The SmartROC D65 BE is powered by a battery that drives the tramming motors and is connected via an electric cable to supply power for drilling. (Image source: Epiroc)

Epiroc has planned to debut the first-ever Down-The-Hole SmartROC D65 battery-electric drill rig at the MINExpo exhibition in Las Vegas, 24-26 September

This groundbreaking surface drill rig is a significant step towards a green transition and zero-emission drilling in surface mines.

“We are very excited to showcase this rig at this year´s MINExpo. The SmartROC D65 BE is a milestone for us and for surface drilling around the world. The fact that we are removing tailpipe emissions from the drilling process is an important step towards a better environment. This accomplishment also shows that Epiroc has a vital role to play in making our industry more sustainable,”remarked Martin Johansson, acting vice-president marketing, Epiroc Surface Division.

Green mining innovation

The SmartROC D65 BE demonstrator builds on the proven SmartROC D65 surface drill rig. Leveraging Epiroc’s experience from developing underground battery rigs, this new model is designed to improve environmental standards in mining and large quarry sites. Along with its low emissions, it offers the same range of smart features, and delivers high safety, reliability, and performance in a quieter working environment.

“We have seen a demand in the mining business for greener solutions—and with SmartROC D65 BE we meet those demands,” commented Mattias Hjerpe, global product manager, Epiroc Surface Division.

The leading service provider, Capital Limited, has been a close partner during the testing phase. Following the exhibition, the SmartROC D65 BE demonstrator will proceed directly to Capital Limited for field trials. Capital Limited highlights that the SmartROC D65 BE will be a key asset in their journey towards reducing emissions and decarbonisation.

“We are excited to be partnering with Epiroc to field test this innovative electric drill rig technology that will help drive our industry towards more sustainable operations. To be at the forefront of the transformation towards emissions-free surface drilling supports our company’s overarching commitment to decarbonisation, as well as providing value for our customers,”stated Peter Stokes, CEO, Capital Limited.

The SmartROC D65 BE is powered by a battery that drives the tramming motors and is connected via an electric cable to supply power for drilling.

The SmartROC D65 BE is crucial to Epiroc’s sustainability goals for 2030. Epiroc’s battery-electric solutions are generating strong market interest, offering benefits such as emissions-free operations, reduced noise pollution and vibration, and increased productivity. This rig is vital to Epiroc’s ambitious 2030 sustainability goals, which include halving CO2 emissions in operations and from sold products compared to 2019 levels. In 2021, these goals were validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative as aligned with keeping global warming to a maximum of 1.5°C, in line with the latest climate science and the Paris Climate Agreement. Epiroc is committed to offering its full range of underground equipment in an emission-free version by 2025, and for surface equipment by 2030.

Sandvik Rock Processing’s entry into the screening media game has generated a lot of excitement in the mining sector in Africa. (Image source: Sandvik)

Following its 2022 acquisition of Schenck Process Mining, Sandvik Rock Processing has entered the screening media market in Africa

Although screening media is a minor cost when compared to larger capital equipment on a mine, Phumelele Motsamai, regional manager: screening media & wear protection – Africa at Sandvik Rock Processing, stressed that it is a crucial part of any mining operation’s profit engine.

“Screen media plays a critical role in optimising productivity and material quality in mining and quarrying. Sandvik Rock Processing recognises the uniqueness of each operation and always seeks to address the specific requirements to ensure improvement of operations,” said Motsamai.

According to Sandvik Rock Processing’s the market has been responding positively to its innovative approach, recognising the value of the integrated offering and the drive to provide tailored solutions. By combining advanced technology with a deep understanding of customer needs, Sandvik Rock Processing is setting a new standard in the screening media industry.

“Our entry into the screening media market has generated a lot of excitement in the mining sector in Africa. Traditionally, customers have been concerned about the lack of screen media accessibility and the ultimate lack of support in some of the regions. With four Sandvik entities across southern Africa and a total of 11 across Africa, Sandvik Rock Processing has the necessary touchpoints across the continent to keep stock close to our customers which reduces lead times and maximises uptime,” added Motsamai.

Sandvik Rock Processing manufactures a variety of screening media including polyurethane, rubber and wedgewire panels. Each type of panel is designed to address specific challenges within the mining industry, ensuring operations can maximise efficiency and productivity.

A broad portfolio

In addition to its screen media range, Sandvik Rock Processing offers an extensive range of wear protection solutions. Through its long history of materials expertise and research, the company has developed materials that meet the highest quality standards and offer advantages such as long wear life, less maintenance, reduced noise levels and a better working environment.

A case in point is the new Sandvik HX900 cast-in carbide, a unique wear material that combines the wear resistance of cemented carbide with the shock resistance, malleability and forming capability of nodular cast iron. This ideal combination provides a wear-resistant material that withstands tough environments and has a long wear life in many extreme applications.

In line with Sandvik’s commitment to sustainability, the tungsten carbides used in the Sandvik HX900 wear plates are 100% in-house recycled. Using recycled materials consumes 70% less energy and cuts overall carbon emissions by 40%.

“Based on the trials conducted to date, the Sandvik HX900 outlasts any other wear protection solution currently available on the market. It is the shining star of our range, and we are excited about its commercial rollout,” concluded Motsamai.

The WARMAN WRT throatbush and impeller offers reduced turbulence and extended wear performance. (Image source: Weir)

At Electra Mining Africa, running from 2-6 September in Johannesburg, Weir has highlighted the value of energy and water efficiency, important components of mines’ bottom line costs and strategic sustainability goals

This year’s Electra Mining is one of the largest today, welcoming more than 850 exhibitors across six exhibition halls and four large outside exhibit areas. Described as a ‘5-in-1 trade show’, it incorporates several shows to put a spotlight on a range of critical sectors from mining and manufacturing through to trucking and transport.

At the show, Weir has highlighted its sustainability focus which underpins the company’s support for its customers’ strategic environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals, according to Weir’s process and products director, Mufaro Muzvondiwa. The event was another important opportunity to display Weir’s leading role in helping mines to reduce consumption of energy and water – and to reduce carbon emissions.

“At Electra Mining Africa, we were able to remind visitors how seriously we take sustainability across all our products,” said Muzvondiwa. “We displayed our WARMAN pumps with innovative WRT impeller and throatbush combination – for improved hydraulic profiles, reduced turbulence, extended wear performance and lower power consumption.”

He noted that, while Weir’s WRT upgrade for WARMAN pumps is not new to the market, many visitors were still discovering the value that this technology could deliver on their operations. The WRT parts are retrofittable in the WARMAN AH range of horizontal slurry pumps and delivers improved hydraulic profiles, reduced turbulence, extended wear performance and lower power consumption.

Weir's water solutions

Water conservation was also a growing issue for many of the mining visitors to Weir’s exhibition stand. Muzvondiwa pointed out there is more awareness that mines today must increasingly balance their water demands with those of communities and other local stakeholders.

“This also created plenty of interest in our CAVEX 2 hydrocyclones, which offer up to 30% additional capacity and improved separation efficiency, while delivering water and energy savings in mineral processing applications,” Muzvondiwa said.

Operational efficiency

Alongside the ESG focus, visitors at Electra Mining Africa were as usual looking for ways to optimise their processes for greater productivity, Muzvondiwa explained. This is where Weir’s digital tools are playing a crucial role in facilitating smart mining.

“The only constant on mines is change; they are dynamic operations, with constantly changing geological and metallurgical conditions,” he remarked. “This makes it vital that the performance of our equipment is being continuously optimised – by modifying parameters to suit variables such as rock hardness, abrasiveness and chemistry.”

Building on its existing digital solutions, Weir is developing new capability to not only monitor equipment condition but to facilitate more real-time optimisation. This applies across the product range from WARMAN pumps to ENDURON HPGRs (High Pressure Grinding Rolls), he said.

“We are using our deep knowledge of our equipment and processes – built upon decades of research, development and field experience – to take advantage of the latest analytical capabilities in digital technology,” Muzvondiwa explained. “This will revolutionise how we run equipment and what the landscape of sustainable mining looks like.”

Muzvondiwa highlighted the virtuous circle that can be leveraged as equipment that is optimally run will, firstly, achieve a longer lifespan and, secondly, deliver the best throughput and recovery results. The challenge has always been that real-time optimisation must take into account many different factors, which are difficult to consolidate and analyse quickly.

“With the advent of AI, it is now possible to gather the relevant data and process it rapidly, so that valuable and precise recommendations can be generated and applied,” Muzvondiwa added. “We have been working very hard to commercialise these solutions, and we will soon be able to share with customers the exciting opportunities which will be available to them.”

Breaking new ground

Weir’s embrace of technology is enabled by skills initiatives which raise the bar for company staff and its customers. Mill Circuit University, for instance, is a key resource which ensures that skill levels are keeping up with technological advancement. More than that, technical staff understand more about the operating context of their specific equipment range.

“This enhances the quality of conversations between our frontline staff and customers, and improves the levels of collaboration we achieve,” Muzvondiwa commented. “While some courses can be done online, we also bring our teams together for training from around the globe; we also conduct regional training events for customers’ staff – even on their sites when required.”

In addition to learning about these services from Weir, Electra Mining Africa visitors were able to witness a modular wheeled plant solution – a fully mobile crushing and screening plant that can be transported by trailer.

“Visitors from the mines were also impressed by the extent of Weir’s local manufacturing capability, as this is an important ESG imperative for the mining sector,” Muzvondiwa concluded. “With some 95% of our sales being supplied by our South African plants, we are proud to support the local economy and offer customers a secure supply chain.”

The SEW PPK series delivers 10 to 18 kNm of torque with a ratio range from 65:1 to 390:1. (Image source: SEW-EURODRIVE)

As its exhibition presence at Electra Mining Africa 2024 showed, SEW-EURODRIVE is rolling out an even greater selection of planetary drives as part of its strategy to ‘close the loop’ in its product offerings by expanding into more industry sectors

Among the new ranges being introduced into South Africa are its SEW PPK series and the SEW P2.e series of planetary gear units – both showcasing new opportunities for industrial gearbox users. According to Jonathan McKey, national sales and marketing manager at SEW-EURODRIVE, these new additions to the local range highlight the company’s global engineering and applications capabilities.

“The PPK series was originally developed by SEW-EURODRIVE in Brazil, for instance, to serve their large and thriving sugar sector,” said McKey. “Our design and engineering experts in Germany then further leveraged these advances when they developed the SEW P2.e series – aimed at larger applications.”

He emphasised that both series built upon the key benefits that planetary gear units present to customers: a compact solution for space-constrained conditions, alongside high torque and low speed outputs. The SEW PPK series delivers 10 to 18 kNm of torque with a ratio range from 65:1 to 390:1, while the SEW P2.e series encompasses torque ratings from 24 to 124 kNm with ratios from 15,2:1 to 332:1.

“The SEW PPK satisfies the need for a lower torque requirement, and is well suited to southern hemisphere markets,” he explained. The ratio can be further reduced by the addition of a primary reducer before the planetary head, to reach ratios up to 10,650:1 – for a much lower speed capability.

The SEW P2.e was then developed with all these benefits, but with a broader spectrum of diversity in its speed – up to 100 rpm – as well as in ratio and torque, he said. While most planetary gearboxes have a three-stage design, the SEW P2.e can also be supplied in a two-stage model.

Greg Lewis, SEW-EURODRIVE business development manager for projects, pointed out that the company has been careful to retain the same critical dimensions as previous SEW P-series models. This allows customers to migrate seamlessly to the more versatile SEW P2.e units without altering their operating environment or infrastructure.

Meeting a myriad of applications

Among the common applications in the mining sector for planetary gearboxes, said Lewis, are clarifiers, thickeners and apron feeders. Other industrial applications include slewing drives, screw feeders and wood panel presses.

“In the agricultural sector, sugar mills are big users of planetary units,” he remarked. “The SEW PPK series, arising as it did to serve the needs of sugar mills in Brazil, has exciting opportunities for application in African countries.”

McKey highlighted another important aspect of these planetary ranges: their reduced weight compared to traditional technologies.

“A sugar mill’s crystalliser, for example, will conventionally have a multi-gear solution which applies considerable weight and strain on the system,” he explained. “A compact planetary unit from SEW-EURODRIVE can now deliver the same results with much less weight – within an integrated design. The benefits are also felt in less wear on components like bearings and the civils structures, which leads to less maintenance being required.”

Also, on SEW-EURODRIVE’s showcase of new products is its high performance ECO2 geared motors, designed in line with the company’s sustainability focus and the market’s growing demand for products that are more environmentally-friendly in their manufacturing process. The ECO2 range boasts a coating-free design, so there are no solvents or coatings used on the outer surfaces. This makes these units efficient and reliable in indoor applications where humidity levels can reach 60%, and they can operate in temperatures between minus 20° C and 60° C. Their aluminium construction reacts with oxygen to form a thin protective layer; the ECO2 design also meets the requirements of ISO 12944 corrosive category 1.

Standing out in the market

On the automation side, a highlight of the SEW-EURODRIVE offering is the SEW MOVI-C drive technology – a comprehensive modular automation system designed to provide seamless integration and high performance for various industrial applications.

Willem Strydom, SEW-EURODRIVE’s manager business development electronics, pointed to applications like hoisting where MOVI-C facilitates the use of regenerative power from braking and this energy can be fed back into the system or stored in battery packs. The MOVILINK digital data interface (DDI) connects the drive train into the data system through a unique single hybrid cable solution.

“This further allows customers to receive real-time information on a range of indices, such as energy efficiency, application performance and condition monitoring,” he said. “This differentiates us significantly in the market.”

This article is authored by SEW-EURODRIVE. Click here to learn more about the company’s range of solutions.