptance from the operator to the top

management.”

Boles expanded on the VFD-3 system benefits:

“Traditionally a material haulage vehicle would

have different parts for different motor controls.

The VFD-3 removes the pre-charge/pump inverter

combo, pulling the pre-charge out as a separate

item. This now allows the pump, convey and

traction drives to all be the same.”

This comes with maintenance advantages as

customers no longer need to keep two or three

different spares in their warehouse, according to

Boles.

He added: “There is also only one inverter to

learn now which maintenance crews appreciate.

The back plane mounting system also moves all

high-power connections to the back of the XP

enclosure, creating a safe racking system. The

elimination of potentiometer-based switches and

a migration to Hall effect sensors will greatly

increase the longevity of machine controls. Also,

by using our front-end rectifier/brake module

device, the VFD-3 can be used with AC cable

supplies as well.”

The VFD-3 has both data logging and Wi-Fi

capability, allowing customers to take as much

information as they desire from their connected

machines, according to Boles.

“Previously we were limited to a maximum of

four drives on our Master Control Module,” he

explained. “With the VFD-3 Vehicle Control Unit

we are able to operate up to 15 inverters at once.

This allows so many more opportunities for

potential machines to utilise the system.”

OEM options 3ME’s battery-electric system nous has been on

full display in New South Wales, Australia,

recently.

The company, in a partnership with Batt

Mobile Equipment, developed what is believed to

be the first fully battery-electric retrofit 20 t

Integrated Tool-Carrier/Loader suitable for

deployment in underground hard-rock mines.

The battery-electric solution, based off a

diesel-powered Volvo L120E, arrived at Aeris

Resources’ Tritton underground copper mine in

New South Wales towards the back end of 2020

as part of an initiative developed under Project

EVmine, with the help of METS Ignited.

The reception to the machine has been

positive, as evidenced by comments from David

Hume, General Manager Aeris Tritton Copper

Operations.

“3ME Technology’s breakthrough electric

vehicle technology provides all the capabilities of

a standard Integrated Tool-Carrier/Loader and

trialling this equipment on site is an important

first step in exploring how other battery-

powered, low-emission electric vehicles may be

used on our sites,” he said.

He continued: “At Aeris, we see great potential

for improving safety and health in underground

mine operations through the use of innovative

solutions such as the TRITEV. The expected

reduction in diesel fumes underground will see a

significant reduction in the power consumption of

underground mine ventilation systems.

“To date, we’ve been pleased with the results

of the TRITEV. We are proceeding with the

commissioning phase and are having some minor

modifications made to the vehicle, including the

addition of 3ME Technology’s on-board charger

whose 1,000 V AC input voltage is directly

compatible with the Tritton Underground power

reticulation system.

“Early indications of the loader’s application to

our site have been very positive.”

As part of the commissioning, Aeris trialled the

loader underground during January following a

thorough risk assessment and surface testing

phase, with the machine performing well,

according to Hume.

Hume concluded: “The commissioning will

continue over the next few months as more

representative data is collected on the loader’s

performance while operating in some of our

underground development access areas on site.”

Steve Lawn, Chief Business Development

Officer at 3ME, said such performance has proven

the machine’s viability, which bodes well

considering the company is currently registering

strong and accelerating demand for more

“platforms” from the early movers in the market.

Lawn said the machine had shown it could

complete a nine-hour shift cycle in-line with

standard Integrated Tool-Carrier/Loader ancillary

work, and the addition of the 1,000 V AC input,

on-board fast charging stack would further

improve the vehicle’s range and performance.

He explained: “3ME Tech developed this

charger in conjunction with an international

partner to plug the critical gap in ability to easily

charge from existing 1,000 V AC mine site power

infrastructure. We are just about to release the

charger to the open market and have seen strong

demand from Australian, US and Canadian

customers.”

The charger can provide a DC output range of

280-840 V, covering the requirements of most

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battery-electric OEM platforms currently on the

market, according to Lawn.

The ‘platform approach’ “The mining market is probably the only

electrification market in the world today that has

a clearly-defined value proposition for going

electric, particularly when it comes to

underground mining.”

Barry Flannery, Founder and CEO/CTO of

Ireland-based battery systems company

Xerotech, spells out the reason why his company

has put all its ‘green’ battery eggs into the

mining and construction basket.

“The green attributes and climate change

aspects are really important things, but when it

comes down to hard dollars, electrification is a

much easier ‘sell’ when you can talk about some

of the benefits that come with eliminating diesel

from underground mining such as reducing

ventilation and cooling needs, and the like,” he

told IM.

Xerotech, which only started operating in

2015, believes it has a unique proposition for the

mining OEM crowd looking to go electric.

Thomas Tomaszewski, VP of Business

Development, conveys this: “In contrast with our

competitors, we are exclusively focused on the

mining and construction markets and solving

their challenges.”

The fact the company is tailoring its offering to

these two sectors means the machines OEMs

make can be equipped with batteries that suit

the application at hand.

Flannery explained: “Scalability and flexibility

are really important when it comes to mining.

When you look at any OEM – and even within the

offering of a single OEM – they have an entire

family of equipment that can be extremely

diverse. They have built their businesses on the

assumption they can buy a whole suite of

engines off the shelf from all

the well-known players to fit

those machines.”

It is very different on the

battery system side, according

to Flannery.

“Generally speaking, yes,

you can get a diesel equivalent

in battery form, but it will

probably be custom engineered

for you,” he said. “It’s the

tooling costs, the engineering

charges and everything else you

are paying for.”

The automotive sector is happy to pay for this

privilege, with peers across the industry able to

spread that increased cost over tens or hundreds

of thousands of vehicles.

“If you are only making 20 drilling jumbos a

year, it becomes a lot harder to absorb a couple

of millions of euros of engineering charges into

it,” Flannery said.

This has, in general, left mining OEMs with

two choices: take the financial hit that comes

with having these battery systems tailormade for

the required application or rely on more ‘popular’

battery systems that are less expensive but

might not be as efficient.

Xerotech will soon be providing a third option,

according to Flannery.

“We have identified that a platform approach

is the only viable way to accelerate electrification

in this sector,” he said. “You have to have a

product and production line that can be easily

modified.”

This approach involves a “common building

block” where components can be

added/subtracted along the production line as

needed to provide the battery system required.

These components are shared across the various

systems to allow the sort of scale the wider

mining and construction industries would

require.

At the same time, the power requirements can

be tailored in 5-10 kWh intervals, allowing

Xerotech to provide systems starting at 10 kWh

and going up to 300 kWh, according to Flannery.

The company follows the standard 2170 battery

cell formula, but can incorporate LFP, NMC or

NCA chemistries into the mix.

“I can give you a battery that recharges in 15

minutes or one that gives you 10,000 cycles of

life at a fifth of the cost of the other one,”

Flannery said. “It’s all about flexibility.”

Tomaszewski added: “Customers can choose

one configuration today and a different

configuration tomorrow.”

With the company in the process of expanding

from a 50 MWh pilot line in operation to serial

production of 250 MWh, due for completion in

the March quarter of 2022, it is well on its way to

being acknowledged on a global scale.

Flannery says discussions with major OEMs

are already ongoing, and its systems will soon be

Xerotech will soon be able to provide battery systems starting at 10 kWh and going up to 300 kWh, according to Barry Flannery


http://www.booyco-electronics.co.za



under the hood of equipment being trialled in the

underground mining sector.

Empowering electrification XING Mobility has built a battery system

platform of its own based on its IMMERSIO™

technology.

The Taiwan-based company has sought to

quell industry concerns over the use of electric

vehicle batteries with immersion cooling

technology that, it says, ensures battery cells are

directly immersed in a non-conductive, non-

flammable and non-toxic coolant. In a cell failure

scenario, this coolant absorbs the heat more

effectively, cutting off the thermal stresses onto

surrounding cells and preventing thermal

runaway and propagation.

Targeting the mining, construction and

agriculture sectors, XING says it is currently

engaged with two major mining players in the

East Asia region.

With one of these clients, XING was directly

involved in the conversion of a 50-t dump truck

from diesel to battery-electric operation. The

other is being dealt with through a strategic

partnership with an OEM’s customisation

department and trading company, which could

see a mining transportation pick-up become a

battery-electric unit.

“Both are undergoing a year of rigorous road

testing in different gradients and conditions

before a public

announcement for mass

production,” XING told IM.

It added: “These

companies are seeing our

IMMERSIO technology as

a more reliable system

that provides better

performance and safety

protection with no

compromise when working

in extreme conditions.

XING says around 90% of the projects it is

working on are retrofits of existing diesel

equipment into battery-electric form, with the

rest of its work tied to consulting services to

develop safer and more robust IMMERSIO

systems for some of the “world’s most

prestigious OEMs and energy providers”.

It explained: “We have seen requirements for

these retrofit solutions due to rising demand

from fleet owners who often have difficulties in

engaging OEMs on similar projects due to

significant volume requirements.”

First adopters One of the first machines in the mining

equipment ecosystem to get the battery-electric

treatment has been utility vehicles and personnel

carriers.

These industry workhorses are often deployed

at short notice, covering varied topographies that

make them ideal for both regenerative braking on

declines and opportunity charging of the battery

when a task is being carried out.

In Canada, one of the leading players in this

side of the market is Rokion, which has a battery-

electric vehicle platform that covers requirements

from two-person vehicles to 12-person carriers.

Purpose built from the ground up, its machines

have had major take-up in the Saskatchewan

potash market Rokion and its parent company

Prairie Machine was built on.

It has well and truly branched out of this

province though, with, in Canada alone, battery-

electric vehicle sales to mines in Quebec,

Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.

Its biggest contract to date has been at Vale’s

Creighton mine in Sudbury, Ontario, where the

company has deployed 15 Rokion trucks. This

includes three of its R400 trucks, one R200 truck

and 11 of its smallest R100 trucks.

Vale’s operations in Manitoba, meanwhile,

have four R400 trucks waiting to be put into

service.

Rokion says its vehicles average around 60

km/shift and typically end the shift with

anywhere between 30-50% battery power

remaining in the projects it has been involved in.

Outside of Canada, the company has also

made a name for itself.

Through its distributor in Australia, LDO Group,

Rokion’s R200 and R400 utility vehicles have

been tested at the BHP-operated Broadmeadow

coal mine in Queensland. The R400, which allows

for a diverse range of vehicle configurations from

three or six passenger utility up to nine or 12

passenger crew variants with 100 kWh of battery

capacity, went underground at the mine in the

middle of 2020.

This vehicle is not explosion-protected – a

prerequisite for operating throughout hazardous

zones in Australian coal mines – but Rokion said

it hopes to have a prototype of an explosion-

proof version available in 2022.

Outside of coal, the company also has a R400

scheduled for delivery to Newmont’s Tanami gold

mine, in the Northern Territory of Australia.

North America | South AfricaSouth America | India

Australia | ChinaA Driving Force

in Powerwww.samincoinc.com | (USA) +1 239 561 1561 | (SA) +27 011 397 6026

SAMINCO international

Introducing the new VFD-3 system for underground mining vehicles.

Come see us in booth #4133.

FLEXIBLE: One inverter serves interchangeable functions for traction, pumps or conveyors Communications: CAN bus For use with battery or trailing cable sources Safety: high and low power are separated PLUS: 24V power supply for accessories PLUS

A Rokion battery-powered R400 12-person carrier

IM


http://www.samincoinc.com

With Sandvik’s decades of experience designing mining equipment and Artisan’s expertise with BEVs, we designed our LH518B from the ground up to be an efficient and sustainable choice. The patented auto-swap makes battery changing fast and easy, with minimum mine infrastructure needs. The electric driveline delivers superior power with less heat and zero emissions, and allows for high acceleration and fast ramp speeds for short cycle times.

Meet our Sandvik LH518B.

RETHINKTHE FUTURE OF MINING

ROCKTECHNOLOGY.SANDVIK

LH518B_IM.INDD 1LH518B_IM.INDD 1 12/02/2021 12:3212/02/2021 12:32

http://www.rocktechnology.sandvik

battery and electric machines charging ahead · 2021. 3. 5. · minute battery swap milestone with...

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