Rethinking mobile equipment power

A gold mining company’s transformation from diesel mobile equipment to electric provides a glimpse of technology that may transform the way portable plant operators approach their own production in the years to come.

Goldcorp, a gold production company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is replacing all diesel mobile equipment with electric vehicles through its Borden Project to deliver environmental, health and safety, and economic benefits.

Located in Chapleau, Ontario, Canada, the Borden Project was in a feasibility phase late last year, with final permits expected by the end of 2018. Goldcorp’s mine of the future is expected to be in production before the end of 2019.

The company expects its electric mine to deliver a 70 percent smaller carbon footprint over conventional technologies. Goldcorp will also reduce noise pollution, the risk of hydrocarbon spills and fires, and eliminate exhaust fumes, resulting in lower capital and operating costs.

The shift to battery electric vehicles was nearing a tipping point for the mining industry, one company executive says.

“There are wide-reaching benefits – and not just for mining, but similar industrial industries like cement, construction,” says David Garofalo, Goldcorp president and CEO, speaking at the International Mining & Resources Conference in Melbourne, Australia. “The technology will soon meet the needs of [a] larger application now that Borden has chosen to make all-electric a reality.”

In addition to electric vehicles, several other technologies were incorporated into the mine design.

“Borden is a ‘connected mine’ with real-time knowledge of where people, equipment and work is being done at all times,” Garofalo says. “This enhances safety and productivity.”

Changing the game

Another forward-thinking project involves Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) and Sweden’s Skanska, which turned the aggregate industry upside-down last year through a groundbreaking study.

Drawing on the electromobility and automation expertise of the Volvo Group, the research project, dubbed Electric Site, aimed to electrify each transport stage in a quarry – from excavation to primary crushing, and transport to secondary crushing – although a negligible amount of diesel power was still expected to be used on the site.

“This is the first time that anything like this has been attempted in the quarrying industry and, if successful, Electric Site could serve as a blueprint for transforming the efficiency, safety and environmental impact of quarries around the world,” says Gunnar Hagman, CEO of Skanska Sweden.

Volvo CE and Skanska challenged traditional ways of working in the aggregate industry. The project involved developing new concept machines, work methods and site management systems, which, together, formed a complete site solution. New technology encompasses machine and fleet control systems and logistic solutions for electric machines in quarries.

“We have had to completely rethink the way we work and how we look upon machine efficiency – pushing the boundaries of our competence,” says Melker Jernberg, president of Volvo CE. “We have learned so much already, elements of which will be fed into our future product development.”

Eight smaller prototype HX2 autonomous, battery-electric load carriers, for example, replaced three rigid haulers for the transportation of material from the primary mobile crusher up to the secondary static crusher.