While automation technology is still fairly new to Southern Africa, mines and quarries are recognising that automation technology is crucial to a sustainable and profitable future, says mining equipment supplier Epiroc regional business line manager Hedley Birnie.

“We are seeing a noticeable increase in interest in our rigs and their automation features. We are investing heavily in research and development and constantly updating automation technology on our equipment to further our endeavour in ensuring the highest and most efficient rig performance possible, while creating an ever safer and more productive operation and working environment.”

In listening to and understanding its customers’ requirements, Birnie says Epiroc has implemented advanced digitalisation and automation technology in its products, adding tremendous value for its customers and differentiating Epiroc as a reliable productivity partner.

The company’s SmartROC down-the-hole and top hammer drill rigs improve drilling and blasting from end-to-end. The drill rig enables better planning, predictability, semiautonomous drilling with improved drilling cycle accuracy, increased efficiencies, consistent operation and high quality, extended machine availability and life cycle, improved operational and maintenance costs, and reduced carbon footprint, resulting in sustainable productivity and profitability in mines, quarries and plants.

But, most importantly, the drill rig’s automation technology enables personnel to be removed from the work face, taking them out of harm’s way, enhancing worker safety and performance, notes Birnie.

Epiroc believes the success of automation technology lies in a holistic approach and, therefore, applies it across equipment, systems, operations and services. “Everything starts with the planning and drilling of the holes. If done correctly, it will lower the total cost of the entire operation and Epiroc has the complete solution, [offering digitalisation and automation].”

The company’s ROC Manager and Surface Manager enable the creation of drill plans, drill patterns, hole angles and depths which are sent directly to the drill rigs from the planning office with GPS coordinates using a Wi-Fi network. A data stick can be used by mines and plants that do not have a Wi-Fi mesh or network over the pit.

Here, automation in the form of the Hole Navigation System (HNS) takes over and drilling can be performed according to the exact coordinates included in the drill plan providing accuracy on the X, Y and Z axes. HNS is designed to deliver a faster setup, improve precision and reduce nondrilling time, fragmentation and explosive quantities. In addition, fewer people are required in the working area because there is no need for the manual marking of holes nor for the manual measuring of the drilled holes. This data can be retrieved from the Drill Quality Log File. HNS also reduces the risk of drilling in undetonated explosive material since the drill pattern coordinates are saved.

Using Rig Remote Access, the rig drills holes semiautonomously and ‘knows’ to drill in the right place at the right depth and angle every time, while drill tubes are added and extracted automatically.

During drilling, Measure While Drilling (MWD) is performed and this data is logged and sent back to ROC Manager/Surface Manager for further analysis. MWD enables the rig to determine changes in the ground formation based on performance and the penetration rate. Using Surface Manager, a three-dimensional model can be formulated showing the ground formation detailing the position of the ore layout within the inter-burden, over-burden and waste partings.

The Rig Control System (RCS) on the SmartROC is a built-in auto-rod handling control system that helps to extend rig life span and subsequently improve uptime and availability by limiting extreme use to safeguard the rig against operator abuse and reduce wear on the rig as well as consumables. A fuel saving device controlled by the RCS can reduce the SmartROC’s fuel consumption by between 15% and 25%, depending on ground conditions and the commodity being drilled.

BenchREMOTE is an additional option from Epiroc for drilling in hazardous areas and near the high wall. The BenchREMOTE can be placed in an air-conditioned, vibration-, dust- and noise-free environment up to 100 m away within the line of site of the drill rig from where the operator can safely and conveniently monitor progress. Further, up to three SmartROC drill rigs can be operated from one BenchREMOTE base station. Information on up to ten drill rigs can be stored in the BenchREMOTE’s memory, enabling it to be moved from one block or area to another to control rigs.

All the latest drill rigs from the Epiroc factory are now also fitted with CERTIQ, a Web-based management control system that allows remote access to critical drill rig information in real time. In addition to critical warnings, the system also reports on fuel burn, idle time, tramming time, drilling or production time as well as standing time. “Epiroc has introduced this Web-based remote monitoring solution to further our endeavour to assist customers in extending the service life of their capital equipment and keeping operational costs as low as possible by gaining increased control over machine operation,” says mining and rock excavation services regional business line manager Floris Timmers.

Epiroc designs, maintains and supports all hardware and software and offers theoretical and practical aftermarket technical and operator training. The SmartROC and FlexiROC drill rigs are backed by extensive aftermarket support locally and in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

The company’s aftermarket division, headed by Timmers, is committed to assisting customers and end-users extend the service life of equipment for lowest total cost of ownership through accurate stockholding, competent technicians and specialised tooling as well as unrivalled remanufacturing capabilities.

“The inclusion of digitalisation and automation technology augments the effectiveness of our aftermarket service capabilities,” notes Timmers, citing CERTIQ as a prime example.

The aftermarket division caters to all Epiroc capital equipment encompassing 11 product lines, including drilling and underground mining machines. The broad aftermarket solution contains specialist tooling and tool kits, after-sales service, rebuild, technology, telematics, and training.

“With the inclusion of automation, we remove the headache in the after-sales service space so that customers are free to focus on the efficient operation of their core business,” concludes Timmers.