Sandvik is working with several major mining houses to further the development of battery electric solutions for hard rock mining operations.
One successful outcome includes providing an electrified product solution to replace diesel, which was combined with two years of testing the Sandvik LH307 battery prototype.
Goldcorp also presented its Borden Lake project in a Canadian customer forum hosted by Sandvik recently. Borden is the world’s first all-electric underground mine in northern Ontario.
The forum presents changes, challenges and opportunities that electrification is expected to bring to the mining industry. This allows innovations and ideas for future solutions to be discussed and validated, and the requirements of mining houses to be carefully understood.
Borden Lake mine now benefits from reduced greenhouse gas emissions, diesel fuel consumption and power consumption.
Mats Eriksson, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology president of product area load and haul, said, “Finding new solutions to reduce heat and emissions in underground mines, without compromising the customer’s productivity, is perfectly in line with our strategy safety first.
“Also, the targeted benefits of battery electric vehicles speak for Sandvik’s aim to align with the United Nations global sustainability development goals. We believe that developing battery electric technology is one of the future directions to take.”
When electrification and battery electric equipment are embraced by underground mines, they will produce less heat, noise and exhaust gases, including diesel particulate matter.
This will result in decreased mine ventilation needs, which are a significant cost factor in deep and complex underground mines.
Sandvik has previously pioneered electric load, haul and dumps (LHD’s), remote control LHD’s and automation for underground mines.
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