Boosting safety and productivity with Sandvik’s automation solutions

7th September 2018

Boosting safety and productivity with Sandvik’s automation solutions

INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS The Automine system assists mining companies to automate parts of, or entire, mining operations

Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology Southern Africa will showcase mining solutions at Electra Mining Africa that have been developed to boost overall safety and productivity across all types of mines.

The technology on display has been developed in response to changes in the industry where efficiency is the key and has become paramount to profitability and sustainability of operations. Safety, as usual, will be centre stage to illustrate how Sandvik can provide solutions to help customers in their commitment to the mining industries’ zero-harm policies.

Barriers to achieving safety and production outputs that seemed impossible just a few years ago are being overcome and innovation from companies, like Sandvik, is making mines more productive and safer with intelligent equipment and better systems. The proliferation of autonomous mining solutions ensures mines run more productively and they also remove workers from the high-risk exposure zones.

Information systems, such as Sandvik’s proprietary OptiMine, provide miners with tools to more effectively manage their operations. Sandvik’s AutoMine mining solutions are also making it feasible to automate parts of, or entire, mining operations.

Mine Automation

At this year’s trade show, Sandvik will display how its mechanisation and automation solutions also hold the key to faster and more efficient techniques within South Africa’s ever-deeper, narrow reefs.

Visitors will also see how the global solutions provider has spent the past 70 years in South Africa partnering with mines to find real-world solutions to different mining challenges, with equipment ranging from surface drill rigs and processing equipment, to continuous miners, underground equipment, fully autonomous mining solutions and advanced mine optimisation tools using real-time information and analytics.

Sandvik invests heavily in research and development (R&D) and also works with its individual customers to find new ways of mining more efficiently and safely. This commitment to R&D ensures that the company remains at the leading edge of mining technology, both in terms of its equipment and its information systems.

Sandvik will also be unveiling new equipment and innovations at the exhibition, where its Stand, B22 and B28, in Hall 5 is expected to be a hive of activity for mining executives and personnel from across the continent.

Optimising Mines
Further, visitors can expect to learn more about how automation and information management can be used to improve operations. Automation solutions range from single machine teleremote operation to full fleet automation. This includes driverless trucks and loaders, roof bolters and drilling equipment that can automatically respond and adapt to conditions and improve the life spans of consumables and equipment.

Technical staff will be on standby throughout the duration of the show to provide information on equipment, parts and services, as well as information systems, such as Sandvik’s AutoMine automated mining system and the OptiMine modular information management solution that offers a real-time view of underground mining operations to provide real-time tracking and production management tools and analytics outputs for overall equipment efficiency improvements.

Hall 5 Stand B22 and B28