Pub. 6 2016 Issue 2

12 AT THE CENTER OF UTAH INDUSTRY A t a time when resources are more limited, margins are lower, and competition is hungrier, automation within a mine can be a core driver of efficiency and productivity. As a result, engineers are making improvements to mining equipment, mine planning, and the mining process to make mining more efficient and sustainable. According to Andrew Mackenzie, who is the chief executive of BHP Billiton and the world’s biggest miner, a one percent improvement in productivity saves miners $170 million. Companies can maximize the potential of current projects by slowing down on exploration, cutting back on spending, and being more frugal when running their current operations. That’s less risky than taking on new projects. General Equipment Innovations Caterpillar, Inc. Global Mining offers miners some of the following innovations: • Reducing waste through better harvesting technologies. Crushing and loading material such as dirt, gravel, or rocks along with coal has always been part of the mining process even though the miners are only interested in the coal. The ideal would be for miners to be able to extract just the coal and leave everything else behind. Doing so is a great way to get more mining material out of the mine per ton while using the same amount of energy to do it. New technologies make it possible to do just that. When pure sections of coal are identified, only those sections are removed from the mine. • A hybrid underground mining vehicle is being used to improve the quality of the air underground. It works in conjunction with ventilation requirements and dissipates pollution more effectively than was possible previously. • Oil sands can be tricky to move, especially when the conditions underfoot are sloppy. Modular mechanical drive mining trucks are using new patented gearing and heat- treating technologies that can withstand the strains involved and operate more efficiently. • Efficient surface-mining equipment is now being powered by a diesel generator or electricity from a grid. This equipment includes hauling trucks, loaders, and rope shovels. They can load and haul more payload than was possible previously, and they do it using less diesel fuel. • Split tires and downtime result from inadequatelymaintained hauling roads. By using auxiliary trucks, road compactors, and motor graders to keep the roads clean and minimize rocks and dust, operational efficiency improves. • Methane and natural gas occur naturally in coal mining. In the past, miners have burned the gas or flared it up; another strategy has been to vent it to the atmosphere. Now it is being piped and cleaned, then run on-site through EQUIPMENT IMPROVEMENT AND EFFICIENCY