With a proud tradition of more than 150 years of providing solutions to customers, Sandvik focuses on products and services that help mines to further improve their safety and productivity – the emphasis being on total cost of ownership, scalable automation packages, availability of service and parts and inherent product safety.
As a global leading supplier of equipment, rock tools and services to the mining industry, research and technology development has a high priority at Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology. Three target areas for new technology uptake are power systems, automation systems and data-driven productivity.
Power systems
It is a given that the underground mining environment is challenging, and that the health and safety of miners comes first. Interest therefore continues to increase in the area of zero-emissions equipment in underground applications. Sandvik R&D teams have risen to the challenge, helping customers with technology to mitigate the impact, and at the same time increase their profitability by reducing mine ventilation and other costs. Whether it is by electricity from the mine’s own grid, or fully flexible battery solutions, Sandvik is at the forefront of delivering the power systems of the future. The latest examples are Sandvik DD422iE, the world’s first battery-trammed mining jumbo launched at MINExpo INTERNATIONAL® 2016, Sandvik LH307B, a battery-powered 6.7-metric-ton loader, and Sandvik LZ101LE, the company’s first extra-low-profile dozer.
“Sandvik DD422iE features patented charging-while-drilling technology that was borne out of our research and development programs, and regulates the charging process as the rig is working and connected to the mine electricity grid, ” explains Patrick Murphy, President, Rock Drills and Technologies, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology. “With this technology, battery range and service life are enhanced, whilst ensuring the rig can deliver its rated power to the working face in order to get the job done.”
Automation
For more than a decade, Sandvik has provided market-leading automation solutions for customers. An underground mine in Australia recently became the first 100 percent automated underground operation, using solutions from Sandvik. The supplier’s rich history developing solutions by working together with customers and looking at their everyday needs has led to a scalable offering, ranging from single-unit automation to full-fleet automation, and the installed base of automated Sandvik equipment continues to grow year after year. Customers can adopt automation solutions immediately in order to maximize the full potential of their operation while significantly improving safety. Depending on requirements, Sandvik AutoMine for autonomous solutions and Sandvik OptiMine for information management – or a combination of the two – can improve safety and productivity.
“There is a marked increase in interest and activity surrounding our automation offering, and with the number of satisfied reference cases we’ve established, our customers know that they can trust our solutions and our team,” Murphy says. “Our products have logged millions of safe, productive hours of automated operation in underground applications, and these include the first self-driving loaders and underground trucks in the world. Those systems were commissioned over ten years ago, so it follows that we also have the most experienced team in the business.”
Sandvik has set up a fully functional automation control center to demonstrate its reliable and easy-to-use automation technology at MINExpo INTERNATIONAL® 2016, enabling equipment in the company’s test mine in Finland to be operated live from Las Vegas.
Data-driven productivity
With the connectivity and digitalization of everything around us continuing to advance at a rapid pace, great possibilities are opening up.
Being able to process large amounts of data onboard equipment at the working face unlocks the potential of sensor technologies, such as a 3D scanning-based product launched by Sandvik at MINExpo INTERNATIONAL® 2016. The scanner is embedded into the drill rig and automatically scans overbreak and underbreak, among other parameters, to save valuable time during the drilling cycle, helping customers develop more meters every month.
“We have the ability to measure more on our equipment than we ever have before, but the key question our customers are asking is: ‘How do we get actionable insights from this data?’ When we combine the onboard data with other data sets available from our customers’ processes, we can, in fact, get amazing insights to help our customers immediately improve their operations,” Murphy says. “This is an area in which we are investing considerable effort and we expect new products to be launched around the data-driven productivity theme in 2017. There is no science fiction about it: our mission is to offer our customers optimal solutions designed to increase their productivity, reduce total costs of ownership and ensure reliability, efficiency and safety through high technology.”
Las Vegas, US, 26 September 2016
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Sandvik Group
Sandvik is a high-tech and global engineering group offering advanced products and services that enhance customer productivity, profitability and safety. We hold world-leading positions in selected areas – tools and tooling systems for metal cutting; equipment and tools, service and technical solutions for the mining and construction industries; products in advanced stainless steels, special alloys, titanium, and metallic and ceramic resistance materials. In 2015, the Group had about 45,000 employees and sales of about 86 billion SEK in more than 150 countries.
Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology
Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology is a business area within the Sandvik Group and a global leading supplier of equipment and tools, service and technical solutions for the mining and construction industries. Application areas include rock drilling, rock cutting, crushing and screening, loading and hauling, tunneling, quarrying and breaking and demolition. In 2015, sales were approximately 33 billion SEK with about 15,000 employees in continuing operations.