Four years ago, Leigh Ann Booysen worked grueling shifts at Kumba’s Kolomela iron ore mine as a drill operator. If you loved this article and you would such as to obtain more details relating to tool steel; forum.umbandaeucurto.com, kindly go to our own web site. That meant sitting on a truck-sized drilling machine in an iron ore pit for eight hours, drilling holes for explosives before blasting. Today, she proudly boasts to her household that she works an workplace job – and but, she’s never drilled extra, or better, holes in her life.
Leigh Ann is on the forefront of a know-how revolution that is changing the face of Kumba’s operations – and certainly, the complete iron ore mining industry. She is now one in every of a crew responsible for working Kumba’s fleet of automated drilling machines from a secure, air-conditioned control centre next to the mine’s offices.
It’s not just the drill operators’ lives that have improved. The rise in productiveness has been dramatic. Operating hours are up 20%, from 14 to 17 hours a day, structural steel the quality of the drill holes has improved, and fewer drilling machines might be needed over the lifetime of the mine.
The robotic drilling machines are a part of an R500 million investment in expertise by Kumba at its mines in the Northern Cape as a part of its efforts to make mining safer, extra productive and extra atmosphere-friendly. It’s actually chopping-edge technology, with Kumba being one of solely two iron ore miners on the earth to make use of autonomous drills, together with BHP Billiton’s Yandi mine in Western Australia.
The machines aren’t only taking over the drilling operations, though. The skies are also loads busier over Kumba’s Kolomela and mold steel tube Sishen mines as of late, with a fleet of 10 drones offering info on the whole lot from where mining has taken place to present stockpiles.
Make no mistake, these usually are not the drones you find buzzing over your own home or within the native park over weekends. Kumba has spent greater than R6 million on its fleet, which includes both fixed-wing and quadcopter drones, fitted with state-of-the-art cameras and laser scanners, which are used to create three-dimensional photographs and surveys. They’re operated by five workers members who have acquired specialised training as drone pilots, and are totally licenced by the SA Civil Aviation Authority to do so.
The benefits have been instant, with the drones providing info and data on Kumba’s operations that used to take days, or even weeks, to accumulate. In many circumstances, they’re delivering new information that wasn’t accessible before, and is allowing Kumba to function much more efficiently than before.
Not all the technologies are as glamorous as robotic drills or drones – however they are not any less effective in contributing to a modern mining operation. Kumba is particularly pleased with its Advanced Process Control (ACP) system, which in simple terms controls the circulate of material by way of the processing plant, with fewer interruptions and higher quality.
After which there’s the autonomous braking for Kumba’s haul trucks, which mechanically brings the huge trucks to a cease to keep away from collisions and accidents. Greater than 10 trucks have already been fitted with the new braking system.
The most effective a part of the know-how technique, says Bongi Ntsoelengoe, Technology Manager at Kumba Iron Ore; not a single job has been lost in the process.
“Rather than replacing staff, we have proven that using technology in our operations improves expertise and supplies an opportunity for workers to develop and develop. Better working conditions imply staff are excited and motivated about their work atmosphere, which makes for a extra productive, safer workplace,” says Ntsoelengoe.